News + Updates
IN HONOR OF FILIPINO AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH, here’s an excerpt from THE THOMASITE (Orange Blossom Publishing, 2023), especially relevant now, with what’s been going on in the Philippines and the US:
“….
Eleanor had read about a school of Eastern philosophy, which taught that one did not change the world by fighting it, but by surrendering. If that were true, she thought then, Americans would still be ruled by British tyranny. The principle was the very antipode of American mentality. But her journey through the Philippine Islands and its people taught her something else about surrender: It was far from passive. There were ways to resist an unjust system that didn’t require killing one’s enemy, although due to the intransigence of the unjust, the principled sometimes did have to surrender their lives to witness to their convictions.
However, she also believed that ordinary people, who were most people, just wanted to live their lives with the least interference and trouble from anyone, to be simply human and enjoy some measure of peace and dignity to live out some humble dream without pressure to be heroes or martyrs for some ideal. This, it seemed to her, was the practical significance of Roosevelt’s offer of amnesty to the insurrectos. And it didn’t go unnoticed, despite all the rhetoric against it in the name of nationalism, sovereignty, and independence—which were pretty words, beautiful words. The words of the learned, the ilustrado.
Yet, for every ilustrado who’d sacrificed his life for his people, like Doctor Rizal, it seemed to Eleanor there was a greater number of them, like Luis, who changed loyalties as fast as the winds changed because their personal and family interests remained unchanged. And there was an even greater number of the masses, like Diego, whose ichor was what had soaked and fertilized both the planting and fighting fields of humanity.
….”
I urge both Filipino and American readers, for yourselves and your loved ones, to get a copy of THE THOMASITE, which has garnered a consistent 5-star rating on Goodreads and Amazon. Signed copies are available from Orange Blossom Publishing. Unsigned copies are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, Apple Books, Google Books, and other book sellers. Amazon delivers this book in the Philippines, just FYI.
#FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth #historicalfiction #historicalfictionbooks #historicalfictionbook #thomasites #PhilippineAmericanWar #Katipunan #bookrecommendations #novel #history #HistoryUncovered #historymatters #ushistory #USHistoryFacts #Philippines #PhilippineHistory
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BEING A CREATIVE IS INDIVISIBLE; IT SPANS ACROSS ALL KINDS OF CREATIVE ENDEAVORS! Why have I turned to painting as a creative break from writing? Because it teaches me how to see the world better and, thus, write about it better. One day, after two months of painting, I looked up and saw the shadows on the ceiling and was amazed to see the blues in them, not just the grays and blacks one normally expects. #creative #writingandpaintimg #authorandartist #CreativeEndeavor
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Thanks so much to my readers' generous 5-star ratings of my novel, THE THOMASITE, on Goodreads! Do check it out below.
And if you’ve read my book and like it, please give it a thumbs up at Goodreads and other review sites--it would help my works get better visibility and it’ll continue to inspire my work. Thanks for your support!
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Despite the worst of late summer heat, fall is in the air, and I’m itching to get back to my novel-in-progress!
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SUBMITTED! In an earlier post, I shared that a publisher to whom I’d submitted a draft of my poetry manuscript (MS), MOTHERS OF EXILES (which, when published would be my second poetry book), three years ago (!) surprised me through a recent email telling me they’ve reopened my submission to allow me to submit the latest version of my MS. Yesterday, as I promised them, I submitted it. Pictures show the table of contents of this 78-page draft.
I don’t know what this means on the part of the publisher, but I’m hoping it means that they saw a lot of things they liked in my old MS that they’re now considering it for publication. Or they figured the time has come for my kind of poetry.
My poetry is bold, in-your-face passionate. Through my writing, I advocate for much needed social change. This hasn’t always been a popular choice for many publishers who are sensitive to the political ramifications of publishing such pieces. It takes a publisher as brave as my poetry to publish it. I hope this is it.
#poetry #poet #poetrylovers #poetrycommunity #poetrybook #PoetryForChange #poetryforthesoul
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AUTHOR-ARTIST, POET-PAINTER! One of the reasons I’ve turned to painting lately as a parallel vocation and “spring break” from my writing is that visual art is so immediate. One can create and appreciate it in almost no time at all.
For me, I can dish out a painting in as little as two to three hours, a drawing in fifteen to twenty minutes. For the viewer, there’s nothing more to do than appreciate it on the spot.
In comparison, the average turnaround to write and traditionally publish a book is about three years at the shortest. And, sadly, these days, most people’s attention span has been cut by technology and social media to a mere couple of minutes at best. Thus, I suspect, people would buy visual art first than buy and read a book.
But I’m not letting this discourage me from writing. I’l l always be a writer! Hence, I plan to halve my days between writing and painting. They’d be complementary zen meditations for me.
And as if the Universe gave a nod to this grand plan, I just saw an email late last night (actually at three o’clock this morning) from a publisher to whom I had submitted my poetry manuscript, MOTHERS OF EXILES, three years ago (!) inviting me to resubmit an updated manuscript!
Don’t know what this means, but I’m hoping that the editors saw enough of what they liked in my old draft to ask me for the latest version of it.
Wish me luck as I’m crossing my fingers!
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Where my writing and painting meet: www.facebook.com/share/p/16dH7TxZ5y/?mibextid=wwXIfr
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CREATIVITY UNBOUND! It’s so beautiful out here all year round on the island where I live, especially during the spring and summer, such that I decided it would be a good balance of mind and body (meaning, not spending all my time indoors writing) to take advantage of our gorgeous spring and summer weather by doing some gardening and yard work.
This, in turn, inspired another creative outlet for me: creating a watercolor series on all my favorite wildflowers I see around me.
Timidly sharing the first two of my watercolor series, entitled, “Wildflowers of Orcas,” featuring my absolute favorite, the Camash and the Nootka wild rose. (Copyright Victoria Grageda-Smith 2025)
I know I have some way to go still on this art form because the pieces are obviously overworked, too controlled, and conservative—although as regards the latter, its purposeful, for I am aiming for a “vintage-like” botanical illustration.
I’m happy with them, considering I haven’t painted in 25 years— thankful that, at least, they may be a notch up from my grade school drawings and paintings! Lol! 😂
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REMEMBERING & HONORING THE SACRIFICE OF THE VICTIMS OF THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH. As I continue to write my World War II novel, GABRIELA’S EYES, the meaning of Bataan Day has gained new dimensions for me.
Of the estimated 80,000 POWs forced to suffer this ordeal, about 65,000 were Filipinos and 15,000 were Americans. And of these numbers, there are an estimated 5,000-18,000 Filipino dead and 650 American fatalities. Let us pause to honor their sacrifice in the name of true freedom and democracy, which too many of the current generations of Filipinos and Americans sadly take for granted.
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WILD DAFFODILS & A NEW NOVEL! Fragrant wild daffodils I picked while walking my dog around our woodland home: a sweet and beautiful inspiration while writing the ugliness of WWII.
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THE POWER OF IMAGINATION IN TIMES LIKE THESE. A little “self-deception” is necessary to survive and thrive in this life. The physical world is a backdrop matrix against which we can create the life we can imagine.
Sometimes, such an imagination can drive us enough to manifest it into physical reality. Sometimes, seeing the world through a worldview that allows us to live a peaceful and happy life is enough. Who’s to say one strategy is inferior to the other?
Yet, in both cases, the capacity for imagination is a necessary ingredient. Hence, one can say that we live or die by the quality of our imagination. @Followers
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JOIN US FOR THE LAST OF THIS SEASON’S LEAPING FOOL READING SERIES: Thursday, February 20, 5-8:30 p.m., Orcas Island Winery!
Hear me and my fellow Orcas Island writers read from our works on the theme, INVOCATION!
The Irish poet, Pádraig Ó Tuama, describes poetry as “an act of noticing,” and—I love this best: as “prayers for when no other prayers will do” (Pádraig Ó Tuama, from the Introduction to 44 POEMS ON BEING WITH EACH OTHER).
These days, to me, call for more of such poetry.
Being a poet, I could not agree more with Ó Tuama. But being, likewise, a prose and fiction writer, I would apply what he says about poetry to writing, in general.
I view my vocation as a writer as no less an invocation.
I will read a series of four short poems of mine that have been published by various literary journals. I chose these poems because they are, in essence, invocations or prayers:
1. as an invocation to a writer's Higher Self: "Letter to An Immigrant Poet" [published as Note to (Writer) Self, Westward Quarterly, Summer 2015]
2. as an invocation to the readers or audience of a poet or writer: "First Open Mic of the Immigrant Poet" (published as First-Time Reader, Lyrical Iowa, 2016)
3. as an invocation to the Universe, Source, God, or whatever one might call the Consciousness that animates us all: "Advocate’s Prayer" (published in Slippery Elm Journal, Fall/Winter 2022)
4. as an invocation to a poet who is among those who have exerted the greatest influence on my poetry: "Exhuming Neruda" (published in Slippery Elm Journal, Fall/Winter 2022)
These poems are featured as the first few pieces in my poetry collection manuscript, MOTHERS OF EXILES, for which I am currently querying prospective indie book publishers.
@Followers
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HAPPY NEW YEAR! And happy reading Thimble Literary Magazine’s Winter Issue that features my poem, “Feeding the Dying,” and other ruminations through wonderful poetry to reflect upon this New Year’s Day and the rest of 2025!
My Filipino readers may be delighted to see an iconic Philippine dish playing anchor to my poem.
And big thanks again to Thimble’s editors for the privilege they gave me to share my work again with the world!
Do check it out, dear readers and friends!@highlight @topfans
www.thimblelitmag.com
Feeding the Dying by Victoria Grageda-Smith First, dab balm on the pale, chapped lips. Next, offer a sip of water from a straw. Then, spoon the soup gently into the trembling mouth: chicken soup, but ...0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Thanks much to The Leaping Fool for the privilege of reading my poem, “Meditations in a Nautilus Shell,” in last night’s reading event on the theme, “Spiral”!
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See you at tonight’s Leaping Fool reading event @ the Orcas Winery! I’ll read my new poem, “Meditations on a Nautilus Shell.”
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It probably doesn’t mean much, but a top Hollywood producer suggested I write the screenplay for The Thomasite ! I’m doing it!
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Dear Friends & Followers: I’ll be deactivating my X (formerly known as Twitter) account because I don’t want to be associated with an unenlightened platform owned and run by a deranged billionaire who lost his marbles on Mars. Please follow me at Mastodon (best X alternative) @authorvictoriagsmith@mastodon.social. Thank you! See you there!
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Come to The Leaping Fool Reading Series this Thursday, November 21, 2024 at the Orcas Island Winery and see me and some of my fellow Orcas Island authors read from our works on the theme, (UN)BELIEF!
I’ll be reading my newest story, “The Woman in the Garden.” It’s the first chapter of my Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel-in-progress, FINDING QIHARA, which was a finalist in the 2024 World Diversity Grant Awards.
Many thanks to The Leaping Fool for the privilege of sharing my work in such a great setting and event!
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“Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” (Rumi)
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