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Hudson Bartholomew

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Blog Entries posted by Hudson Bartholomew

  1. Hudson Bartholomew
    I mentioned in my last blog post (which was back in December, omg!) that I have a couple of books being published this year! The first one came out on Monday!! It's called Inside Darkness and it's about a humanitarian aid worker struggling with PTSD and an Asian American journalist who encounters systemic racism. It's dark and gritty and angsty; the sex is fast but the emotions are slow burn (I stole that last part from a reviewer, hehe). 
     
    It's hard to believe that I am officially a Published Author (TM). There was no party, no cake, no one handing me a big cheque. Just some nice people sending me congratulations messages on social media and a friend took me out to lunch. From the outside, being an author looks so glamorous, but at the end of the day it's a job just like any other: finish one project and move on to the next! Still, I'm super proud of myself for having chased after this dream and having accomplished it. I have another book coming out in July and a couple where I'm waiting to hear from the publisher, and still more waiting to be written on my laptop. 
     
    Big thank you to everyone here who read my early stories and gave me such encouragement to keep going! I couldn't have done it without you!
     
    If you would like more information about my book, you can find it on my website: http://www.hudsonlin.com/book/inside-darkness/
  2. Hudson Bartholomew
    It’s December and I’d like to take some time to look back over this past year. In January, I wrote about how New Year’s resolutions weren’t really my thing. Well, taking stock of a year was also never my thing. But this year has been a year of firsts for me, so here goes.
     
    I started the year by posting Between the Push and Pull, a story about two porn stars who fall in love but couldn’t overcome the baggage they brought to the relationship.
     
    In March, I wrote a short 18k story with the idea that I’d self-publish it. I eventually got a professional editor to take a crack at it and she suggested I take the story in a completely different direction, turning it from an M/M into an M/M/M. I loved the idea, but it means a complete re-write. I haven’t come back to it yet, but that’s on my list for 2018.
     
    In April, I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo and wrote a 77k story about a humanitarian aid worker struggling with PTSD who meets an overachieving journalist. Over the summer, I pitched this story to a handful of agents, all of whom turned it down. It was difficult to receive rejection after rejection, especially from my dream agent. I know a handful of agents isn’t a lot when most authors pitch to 100+, but rejection is never easy for me.
     
    I was all set to self-publish it when I figured I’d submit it directly to a LGBTQ+ publisher just to see what would happen. Turns out they loved it, and in November, I signed a contract with Riptide Publishing to publish it in June 2018!
     
    In September, I entered an excerpt of this story to a sex scene writing competition. I thought I'd get dropped after the first round, but I made it into the semi-finals! That was due in large part to the wonderful people here at GA. So  
     
    I also submitted this story to a contest run by Pink Kayak Press for unpublished romance manuscripts featuring underrepresented and diverse characters. At the end of November, I was selected as a finalist! The winner will be decided by the end of this year; I’ll announce it here if I win.
     
    In May, I posted Stepping Out in Faith, about a closeted priest and the man who helps him come to terms with his sexuality. It was previously posted on another site, but I revamped it and got it edited for GA.
     
    In June, I started writing the sequel to Push and Pull, called Embracing the Tension, to give Ryan and Erik their happily ever after. This one has taken me some time to get through as I often got distracted by other writing projects. But it’s finally been edited and I’m taking one last pass through it. It should be ready for posting before the end of the year, but I may wait till January and start it the same time Push and Pull started!
     
    In July, I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo again and wrote a 45k story set in Hong Kong. It’s about a Canadian man who is sent on a three-month assignment to Hong Kong and he meets a local, sophisticated lawyer. This was written specifically for Dreamspinner Press’ World of Love series and it was contracted in October. It will be published in June/July 2018!
     
    In August, I wrote a 12k short story about an ESL teacher who falls in love with a refugee from Ethiopia. This story is a departure from my typical style—written in first person, sweet, no sex. But despite it being a little off-brand, I really enjoyed taking a different approach to my writing. This was written specifically for NineStar Press’ Teacher’s Pet Anthology and it was contracted in October. It will be published in February 2018!
     
    In October, I wrote an 18k erotic short story featuring my first female character in a very long time. She’s a high-powered lawyer in a not-so-friendly rivalry with her co-worker, a bisexual man. This story is intended for Carina Press’ The Dirty Bits series, but I still need to edit the heck out of it before I can submit it to the publisher for consideration.
     
    At the start of this year, my New Year’s resolution was to become a published author. I knew it was going to be a tough road, but I threw everything I had into it. I found a great group of writing friends who have encouraged and challenged me. The people I’ve met on GA have been incredibly supportive. While I will end 2017 still unpublished, I still consider the year a resounding success.
     
    Over the next few weeks, I will be setting goals for 2018. Apparently, there’s something to this New Year’s resolution thing. 
  3. Hudson Bartholomew
    Whelp. I didn't make it past the semi-finals, but that's okay, because I never thought I'd make it that far to begin with!! I was up against some published and professional authors and I'm very proud of myself for taking a leap of faith and entering the contest at all. 
     
    BIG  to everyone who voted for me!! I  you all! 
  4. Hudson Bartholomew
    *RUNS IN FLAILING* 
     
    I'M IN THE SEMI-FINALS!!!!   
     
    I almost feel bad asking everyone to keep voting for me at this point because I really only thought I'd have to solicit votes for a round or two... not four rounds!! But if you want to keep me in the game, repping GA, and bringing the crown home to celebrate, please keep voting!! Voting ends tomorrow (Friday) at 4pm ET. 
     
    http://www.scorching-book-reviews.com/sscenec2017-semi-final-1-pot-a-hudson-lin-vs-amy-andrews-hudsonlinwrites-amyandrewsbooks/
     
    I assume everyone knows the routine by now: scroll to the bottom, see the box about the Raffle Prize Draw, log in with an email or Facebook account. If you didn't know, this also enters you to win prizes from the participating authors! 
     
    This was posted with permission from site administration.
  5. Hudson Bartholomew
    You guys!! I made it into the quarter finals!! I honestly didn't think I'd even make it out of the first round, and I have all of you to thank for getting this far. 
     
    If you want to help me stay in the competition, please follow this link and vote!! Voting ends 3pm Eastern on Tuesday, October 24th.
     
    http://www.scorching-book-reviews.com/sscenec2017-hudson-lin-vs-kryssie-fortune-hudsonlinwrites-kryssiefortune/
     
    To vote, scroll to the bottom and the box that says "Pick from the Sex Scene Championship Raffle Prize Draw." You can log in with an email address or a Facebook account. 
     
    If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I explain it all here: 
     
    This was posted with permission from site administration. 
     
     
     
  6. Hudson Bartholomew
    I made it into the next round! 
     
    For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, I entered a writing competition a couple of weeks ago for the hottest sex scene.  I wrote a blog post about it here: 
     
    Thanks to your help, I won my first round and I'm now up against someone new!! Go check out this round's scene and if you like what I wrote, please vote! http://www.scorching-book-reviews.com/sscenec2017-final-16-erin-mclellan-vs-hudson-lin-emclellanwrites-hudsonlinwrites/
     
    To vote, scroll to the bottom of the page where there is a box that says "Pick from the Sex Scene Championship Raffle Prize Draw." You can login with your email or a Facebook account. 
     
     This was posted with permission from site administration.
  7. Hudson Bartholomew
    Hey Everyone!!
     
    Some of you may know that I like to write HOT sexy times for my characters  Well, I've entered an online competition for authors who write hot sex scenes!!
     
    It's a bracket style competition where two authors are pit head-to-head, and the author with the most votes advances to the next round. My first round starts today and voting is open for 48 hours. I'd love it if you went and checked out the scene I wrote. If you like it, please vote!!!!
     
    http://www.scorching-book-reviews.com/sscenec2017-kelly-maher-vs-hudson-lin-kmmaher-hudsonlinwrites/
     
    Thanks for indulging me!! 
     
    This blog was posted with approval from site administration. 
  8. Hudson Bartholomew
    When I started this blog, I had a feeling I was going to be terrible at posting regularly. I’m not surprised that it’s been seven months since my last post. Oops! 
     
    Two main things have been keeping me from updating this blog and from being on GA more generally.
     
    The first is that I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo in April, and then again in July. For those of you not familiar with NaNoWriMo, it’s a writing challenge where the goal is to write 50,000 words in one month—enough for a novel.
     
    In April and July, writers can set their own word count goals, and also join cabins to meet other writers. I was lucky enough to find a wonderful group of people also writing m/m romance and also hoping to become published, so I’ve been spending a lot of my time working with them to polish my writing.
     
    The second thing is that I’ve been submitting my work to agents and publishers. So far, all the agents I’ve submitted to have given me rejections, which has been hard, but it’s part of the process. Some publishers have also given me rejections, but I’m happy to announce that at least one of them said yes!
     
    Dreamspinner Press has agreed to publish one of my novellas!!! 
     
    I’m a little shell shocked, to be honest. In fact, it doesn’t feel quite real. But I’ve got a signed contract and they’ve begun emailing me about the production process, so it must be real, right?  
     
    The book isn’t scheduled to be released until next summer, so I still have a long ways to go yet. In the meantime, I’ve been working on the sequel to Ryan and Erik's story, called Embracing the Tension. I’m in edits right now, so it’s almost ready!!
     
    Stay tuned!
  9. Hudson Bartholomew
    Over on Twitter, I follow some authors who are strong advocates of writing characters who are people of color. There are some strong opinions about this, and the general message I'm hearing is this: 
     
    1. There should be more characters who are people of color because (i) this is more representative of the real world (where not everyone is Caucasian), and (ii) readers who are people of color should be able to read stories about characters who look like them. 
    2. It is difficult for Caucasian writers to authentically portray characters who are people of color because they have not lived that experience and they may not understand the nuances of that community. This often leads to stereotypical characters who reinforce stereotypes.
    3. Some people feel that Caucasian writers should not write main characters who are people of color because of #2 above, and because they should leave room for writers who are people of color themselves to write their own stories. 
     
    I, myself, am a person of color; full disclosure, I’m Chinese, grew up in Canada. Having consumed Western media from a young age, I rarely saw people who looked like me on TV, in movies, or even in the books I read. I never gave it a second thought.
     
    I took it as given that the make-believe world of storytelling was supposed to be made up of all Caucasian people, and that has translated into my own writing. In all the stories I’ve written to date, all my characters, even the secondary ones, are Caucasian.
     
    The movement for having more diversity in entertainment is something I’ve seen growing in recent years, and although the lack of diversity never bothered me before, I do believe that greater diversity is good. That’s why I’ve committed to writing at least one of my main characters as Chinese going forward—that’s what I know, and I know all its ins and outs very well, so why not put that out there for others to see?
     
    My pondering on this subject has raised a whole bunch of questions: should people of color write characters of a different color (wouldn’t that be the same problem as Caucasian writers?); most stereotypes are based in some truth, so how much of that truth is allowed; do all characters who are people of color have to be positive role models?
     
    At the risk of starting an internet shouting match, I’d like to see what other people think. If you have an opinion that you can express politely and respectfully, then let me know what your thoughts are. 

  10. Hudson Bartholomew
    I got some bad news today. It wasn’t anything terribly tragic, and I was kind of expecting it, anyway, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. But it was disappointing all the same.
     
    Anytime I get bad news, I immediately go into self-doubt mode and systematically convince myself that I’m not worth my salt, I’m not good at anything, and who am I to think I deserve to have what I want. It’s always the same voice in my head, and it always says the same things. The voice has become so familiar over the years that, these days when it speaks, I recognized it immediately.
     
    That voice was speaking today. I recognized it and I know it’s unhealthy, so I’ve been actively trying to ignore it. But it’s still there, whispering away in the background, and it won’t shut up.
     
    I was in an elevator today and standing next to a pizza delivery guy. If I had to guess, I’d say he was middle aged, probably an immigrant based on his accent; he reminded me of my dad circa 20 years ago, when I was a teenager in high school. In my head, I imagined that this guy had a family at home, maybe he had kids who were in high school, and here he was delivering pizzas to make ends meet.
     
    I hope I don’t sound pretentious, I don’t want my life to look like that when I reach his age; I don’t want to be delivering pizzas when I’m middle aged. And I’m fairly confident that my life won’t look like that. Because I’m lucky. I’m lucky to have a well-paying job, to have resources at my disposal, to have skills and abilities that are sought after in this job market. Not everyone has those, and I often forget just how lucky I am.
     
    It’s hard to remember to be grateful. It’s much easier to wallow in my own self-pity. When I get bad news, it’s hard to remember that life isn’t over, that I’m still good at a lot of things, and I can and deserve to be a worthwhile member of society. It’s hard to pick myself back up, put on a brave face and continue on.
     
    And, really, today’s bad news? It wasn’t terribly tragic, and I was expecting it, and I have other options to explore. That’s what I’ve been repeating to myself, trying to drown out that stupid voice in my head. Because I’m lucky, and I should be grateful for what I have.
  11. Hudson Bartholomew
    I’ve recently begun reading blogs and listening to podcasts from published authors, with the goal of learning from their experience and being inspired to keep writing. Unfortunately, this seems to have backfired, because the more I listen to them and learn about their writing process, the more I feel like I could never do what they do.
     
    They talk about discipline, setting aside time every day to write X number of words. They talk about using various tools and software to help organize their thoughts. They talk about the importance of research. This is all fine; it’s manageable and I understand how to work these tips into my own writing habits.
     
    But then they talk about characters pestering them in their heads, itching to get out onto the page. They talk about different characters having different speech patterns. They talk about creating fake text message conversations between characters to figure out what type of emojis each would use. They talk about writing what a character sees, feels, smells and hears in each scene. They talk about character development and plot development in a way that feels unattainable to me.
     
    Honestly, characters never scream at me in my head; I have to prod them with pointy things to get them to tell me their story. I’ve tried writing different speech patterns for different characters, but when I edit, they all sound the same—they all kind of sound like me, unfortunately. I write SO SLOWLY it feels like I’m inching along while everyone zooms ahead. And while I’m constantly wishing I could forego all other responsibilities in life so I can write, whenever I sit down in front of my computer, my mind often draws a blank.
     
    I wanted to learn from these authors because I admire them; and I admire them because they’re such great writers. So it should come as no surprise to me that they’re exceptionally skilled at their craft. And I’m just starting out, so there’s obviously much for me to learn and lots of space for me to grow. But sometimes it feels so overwhelming and I don’t know where to start.
  12. Hudson Bartholomew
    I've recently received some comments on my writing that I loved. And no, they weren't about how great my writing was, they were about things the reader didn't like.
     
    Don't get me wrong. I love getting positive comments and knowing that people enjoy my writing. But I found that I liked the constructive feedback a lot, too. They were written respectfully and politely, explaining why the reader didn't like a particular character or why they disagreed with some aspect of the story. All very legitimate points that I found myself nodding in agreement with.
     
    As a writer, I go through multiple rounds of editing and rewriting until I feel like I’ve polished away all the blemishes I can see. But I by no means believe that just because I can’t see any more blemishes, that means blemishes no longer exist. Even stepping away from a story and revisiting it with fresh eyes can only bring it that much further. There comes a point when I’ve done all I can, but the story isn’t quite there yet.
     
    And that’s where other people come in. I’d love to hear honest reviews—maybe brutally honest—that explain why something I wrote isn’t working. Pepper it with niceties, sure, but I’d like to think I can take some negative reviews and constructive criticism. So if you’ve ever read anything I’ve written and thought, “Gee, I wish this were different,” or “I really didn’t like that,” or “That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever,” please do let me know.
     
    On second thought, maybe I should be careful what I wish for…
  13. Hudson Bartholomew
    I'm not usually one to make new year's resolutions, so I'm not sure why this year is different.
     
    My normal reluctance is wrapped up in a slew of psychological dysfunctions where if I never set goals, then I can never fail. And if I never fail, then I'm perfect; and if I'm perfect, then people will like me. Luckily (or maybe unluckily) for me, I've always tended to excel at whatever I try my hand at, so there's rarely been a need for me to step outside my comfort zone, take a risk, and do something that's meaningful but scary.
     
    As the final days of 2016 were coming to a close, this comfortable, relatively successful life that I've happened upon just didn't feel enough anymore. I have everything that I could reasonably want: a steady, well paying job; a great place to live in a cool, world class city; family close by; friends who are fun to hang out with... but is it enough to just live an easy life?
     
    I've always wanted to write (I remember being a teenager and telling my mom that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up... it didn't go over well.) and my computer is full of abandoned, half written stories that I didn't have the guts to finish. Last year, I finally found the courage to see one through to the end, and posted it on another website to decent reviews. In the weeks following its posting, I discovered the thrill that comes with sharing my personal fairy tales with others; it's addicting, and now I want more.
     
    So here's my resolution for 2017, the first new year's resolution of my life: I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to be a published author. There, I said it.
     
    I know it's not an easy task to accomplish, and it will take a lot work to get there. Which is why I'm stepping out of the anonymity afforded by the Internet, and engaging with other writers and editors. I'm setting a goal. Maybe I'll fail and admit that I'm not perfect; maybe no one will like me. But at least I'll know that I tried, I took a risk and chased after a dream. Hopefully, that will be enough.
     
    Happy New Year!
    HB
     
    ps. there is a story in the works for GA. It's currently being edited and will hopefully be ready for posting in the new future.
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