Introducing Allan Hudson

It’s my great pleasure to introduce Allan Hudson. Many of you will already know Allan through his work as a contributor to the Miramichi Reader. Others will be familiar with his author’s blog, the South Branch Scribbler. He is the author of the Drake Alexander adventure series Dark Side of a Promise and Wall of War, a collection of short stories A Box of Memories, the Jo Naylor series Shattered Figurine and Shattered Lives, and a historical novel The Alexanders.

Allan Hudson’s new novel Vigilantes is launching on August 21. He joins us today to talk about never giving up. Over to you, Allan!

Never give up.

You write a story, maybe it’s a short story, maybe it’s a thick novel. Or you write a poem, or a memoir or a how-to book. Whatever you write, there is always a niggling doubt in your mind, like picking at a loose thread. Will it stand up to scrutiny? Will anybody like it? Will anyone read it?

Every writer or author yearns for the praise of our readers, to be accepted. We find a favourable review and oh, does it feel good. Yes! It’s what you’ve been waiting for – someone liked my story. They enjoyed it enough that they wanted to tell people. This in turn, propels the writer to carry on. Write more stories.

Now, you may ask – why did I title this post, Never Give Up?

Let me share an experience. I met a gentleman online through a mutual author friend who he followed. We had a delightful first conversation. He bought one of my earlier novels and I bought one of his novellas. He did not do a review but he sent me a message. It was vicious. It hurt. On and on it went, tearing my story apart, what was wrong, what it needed, too much of this, not enough of that, etc. I was devastated.

I wanted to give up. I swore I would never write another word. I closed my Facebook account, my Twitter account, telling my readers it was over. I ignored my blog and confessed I had no more desire to write anything. I moped for a week or two.

Then I received another email informing me a reader had left a review. A stranger bought the same book. They loved it. Now I was confused. The latest email had me thinking, have I caved too easily? Can I not bear up to the fact everyone will not like my stories? It was a wake-up call, telling me to toughen up, straighten up those shoulders, don’t be such a wuss.

I revisited the email which almost killed my writing. I checked out the individual who wrote the scathing review, visited his blog, checked reviews of his writing, checked his reviews, etc. I discovered he was a curmudgeonly bitter old man, never said anything good about anyone’s writing. Went on and on about how perfect his own writing is, putting everybody else down. I had to stop and think of what is this person going through. How do you look at the world with such a negative attitude? Am I going to let him ruin my fun? Nope. I love to write too much.

I learned a valuable lesson then. It was good I received the terrible letter. This is real. Not everyone who reads your work will like it. There is an odd beauty in that statement. Would it not be a dull world if everybody loved the same story or wrote the same story? I think it would be. We need and thrive on diversification. I love mysteries, paranormal, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, love stories and so on. When I pick up a novel, it is a rare thing not to be able to finish a book, but it happens for whatever reason. Or I finish a book and I’m disappointed. It happens. But I will never write a review to cause hurt or shame for the author.

So, what does this all have with never giving up?

I forgot that incident, realizing his opinion didn’t matter. I took it personal and really, it is only one person’s opinion. I decided then and there, I will write stories, there will be people who love it or like it. Some will leave a review, most won’t but if I find one I disagree with, I respect what they say, if it’s done in good taste and not meant to injure.

Here I am, ten years later and I’ve written other novels, a collection of short stories, two action novellas and guess what? People buy my books and comment how much they enjoy them. My reward. There have been a few occasions when I received comments which are unflattering but… I’ll Never Give Up.

Allan Hudson’s new novel, Vigilantes

I’m about to launch the third Drake Alexander Adventure. The story is titled Vigilantes. Do I want everyone to like it? Sure, I do, but I’m not worried about it as much as I did before. In fact, it’s certain there will be folks that are disappointed or not like it BUT, there will be devoted readers who will be waiting in line to pick up their copy, anxious to read what Allan wrote. And that my friends, is what makes it worth it.

I hope you have a chance to read it. If you like it let me know. If you don’t, still let me know – be kind, it will help me grow as an author.

Vigilantes – a synopsis.

The master vintner at Chateau Lambert Estates, Jean-Paul Chouinard, stares up the rise at the family cemetery, where the darling of the house was laid to rest yesterday. The grave site is surrounded by four men and a woman. The people whose service Mireille Lambert was in when she died. One of them was her lover. One of them is Drake Alexander.

Chouinard knows what they do. He knows who Alexander is. He hears the whispers. Vigilantes.

He grieves knowing the brothers who are responsible for his daughter’s death twenty years ago have not been apprehended. Maybe it’s been too long. Maybe the brothers are already dead. Maybe, if he asked, Alexander and his people could find them.

Pick up your copy on Amazon.ca or Amazon.com

My thanks to Allan Hudson for dropping by. Vigilantes sounds intriguing and I love that cover—even more reason to never give up. Connect with Allan here:

On his website www.southbranchscribbler.com

On Facebook www.facebook.com/southbranchscribbler (or @southbranchscribbler)

On Goodreads www.goodreads.com/allanhudson

On Twitter www.twitter.com/hudson_allan (@hudson_allan)

Allan and I were introduced online through our mutual friend, Susan Toy. And though we’ve not (yet!) met in person, we’ve had many digital conversations over the years. What you may not know about Allan, is that he is a stalwart supporter of writers, showcasing their books, interviewing them, and sharing their book reviews. Case(s) in point, Allan covered the launch of the fourth book in the Gift Legacy series on the South Branch Scribbler. A few years later, he covered the rebrand of my series when the trilogy morphed into the legacy. You can find all the links on my Featured On page.

Allan is an inspiration and I wish him much success with his new release. He lives in Cocagne, NB, with his wife Gloria.