Victoria Dougherty - Podcast Details

Shows

ColdSmall Villains and Faith’s Little DeathsThis week in the Cold, we're talking about the small villains in the stories we live and love. The casual evil-doers who might just be passing through, but leave an indelible impression on us, a disproportionate one perhaps. Please support the Cold: Stories you never want to end; worlds you never want to leave. (ck.page) Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters...2024-06-0913 min

ColdThe Many Faces of Beauty in FictionThis week in the Cold, we're talking about beauty and many ways a writer may deploy it and a reader may experience it. From The Maltese Falcon to The Little Mermaid, beauty twists our guts as it entertains us, draws us close, and yes, nourishes our soul. Support the Cold: Stories you never want to end; worlds you never want to leave. (ck.page) Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show...2024-05-2519 min

ColdMothers of Real and Fictional Characters: We Salute YouThis week in the Cold, we explore the roots of family lore as we salute mothers, Mother's Day, and the enchanting, soul nourishing, and formidable process of raising humans. Support the Cold: Stories you never want to end; worlds you never want to leave. (ck.page) Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/support 2024-05-1111 min

ColdWriting Epic Battle Scenes and War StoriesThis week in the Cold, we're going deep on war. Whether it's the focus or merely the backdrop of a story, war is riveting and writing about it presents unique challenges. Become a Cold Member: Stories you never want to end; worlds you never want to leave. (ck.page) Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/support 2024-04-1514 min

ColdThe Meaning of HappinessThis week in the Cold, we're talking family lore and about the difference between happiness and meaning and how the two are interwoven in our lives. Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Victoria's Amazon Page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/the-meaning-of-happiness/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/support 2024-03-3117 min

ColdAn Ode to the Cocktail HourThis week in the Cold, we're celebrating the old fashioned cocktail hour. What we're really paying tribute to, however, is not the drink - you can have a mocktail, a bowl of fries, anything that tickles your fancy - it's a designated hour to connect, tell stories, laugh...be a family or community. Become a Cold Member: Stories you never want to end; worlds you never want to leave. (ck.page) Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books --- ...2024-03-1713 min

ColdDemanding Greatness of Our CharactersThis week in the Cold, we're talking about how to create a character you'd fall on your sword for, rip off your clothes for and beg them to take you, and want as your very best friend in the world. The kind of character who aspires to greatness and stays with you long after you read THE END. Become a Cold Member: Stories you never want to end; worlds you never want to leave. (ck.page) Victoria's Amazon Page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books ...2024-03-0923 min

Cold10 Reasons Why Men Must Start Reading Fiction AgainThis week in the Cold, the title of the episode says it all. I've got ten really great reasons why men need to start reading fiction again. And I've got a link to a long list of great, high T novels for the guys out there to get started on. This is a diverse list of novels offered by my writer friends (indie, traditional, non-fiction and fiction), and by literary agents, designers, housewives, an advice columnist, corporate rats, a USMC General, a real estate agent, and even a Pulitzer Prize winner. The only thing they all have in common...2024-03-0317 min

ColdLovers and Warriors: On Writing Riveting Passion and ViolenceThis week in the Cold, we talk about the necessity of high stakes in a story. How scenes of love and passion must mirror ones of violence and conflict in intensity and yes, sensuality, or else the story feels out of balance, and we shortchange the reader. Become a Cold Member: Stories you never want to end; worlds you never want to leave. (ck.page) Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books --- Send in a voice message: https...2024-02-2520 min

ColdIn Defense of Dark HumorThis week in the Cold, we're taking a deep dive into humor, particularly dark humor. We're discussing its limits - if there are any - its benefits, and the way humor is often perceived. Relevant links: #901 Victoria Dougherty: Creating a Story, Character Development, and the Limits of Art (youtube.com) Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Become a Cold Member: Stories you never want to end; worlds you never want to leave. (ck.page) Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Join Victoria's newsletter: Form 5 | victoriadoughertybooks - ConvertKit --- ...2024-02-1820 min

ColdWhat Does it Mean to Be an Outlier?This week in the Cold, we talk about the observers among us; those who never quite feel like they fit in. Outliers used to be a small, self-identified group of people, but increasingly, at least according to multiple media articles and my therapist friends, more and more people are turning inward. Join The Cold newsletter: Form 5 | victoriadoughertybooks - ConvertKit Victoria's Amazon Page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Become a Cold member: Stories you never want to end; worlds you never want to leave. (ck.page) --- Send in a voice message...2024-01-2819 min

ColdThe Longest Shortest Twenty Years of Your LifeThis week in the Cold we're embarking on a retrospective of one of the most epic stories of our lives...that of raising a family. The ups and downs, the suspense, the plot twists and turns, the page-turning madness, the beauty, the meaning, the joy. It's all here! The Cold needs your support! Please become a Cold Member: Stories you never want to end; worlds you never want to leave. (ck.page) Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com...2024-01-1415 min

ColdYou Say You Want a Resolution?On this last day of the year, we're talking New Year's resolutions here in the Cold. Not the usual ones - giving up chocolate, blah, blah, blah - but the kinds of game-changers that have a lasting impact on our lives. Relevant links: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books The Artist's Way: https://www.amazon.com/Artists-Way-25th-Anniversary/dp/0143129252 Support the Cold podcast: Stories you never want to end; worlds you never want to leave. (ck.page) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message ...2023-12-3111 min

ColdTwelve Cold Days of ChristmasIn honor of the coming holidays, we're doing something a little different in the Cold. This week's listening experience is more like a song. It’s certainly inspired by a song; one I’m sure you know. You’re welcome to do your best to sing along to the tune of the Twelve Days of Christmas (or you can read the written version by following the link to my blog below). You can rap it, if you prefer. Doesn’t matter…as long as you take it into your heart. Maybe if it stays there over not just these next twelv...2023-12-1720 min

ColdBuilding the Architecture of Our Stories and Our SpiritsThis week in the Cold we talk about the architecture of the soul and the spirit. We're being both literal and metaphorical here, and no, we're not being pompous - swear. This makes for a great start to the holiday season! Support the Cold and become a Cold member: Become a Cold Member (ck.page) Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2018/12/14/what-we-build-how-architecture-is-changing-my-relationship-with-my-faith/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify...2023-12-0320 min

ColdBreakthroughsThis week in the Cold, we talk about how to facilitate and maintain the momentum of creative breakthroughs. This is an active, deliberate process, my friends! If you're enjoying Cold and get meaning from this podcast, please consider giving your support! Become a Cold Member (ck.page) Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/support 2023-11-2615 min

ColdThe Stories We Tell Ourselves Every year around this time in the Cold, I like to make a comprehensive list of all the things for which I am grateful. It's more than a list, it's one part meditation, one part story. Because the stories we tell ourselves about our lives, how we frame our experiences, are every bit as important as the stories we consume and tell others. Bargain Booksy Historical Fiction Giveaway link: Historical Fiction eBook and Kindle Giveaway – November 15th, 2023 - Bargain Booksy Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Victoria's Amazon Page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest up...2023-11-1914 min

ColdShining Daylight on the Creative ImpulseThis week in the Cold we talk about how even seasoned writers can experience creative stammers and what to do about them! This will be illuminating as hell. Get The Artist's Way: The Artist's Way: 30th Anniversary Edition - Kindle edition by Cameron, Julia. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/support 2023-11-1217 min

ColdThe Story That Changed My LifeThis week in the Cold, I'm sharing with you a story about a one hundred- and two-year-old woman who I met as a teenager. She quite literally changed my life and my perspective, and may just do the same for you. Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2015/08/10/sundays-with-merle/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https...2023-11-0515 min

ColdA Glimpse Inside the Creative MindThis week in the Cold, we talk about creators and how we feed our creativity. The life of an artist (and I use that term fairly broadly) can be reclusive, engrossing, and hugely rewarding. But when we feel blocked, or experience a creative stutter, those same inclinations towards solitude that serve us so well when the juices are flowing can turn on us, leave us feeling like we're floating alone in outer space. Well...no more! I've got some inspiration and ideas to help! Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria...2023-10-2916 min

ColdWalk With Me Among the DeadThis week in the Cold, we tell some stories of the dead, as we walk through a few odd and notable cemeteries. It's a spooky, but mostly soulful contemplation that puts a different spin on the Halloween season. If you'd like to read my essay on the lost cosmonauts of the Soviet Union - the one mentioned in the podcast, you can do so here: The Lost Cosmonauts of the Soviet Union | Cold (wordpress.com) Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update --- Send in...2023-10-2222 min

ColdPrague, My Alma MaterThis week in the Cold, we talk about the institutions and experiences that shape our lives, change our trajectories, and allow us to see ourselves anew. We get contemplative, sentimental, and philosophical...and yes, some great stories are told (ever been chased down a dark alley by a Servian gangster?). Don't even think about not joining in. Heads up! My novel "Savage Island" is on sale on the following platforms ($.99 October 6-9) https://books2read.com/u/bowBVR Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Victoria's Amazon Page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books...2023-10-0314 min

ColdFamily Lore: The Ghostly Impact of an Estranged Parent on Our Stories and Our LivesThis week in the COLD, we dive back into family lore. We explore estrangement from a parent, grief, and the unorthodox gift of a misfit relative. Please find a comfortable spot, pour yourself something warm, close your eyes and have a listen. My BREATH series (books 1 and 2 will be on sale this weekend (Friday, the 29th and Saturday the 30th of September). BREATH, book 1: Amazon.com: Breath: An Epic Historical Fantasy Saga (Book 1 of the Breath series) eBook : Dougherty, Victoria: Kindle Store BREATH on other platforms: https://books2read.com/u/4XrYoN 2023-09-2429 min

ColdIf You've Managed to Move an Audience, You've SucceededThis week in the Cold, I tell you all about one of the biggest pieces of shite that I've not only ever come across, but actually had the audacity to translate and produce for the stage. And I say this with tremendous affection. I do this not to torture you, but to demonstrate why, sometimes, really bad stories hit a sweet spot in the greater culture and go on to phenomenal success. Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Victoria's Amazon Page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update This episode is also available...2023-09-1912 min

ColdDo You Hear That? It's Your Muse Talking.This week in the Cold, we're talking about learning to listen to our muses, and subsequently, developing our true voices as writers. Will you write explicit sex into a love scene, or leave most of that to the reader's imagination? How far will you go with violence? When developing a magic system, will you make it subtle or spells-and-broomsticks obvious? Making these decisions is crucial to developing our styles and attracting readers who will keep coming back for more. As promised, here is a short excerpt for what I'm working on, as I hone my voice for...2023-09-1118 min

ColdA Few Words About Taking on More Than We Think We Can Handle (spoiler alert: I'm for it)This week in the Cold, I give you the skinny about what it's been like to renovate a nearly two-hundred-year-old house over the course of almost twenty years, and how this process mirrors the creative process. Particularly the process of conceiving and writing a novel or series. If you love adventure, you won't want to miss it. Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Victoria's Amazon Page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/down-there-by-the-train/ 2023-09-0517 min

ColdCapturing the Local: A Yankee’s Thoughts on Living in the SouthThis week on Cold, we talk about absorbing and interpreting our very own surroundings as part of our stories. We delve into my experience as a northerner who has now lived most of her adult life in the south, and what it's like to view a place as an outsider, but eventually blend in and become something resembling a local. Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2016/05/11/northern-lights-southern-exposure-a-yankees-thoughts-on-living-in-the-south/ 2023-08-2920 min

ColdAugust in the ColdThis week in the Cold, we're stripping off our clothes and laying in the heat. We're scratching our mosquito bites with complete abandon, bathing in any body of water that is not a bathtub, singing out loud and chewing on onion grass. Join us and leave your favorite summer stories and activities in the comments! Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/august-in-the-cold/ --- ...2023-08-2009 min

ColdThe Tale of a Country Mouse and City Mouse…Updated a BitThis week in the Cold, we're celebrating summer with my own updated story of the country mouse and city mouse. This one is complete with teenage girls, bugs and snakes, visits to The Met, ghosts, Civil War battlefields, and even the cast of "Hamilton." You won't want to miss it! Victoria on Amazon: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2018/08/10/the-tale-of-a-country-mouse-and-city-mouse-updated-a-bit/ --- Send in...2023-07-1620 min

ColdInhabiting the Ruins: Abandoned Places and Forgotten Souls are the Cornerstones of Great StoriesThis week in the Cold, we talk about the artist Mirna Pavlovic's obsession with grand, abandoned places and how her vision corresponds with a writer's (at least this writer's) exploration of damaged characters plagued by broken dreams, violence, and lost love. We also talk about abandoned stories and why it's important to revisit them. Please have a listen. Check out Mirna Pavlovic's amazing photography in this article: Photographer Mirna Pavlovic Captures the Decaying Interiors of Grand European Villas | ArchDaily And my stories here: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update And here: ...2023-07-0912 min

ColdPlease Stay for the Fireworks! (Some thoughts on the American story.)This week in the Cold, we're celebrating American Independence Day by talking about family lore and the impact it has on our lives as citizens and creators. My own family's harrowing American story has informed my outlook on love, parenting, speech, and civic responsibility. The incredible tales I grew up hearing around our family dinner table - including our "coming to America" accounts - made my becoming a writer inevitable, even when other careers might have been less competitive and more lucrative. So, light a sparkler and join us! Victoria's books: Amazon.com: Victoria...2023-07-0217 min

ColdOn Making a ManThis week in the Cold, we're celebrating Father's Day by talking about what it takes to make a man - both in fiction and in the Homeric journey of parenting. And yes, they overlap big time - at least for this parent and fiction writer. If you're enjoying Cold, please remember to give us a follow and leave a starred review. It means a lot. Oh, and here's the Radio Prague interview referenced in the podcast: The deep scars of the Cold War: Victoria Dougherty draws on own family’s dramatic history for The Bone Ch...2023-06-1519 min

ColdNoir: Revisited and ReimaginedThis week in the Cold, we're pouring ourselves a whiskey, lighting up a smoke, and slipping into the wonderful, seedy, stylish, dark, and darkly funny world of Noir! Victoria's Amazon Page (including some of my own noir thrillers): Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Links to some of my favorite noir thrillers: London Boulevard: A Novel - Kindle edition by Bruen, Ken. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. Farewell, My Lovely: A Novel (Philip Marlowe series Book 2) - Kindle edition by Chandler, Raymond. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. The...2023-06-0417 min

ColdThe Myths and Truths of a Creator's LifeThis week in the Cold we're talking about really makes up the creative life, picking apart the actual bones of creativity, and the foundation upon which wild notions and beautiful things are built. BREATH (Book 1 of the BREATH series) is available free for download this week only! Get it while it's Cold! Amazon.com: Breath: An Epic Historical Fantasy Saga (Book 1 of the Breath series) eBook : Dougherty, Victoria: Kindle Store BREATH on other platforms: https://books2read.com/u/4XrYoN --- Send in a...2023-05-2112 min

ColdApproaching Fiction Like a ScientistThis week in the Cold, we're talking about the difficulties inherent in taking a fresh, cold eye to your own work. In making your metaphors original, lyrical, and true, and turning the everyday into the fascinating, even magical. In essence, this involves approaching our work like a scientist and asking the very questions of ourselves that would produce counterintuitive answers full of wonder and awe. I'm also soliciting your opinions, my fellow scientists and creators, so allow me to take of your minds, if you will. Join Victoria's newsletter here: Form 4 | victoriadoughertybooks - ConvertKit BREATH is on...2023-05-0717 min

ColdA Slavic Eye for Cold War NostalgiaThis week in the Cold, we're going all in on the Cold War! I've been immersing myself in Cold War art, photography and aesthetics as I've been writing a new, episodic Cold War noir thriller set in Moscow, Berlin, and Bombay in the late 1950s and it's been a blast! And I'm so happy to take you through some of my favorite Cold War memories and experiences! Zoya Cherkassky-Nnadi’s art on Radio Free Europe: Lenin On Linen: An Artist Remembers Her Soviet Childhood (rferl.org) My art on my Amazon page: Amazon.com: Vi...2023-04-3016 min

ColdChecking for Monsters Under Our BedsThis week in the Cold, we talk about how the stories we create and consume allow us to explore our deepest darkest fears. Listen...IF YOU DARE! Victoria's Amazon Page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2023/04/21/our-deepest-darkest-fears/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/support 2023-04-2321 min

ColdHow Food Makes the Stories We Live and Consume Come AliveThis week in the Cold, we're not only talking about how our food experiences affect our lives, but how they make their way into the stories we create (or merely enjoy). Just for fun, I'm leaving you with a very ethnic Eastern European recipe that my people love. It may seem weird and little outside of your comfort zone, but that's the point, so give it a shot. And don't forget to let me know what you think. ROASTED BEEF TONGUE WITH ANCHOVY BUTTER 1 fresh beef tongue, boiled and skinned (simmer tongue in salted water...2023-04-1611 min

ColdThe Role of Rituals and Faith in the Stories of Our LivesThis week in The Cold, we are diving into our most primal selves. I think it is nearly impossible to overestimate the role of ritual and faith in how we see the world - in the stories we consume, we tell ourselves, and we tell others. This is as true of the atheist as it is the believer, because it is the way human beings have made sense of the world since the dawn of time. We see it in every fiction genre, every archetype, and it's fascinating to contemplate. Victoria's stories (and yes, all of them...2023-04-0217 min

ColdThe Mysterious Mr. XDoesn't it seem like almost everyone knows someone who they believe was or is a spy? That's why this week in The Cold, we're talking about spies and the spy genre. I've got my stories and I'm telling them! The Hungarian by Victoria Dougherty is on sale in trade paperback: Amazon.com: The Hungarian: 9781734223460: Dougherty, Victoria: Books Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2023/03/24/the-mysterious-mr-x/ --- Send in a voice...2023-03-2616 min

ColdHow Country Music Made Me a Better WriterThis week in the Cold, we talk about how externals - a new environment, the music we listen to - influence the story-making process. In my own experience, moving to a rural part of the country, after having been a city-dweller all my life, and discovering country music, has had a deep and profound impact in how I tell a story and create a character. The Hungarian by Victoria Dougherty (Cold War thriller): Amazon.com: The Hungarian: 9781734223460: Dougherty, Victoria: Books Victoria's other stories: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Victoria's website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty...2023-03-1913 min

ColdThe Deep, Lasting Impact of the Greatest Vacation Romance Story Ever Told!This week in the Cold, I tell a great vacation romance story and we ponder how deeply well told, important stories impact our lives. How they help us make sense of our emotions, organize our thoughts, and inspire the stories we write and create, or merely fantasize about. Savage Island: A BREATH Novel: Amazon.com: Savage Island: A Breath Novel eBook : Dougherty, Victoria: Kindle Store Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2016/12/06/beaches-sunsets-and-butt-sniffing-the-best-vacation-romance-ever/ --- Send...2023-03-1214 min

ColdThe Joys of Parochialism, Community Lore, and the Real Story Behind "The Exorcist"This week in the Cold, we go demonic and talk about all manner of community lore, but especially about the real events that inspired the classic novel and 1973 film, "The Exorcist." This is a deep dive into how non-fiction becomes lore, which turns into fiction that spreads like wildfire! This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2023/02/24/go-to-st-louis/ And speaking of fiction, here's some of mine: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support t...2023-02-2724 min

ColdCommunity: The Other Kind of Love StoryThis week in the Cold, we're tearing our eyes away from our lovers and giving some much-needed attention to the other love story in our lives - the one we experience with our communities. Check out Victoria's Amazon page: Amazon.com: Victoria Dougherty: books, biography, latest update Victoria website: Welcome to Victoria Dougherty Books This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2023/02/10/community-the-other-kind-of-love-story/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty...2023-02-1215 min

ColdLove StoriesThis week in the Cold, we talk about the structural similarities between popular fictional love stories and our own real-life love stories. According to readers, how a pair of lovers meet and come to be together is critical to their enjoyment of a story and features prominently in their continued interest in what happens to those characters. According to the most extensive research on long term relationships like marriage, how we fall in love - the story of us - is probably the most important factor determining whether or not that relationship will last. Powerful stuff you don't want...2023-02-0517 min

ColdSay Anything: Here’s a Conversation You Don’t Want to MissThis week in the Cold, we're talking about the art and purpose of conversation. Not just any conversation, but the kind that allows for nuance, true insights, a real connection. As a fiction writer, my greatest tool is observation. To be able to capture the essence of a character and do it generously is what makes for a good story, as far as I'm concerned. Something that feels light on the page and sticks with you. Having conversations with people - even when they are very different from me and hold opposing views - is what enables that. 2023-01-2914 min

ColdThis is Everything I Know About the Spirit of ChristmasThis week in the Cold, I have some suggestions for getting the Christmas spirit right this year. For getting our stories straight. I’ve collected these from experience and tried every single one of them myself. I can say with complete confidence that even putting some of these directives into play has brought people closer to me - whether they be family, friends, colleagues or readers. And if you put any and all of these suggestions into play, please let me know how that turned out for you! email me at: victoria@victoriadoughertybooks.com This epi...2022-12-1112 min

ColdThe Right Book Cover Can Be a Sublime, Mood-Setting Piece of Story Candy.The week in the Cold, we're talking art. Book cover art to be more precise. Probably my favorite part of the pre-launch of any new novel is when I get the finished cover in my inbox. For me, a book cover is a work of art, and its composition must reflect the heart of the story. But the cover must also communicate quality, years of passionate story writing, plus the world-building and fine-tuning that’s built into every novel, series, or epic. We share some of that process today - that of creating an image, or collection of...2022-09-1111 min

ColdWriting the Damsel in DistressThis week in the Cold, we venture into our third episode focusing on the fairytale genre. Not only are we writing our own fairytale, using all of the common tropes we loved as kids, and let's face it, still fall for as adults, but we're trying to figure out just what makes each of these tropes so compelling. Probably the most popular trope of is the damsel in distress. Writing a damsel in distress is tricky business. Damsels must be beautiful, have a moral dimension, and a memorable backstory. Most often, they are cursed, so they come with a...2022-07-1119 min

ColdStrange Stories and the Strangers Who Inhabit ThemThe moment a stranger enters a story there is a seismic shift, and reader or audience member knows things will never be the same...for good or ill. This week in the Cold, we examine the role of the stranger. How a stranger is introduced, and the way he is woven into a story. We then weave a stranger into our continuing story...the fairytale we've been writing by the seats of our pants. Please join us for this second chapter of "Romakaji." This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2021/03/26/strange-stories-and-the-strangers-who-inhabit-them/ --- ...2022-06-2710 min

ColdThe Genesis of a FairytaleThis week in the Cold, we talk about how our very surroundings inspire us creatively, and how a change in our environment can find us walking new paths, dreaming new dreams, and conjuring stories we'd never entertained writing before. This happened to me recently, and I hadn't even left my house. I only contemplated doing so, staring at a picture of an old, stone cottage in the Cotswolds in England. Before I knew it, I was writing a fairytale... This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2021/03/19/come-dream-with-me/ --- Send in a...2022-06-2017 min

ColdWhat I've Learned About Sex and Love from Driving CarpoolThis week in The Cold, we're talking about S-E-X from the ground up. From the way teens (at least the ones I eavesdrop on during carpool) view their own budding sexuality, to how our choices affect our lives in the long term, to the manners in which we interpret all of the conflicting information about sex and love, all the way to what we read about this monumentally important topic and why. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2018/05/04/eavesdropping-on-teens-as-they-talk-about-sex/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show...2022-06-0622 min

ColdTyping THE END is Just the BeginningThis week in the Cold, we talk about THE END. Because the weeks after finishing a novel can be sticky. It’s a time of fits and starts, frustration, and lack of focus. Even if you've got a dozen story ideas tucked away for just this occasion, there’s this feeling of depletion. You've given all you've got, and while proud of the work and relieved the story has made it to the finish line, a pervading sense of detachment and disorientation creeps up. You might feel like starting a new novel is a skill you've lost, like doing the...2022-05-2318 min

ColdFrom Movie Stardom to Baseball: Childhood Dreams Leave a Mark on Our LivesThis week in the Cold, we talk about what we want to be when we grow up. Or at least, what we wanted to be when we were kids. This past week was also Carol Burnett's 89th birthday, and when I was a girl, more than anything in the world, I wanted to be Carol Burnett. That didn't happen, obviously. I became a novelist who writes some pretty serious books (although I'm still funny, damn it). But Carol has without question left a huge mark on my life. The truth is, whether we fulfill them, absorb and repurpose them...2022-05-0217 min

ColdScary Roller Coasters are as Bad as CancerSounds crazy, right? But in a way, it's true. That's why this week in the Cold, we're talking about the ways in which we, as humans, and our favorite fictional characters, as people imagined by humans, process, interpret, and express pain and difficulty. We dive deep, we go to the roots of resilience and survival. You don't want to miss this one. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/scary-roller-coasters-are-as-bad-as-cancer/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify...2022-04-2519 min

ColdIn the Still of the NightThis week in the Cold, we talk about the night, and what it brings to our creative and spiritual lives. I've had a complicated relationship with the dark all my life. Truth be told, I'm afraid of it - always have been. Yet, when I'm awake in the middle of the night, I often find it to be a time of potent magic. It's when my best ideas come, and I find myself immersed in a world of wonder and fantasy...and yes, sometimes fear. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress...2022-04-1115 min

ColdFacing the MusicThis week in the Cold, we talk about the importance of music as an inspiration in our work, and our lives. The way it can change a mood - have us get up to shake and groove, make our hearts race, or curl up into a ball and let the tears flow. It can focus our thoughts, and help us reimagine our futures. Music can, quite literally, be the conduit for a shift in our destinies. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2018/09/14/face-the-music-and-dance/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters...2022-04-0421 min

ColdA Map of Manhood from Antiquity to James BondManhood. It almost feels archaic to write the word, because it’s become so muddled, seeming to have as many definitions and contradictions as there are coffee beverages offered at Starbucks. But manhood has been on all of our minds of late - you know it's true. As the Ukrainian conflict continues to unfold, and we watch (mostly) men leaving their families to fight the Russian invaders, as we ponder trans issues, as we try to sort out just why children who are raised without fathers are so at risk. That's why I think it's worth revisiting a clear ma...2022-03-2121 min

ColdA Long Day’s Journey Into LightIt's been hard for me to consume news the past couple of weeks. For someone with my family history - two generations of political refugees, a mother who was an actual political prisoner and Enemy of the State - the crisis in the Ukraine has a very familiar ring, an awful, pit-in-my-stomach feel. I know I should at the very least be reading the front page of the paper, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to do anything but...pray. While I can't even pretend to have a workable grasp of the intricacies of t...2022-03-1418 min

ColdWhen Words Are Destiny - Written, Spoken, or ExchangedThis week in the Cold, we talk about the art of conversation. There is a reason why in so many ancient cultures, the written word is synonymous with destiny. "It is written," they say. It's because words - written, spoken, exchanged - can have a profound effect on our lives. Conversations with lovers or strangers, even fictional parleys in a novel can adjust our perspectives, pull us away from a precipice we didn’t even realize we were standing on. They can remind us anything is possible, and that most of us don’t fit neatly into the slots we’v...2022-02-2817 min

ColdLove and ForgivenessStories of love and forgiveness compel us in both literature and life. They help us examine our own behaviors, and understand the motives of our loved ones. They offer hope. Today in the Cold, I have just such a story to offer you. It's a magnificent, damned near miraculous story of love and forgiveness, and it is so much better than a mere Valentine. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/love-and-forgiveness/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify...2022-02-1415 min

ColdExploring the Art of the Love SceneThis week in the Cold, we're talking about sex and love and how to make it burn in a story - lighting a fire that spreads from page to page. It's easier said than done. Because one of the hardest parts about writing a love scene is the simple act of letting go. Allowing yourself to experience the same feelings of bonzai-passion, trembling-fear, vein-popping love, and button-exploding lust in which your characters are awash during their most intimate moments. So, please, slip into something more comfortable and join us. Also, there a historical fiction and historical romance...2022-02-0714 min

ColdA Love Letter to WinterThis week in the Cold, we talk about what makes winter so damned enchanting, and why it's the most creative and romantic time of the year. I'll tell you about why I love the cold, and how I celebrate the poetry of winter - even as I sit through our second major snow storm in as many weeks. The first had us out of power and water for days. We lit a fire, boiled snow, shivered under blankets...and went to a lovely, old bed and breakfast when it all got to be too much. But that was part...2022-01-1714 min

ColdThere But for the Grace of GodThis week in the Cold, we talk about those "there, but for the grace of God" moments. The missed opportunities, sharp left turns, and steps through the looking glass that might flip our lives upside down, but also offer unexpected gifts...like hope, clarity, and wisdom. Sometimes, they even save our lives. These abrupt changes of plans are the stuff of novels, of the stories we fiction writers love to conjure, but they're also real, psychically savage episodes in our human drama. And they happen to all of us. This episode is also available as a blog...2022-01-1015 min

ColdHow to Make a New Year's Resolution...and Break It!New Year's resolutions are famous for being comically short. We often start out strong, but by early spring have lost our mojo. If we haven't kicked our resolution to the curb entirely by that point, we've surely cheated. But all is not lost. This week in the Cold, you'll hear a story that will make sure you never feel shame for breaking a New Year's resolutions ever again. You might even fell a sense of thrill about your lack of resolve...especially when you look back and take note of what even your failed resolutions have brought into your...2022-01-0318 min

ColdMy Kind of Town: The Glories of Chicago in the ColdThis week in the Cold, we ring in the New Year with a few words on the magic of spending the winter in a f-f-freezing climate. You heard me. The enchantments happen in cities like Chicago, Toronto, Minneapolis, Prague, and Copenhagen. These are places where people have no choice but to make the best of it. They drink and cook and play games and tell stories and fall love in front of a hot fire! I dare say, that after this podcast, you'll never complain about the cold again. This episode is also available as a blog post: https...2021-12-2717 min

ColdA Little Story to Get You Into the Holiday SpiritThis week in the Cold, I have a story for you that will not only renew your faith in humanity, but leave you agog. It's about a man, an art collection, and a simple transaction between two sons that might just heal the world. Please join us. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/a-little-something-to-get-the-holiday-season-started/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/support 2021-12-1312 min

ColdAtonement, Enchantment, and Candy on St. Nicholas DayThis week in the Cold, we talk about the enchanting, utterly wonderful, magical, charming-as-hell traditions of St. Nicholas Day in Prague, and the spirit of atonement this day brings to the holiday season. This is armchair traveling at its finest, and storytelling at its most sincere. I've also got some St. Nicholas Day treats for Cold listeners. Just visit my blog in the link below and scroll down. There, you'll find links to my novels "The Bone Church" and "The Hungarian" (books 1 & 2 of The Cold War Chronicles), which are on sale all this week for a song. That's ebooks...2021-12-0614 min

ColdA Candle for Dina, and a Prayer in Honor of the Power of ArtThis week in the Cold, I offer you one helluva story. It's a war story, a love story, and an account of survival from a woman I knew. I offer it in honor of the human spirit, in honor of Hanukkah, and my one quarter Jewish heritage. Most of all, in honor of art and the hope it inspires. And I do hope you'll join us. Here are the links to Dina Babbitt's interview for the Shoah Foundation. Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRMWD8L1xDg Part 2: https://www.youtube.com...2021-11-2916 min

ColdA Cold Eye for Giving ThanksA few years ago on my Cold blog (see link below), the first of what would become an annual list of gratitude was born. It was conceived as an opportunity to take stock and think about all of the elements of our lives – great and small – for which we're truly grateful. This quirky, misty-eyed scroll of various people, places, and things serves as a powerful reminder, that no matter where we are on our journey, we're still capable of feeling enchanted. Happy Thanksgiving Cold listeners. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2019/11/22/a-cold-eye-for-giving-thanks/ ...2021-11-2212 min

ColdThe Truth About Big, Fat LiesThis week in the Cold, we ponder lies and the lying liars who tell them. I don't want to give too much away, because it's just too good. Swear it is! Please join us. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2015/11/24/herein-lies-the-truth/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/support 2021-11-1514 min

ColdWhat makes up a Hero?Come join us this week in the Cold, as we take a hard look at the feats and character traits that make up a hero in both fiction and real life. The common definition of what it means to be a hero has become muddled in the past few years, falling victim to a culture war that has had us arguing over a lot of words and deeds that we used to pretty much agree on. Despite this, I think we all still know a hero when we see one. That's why it's worth endeavoring to put...2021-11-0818 min

ColdDracula, the Gothic PimpToday in the Cold, we are talking about possibly the most fascinating, alluring, and confounding character in all of literature...Count Dracula. What is it about Bram Stoker's "Dracula" that inspired a global phenomenon that turned so many of us into undead junkies? Was it masterfully written - yes. Stoker wove a complex, culturally sophisticated, and truly terrifying horror story. Ultimately, though, I think the secret lies with the Count himself... This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2013/10/29/dracula-the-gothic-pimp/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod...2021-10-2511 min

ColdMy Life in a Haunted House (for real)As promised, this week in the Cold, I'm telling you all about what it's like to live in the wonderful, old, story-machine that is my home. Did I mention that it's haunted? Yes, haunted! But life in a house with a bit of history, and a smidge of woo-woo spirituality is not what you think. Don't even consider skipping this episode! This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/life-in-a-haunted-house/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com...2021-10-1813 min

ColdThe (Ghost) Stories We TellThis week in the Cold, we're talking about the woo-woo, the spiritual, the paranormal, and why even the most rational of us just love, love, love it. The paranormal is such a tasty spice in the stories we read and write. It can be a smaller element of a greater work of literature or genre fiction, like the witches in Shakespeare's "Macbeth," or commandeer an entire story, as it did in Bram Stoker's "Dracula" or Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight" and Maggie Steifvater's "Shiver." Big or small, it draws us in, opening up a world full of mystery, showing us both...2021-10-1113 min

ColdThe Dangerous Allure of the Horror StoryIt's October, which means Cold is going all-in on ghosts, monsters, aliens, and all creatures of the night or things that go bump in the dark. This week, we're diving head-first into the bloody, brain-splattered world of the horror story! Horror, second only to Romance, is the most maligned genre in fiction. Rarely taken seriously, and treated more like a carnival sideshow. But I charge that horror is as integral a theme for our psyches as the love story, and it doesn’t really matter whether it’s presented in the form of schlocky genre fiction or serious literary ende...2021-10-0416 min

ColdThe Lost Cosmonauts of the Soviet Union, and Other Harrowing Real-Life Space TalesToday in the Cold, we have some harrowing real-life stories that sound like they're straight out of science fiction. We uncover chilling tales of the lost cosmonauts of 1950s and 60s Soviet Russia, including what may be actual audio from one of these failed missions. It includes a female cosmonaut no less! We also ponder the very different ethics which distinguished the American and Soviet space programs of the Cold War. This episode comes right on the heels of Elon Musk's newest SpaceX endeavor - the Inspiration 4 - which is the first all-civilian mission to go into...2021-09-2021 min

ColdGetting Damned Serious About Humor: How the "Outlander" Novels are a Gold Standard for Weaving Humor into an EpicThis week in the Cold, we talk about humor as a crucial element to any story that endeavors to rise above cliché. We zero-in on Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" novels as a gold standard for tackling very serious topics like war, history, and love with a confident and unapologetic sense of humor. We look back on Shakespeare, Twain, Hemingway, Chandler, even ancient literature in order to illustrate how humor isn’t just something meant to make us feel good. It is defiant, subversive and smarter than we are. Through humor we can say things we’re too afraid to say, and s...2021-09-1316 min

ColdA Picture Becomes a Thousand Words: The Transcendental Role of Photography in Constructing a Historical NarrativeJoin us in the Cold today as we excavate the past through photographs, and talk about how to make new worlds out of old ones. Photography is invaluable for me when I'm creating a work of historical fiction. Photos help me conjure stories I could have never constructed without the help of someone else's eye. The eye of a person who is perhaps long dead, but whose perspective lives on through the pictures they took for a newspaper article, or maybe just to commemorate a personal occasion or family vacation. These snapshots can have so many lives, and continue...2021-08-3024 min

ColdWhy Would Anyone Ever Have Children? (A few words on being a mother and living the creative life.)I contend that raising kids and writing novels isn't a whole lot different. Both are hugely creative, ambitious, and gobsmackingly intimidating labors of love. So much so that a lot of people contemplating the creative life (and we use this terms loosely - there are a lot of ways to live a creative life) may wonder if taking on two such enormously challenging endeavors is even possible. That's why, in this longer episode of Cold - twice as long as our usual - we explore balancing the personal and professional. What are the trade-offs, the joys, the burdens, the...2021-08-2329 min

ColdThe Sublime Whisper of the Bad Habit in Both Life and LiteratureThere's isn't a truly compelling fictional story, let alone a real-life one, that doesn't in some way involve a bad habit. Whether it's a propensity that's relatively straightforward, like an excessive love of drink, or more opaque, like a secret lust for bad women. Bad habits have black magic - there's just no getting around that. As much as we might hate them, or hate ourselves for succumbing to our more base instincts, or look down our noses at others for their particular weaknesses, we're fascinated by them. More often than not, when it comes to the bad habit...2021-08-1617 min

ColdChance Encounters and the Weird and Wonderful Ways They Transform Our LivesLast week in the Cold, we talked a bit about how huge adventures and calamities, like wars, for instance, are a breeding ground for coincidences and other extraordinary sequences of events. It's a big topic with so much to unpack, and it's well-worth expanding on. Only this week, I want us to approach it a little bit differently. I want to delve into how chance encounters, those little occurrences that happen in our day to day lives and can appear insignificant, can also utterly change our destinies. And the way fiction, when it's done right, not only mimics these...2021-08-0415 min

ColdThe Communist Who Peed His Pants and Other True StoriesThere is a twisted, tangled, and often tactical relationship between true stories and works of fiction. True stories can inspire and influence a fiction author's work, bringing a level of enchantment to her story. Or a true story can stumble its way into a perfectly good tale and wreck it, make it seem unreal somehow. But when it's done right, it can change an author's heart and blow a reader's mind. I've mixed a lot of fact and fiction in my stories - especially in my earlier novels - the ones closer in theme to my...2021-07-2616 min

ColdThe Vital Role of Music in StorytellingI've always used music to juice myself creatively. I can't imagine writing a work of fiction without using music as an inspiration, and even go so far as to actually build soundtracks for every story in my catalogue. That's why on this week's Cold, we're talking music and its often crucial, magical connection to the construction of a story. I use a variety of music genres to inspire my work, and the genre of music depends on the nature of the story I'm writing, but I defininetly play favorites when it comes to pairing songs and music styles with...2021-07-1913 min

ColdMemories, Myths, and Alchemy: What Makes Up a Work of fiction?I often forget how opaque the creative process may seem – even to those who live with artists. Few people outside the realm of painters, writers, musicians and their ilk have anything more than a rudimentary understanding of the way it all really works. That's why I thought it might be interesting if we tried to articulate some of the steps that go into writing of a work of fiction. To pick through the bones that hold up each and every discordant part, providing architecture to the stories we endeavor to tell. Because for those on the outside, the creative pr...2021-07-1317 min

ColdFireworks and Cold War Facts and FictionsIn honor of the coming 4th of July Holiday here in America, we're going to take some time here on Cold to celebrate independence, free thought, and free living. We'll do it through the lenses of both fiction and non-fiction, and talk about my own personal stories of Cold War adventure that include my family's dangerous exploits and my life and travels in post-communist Eastern and Central Europe. Fun, heartbreaking, and darkly comic stories that will stay with you throughout the day, and give you something to think about while you're watching the fireworks this coming weekend. ...2021-06-2816 min

ColdHow to Time-Travel Without a Time MachineWe are all time-travellers of a sort. Maybe few of us actually step into a time machine or through some standing stones and find ourselves in a new (or rather, old) time and place, but jumps in time happen to us nonetheless. It's when we visit an old haunt, move to a new city, or start going out into the world again after a long pandemic lockdown. That, too, makes us move in time. It's juices us creatively, matures us quite suddenly, and gives us a brand new perspective...sometimes a new lease on life. That's what we're talking...2021-06-2119 min

ColdMen in Love and WarMen. As a writer and a woman, this is a topic of endless fascination for me. Given that I'm a thriller writer at my core, and add to that the fact that I've been endeavoring to write a great, epic romance filled with sensuality, violence and adventure, it's a topic that's become of great professional interest over the years. Because writing men of adventure is the easy part. We know what to expect from that man, that character in fiction. We know he will go on the journey, take the red pill, run into the burning building. What's a...2021-06-1423 min

ColdRepeating History: Why Writing About the Past MattersWriters of historical characters and events have always had to balance being true to a given era and yet relatable to contemporary readers. But doing this is easier said than done...especially in today's cultural climate. That's why we're talking about the strictures that political correctness can place on writers of Historical Fiction, and whether this is having an impact on the genre both artistically and commercially. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2019/03/27/repeating-history-why-writing-about-the-past-matters/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/victoria-dougherty/message Support t...2021-06-0716 min

ColdPerils and Pleasures of the Writing LifeThis week in the Cold, we're talking about the writing life in all of its complicated glory. Not only how we writers evolve and develope the daily habits that allow us to finish massive pieces of work, like a novel, but the emotional journey of mining our personal experiences for our creative efforts. How very differently we deploy our imaginations when writing fiction versus non-fiction, and the mine fields we need to navigate as we expose not only our own hearts, but potentially the hearts of those we love. Folks, it is daunting, and it is beautiful. T...2021-05-2414 min

ColdWhat Happens When You Vow to Say "Yes!"?Last year, about six weeks before the COVID lockdowns hit, I made a vow to say yes to any invitation that came my way - no matter who it was from or what kind of event I was getting myself into. The results, in just those few short weeks, were dramatic. Not only did I end up at a freakin' KISS concert (I did say I'd accept ANY invitation, right?), but I made new and true friendships that helped take me through a long and stressful pandemic. That's why, as COVID structures have begun to relax in earnest, I h...2021-05-1722 min

ColdWhy a World Without Pain is a WastelandPain is awful, frightening, destablizing, and thrilling. Yes, thrilling! It's why a writer must put her characters through the wringer or else risk losing the reader. We want to experience a character having to do battle, to transcend agonizing, sometimes impossible circumstances, to rise above them, or perhaps, as a cautionary tale, let their pain consume them. Reading about pain is a dress rehearsal for confronting our own challenges, and for performing a kind of autopsy on our real-world reactions to painful episodes in our lives. It's why I believe that a world without pain would be a wasteland...2021-05-1017 min

ColdUnder the Spell of the MoonI don't know anyone who has not fallen under the spell of the moon at one time or another. We stand under the full moon, gazing up into her face, letting her cold, blue light wash over us. We dream, we yearn, we make wishes. We stay up to photograph supermoons, like many of us did last week when a pink supermoon appeared in our skies. Every creative person I know believes in muses of some sort, or has talismans they use to inspire them, summon ideas. For me, that muse has always been the moon. And in this...2021-05-0317 min

ColdBad Writing Day. In All Its Mundane Glory.This week in the Cold, we're talking about what a bad writing day is really like. We've all had them. Days when none of our usual tricks work. We can't go for a walk to reboot - the weather is crap, no amount of research or internet surfing is delivering that spark of inspiration, the words trip out onto the page like bad dancers. But there's a method to the madness, and there are ways we can turn these terribly, awful, no good, very bad days into something we can use. This episode is also available as a blog...2021-04-2618 min

ColdWhy We Must Write What We Don't KnowThis week in the Cold, we're talking about the noble art of writing way outside of our experience. "Write what you know" is not bad advice for a beginning writer. It gives us a place to start that's familiar and tangible. But it's incomplete, because a crucial part of the magic of writing fiction, or non fiction for that matter, is in discovery. Imagination is the fairy dust that makes our stories come alive, and walking in the shoes of a being that may be nothing like us, in a culture that is as alien as a distant planet...2021-04-1916 min

ColdEye of the Beholder: Beauty in Myths, Fairytales, and Great StoriesThis week in the Cold, we talk about beauty. The way it shapes how we view the world and how it can alter our perceptions for good or ill. The role beauty plays in how we write or interpret a story and its characters is crucial and infinite. Because beauty is about so much more than a pretty face or a hot body. In great stories, we use it to inspire empathy, to foment passion, to find the weakness in another human being and use it to destroy them. It is truly an awesome tool. This episode is also...2021-04-1217 min

ColdWander with MeWhether we wander in our backyards or neighborhoods, or wander all over the world, wandering is an important prerequisite for any creative person. It juices us, opens the doors to the made-up worlds that we build and inhabit when it all gets to be too much. Wherever and however we wander, wandering enriches our lives in ways we can rarely predict. And we rarely regret that we ever embarked on the journey. So, please come wandering with me today... This episode is also available as a blog post: https://victoriadougherty.wordpress.com/2020/11/12/wandering/ --- Send in...2021-04-0917 min

ColdThe Bone Church: Real and ImaginedLast time in the Cold, we talked about where we write and how the places where we compose our stories help us create worlds that a reader can experience with all of their senses. How our various talismans - photos, artifacts, books, furniture - discipline and inspire us. Today, we're looking at place a little bit differently. We're pondering the places we write about and how they can serve as the anchors of our stories. And I tell you about a very specific place that inspired me to write my first novel. It's a sacred place of mystery, love...2021-04-0511 min

ColdWhere We Write and CreateToday in the Cold, we're talking about how the spaces we occupy when we endeavor to write or create affect our work, and inspire our imaginations. Place is very important to me. I like to surround myself with talismans, artifacts, and photos that help me build my fictional universes from the ground up. That's why I'm going to give you a tour of my home office - where I love to create. Some of the things I've got in there might surprise and delight you, while others might make you queasy or uncomfortable. Either way, come have a seat...2021-04-0116 min

ColdWelcome to The ColdI'm Victoria Dougherty, fiction and essay writer, blogger, collector of family lore. And I want to welcome you into the Cold. Cold is the way revenge is best served; the way a war was fought; the way a story should be told. It's a forum for people who love great stories. Ones that are real, made up, and everything in between. The kind that make you take a sharp inhale of breath and dig-your-fingernails-into-the-sofa. Time-old tales of lovers, killers, curses, and destinies. So pour a plum brandy, tip your hat, pull your raincoat shut, and l...2021-03-2908 min