Guest Post: So you Want to Wrte a Book, By Author Davis Aujourd'hui

Jill Elizabeth posted this on September 14th, 2011



Today’s Guest Post is the first of two posts on writing and publishing, provided by Davis Aujourd’hui.  Check back tomorrow for the second of this series – and keep your eyes open for more from Davis in the next few weeks, including excerpts and more insights into writing.  Enjoy!

So, You Want to Write a Book

Each of you has a book in yourself. After all, you all have your life stories. That is a starting point; at least it was for me. I wrote my memoirs about recovery from multiple addictions and mental illness. It helped me to heal and to learn how to put my thoughts down on paper. You can do that too.

Each of you is creative energy. You may not realize it. Just let yourself sit with that thought for awhile. Then try putting a pen to paper when the inspiration comes. You will be amazed at what can come out for you. It is your creative energy expressing itself.


Maybe you will express yourself through writing a poem. Perhaps it will be an anecdote from your life. Perhaps you will find the creative impulse to write a short story. Okay, that’s a beginning. Try to keep going. You do have a book in you.

Use your imagination. Let it flow as you put your pen to paper or run your fingers over your keyboard. Believe in yourself and you will create. If it’s meant to be, it will be. Whatever you can dream, you can also realize. Don’t allow any negative thoughts or excuses stand in your way. Affirm to yourself, I am writing a book.

Practice every day or so. You don’t have to write much. Just keep at it and you will find yourself moving in a forward direction. Before you know it, you will be on your way to writing that book.

Okay, now the book is written. The question is, how can you publish it? That’s easy these days. While the traditional publishing industry is very hard to break into, there are many self-publishers. Just google that and you will come up with many. Check them out. Many of them will charge you very little to publish your book. You may not have a best-seller, but you can publish your book if you truly want to do it.

That’s what I did. While I didn’t publish my memoirs, I have written several books about a wayward nun named Sister Mary Olga Fortitude. She loves her bourbon and her Marlboros. That always gets her into trouble with her Reverend Mother who is a reformed prostitute. The zany characters don’t stop there. I just let my imagination continue to create my zany characters and hilarious situations.

Once my first book, "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude", was published, I just kept on going. My next book, "Babes in Bucksnort", was soon out. I’d never had more fun in my life and I was off on an adventure! That’s when my challenges began. After all, I was embarking on a new career and I wanted to make a success of it. Now, it was time to promote my book and I realized I needed help.


I hired a wonderful publicist by the name of Mindy Schwartz of Full Circle Administrative Services. She created a marvelous blog for me and I began to write articles such as this one. She began to post them all over the internet.


Then I began to get radio interviews. It was an exciting time to revel in my experience as I shared it with my listening audience. After all, it’s no good unless you give it away. While I wanted to make a success of my book, I also want to inspire my listeners to be all that they could be too.


If you have ever dreamed of becoming an author, I encourage you to take these simple steps. You can do it. Dream a little while. Then take some action. Dreams do come true.


***


Davis Aujourd’hui is the author of the Sister Mary Olga Fortitude series of hilarious satires. The first book is entitled "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude". It was followed by "Babes in Bucksnort". Davis possesses a rich life experience that has enabled him to draw from it in order to create a colorful canvas upon which to paint very human lives.

He is a retired social worker, having worked for Adult Protective Services in New York State for nearly twenty years. He developed the characters within his series of books in order to entertain a colleague by using the gift of humor. As will be the case with Sister Mary Olga in his third book, he is a recovering alcoholic. He also happens to be gay as are several of the endearing and humorous characters within his novels. He can speak from his own experience. He has possessed all of the foibles of his cast of characters who are naughty, nasty, and nice.

Davis lives in Upstate New York where he is currently sharing his life with his partner of seven years. He is socially-minded and spirituality is the most important ingredient in order for him to maintain a happy and successful life.

Through the Open Door - Part 3

I spent the next few months living with an openly gay man who was obviously a full blown sex addict. Between the two of us, we literally had a revolving door through which multiple sexual partners came and left every week. It was an exciting time for me, but there would be decisions ahead that would need to be made. I would need to decide what to do when my leave of absence was over. I would also need to decide what to do about my marriage.

I was offered a transfer by the publishing company and I turned them down. I wanted to stay in the area. I decided to get my real estate license and embark upon a new career. I moved back in with my wife to give it another try, but I soon met another man with whom I began another love obsession. It would be the beginning of the end of my marriage.

His name was Rick and he was stationed in the Air Force. Because neither of us had a place to go where we could be intimate, we maintained an affair of the heart. We would meet at the gay bar where we would dance and kiss only to have to go back to our respective homes at the end of the evening. During the days, we would talk on the phone. We had both fallen in love.

My wife bravely endured what had become a battered marriage, but that endurance would only be able to be maintained for so long.  As the summer drew to a close, I was absolutely beside myself with my feelings for Rick and the desire to consummate our relationship. I finally proposed a tryst at our apartment while my wife was at work. Rick consented and I was delirious that I would finally be able to take our relationship to the next level after a summer of yearning for Rick.

The pitfall in my plan was that my wife didn't go into work on the day of our scheduled meeting and I couldn't reach Rick by phone to forewarn him. At that point I felt such a sense of desolation and longing. I also realized that I wanted Rick more than I wanted to remain in the marriage. I told my wife of my plans to have Rick over and then I hurriedly left our apartment.

I ran up the entry road to try to signal Rick before he drove into a situation that would cause him embarrassment. He saw me and he pulled into the adjacent Pizza Hut where I explained the awkward circumstances and I expressed my desire to somehow try to meet some other time. I felt such an awful ache when he looked at me with his sad, beautiful brown eyes and told me he couldn't go on like this. He advised me that he would rather not see me again. When I returned to the apartment, my wife had rented a U-Haul trailer and proceeded to move out.

I never did see Rick again. On the other hand, my wife and I still had some sorting out to do. We saw each other several times over the ensuing months during which we nursed the hope that we could make a go of our marriage. I realized this probably would not possible at the same time that other unmanageable events began to take place within my life. I was soon lost in another suicidal depression and had to stop work. I took the only viable option at that time. I moved back home with my parents.

Author Davis Aujourd'hui


Books and Kindles by Author David Aujourd hui (these two below are at a special price on Kindle for $2.99)

"The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" Book 1
"Babes in Bucksnort" Book 2

"Putting the Pieces Together" Kindle Version only for .99 cents!

Putting the Pieces Together is an anthology of a gay man's journey toward self-acceptance. It is a poignant and intimate book chronicling recovery from mental illness, sexual addiction, and alcohol.

Through the Open Door - Part 2

We had an idyllic wedding following what I would later come to realize had been a bizarre bachelor party. That is part of my story in my article entitled “Reaching for Recovery – Putting down the Drink.” During a blackout, I came out to my sister and several members of the wedding party.

Even so, the next day, I marched down the aisle with my new bride before we departed for a fantasy wedding trip to Bermuda. The sad truth was that, once the honeymoon was over, a tragedy would begin to play out over the coming two years.


Within a short period of time, I found the anxiety of self-doubt quickly creeping into my life. I would awake with that awful sense of dread, having to literally force myself out of bed, followed by torturing myself with thoughts that I was incompetent during my morning commute. I also found myself seeking out new places where I could temporarily act out my homecoming anxiety. I reverted to my sneaky sexual behaviors even though my wife had expressed permission for me to have sex with men. The one caveat was that I couldn't fall in love with them. This only fueled the forest fire of my sexual addiction.


Even though she'd given me that permission, I still had the sense that she hoped I wouldn't need to act upon my desires if she could be the perfect wife. I'd arrive home to find her preparing dinner after juggling her senior year classes and all of their demands. This only served to exacerbate my guilt. What I'd imagined to be an ideal situation for me was turning into a living nightmare.

Within the time span of a few short weeks, I was emotionally bottoming-out once again. My morning anxiety mounted to the point where just leaving the house became sheer torture. I would fitfully delay my exit from bed, hoping I could drift back into the oblivion of sleep, only to discover I was so late that I would have to cancel my scheduled appointments.

When I was able to be on the job I would find that to make each call was an exercise in anxious humiliation. This only served to increase my arsenal of self-abuse. I started replaying the tape in my head that I was an incompetent fraud. I would pace the apartment, thereby wasting more precious time. Sometimes I would not arrive in Boston until afternoon, trying to go through the motions of work while I found myself in a hypnotic trance, filled with self-loathing.

It was impossible to keep up any charade of normality with my wife. It was her first time witnessing these behaviors and they frightened her. Nevertheless, my twenty-one year-old bride, stood by her man, trying to find a way to get help for me. She returned to a therapist we had seen prior to our wedding for advice.

He advised her that he wasn't concerned about me; rather, he was concerned for her well-being. He gave her a therapist referral for me. Following a Thanksgiving trip to my family's home where we acted out the part of a happily married couple as best we could, I started my first true experience in psychotherapy.


I started seeing a psychologist named Barbara, who had a private practice in the attic of her Revolutionary War-era home. She really was an empathic soul. I will never forget how the two of us chain-smoked, while she gazed upon the thoroughly depressed shell of a man I had become. Her face reminded me of a sad hound dog.


After a handful of sessions with Barbara, I decided I needed to take a total timeout. I wasn't even able to fake it enough to make it into work at that point anyhow. I was granted a leave of absence by my sales manager; however, I felt ashamed and incompetent when he told me this was the first time such a leave had been requested.

My wife and I decided on a trial separation with me moving out of our marital apartment. That decision made, I felt a tremendous sense of relief. I excitedly went about searching for a temporary living situation with another gay man.

Author Davis Aujourd'hui

Books and Kindles by Author David Aujourd hui (these two below are at a special price on Kindle for $2.99)

"The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" Book 1
"Babes in Bucksnort" Book 2

"Putting the Pieces Together" Kindle Version only for .99 cents!

Putting the Pieces Together is an anthology of a gay man's journey toward self-acceptance. It is a poignant and intimate book chronicling recovery from mental illness, sexual addiction, and alcohol.

THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR - Part 1

I met another fellow in that restroom with whom I formed a friendship. He was nineteen and he was openly gay, having put his own demons to rest following a suicide attempt. His name was Marc. Marc would become the friend who would help me see the light that being gay wasn't such a bad thing.

He introduced me to gay bars where I was able to meet fellows before having sex with them. It wasn't much different in a way. Although I would learn their names and have sex in a bedroom, there was usually no further contact. Such seemed to be the way in gay life in the late 1970's and early 1980's.

Life in the bars not only fueled my increasing sexual addiction. It also fueled my increasing dependence upon alcohol. I remained in complete denial about both addictions for a number of years. After all, everyone seemed to be doing it!

I continued to see the fellow with whom I'd been having an affair. Even though I wanted to make something of it, he held back. Apparently he had his own demons with which to contend. He became a love obsession for me, but I still believed in my love for my fiance.


My new career had become very successful. I became a top performer in the college textbook sales industry. Likewise, plans for the upcoming wedding were progressing according to my design. My future wife remained in the dark about my double life. That would soon change.

While she was away during the summer we were to marry, I realized that it would not be fair to her to keep her in the dark any longer. I thought she deserved a chance to call off the wedding if she couldn't accept married life with a gay man. I knew that I wouldn't be able to be faithful to her.

A month before the wedding, we were reunited. I told her that I had something to tell her. She begged me to tell her, asking me, “Are you an alcoholic?”


“Not me,” I protested. Instead I told her the only thing I knew to be true at the time. Amidst a waterfall of tears from the both of us, I told her that I was gay.


We were naïve adult children and we didn't know what to do. What we did know was that we loved one another. We decided to bravely go ahead with our wedding plans. It would begin to close one door at the same time that it opened another one through which we passed. When we would walk through that door, we would enter a world filled with pain.

Author Davis Aujourd'hui

Books and Kindles by Author David Aujourd hui (these two below are at a special price on Kindle for $2.99)

"The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" Book 1
"Babes in Bucksnort" Book 2

"Putting the Pieces Together" Kindle Version only for .99 cents!

Putting the Pieces Together is an anthology of a gay man's journey toward self-acceptance. It is a poignant and intimate book chronicling recovery from mental illness, sexual addiction, and alcohol.

Author Interview of Author Davis Aujourd'hui By leah Ryman at Journey Reader

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Author Interview: Davis Aujourd'hui
By Leah Ryman at Journey Reader

Author Bio:

"Davis Aujourd'hui is the pen name of the author of the Sister Mary Olga Fortitude series. The first book, entitled “The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude,” was just published in October 2008 by Outskirts Press. “Babes in Bucksnort” is the first sequel, soon to be followed by “Have A Heart.”

Davis is a new author, yet he possesses a rich life experience that has enabled him to draw from it in order to create a colorful canvas upon which to paint very human lives. He is a retired social worker, having worked for Adult Protective Services in New York State for nearly twenty years. He developed the characters within his series of books in order to entertain a colleague of his using the gift of humor.

As will be the case of the title character in his third book, Davis is a recovering alcoholic. He also happens to be gay as is the case with several of the endearing and humorous characters within his novels. He can speak from his own experience. He has possessed all of the foibles of his cast of characters, including those naughty, nasty, and nice."

What inspires your stories?

Years ago, when I was a social worker, I developed my characters in order to entertain a colleague of mine. I would leave her voice mails in which I impersonated characters within scenarios that I spontaneously created. She loved it and that inspired me to develop more.

When I retired, I thought to myself that I could write a book about my chain-smoking, bourbon-swilling nun along with the cast of other zany characters. I sat down and wrote "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude" in a little over a month.

Since I hadn't run out of ideas, I immediately continued by writing "Babes in Bucksnort". From there, I wrote a total of eleven books in the series. I hope to have "Have A Heart" published within a year.

What genre do you gravitate toward and why?

I write in the humor genre with a slant toward satire that contains a spiritual message. I do this because I love to make people laugh. I also want my readers to come away with inspiration and food for thought. I dedicate all of my books to adult children who deserve a chance to not take life so seriously.

What are your work habits like?

I generally write every day. I write from two to ten hours per day. I let inspiration be my guide and let it flow from there.

What do you consider your best work?

My best works are yet to come, but both Misadventures and Babes have been well-received. I have received an average of 4.5 out of 5 star reviews on Amazon.com

Do you plot out your novels in advance or do you write on the fly?

I let inspiration be my guide. I do not plot out my novels in advance, though I sometimes have certain themes and scenarios I want to develop as I continue to write. I generally allow my intuition develop the tale as I continue to go with the flow. The end results have always been very gratifying.

What experience do you want for your readers?

I want my readers to laugh out loud from beginning to end. I also want them to take a look at themselves as they relate to the characters. In so doing, my readers may discover qualities they wish to develop as they let go of those which do not serve their continued growth.

Are any of your character traits or settings based on real life?

All fiction tends to be based upon the writer's life experience. Such has been the case with me. I have incorporated qualities I have witnessed in others as I have developed my characters. What has been the most fun for me has to create nasty characters based on ornery people I have known in real life.

What are your most significant challenges when you write?

The most significant challenge has been writer's block. When I encounter that, I simply let go of all thoughts. As I do so, inspiration returns to me and I continue to go with the flow.

It is also a challenge to keep track of my many characters and to give them equal attention within my books. As they develop over time, I need to remember what has transpired in previous books. This often means that I need to return to my previous books as a touchstone for further development.

What are you currently working on?

I have just finished a reincarnational romance about a couple who travels through three lifetimes together. I am currently seeking an agent to represent the book to a traditional publisher.

Do you have any writing advice you would like to share with aspiring authors?

Keep writing and perfecting your craft. Keep the faith and never give up.



"Babes in Bucksnort" is the sequel to the highly praised "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude." Once again the unconventional bourbon-swilling, chain-smoking nun will spin outrageously funny new tales about the residents of Bucksnort, Wisconsin while she tests the will of a reformed prostitute who just happens to be her Reverend Mother.

Unfortunately there is trouble brewing in the Snortlands. The nasty and notorious town busybody, Priscilla Bunhead, goes on a crusade to stamp out what she calls the gay menace. That's when she convinces her millionaire friend, Mildred Mayflower, to give away her fortune in order to bring the Reverend Billy-Bob Blunthead and his Born Again or Burn Forever Disciples for Jesus to town to do the job. It will be an uphill climb for them as the closet doors of many gay people in the Snortlands burst open.

Billy-Bob and his wife, Pinky Poo, will have another battle on their hands when Dimples Dufus, the heiress to the Mayflower fortune, arrives on the scene. They'll also have to reckon with a mysterious woman who channels an entity who challenges the hateful and hypocritical agenda of this spokesman for Jesus.

In between the laughs, Sister Mary Olga continues to dispense nuggets of spiritual wisdom during her classes in Beginner's and Advanced Holiness. Just don't take seats near the flatulent child named Fartley Dinkledorf or his lecherous one-hundred five year-old grandfather, Poopsy. The bottom line is that everyone is welcome in Sister Mary Olga's classes. Join the diverse cast of characters for a joy-ride that will tickle your funny bone until it aches.

Links to purchase books:

The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude -  Kindle Format for $3.99
The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude  - Paperback Edition for $13.95


Babes in Bucksnort - Paperback Edition for $13.95
Babes in Bucksnort - Kindle Edition for $3.99

The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga is also available at Barnes and Noble (Paperback)
Babes in Bucknort is also available at Barnes and Noble (Paperback)


Thank you for visiting, Davis! - LR

“Putting the Pieces Together” - Now Available in Kindle for .99 cents

Kindle Edition .99 cents

“Putting the Pieces Together” is an anthology of a gay man's journey toward self-acceptance. It is a poignant and intimate book chronicling recovery from mental illness, sexual addiction, and alcohol.

The author's journey is a spiritual one. It begins with his challenge in accepting himself as a gay person. This challenge provided the seeds that would later result in addiction. He frankly talks about his attempt to escape his homosexuality by getting married to a woman. The marriage ultimately fails when he realizes that it's okay to be gay.


His journey is a story about moving from darkness to light. After years of experiencing devastating depressions, he became manic after putting down the drink. He comes to believe he is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. He is finally treated for a bipolar disorder and eventually reaches a place of peace. Finally, the author tells his audience about how he developed his new career as the author of the Sister Mary Olga Fortitude series.


“Putting the Pieces Together” is a story of hope and faith. It is refreshingly honest. It is sad and funny. It is a story of personal triumph. It will touch your heart."

Part 5 -Locked in the Closet

I moved back to my college town and found a wonderful job working for a college textbook publisher. I moved into a happy apartment in the country and I began a brilliant career and what I thought would be a contented life. I medicated my anxieties by my increasing dependence upon alcohol and marijuana.

I proposed to my girlfriend in the spring. The timing was incredible. Just a few weeks later I had my first sexual encounter with another man. It would happen under tawdry circumstances which only continued to fuel my shame. It happened in a public bathroom.

A toxic bond was formed. I discovered that this bathroom was an easy place in which to find men interested in having sex with other men. I would return there often where I acted out my secret shame before returning to my so-called normal life. I was beginning to lead what would become an increasingly double life.

That summer, while my fiance returned to her parents' home, I met a young man with whom I began an affair. Never having realized that I could have romantic feelings toward another man had become an eye-opener. It would become the key that would eventually free me from my locked closet. In a little less than a year, I would walk through it, never realizing that I would eventually be giving up the so-called normal life.