wodke-hawkinson.com Blog Musings from deviant minds (Or how writers think)

5Feb/140

Announcing Changes In Betrayed, the novel by Wodke Hawkinson

After we published our novel

5Feb/140

New Release & Cover Reveal: Dark Longings by @WodkeHawkinson

New Release & Cover Reveal: Dark Longings by @WodkeHawkinson

 

Ruby Hayes spends her days working in a coffee shop and attending college. After a mysterious phone call, her ex-boyfriend Kenny goes missing and Ruby is determined to find out what happened to him. Although the police are looking into his disappearance, Ruby decides to pursue her own investigation. Details, seemingly unconnected to Kenny, begin to emerge. A body fished from the river. A vampire-themed nightclub. A shadowy group whose members include the elite and powerful of the city. Secret gatherings where perverted desires are sated and dark fantasies played out. A series of unsolved murders.

Each clue brings Ruby closer to the truth...and nearer to danger. Will she find Kenny? Or will she herself become prey?

Dark Longings on Kindle at Amazon
Dark Longings in multiple formats on Smashwords
Dark Longings on Nook at Barnes & Noble

Coming soon to paperback!

30Apr/136

How We Do Twitter

We were excited when we discovered Twitter and learned how to use it to promote our material. We

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13Feb/130

New Release & Cover Reveal: SUE, a sequel to ZEKE by @WodkeHawkinson

 

New Release & Cover Reveal: SUE, a sequel to ZEKE by @WodkeHawkinson

We hadn

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14Oct/122

Tangerine—Here at Last

 

Announcing the Release of Tangerine

Tangerine has now been released by our publisher in digital form on Smashwords. The paperback version is coming soon, possibly by next spring or summer. The book has undergone revision and is now ready for readers.

Tangerine is quite different from our other two novels, Betrayed and Zeke. It was actually our first co-written work. We pitched it to publishers and waited. Nothing happened.

After positive experiences with self-publishing our other books, we decided to self-publish Tangerine as well. Very soon after that, a publisher to whom we had originally pitched
the manuscript contacted us with an offer. We accepted that offer and yanked Tangerine from all venues. Now, after having undergone a rewrite, our first novel is once again on the market.

We were conflicted about labeling Tangerine a science fiction novel, for it is not hard sci-fi. But it does have certain elements in common with that genre. It

3May/122

Zeke here at last

Dear reader,

For those of you who have been (im)patiently waiting for our next novel, the waiting time is now at an end. We actually started the novel, Zeke, before we wrote Betrayed, Betrayed Alternate-Ending, and Blue, but we were taking it in a different direction than it ended up going. Let me explain why this novel is taking us so very long to finish.

You see, there

2Feb/120

Surprise no longer on the Way; it’s here!

Betrayed Alternate Ending

Here's our promised surprise. As we said, it is something about Betrayed. What could we possibly have done with a novel that is completed? Well, I'll tell you...We wrote an Alternate ending. Check it out today @ http://www.amazon.com/Betrayed-Alternate-Ending-Wodke-Hawkinson/dp/1470043653/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346186589&sr=8-1&keywords=betrayed-alternate+ending, https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/130643, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/betrayed-alternate-ending-wodke-hawkinson/1108622042?ean=2940014008853

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29Sep/112

Excerpt from Betrayed by Wodke Hawkinson

28Sep/112

Marry Me

by PJ Hawkinson

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28Sep/110

Writing Rape

Every survivor of rape experiences the trauma in her (or his) own unique way. Some common after-effects include fear, anger, guilt, shame, loss of trust, anxiety, insomnia, and even denial. Because of the element of shame associated with rape, many victims are reluctant to report the crime and /or seek the help they need.

Like child molestation, rape is an abhorrent and aberrant behavior, one that people are expected to realize is wrong without being told. They are expected to glean this from social cues as they grow from children to adults. As mature humans, they should ideally have no inclinations toward sexual abuse, or at the very least, perceive that such urges are considered deviant and are criminal. Perhaps this is expecting too much of some small minds. Perhaps it needs to be stated directly and without flinching that forcing sex on anyone against that person's will is worse than just a bad idea; it's deeply and unequivocally wrong. Would having this fact ingrained from an early age stop a perpetrator? Probably not. I suspect many rapists commit their first offense before the societal clue gets through their brains. It certainly couldn't hurt to add this information to any sex education program. Rape is wrong.

Stupidity is no excuse for rape. Ignorance of laws, societal mores, and moral standards is no excuse either. But you have to wonder how many people were ever told not to do it. Although experts claim rape is not about sexual gratification, but about power and control, a rape survivor might have difficulty accepting that. Victims can be rendered powerless or humiliated without sexual contact. While I will concede to the experts on that point, it's pretty damn hard to distance the intrusive sexual element from the crime and see it as strictly a domination/control offense. Rapists are much more than mere bullies who never learned to keep their hands to themselves. That they have chosen to exert their sadistic control via a sexual attack is significant.

When researching the subject of rape for our novel, Betrayed, we encountered sad statistics and shocking first-hand accounts. If this influenced our decision to grant the perpetrators in our tale less than well-rounded personalities, then so be it. They were undeserving of such, and frankly, we didn't care to give them that much respect. It's possible we will be criticized for this, but we shrug our shoulders. If someone else wants to portray rapists as misunderstood and maligned characters with full and complex personalities, then that's their business. They can pound away at their keyboards to their hearts' content. Maybe the future will change our minds; maybe we will be interested in that challenge someday. But not now.

We also learned that survivors have to take the time to heal and need the space to experience their anger and rage, feelings to which they have every right. Each individual that has endured rape must heal in her (or his) own way. Help is available. There are many excellent websites, hot-lines, books, articles, therapists, and groups ready and willing to step up and assist a survivor. For these caring resources, we say thank you.

Sexual violence is only part of the story in Betrayed. Survival and recovery have important places in the tale, as does love. Our character emerges on the other side of her devastating experience a different person. Though it does not happen overnight, she is able to overcome.


A partial list of resources:

http://www.womensweb.ca/violence/rape/emotions.php

http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/74/Rape.html

http://soberplace.com/stages-of-healing-from-sexual-abuse-and-rape/

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