COMPELLING and TIMELESS FICTION, PROFOUND yet ACCESSIBLE POETRY, PROVOCATIVE yet THOUGHTFUL ESSAYS!
Welcome to the official website of award-winning author, poet, and essayist Victoria G. Smith!
Here you’ll find the latest updates on Ms. Smith’s literary work and author events, and information on how to book her for readings, book signings, and her unique brand of “Gatecrasher Talks!”
The author of the award-winning novella, Faith Healer, and the critically-acclaimed poetry collection, Warrior Heart, Pilgrim Soul: An Immigrant’s Journey, also shares her contemplations on the craft of writing and current events relevant to a writer’s life in the Blog page.
Recent Updates
A SAMPLING OF MY LITERARY WORKS. My two books (the award-winning novella, FAITH HEALER, and my first poetry collection, WARRIOR HEART, PILGRIM SOUL: AN IMMIGRANT'S JOURNEY) and a few of the literary magazines that published my poems. #blog #feature1
You should consider recording yourself reading the books for an audiobook line
Love this book! Looking forward to the next one... ❤️
PHILIPPINE NON-FICTION HISTORICAL WORKS ARE CRUCIAL BUILDING BLOCKS FOR MY HISTORICAL NOVELS! As I continue to write my historical novel on the Thomasites, I’m finally reaping the benefits of some important history books on the Philippines, like this excellent one by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria! Thank you, Felice, for your great works that inspire the rest of us Filipino authors and provide us with precious information to work with! Your descriptions and recipes of the cuisine served at various historical epochs in our native country are proving invaluable now, as I’d foreseen, as I’m writing about the food served at the dinner reception held by a couple of Spanish insulares in honor of the Thomasite teacher assigned to their Philippine town in 1901! #Feature2 #Blog #amwriting #WritingCommunity #author #writerscommunity #writing
Good luck on your novel. Let me know if I can help further.
When the sun sets low on the horizon, and the water’s surface turns silver, my soul turns to the ineffable longing of the heart to be one with all these. To be one. #Feature3 #blog #amwriting
This is why I write historical fiction. Americans can’t be educated without being entertained. Few Americans even know my native country, the Philippines, was a colony of the US. And thus, I’ve dedicated my writing to tell stories of Filipino and American characters. #feature4 #Blog
www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-decline-of-historical-thinking?utm_campaign=falcon&utm_socia...
The Decline of Historical Thinking
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For the past decade, history has been declining more rapidly than any other major, even as more and more students attend college.AUTHOR’s REPORT: I’m halfway through the second literary (historical) novel I’m writing, and several literary agents have now requested the full manuscript of my first full-length novel. I hope to get a few novels in the pipeline to distract me from the many months of waiting to hear from the gods of the publishing industry.
My greatest hope as a writer is to be able to challenge my readers not only to think about their own lives, their own possible blindness to their own prejudices, the hypocrisies of human society, but also to take action for meaningful change, whether it be in their personal lives or society in general—all within an entertaining or engaging format. Tall order, I admit. But nothing great ever comes out of timid dreams. In the meantime... I’m fueled by coffee and Bailey’s! Lol!
#Feature5 #Blog #writingcommunity #amwriting #writing #writer
CREATIVELY “RE-WRITING” HISTORY! As I’m writing my historical novel about the American Thomasites in the Philippines, one thing that’s helped me get into the proper mood of writing the scenes set in Old Manila is listening to the musical playlist called, Manila Galleon Guitar Music, that features the inspiring, atmospheric compositions and performances of Florante Aguilar.
When I listen to this, I imagine myself one of those pioneer Thomasite teachers on the U.S.A.T. Thomas on August 23, 1901, as we approached Manila Bay. Then, as I board a lighter that would take me toward the ancient walled city of Intramuros via the Pasig River, I’m seeing the bustling scenes along the river—the cascoes, bancas, and vapors on the water, and on land, the carromatas and calesins, and the señoras and señoritas obsessively shading themselves with their parasols. As we pass by the gold-domed Customs Building and the cream and pink painted bodegas, I see bronze-skinned cargadors panting from the weight of the crates and steamer trunks they’re carrying.
We land at the Anda Monument where a fleet of U.S. Army doherties are already waiting to bring us 509 Thomasites to our temporary Manila dormitories: the Exposition Building for the women, and the nearby army barracks for the male teachers—where we’ll stay until we receive our respective assignments to school outposts at various regions of the Philippine Islands.
Isn’t reading about history simply addictive? And how I thoroughly enjoy being a history sleuth, reading between the fine lines of recorded history to distill and trace the probable routes travelled and experiences of one who’d lived through a particular historical period! #Feature5 #Blog #amwriting #writingcommunity #writing
Part of the oral history of my mom's family (Bernardo-David) narrates that my grandmother (Constancia Sugay Bernardo-David) was one of the first, if not the first, teacher of English in Pampanga as trained by the Thomasites. My uncle, the late Atilano B. David, author of "End of the Trail, A Novel of the Philippines in World War II," recalled to me how he and his siblings grew up singing American songs like "Old Black Joe." My mom and her siblings were all good in English, and she and her three sisters became teachers. In fact my mom was an English teacher.