Author Guest Post with Jude Hopkins: Babe in the Woods

Timber! She’s Falling in Love.

Welcome to one of the June 14th stops on the blog tour for Babe in the Woods by Jude Hopkins with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.

Author Guest Post

Reviewing my novel, Babe in the Woods, one blogger wrote that women don’t usually spend as much time as my protagonist does thinking about men.

Really?  As someone who taught English for years at the university level, I have many former female students who follow me on social media, and I follow them back. For the most part, their posts are chronicles about their love lives. So many of them were top students, studying and learning and producing exemplary work in the classroom. But, based on what I’m seeing in their social media, one of their priorities is finding a man. They do the obligatory trout-pout photos with their boyfriends, their subsequent engagement pictures, the wedding portraits, the baby pictures (oh, so many kid photos).

And there’s nothing wrong with all of that, as long as these women don’t lose themselves along the way.

It’s true my main character, Hadley, wants love, too, a very specific love, one where the man cooks and does the dishes too, she jokingly says. But she’s a restless type, not one to be content with living only for a man. She already has her own life: She’s a high school teacher and a writer. In fact, she’s obsessed with writing a play about the last moment of a woman’s romantic innocence so other women can avoid what she has experienced: the devasting reality of being dumped and becoming somewhat embittered. Of course, Hadley’s love trajectory is due in large part to her choice in men. But being a willful type and a little too sure of what she expects in a relationship the next time around, she would not be content being solely a housewife, it’s safe to say.

Hadley’s got a lot to learn about love. She thinks she knows what she’s looking for, but would it be right for her? She’s already busy with her career and her writing goals, both important to her. If she added a man to the mix, would the other things—things she’s not willing to give up—suffer? She’s a bit too caught up in an idealized version of love, influenced by the books she’s read and the movies she’s seen. And maybe she’s too quick to think love will cure what ails her.

I’m not saying seeking and finding love isn’t important. Look at our culture: Almost everything revolves around relationships and love. Some TV channels devote their entire programming to idealistic love stories, as do many theater movies. Romance novels are among the most popular books published. I read once that close to 70 percent of all popular songs have love as their theme.

But my book is women’s fiction, not romance (although there’s certainly romance within its pages). Hadley goes on a journey wherein she modifies her ideas about love and relationships. Whereas she initially wants to find out when that last moment of innocence occurs in a relationship, she changes her mind by the end of the book — not only about innocence but also about what she once thought constitutes the ideal connection.

So, yes, love is great. It does indeed make the world go ‘round. But, as women, we should be sure of who we are, what we want and what powers our carousels, too. Only then can we experience the wondrous magic that defines the most long-lasting and most-satisfying relationships.

About the Book

Babe in the Woods
by Jude Hopkins

Published 7 June 2023
Wild Rose Press
Cover Artist: Tina Lynn Stout

Genre: Women’s Fiction
Page Count: 294
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

It’s September 1995, the first year of the rest of Hadley Todd’s life. After living in Los Angeles, Hadley returns to her hometown in rural New York to write and be near her father.

In addition to looking after him and teaching high school malcontents, Hadley hopes to channel her recent L.A. heartbreak into a play about the last moment of a woman’s innocence. But she seeks inspiration.

Enter Trey Harding, a young, handsome reporter who covers sports at the high school. Trey reminds Hadley of her L.A. ex and is the perfect spark to fire up her imagination. The fact that Trey is an aspiring rock star and she has L.A. record biz connections makes the alliance perfect. She dangles promises of music biz glory while watching his moves.

But the surprising twist that transpires when the two of them go to Hollywood is not something Hadley prepared for.

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Excerpt

Trey was twirling the end of a white stick in his mouth. With a loud slurping sound, he pulled from his mouth a bright red lollipop before sticking out his tongue, which now matched the color of his shirt. 

“Fire your secretary,” he said, tapping his watch. “May I come in?”

She let him in, the shame of her unkempt apartment equaled only by the shame of her own disheveled appearance.

He stood close to her. “I have to say, you are much more attractive without all that make-up.” He talked with the lollipop stuck in his cheek. “Definitely younger.”

It was an approach she remembered from her time with Derek. First you surprise them, then compliment them when they’re at their most vulnerable. She made a mental note.

He walked toward the nearest chair, sat down, but quickly jumped up again, fishing in his pockets. “Where are my manners? Here.” He extended a lollipop, grape flavor, her favorite.

“No thanks.” It wasn’t even on the level of the apple Neil had given her on the first day of school. Besides, what was with men and their semiotics anyway? Perhaps it beat communicating with words. And how in the world would he have known grape was her favorite flavor? Was she that transparent? Was there a grape “type” as opposed to an orange or cherry type? The grape type would be moody and dark. The orange type would be young, perky, sassy. The cherry type? Passionate, desirable. Like him.

About the Author

Jude Hopkins has published essays in The Los Angeles Times, Medium, the belladonna—and poetry in various journals including Gyroscope Review, Timber Creek Review and California Quarterly. She is currently working on her first novel, Babe in the Woods.

It has always been her desire to write. She was featured in Dickinson College’s literary magazine when she was an undergraduate. One poem in particular, “Mixed Metaphors,” contrasted two viewpoints in a lakeside scene: one of a romantic young woman who thought the wind was blowing through her hair like an Aeolian harp; the other, that of her suitor who believed the water looked as cold as hell. Ah, love’s different sensibilities! What she lost in that relationship, she gained from her sojourn at Dickinson, earning her Phi Beta Kappa key while there, as well as a desire to continue her education.

Then it was on to graduate school at Arizona State University where studying for her master’s degree in English and grading essays as a teaching assistant took most of her time (and partying — it was ASU, for Pete’s sake). However, she did have a germ of an idea for a self-help book that she began outlining, fueled by many a Thermos bottle of Dunkin’ coffee.

It wasn’t until she moved to L.A. that she thought about writing a proposal for that self-help book. She got some bites from agents. Top agents. But working three jobs took precedence. (One of those jobs was at a Hollywood record company where she met a Beatle, among other artists.)

When she finally moved back to Pennsylvania, she began seriously writing again, squeezing in time to pen some poems between endless essay grading at one of the University of Pittsburgh’s branch campuses. As an adjunct English instructor, Jude was uncompromising on what she expected from her students, knowing they were capable of achieving great things when challenged, but she tried to balance the hard work with humor. Nevertheless, she knew that discipline and knowledge could turn even the most reluctant student into a pretty good writer. To achieve that end, the cellphones had to be put away, and attention had to be paid. The result? Some model research papers and essays from memorable students (she taught English in Pennsylvania, New York state, California and Arizona).

The need to write something besides comments on student essays gnawed at her. One day, she took out her old self-help book manuscript from a cobwebby drawer and began the process of turning it into a novel. That novel became “Babe in the Woods” and will be traditionally published by Wild Rose Press sometime in 2023. She blogs about that novel, so, readers, please follow her blogs as she updates everyone on the book’s progress. Please also check out her essays and poems, also featured herein.

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Giveaway Alert!

Jude Hopkins will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B&N gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.