A. M. Hudson - Guest Blog & Giveaway - Tears of the Broken Tour

Today, I welcome author A. M. Hudson to give us some insight into her writing and tell us a bit about her latest release. Don't forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the page!

So You Want to Write?

When I started looking for a topic to write my guest post on, I trolled through themes like teen depression (as I touch on the issue in my books), I thought about a post on music, or the psychology behind the need to read and why we fall in love with fictional characters, but, I decided to post a topic about writing. It's the one thing in the world I’m more passionate about than anything. So, that's a good start.

Most people who love to read have probably thought, once or twice, about maybe, one day, possibly writing a novel. Maybe. But where to start?

When I decided that writing was the path for me, I kept it to myself. I didn’t want to hear "I told you so" if ever the writing didn’t work out. I'd just had my third child, was struggling with the economic crisis (as we all were), and had nothing but an iTunes playlist, a notepad and a pen. That was where Tears of the Broken began.

And those are the first things you need if you want to write.

The second thing you need is a little bit of suffering. "Suffering?" I hear you say. Yes, suffering. Ever heard the phrase "Can't have a poet without the pain"? Well, that's true. So, if you've lived a tragically boring life, or travelled the world, or cried your heart out for the boy in grade school who said you were ugly, then you, my friend, may one day become a great writer. You will draw on every experience, every embarrassing moment and every frustration you ever had, and turn it into a story. Sometimes, things happen for a reason, and sometimes that reason is to learn a lesson, and then, sometimes, it's just so you can become a damn good writer. Pretty good reason to suffer, if you ask me.

When you first put the tip of your pen to paper and write your first word, you will officially be a writer. Welcome to the most wonderful world of experiences gained, lessons learned and analysed, and a community of people who will support and encourage you. It will be your job to create worlds for others to escape to--for those who have suffered too, but haven't found and outlet, and for those who have never suffered and need to know what it means by reading about a character who goes through some great, plot-busting ordeal.

Here are four points to get you started:

1. We write the world for people to see as we see it, but in order to do that you have to break it down to the smallest detail. Take everything in. Every line on every leaf, describe in your head as you stroll along a forest floor the way the leaves seem to reach across the trail, hands of nature, searching for a friend. Take note of the way a face changes when a person is angry or lying, or just lay and look down at your partner, describing their features to yourself, or to them, if you like.

2. Think all the time about stuff. Yes, stuff. Just spend time thinking about things.

3. Write a journal. All good writing comes from bad writing. You wanna be a writer? Write bad first.

4. Keep it to yourself if you're fragile, and only show people when you are ready.

Do you need a college/university degree to be a writer? Hell no. Do you need to spend time researching techniques and reading up about spelling and grammar on blog posts. Hell yes. If you want to be a good writer, spend half your time writing and the other half bettering yourself through reading books (fiction/non-fiction) and reading how-to's on writing. Then, all you have to do is come up with a great story and start giving it to your friends for feedback. You don’t need special qualifications or a MacBook Pro in order to write. Just pick up a pen and get visualising. Best way to start your story is to say "Imagine if..."

Those who have followed the amazing success of Tears of the Broken will know that it too started out as a blog book, and let me tell you, it was nothing of the shiny, gloriously funny and romantic novel it is today. It started out as a story called "The Girl in the Yellow Dress" (no relation to any girls with dragon tattoos). And after three years of fattening and thinning and fattening again, it became the tale of a girl whose world was torn apart by tragedy, who falls in love with a vampire and is forced to choose an eternity of murder or a mortal life without her soul mate. I got so busy writing that The Girl in the Yellow Dress became five books. It transformed from a tale about love, and took on a deep fantasy angle after book three, where you will meet kings of ancient nations and fight battles alongside knights, be torn from one heart to the next, and question the honour of your inner self. You will ask yourself whose side you will be on when the epic tale of wrong and right continues.

And the only way I reached world success and fame was to sit my butt at my desk or wherever I was at the time, and just write.

There will be so many obstacles, so many things that make you think you're not worthy and that you should just give up, but, like my friend Peter at the Australian Writers' Forum said (and these are not the exact words), "The only difference between a published writer and a person who wants to write is persistence."

Sometimes, just rolling on is all you can do.

I thank you all for having me today, and remember, you have to write bad to write well. So get writing, and I hope to read your epic tales soon.

And feel free to check out Tears of the Broken. If you love vampires, you won't be disappointed ... well, until the last page when you have to wait for book 2.

Tears of the Broken

Book 1 in the Dark Secrets Series

by A.M. Hudson









Book Blurb:

Lies are the shadows of betrayal...the vampire will be the light.

When you love someone, there's nothing you wouldn't forgive. But what about murder?

Ara-Rose will learn that life is fashioned from one tragedy after the next, and that sometimes, the truth people hide from you is nothing you could have imagined.

But Ara has secrets of her own, and she's willing to take them to her grave--a place David Knight will fight to keep her from.

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Excerpt:

I nodded toward the guitar lying abandoned on the rug. “Music is something that comes from a really deep place in me. I feel things so much, so completely, and that song—” I leaned back and looked into his emerald eyes. “It was so beautiful.”

“It reminds me of you, Ara.” His gaze penetrated my watery barrier and made my heart forget how to beat.

“Why?”

“Don’t you see how much I'm in love with you?” He grabbed my face and rested his fingers under my hair at the back of my neck. “Don’t you get it? Forever doesn't have to be a curse for me. Not anymore—not now that I have you.”

Motionless, breathless, with the only connection to the real world being the burning sun above, my mind fought for reason. “But we don’t get to live forever.”

“What if we did? What if you could have an eternity with me?” His thumb pressed into my cheek a little. “Would you take it?”

“If there was such a magic in the world.” A soft breeze cooled the top of my head and a peaceful serenity encased us. “If eternity were real—I’d give my soul to spend it with you.”

Author Bio:

A.M. Hudson started writing full-time after her third child. She lives a more than ordinary life in Australia with her husband and children. When she's not writing, she sings in a duo or can be found under a pile of books.

Website: http://www.darksecretsseries.com/index.html

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dark-Secrets-Series/182780011734465

Twitter: http://twitter.com/AMHudsonAuthor

 The Giveaway

A. M. Hudson is offering one e-book copy of Tears of the Broken to one lucky reader. 

The giveaway is open to international entries and anyone over 13 years of age can join in. Just fill in the Rafflecopter below.

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