Victoria A. Hudson's Blog, page 8

Trish Hopkinson Interview Part I

 

VAH: Welcome Trish Hopkinson. Thanks for joining the conversation at Three by Five. First up, the fundamental question – Why do you write?

TH: I write for me. I write because I am selfish—a selfish poet. I write because there is something intensely ironic and humane about being human. I write to lift up the heaviness of tangibility, to keep my thoughts light and my breathing deep. I write for my children, to show them that being selfish has a place and makes you more accessible to those you love. I write to uncover sympathy and turn it over, to expose the soft belly of empathy, to peel away layers of hardness, and to be someone’s friend when they need me. I write to relieve the busy-ness behind my eyes, the thoughts that keep me awake when I should be sleepy, and the unsettled havoc of the work week.

VAH: I enjoyed the poetry of your response. Tell us, why did you become a writer and when did you know or feel like you were a writer?

TH: I’ve been writing poetry since I was five or six years old. I have always loved words—in fact, my mother tells everyone I was born with a pen in my hand. I wrote hundreds of poems before turning twenty, most of which I should say were good practice, but nothing notable. I’ve kept them all and I do look back on them from time to time. Writing has always been a part of my life and directed all aspects of it, from my education as an English major to using technical writing to forward my career in the software industry.

VAH: I think most of us have those reams of dusty files tucked away with our first explorations in writing. You’re brave though, to go back through them! Your mom says you were born with a pen in hand, any influences?

TH: The poets I admired growing up certainly influenced me the  most, specifically Sylvia Plath, Allen Ginsberg and the other Beat poets, and of course, Emily Dickinson. On a more personal level, I had some exceptional professors in college, some of whom became good friends and have been very supportive and encouraging.

VAH: What do you remember about your piece of writing? What was it about and what prompted its creation?

TH: I think my very first poem had something to do with church and family and was accompanied by a crayon drawing which I created as a gift for the clergy of our church. Since it was a gift, I no longer have it, but I remember being proud of it.

VAH: Well, seems that gift was blessed in your continued success as a poet. Do you a favorite piece that you’ve written to date?

TH: My favorite poem that I’ve written is “Waiting Around.” It was inspired by Pablo Neruda’s “Walking Around” and in the process of writing it, I very much enjoyed closely reading and studying Neruda’s poem. Often, the process of creating is my favorite part of writing, much more than the finished work itself.

VAH: The journey verses the destination or perhaps the work verses the end product? A good place to pause and interesting idea to consider.

More with Trish Hopkinson later in the month.

Visit Verse-Virtual for a sampler of Trish Hopkinson’s poetry.

Trish Hopkinson contributes to the writing community with her blog where she shares interesting writing tips, articles, calls for submissions (no fee only), and other info to help promote writing and poetry in general. She has always loved words—in fact, her mother tells everyone she was born with a pen in her hand. She has two chapbooks Emissions and Pieced Into Treetops and has been published in several anthologies and journals, including The Found Poetry Review, Chagrin River Review, and Reconnaissance Magazine. She is a project manager by profession and resides in Utah with her handsome husband and their two outstanding children. You can follow her poetry adventures online at her website, or Facebook or visit her on Linkedin.

Three by Five interviews publish on days that end in 3!

Three by Five Welcomes Trish Hopkinson in January

January’s Three by Five brings Provo, Utah poet Trish Hopkinson to the site. Trish Hopkinson contributes to the writing community with her blog where she shares interesting writing tips, articles, calls for submissions (no fee only), and other info to help promote writing and poetry in general. She has always loved words—in fact, her mother tells everyone she was born with a pen in her hand. She has two chapbooks Emissions and Pieced Into Treetops and has been published in several anthologies and journals, including The Found Poetry Review, Chagrin River Review, and Reconnaissance Magazine. She is a project manager by profession and resides in Utah with her handsome husband and their two outstanding children. You can follow her poetry adventures online at her website, or Facebook or visit her on Linkedin.

Three by Five interviews publish on days that end in 3!

Get Paid for Writing!

No, not the bright, shiny, scam spam that often lands in your mailbox – both virtual and physical.

Typically, emerging writers send out reams of work and their only payment is seeing their name beneath the work when an editor selects the by-product of their blood, sweat, and tears for publication. In the current data driven, information economy, content is viewed as a right to the consumer and 21st century culture has created an expectation for free access. But free access won’t pay the bills and creative content was the work product of someone, somewhere. So I am happy to share with you this post from Trish Hopkinson with a compilation of markets for submitting creative work and low and behold, get paid for it! Paying  Calls for Submission – Poetry, Prose, Art, etc.

J. C. Augustine Wetta wins Dr. Ellen Taliaferro Scholarship to SFWC15

From Barbara Santos, of the San Francisco Writers Conference – “The winner of the Dr. Ellen Taliaferro Scholarship for the 2015 San Francisco Writers Conference is J. C. Augustine Wetta, a Benedictine monk. He submitted a beautifully written story with a Gift of the Magi twist at the end. Both Ellen (Dr. T) and I fell in love with the writing and story which we both admitted had us laughing and crying. The Dr. T Scholarship is for memoir writers who use forgiveness to move on with their lives after adversity or illness.”

Congratulations to J. C. Augustine Wetta! Augustine also entered the Victoria A. Hudson Emerging Writer Prize and was a strong contender, having been selected in the top nine of 37 total entries. With selection for Dr. T’s scholarship, this talented writer is no longer in consideration for the Emerging Writers Prize. Congratulations Augustine! I’m looking forward to meeting you next month at the Conference!

Welcome 2015

Wow! I’m having a moment of disbelief while I try and grok that this is now 2015. How did I get HERE? Where is all that writing in 1975, when I was high school, that I dreamed I’d write? Where is all that writing in 1985, when I was just out of college, that I planned on writing? Or in 2005, when I returned from Iraq and started sending out applications to MFA programs (Saint Mary’s College of California 2008)?

Not to say I haven’t gotten some writing done but much of my writing life has been full of distraction and alternate choices. So, this year, I’ll endeavor (not resolve) to do better.

Duotrope tells me I have an overall acceptance rate of 20% and in poetry that is 50%, and that rate is higher than average. (Mom would be happy and proud.)

One in five pieces sent or one in five markets – not sure how that 20% was computed. I’ll keep chipping away to at least maintain and maybe, up the metric a little.

How was your year?

Three by Five Author – J. M. Gregoire Bonus

J. M. Gregoire Bonus Round

 VAH: Favorite, inspiring quote and why?

JMG: “The problem is not the problem.  Your attitude about the problem is the problem.  Do you understand?” – Jack Sparrow

This is one I recently discovered and it makes SO MUCH SENSE.  It may not be Einstein or Shakespeare, but it’s one of the most brilliant quotes I have ever come across.  Approach obstacles in life with pessimism, and all you’re going to accomplish is making things more difficult for yourself.  Approach it with optimism and you will find the answer to any problem will be much easier to see.

VAH: Three random non writing related facts about you?

JMG: My son and I were both born on Halloween night, 29 years and 3.5 hours apart. If given the choice, and it wouldn’t result in me wearing a wide load sign on my back or a bleeding ulcer, I would live off of buffalo wings alone for the rest of my life. I am one DVD purchase, one book purchase, or one iTunes purchase away from starring in my very own episode of Hoarders.  I am a TV/Movie/Music/Reading junkie equally, but I am told admitting you have a problem is the first step in recovery.

VAH: What would your last meal be?

JMG: Probably shrimp.  Just a great, big shrimp cocktail ring.  I’m allergic to shrimp now, but I wasn’t always.  I ate seafood my whole life, and then one day when I was 26 years old, had a veerrrrrrrrrrrrrrry unpleasant allergic reaction.  I tried it again about six months later with the same result.  After that, my doctor said “Yeah, ummm, stop doing that.”  So, no more seafood for me.  And man, do I miss it!  So, yeah, if I was having my last meal, it would totally be shrimp.

And, of course, it would be my last meal because I probably ended up beating someone to death with a frozen tuna for driving like a moron.  It would be the fishiest instance of road rage ever.

J.M. Gregoire – thanks for being part of Three by Five!

Author Info

J.M. Gregoire was born and raised in New Hampshire, USA, and despite her abhorrence for any season that dares to drop to a temperature below seventy degrees, she still currently resides there with her two children and her two cats. Always a passionate reader, her love of urban fantasy books eventually morphed into a love of writing them. She is currently working on the Demon Legacy series, and has a spin off series, the Killer Instinct series, coming soon.

Visit J.M. Gregoire’s social media or online: Website / Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, Instagram.

Check out The Demon Legacy Series and The Killer Instinct Series.

 

And Then There Were Nine

Entries have been further winnowed down to nine semi-finalists for the Emerging Writer Prize.

Congratulations in no particular order to:

Susan Karr

Tonissa Saul

Kristen Falso-Capaldi

J.C. Augustine Wetta

Ali McCart

Eric Maus

Phylise Smith

David Fong

Caroline Zarlengo Sposto

Each writer’s response to the prompt Why I write… brought a spontaneous laugh, a tear, or a sense of resonance that invited me to get to know that writer more. Each response held up as better crafted when compared with others that made it past the preliminary round. The next phase includes reading the writing samples and weighing both their craft in responding to the prompt and the sample of their writing in their chosen genre.

2014 in Review – A Blog’s Life

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

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Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 3,900 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Three by Five Author – J. M. Gregoire Part 3

 J. M. Gregoire

VAH: So, who is your biggest fan?

JMG: That’s a seriously tough call.  I am lucky to have my own standing army of super-supportive family and friends cheering me on through the journey of being a writer.  The dedication in The Devil You Know took me FOREVER to write.  I was a hot mess, writing through a curtain of streaming tears by the time I was done.  Publishing is a tough industry to be an indie in, and I can say I have never once felt alone.  I am so frikkin lucky to have all the people I do supporting me.  I could never possibly say thank you enough for everything they have given me.  To have the people you care about supporting you in something you devote yourself to is a pretty incredible feeling.  Art, in any form, is about putting yourself out there, as naked as you could possibly get, in front of the whole world.  To know that I have this LEGION of people who have my back, and who will stand there beside me, hand-in-hand, the whole way…..ugh, I just don’t have words.  If you all are reading this (and you know who you are), thank you and I ain’t got nothin’ but love for ya’!  Shout out to my minions!!!!!  REPRESENT!!!!!!

 VAH: What about who is your favorite author?

JMG: If I had to pick just one, it would be Stephen King.  My love of horror and thrillers all started with him.

When I was 11 or 12 years old, my school held what they called a “read-in” – we spent one school week just reading.  You could bring blankets, and pillows, and you could chill in PJ’s for the day, and the whole point was just to read.  Get ubercomfy and read.  My mom was a huge Stephen King nut when I was growing up, and she was in a SK Book of the Month club type thing in which she got a new hardcover of his every month.  She had the hardcover, uncut version of The Stand (if you’ve ever seen this book, you know it’s a BEHEMOTH of a book), and in a flight of optimistic fancy, I decided I wanted to read it.  I started reading very young and had burned through my entire library so my mom said “go for it.”

The first day of the read-in comes around, and I go to school toting my mom’s copy of The Stand.  All was just peachy until my teacher saw what I was reading.  She sent me to the principal’s office and called my mom at work.  When they told her what I was reading, she just said “Yeah, and where do you think she got it?!”  They gave me the book back, and I went back to my blankets and read for a week.  Of course, I didn’t even come CLOSE to finishing it but that day was the start of my love for him.

He’s the one author I probably wouldn’t be able to speak to if I were to meet him.  I have a serious inferiority complex with this man.  I would like to be as good as him one day, but I will be perfectly happy settling for the title of #1 Fangirl for the rest of my life.  He’s just a master in the field of writing, and a teency bit of a god in my eyes.  LOL  A total rock star.  I have this big wooden cabinet at home with glass doors on the front of it.  Inside is my Stephen King/Anne Rice collection of hardcovers.  Those are the prized possessions in my library.  He’s the King of horror and she’s the Queen of vamp fiction.

 VAH: What does your typical writing day include?

JMG: Coffee.  Lots and LOTS of coffee.   LOL!  I don’t really get full writing days.  I am either at work during the day or I have my kids with me on the weekends.  It does happen once in a great while, but it is a rarity.  On the momentous occasions when I do get a writing day to myself, There are two directions my day can go:

Direction #1)  I drag myself out of bed and go get some coffee.  Take a hot shower to wake up a bit.  Throw on some footie pajamas (Yes, I am 34 years old and I still wear footie pajamas – black ones with Jack Skellington all over them.   What of it?  Growing up is for the birds.) and wrap myself in one of the 50 different fleece throw blankets I have kicking around my house.  Then I plant myself in front of the desk, open up the laptop, and start writing.

There is this epic battle that happens approximately every 40 minutes or so between the angel on my left shoulder telling me to keep writing and the devil on my right shoulder saying she bets there are some uberhot pictures of Ian Somerhalder on Pinterest that I NEED to see.  This battle will go on all day and who wins is in direct correlation to how much coffee I have ingested.

For my lunch break (if I remember to take one), I get myself some grub and probably watch an episode of Doctor Who (sooooo addicted).  Each episode is about 45-46 minutes long without commercials.  At the 20 minute mark, I start psyching myself up to get back to writing.  If I don’t do that, I will realize 4 episodes later that I haven’t gotten CRAP for writing done.

Direction #2)  Wake up at 4am with a brilliant story idea, start drinking coffee, and start writing.  After I have lost count of the number of times I have refilled my coffee and screamed at my computer at least twice due to a plot turn I wasn’t expecting or planning on, I look up and realize it is past 10pm and I have NO CLUE where the day went.

When I write, I either have to talk myself into it or hang on for dear life while it happens to me.  It’s two very different extremes.

 VAH: Thoughts on the writing community – what writing or author organizations do you belong to and where online do you frequent for community, online conversing, networking or commiserating? Do you have some favorite online sites?

JMG: It’s all about Facebook and Twitter for me.  I have tried connecting with other authors on different sites and it just hasn’t worked for me.  Reddit looked promising but their site design SUCKS.  They need something that refreshes instead of a static forum platform.  It’s great if you sit there pressing F5 every 3 minutes.  LOL!  I also tried connecting with writers on Goodreads, but there’s just too much salesmanship on there.

On Facebook and Twitter, I have connected with so many great authors.  It works out really well for me.  I have a very active Facebook fan page where I like to spend a lot of my time talking with readers, picking their brains on everything from books to music to movies to hot boys.  LOL  We have fun chatting it up on my fan page.

There are also a TON of indie author “support” groups on Facebook.  Forewarning:  A lot of the have 1000 – 2000 members and it’s just book link spam all day long.  No one says anything except “buy my book”.  However, there are a lot of good groups on there.  You just have to ask around to find the right ones.

Twitter is where I do my nerd stalking and also where I connect with a lot of bloggers and authors.  My Twitter account is run by me personally, and I use it for both my book blog and me as an author.  My tweets are just me and whatever posts automatically from all my blogs (I have several).  I have made lots of great blogger connections on there and TONS of great author connections!

The nerd stalking is all about my own nerdy obsessions.  There are some people on this planet that I find brilliant and I love to admire them from afar.  “Afar” being on Twitter, 140 characters at a time.

Some of my favorite peeps to follow are:

@Nerdist – Chris Hardwick from Nerdist Industries, The Talking Dead, The Nerdist Podcast

@ThatKevinSmith – Kevin Smith – I IDOLIZE THIS MAN AS AN ARTIST.  Writer, Director, Actor, Podcaster (Hollywood Babble-On, Plus One, and Fatman on Batman are my favorites!)

@WorldCon, @BookExpoAmerica, @NY_Comic_Con, @AADConvention, @Comic_Con, @DragonCon, and @WonderCon – All the big cons around the US

@Jesus_M_Christ, @TheTweetOfGod, @Lord_Voldemort7, @DepressedDarth, and @DeathStarPR – Some of the funniest satire on Twitter

@wnbamerica – World Book Night (everyone should totally get involved!!!)

@NathanFillion – Nathan Fillion BECAUSE HE’S AMAZING!!!

@TorBooks – Tor Books is one of my favorite publishers of good dark urban fantasy

I am not a part of any author organizations.  Not that I have anything against them, I think I am just not ready to add another something to my plate at the moment.  LOL!

 VAH: Traditional or independent publishing? Or a little of both? What choices have you made and why did you go the way you have?

JMG: That’s a tough question.  It totally depends on who you are as a person.  I would LOVE to have the man power of a marketing team behind me, but that’s the only reason I would want to get in bed with a publisher.  I love being indie.  It’s freedom and I genuinely love that.

That being said, if a publisher came to me tomorrow and said “sell me your series for $1,000,000,” I can’t say I wouldn’t take it, but it would be some long hard thinking before I made that decision.

I think both are equals in the world of publishing as far as validity goes.  I think things are much easier as a traditionally published author, but the sacrifice most trads have to make is in artistic control and that means a LOT to me.

VAH: What is your best bit of advice to save another writer some anxiety or heartache?

JMG: Anxiety – Don’t self-impose deadlines.  There’s no reason for it.  Take your time and do it right.

Heartache – If you are unable to develop a thick skin, and some people aren’t able to do that, it’s probably a good idea to just not read reviews of your book, good or bad.  Just forget about them and focus on writing.  You may read a hundred stellar reviews, and all it takes is one real craptastic review to put you in a month-long bad mood.  It’s not worth it.  It’s discouraging and makes focusing on moving forward that much more difficult.

Author Information

J.M. Gregoire was born and raised in New Hampshire, USA, and despite her abhorrence for any season that dares to drop to a temperature below seventy degrees, she still currently resides there with her two children and her two cats. Always a passionate reader, her love of urban fantasy books eventually morphed into a love of writing them. She is currently working on the Demon Legacy series, and has a spin off series, the Killer Instinct series, coming soon.

Visit J.M. Gregoire’s social media or online: Website / Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, Instagram.

Check out The Demon Legacy Series and The Killer Instinct Series.

 

December’s Three by Five Author – J. M. Gregoire – Part 2

J. M. Gregoire Part 2

Continuing the conversation with independent author J. M. Gregoire:

VAH: When did you decide you were a writer?

JMG: I have always written, as far back as I can remember, but the day I considered myself a writer for the first time was after I read the first review of Burning, the short story prequel to my Demon Legacy series.  That was the day I realized that I may actually have something.  Up until that point, although I enjoyed doing it, writing was just a form of art to me.  The problem with art is it’s very personal.  You create something out of nothing, and you love it to the core with every fiber of your being, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the world is going to think anything of it.  I have a poem I wrote years ago, and I still it love to this day.  When I read it, it transports me back to a certain point in time and I adore that feeling.  However, I would never consider calling myself a poet.  That just happened to be the art which came out on that particular day.  Poetry is all about intense emotion and very often, it’s born of a sadness of some sort.  I don’t have that in me.  I am too much of an optimist.  However, I have always been a storyteller.  When I started to create the Demon Legacy world, I still wasn’t convinced I was a writer. It took someone else calling me a writer for me to realize it.  Now I feel it in everything I do.

 VAH: As an independently published author what is your best advice for emerging writers?

JMG: First, read a lot and write every day even if you only write a few sentences.  Not to compare your work to others, but to learn from other styles.  Reading lots of different styles will help you develop your own unique style.

Second, be humble and accept constructive criticism when you ask for it.  If you ask for someone’s opinion, and you’re only asking so someone will pat you on the back and tell you how good and smart you are, you’re going to be very angry and highly disappointed when they actually come back with suggestions.  This is something which some authors never learn, and it’s the worst mistake of their career.

Third, NEVER STOP BEING A FAN.  The second you stop getting stupid excited about writing, not just your own, is the day it starts to become a chore.  Get out and meet the authors you have fangirled or fanboyed over for years.  Get so excited and nervous that your stomach turns.  When you stop getting that feeling, I guarantee you will miss it like you’ve never missed anything in your life.  Admiring another author feels just as good as being admired.  I think a lot of writers forget to keep being a nerd for writing and I find that very sad.

Fourth, learn the ropes of publishing a book BEFORE you hit publish.  Use betas.  Use editors.  Use proofreaders.  Have a cover professionally made by someone who knows what they’re doing.  Polish your book until you think it can’t possibly shine any brighter.  THEN PUBLISH.  There’s absolutely no reason to rush the process.

VAH: What are your thoughts on studying writing?

JMG: I don’t have a MFA in writing.  I don’t think you need one to be a writer.  However, it certainly couldn’t hurt.  I can honestly say I don’t know a single reader who goes out and checks the collegiate history of an author before or after they’ve read one of their books.  I think if you’re a writer, you’re a writer.  It’s not something which can be taught, simply because creativity is either in you or it’s not.  That being said, I feel studying writing is good for a writer in the technical sense.  Higher learning is always a good thing.  I think it is just a matter of how you apply it.  Now, in my genre (urban fantasy and paranormal romance), it’s not “necessary” to have a masters in writing as the genre itself tends to be written in a way which sounds more like one person telling another person a story in every day conversation.  Twist that same line of thinking into something like literary fiction and you’ll probably find the majority of LitFic authors are in possession of some sort of writing degree.  Not to point fingers or anything, but there’s a reason a lot of LitFic authors look down on genre fiction authors.  I look at it this way – everyone from all different walks of life love to read and the reader themselves shouldn’t need a degree to be able to enjoy reading a book.  I think that is the mindset which most genre fiction is written from.  So, is it worthwhile? Of course!!  Is it necessary to be a successful writer?   I think that depends on the tone and genre of your writing.

VAH: Do you have a favorite conference or writing retreat/seminar?

JMG:  I have only done a few cons so far, but the one I am really excited about is The Novel Experience Event in Las Vegas in April 2015.  That one is going to have 500 authors and 5 days of fun!  I can’t wait!

 VAH: Are you a full-time writer and if not, what is the job that sustains you so you may write?

JMG: Unfortunately, I am not a full-time writer yet.  For now, my day job is working at a major financial services company.  I answer internal employee Help Desk calls all day.  It may sound tedious, but I love it.  I am able to drink all the coffee my body can handle, and most of the time, I am strapped into my iPod with either a podcast playing or an audiobook playing.  For someone who loves audiobooks, and I totally do (narrators are rock stars in my world), it’s a dream job.  It’s low stress and I am able to write all day long between calls.  Plus, I have a group of “fans” at work that follow my writing which is kind of fun.

Author Information

J.M. Gregoire was born and raised in New Hampshire, USA, and despite her abhorrence for any season that dares to drop to a temperature below seventy degrees, she still currently resides there with her two children and her two cats. Always a passionate reader, her love of urban fantasy books eventually morphed into a love of writing them. She is currently working on the Demon Legacy series, and has a spin off series, the Killer Instinct series, coming soon.

Visit J.M. Gregoire’s social media or online: Website / Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, Instagram.

Check out The Demon Legacy Series and The Killer Instinct Series.