Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: Something to Hold on To by Ann Hajdu Hultberg @HajduAnn @GoddessFish

Something to Hold on To

by Ann Hajdu Hultberg

GENRE: Memoir/Anthology

BLURB:

In life we hold on to our faith, family, friends, our sense of humor, our memories, and our promises. As a child, it might be a make-believe world. Sometimes it’s something physical like a prayer card or a twist tie, a school bag or a rosary bead. Maybe it’s a photo. Everything we hold dear brings us hope and comfort during both good and bad times.

I write what I and others have held on to; I recount my experiences as a late Baby Boomer raised in rural Pennsylvania, and most importantly, by a Hungarian father, an immigrant, who escaped the Soviet Invasion in 1956.

I hope that you the reader will connect to some of the stories and the things we hold on to.

Something to Hold on To is available on Amazon and Bookbaby

Excerpt:

from “Something To Hold On To”

A mother smothered her child to save fifty adults. She held a wool blanket tight over her infant’s face to stop her cries because their group could not be given away, could not be found in hiding. They all would have been shot or sent to prison camp. The pressure to stop the baby’s sounds stopped her breath.

My father was one of the last of the 200,000 Hungarian refugees who fled the country, traveling by train, truck, or foot, to escape Hungary’s Soviet-imposed policies.

Small in stature, but immense in resourcefulness and survival, dad beat all odds. As a young man he was captured by the Russians and placed in a group to be sent by boxcar to Russia. The people were told to stay in line, or they would be shot. He escaped by pretending to be a doctor to tend to a woman who had fainted. When the guard left to get water for the woman, he made his move and ran to a nearby building. Here a man hid him in his house until the Russians gave up their search.

He was later captured a second time by the Hungarian Gestapo, again to escape by using his wits. He found a Hungarian doctor to falsify a report that he had contagious T.B. and he was released. But others were not so lucky. Raping, killing, stealing-- these atrocious crimes were all part of the Russian occupation. The young, the old, the sick were captured off the street and sent to Russia to work, or to fight for their army, but most died before reaching their destination. 

Interview With Ann Hajdu Hultberg

What is your schedule like when writing a book?

It took me four years to write 60 some essays. Once an idea hits me, I work on that essay until I feel it’s done, and I have all I have to say about that story. Some days I may put in hours of writing and others days nothing. Once the essays were written, I had to decide the order of the stories and chapter titles, and then the cover, dedications, and acknowledgements. There are really three stages when writing a book: writing, publishing, and promoting. And each is a separate beast!




Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

I never considered using a pseudonym. In fact, I made sure to include my maiden name Hajdu because I wanted readers to recognize the Hungarian name, which might lead interest in the book and the stories about my dad’s escape from Budapest. Also, not all acquaintances know my married name, so by including my maiden name, they might remember me, let’s say from high school or college days, and may want to read the book.




Have you ever gotten reader’s block?

Oh yes. Some days I have nothing to say. So I wait for an idea to hit me. Sometimes I peruse my many, many books on writing nonfiction, looking for inspiration for ideas. I take online writing classes also for inspiration. The Gotham School of Writing offers a free online group writing exercise where prompts are provided and writers are given time to respond and share. I pick up ideas here too.




Does your family support your career as a writer?

My career was teaching high school English and college composition classes. So now that I am retired, I have time to write. My family loves the idea that I am recording family stories for our future generations.




How many hours a day do you write?

If I am hot on a story, on and off eight hours. I’ll get up early and hit the keyboard until lunch. Then come back in the early evening. I’ll keep this schedule for days until I have revised the piece umpteen times.




If you could invite any three people to dinner, whom would you invite?

I would invite three living authors: David Sedaris, Janet Evanovich, and Malcolm Gladwell. I have read all of Sedaris’s books, my favorite one is NAKED, and I love how he writes with humor. He would be entertaining and honest and I would love to hear more of his family stories. I saw Janet last December at a book talk, and she was hilarious. Like Sedaris, I have read all of her novels and love the Stephanie Plum series. She would also be an entertaining guest and would mesh well with Sedaris. Gladwell is able to take complicated subjects and explain them in a simple manner. His books are interesting and entertaining and he would add to the conversation with the other two humorists.




Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know (yet)?

I am claustrophobic and therefore do not like elevators and airplanes! I do write about this in a story that I may include in the next book.




Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

My goal is to take what is personal to me and make it universal. I don’t want readers to read a story and ask what’s the purpose or the so what of the piece. I want them to be able to connect somehow to the emotions or situations presented. So I guess I do both. I am true to myself yet blending in what I think others may relate to, i.e. love, loss, humor.




How do you celebrate when you finish your book?

The first thing I did was to have my husband take pictures of me the day the books were delivered, standing next to the unopened boxes and then me holding the first copy! I also sent thank-you notes to friends and family for the vases of flowers, balloons, and congratulatory notes.




If you could be mentored by a famous author, who would it be?

I am enamored with Margaret Renkl. Her latest book, LATE MIGRATIONS: A NATURAL HISTORY OF LOVEAND LOSS is gorgeous. It is a braided piece where she intertwines dealing with the love and loss of family and nature. It’s poetic, a collage of beautiful observations. Her language and descriptions are exquisite.

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Ann Hajdu Hultberg, born in Buffalo, New York, grew up in rural Bradford, Pennsylvania. A graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and St. Bonaventure University, Ann spent 34 years teaching English at Limestone, NY, and Allegany, NY, School Districts; she was also an adjunct college composition instructor and student teacher supervisor at University of Pittsburgh at Bradford for 15 years. She and her husband split their time between Bradford and Naples, Florida, and visiting with their daughter and son-in-law. Something To Hold On To is her debut book.

Ann can be found on Facebook as Ann Hajdu Hultberg. Her Twitter handle is @HajduAnn and Instagram is annelizabeth59. 

Giveaway:

$15 Amazon/BN GC 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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