tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post3902399816606360590..comments2024-03-28T09:03:53.875-04:00Comments on Jungle Red Writers: Confronting the PastJungle Red Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-22256623310854528722016-06-08T23:05:02.152-04:002016-06-08T23:05:02.152-04:00Wanda: you hit the nail on the head...Wanda: you hit the nail on the head...Simon Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06471742491394830379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-29596147233657554582016-06-08T15:56:22.610-04:002016-06-08T15:56:22.610-04:00Cannot deal with the topic of survivor guilt. So t...Cannot deal with the topic of survivor guilt. So traumatic to see people taking it that way. In a way it's like they are cheating themselves. Wandahttp://dailytwocents.com/jimmy-johns-sandwich-menu-vegan-gourmet-sandwiches/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-67275207283449942692015-03-20T19:38:14.328-04:002015-03-20T19:38:14.328-04:00Dear Anon,
I was trained to be a disaster 1st res...Dear Anon,<br /><br />I was trained to be a disaster 1st responder because of my engineering background. There was a small therapy element because of the PTSD people suffered as 1st responders having to leave people behind. So many have taken their own lives because of it.<br /><br />We are such weird creatures... Simon Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06471742491394830379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-86162535084652695592015-03-20T19:11:33.105-04:002015-03-20T19:11:33.105-04:00Looking forward to your book. As a psychologist wo...Looking forward to your book. As a psychologist working with first responders I know firsthand the grip PTSD has on its victims and their families. I also know PTSD can be cured. We call it PTSI, post trauma stress injury. Like other injuries there is hope for recovery. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-58619604003853740932015-03-20T17:24:35.431-04:002015-03-20T17:24:35.431-04:00Hank: every time a book comes out, someone tells m...Hank: every time a book comes out, someone tells me about a scene that didn't happen but is an extension of what I wrote. It's Psycho's shower scene. They see the knife and hear the scream but no one sees a stabbing...but they think they do.Simon Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06471742491394830379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-40627341624690570962015-03-20T17:13:28.168-04:002015-03-20T17:13:28.168-04:00Hi, Tam Tam! xooHi, Tam Tam! xooHank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-9783305040124265712015-03-20T17:12:55.391-04:002015-03-20T17:12:55.391-04:00Karen, "afraid to pick up the phone" is ...Karen, "afraid to pick up the phone" is such an image. I am so sorry--that's disturbing, really it is, and so sad.<br /><br />Sal, that's fascinating, too..and they probably didn't even realize. Or did he?Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-6997774752336159412015-03-20T17:11:08.307-04:002015-03-20T17:11:08.307-04:00You know, so interesting--I was reading a big big...You know, so interesting--I was reading a big big NYT #1 book (not Girl on the Train) to see why it's so popular. and it was full of ...just as you describe, Simon, violence that was not shown, but only in the reader's imagination. And it was haunting. I said to Jonathan--my reaction to the book was that it was SO violent--but word by word, it wasn't.Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-25090946003874139632015-03-20T16:06:25.770-04:002015-03-20T16:06:25.770-04:00Thanks Tam Tam. Some people are born interesting ...Thanks Tam Tam. Some people are born interesting and some people have interesting thrust upon them. :-)Simon Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06471742491394830379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-46055848434037274932015-03-20T14:54:24.928-04:002015-03-20T14:54:24.928-04:00Congratulations on the new book, Simon! I am, as a...Congratulations on the new book, Simon! I am, as always, amazed by your storytelling ability--and the experiences you've had in your life to draw upon!Tammyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01033264133869966636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-53212736166499328862015-03-20T14:42:52.129-04:002015-03-20T14:42:52.129-04:00Thanks for the comments. On the whole I think hav...Thanks for the comments. On the whole I think have understood what I was trying to do with the book and understand Zoe's character, even if they didn't fully understand the subject. Obviously with a character like Zoe you can't have postscript saying she's acting illogically because people in this position act like this so that has frustrated some readers.<br /><br />As to Hank's question, I felt I had to walk a fine line with it came to its graphic nature. I did my best to not to shy away from the violence but at the same time not to be gratuitous. To be honest, a lot of the violence is in the reader's imagination as it tends be a person reaction to pain and not detailed explanation...which could be viewed as worse. I think the killer's weapon of choice is the most upsetting thing. Just the thought of it amps up the situation. I think with this book more than any other I really did think about what I did and didn't show because it depicted violence against women and I didn't want it to be a torture porn field day.Simon Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06471742491394830379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-57191787399780553462015-03-20T14:39:09.626-04:002015-03-20T14:39:09.626-04:00In a way it's also what drives a friend who ha...In a way it's also what drives a friend who has gone through a horrific divorce and shows up with his new fiancee, who is the spitting image of his ex-.<br /><br />He's trying to relive the failed romance and get it right this time.Salhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597301821068526313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-53471020027250720202015-03-20T14:38:54.410-04:002015-03-20T14:38:54.410-04:00In a way it's also what drives a friend who ha...In a way it's also what drives a friend who has gone through a horrific divorce and shows up with his new fiancee, who is the spitting image of his ex-.<br /><br />He's trying to relive the failed romance and get it right this time.Salhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597301821068526313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-29724400537797320712015-03-20T13:33:52.474-04:002015-03-20T13:33:52.474-04:00Susan, how awful, to have that severe of a reactio...Susan, how awful, to have that severe of a reaction, still. My cousin was in Vietnam, and to this day he won't talk about what happened there, but it completely changed him and the trajectory of his life. <br /><br />Ellen, I never thought of it being PTSD, but I see now that was exactly what my husband and I went through during one period of our lives. We lost, and I am not exaggerating, a dozen family members between us, and a dozen friends, in a 15-month period. I was stunned, drained, and terrified to answer the phone for well over a year. It seemed as though we couldn't stand up before the next blow fell. <br /><br />As an outcome of that experience, going from funeral to funeral, I finally get why there is a wake, and how very much it means for family members to gather together with people who mean a lot to them during a time of grief, shock, and sadness. Now I go, where before I often wouldn't. Karen in Ohionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-88649633272979596192015-03-20T13:15:45.755-04:002015-03-20T13:15:45.755-04:00Interesting and important subject matter, Simon. ...Interesting and important subject matter, Simon. I just finished a book set in 1830 in England, and one of the characters had been placed in an insane asylum for ten years after WWI, hidden away because he returned from the war with what is now known as PTSD and survivor's guilt. How horrible for those young men who didn't have the benefit of a diagnosis and treatment. Not that PTSD today is a good thing, just that the acknowledgement and treatment of it is. But, as Anonymous pointed out, even with therapy, it is always a part of you and who you are. <br /><br />The One That Got Away sounds like a great thriller that I definitely want to read. Thanks for sharing your own personal story about PTSD in a most interesting post.Kathy Reelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17004247271452356577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-46017707400430901662015-03-20T12:37:36.864-04:002015-03-20T12:37:36.864-04:00I attend a monthly poetry reading, and several of ...I attend a monthly poetry reading, and several of the regular readers are Vietnam vets still struggling with PTSD. Writing is therapy for them, but I think reading it to a safe audience who listens, is better therapy. It's painful to hear sometimes, and it makes me sad to think of younger men and women just beginning this long journey that may or may not include a place and way to recover.Ramonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00627775403015684868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-26693936571823192042015-03-20T12:29:53.564-04:002015-03-20T12:29:53.564-04:00Wow, Simon, what a story--and sounds like a fascin...Wow, Simon, what a story--and sounds like a fascinating book!<br /><br />Ellen, good lord, that's a set of dreadful coincidences. Horrifying.<br /><br />In my days as a psychologist, I saw over and over people who didn't realize what aspects of past experience and relationships were driving the present. We have amazing powers to hide things from ourselves...Lucy Burdette aka Roberta Isleibhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04660402177299546055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-21413454041957578032015-03-20T11:38:52.413-04:002015-03-20T11:38:52.413-04:00Diane--sensitized. That;s such a perfect descripti...Diane--sensitized. That;s such a perfect description. Sometimes we may not even realize what's going on.<br /><br />Ellen, that makes my heart clench just to read it. Oh. that's.. Well, you know. And the idea that it's so random is difficult to juggle. I guess we have to embrace the randomness, not fear it.Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-34450555015160282392015-03-20T11:36:35.423-04:002015-03-20T11:36:35.423-04:00Hi Simon! Always lovely to see you here. Thanks fo...Hi Simon! Always lovely to see you here. Thanks for sharing such a personal story. Interesting, isn't it, what devious pathways our subconscious takes? Do you wonder now how you could NOT have seen your own connection to the story in this book?<br /><br />Which I can't wait to read!Deborah Crombiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16988750789088153601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-48726199942302591932015-03-20T11:33:33.335-04:002015-03-20T11:33:33.335-04:00We all endure a little bit of PTSD every time we a...We all endure a little bit of PTSD every time we are in a fender bender (or worse) automobile accident. You drive differently as a result. Or don't drive at all. <br /><br />I had a weird year or two starting in the spring of 1978. It began when we drove past O'Hare Airport moments after a giant airplane (loaded with writers en route to the American Booksellers convention) went down. Then seven people I knew-- some well, some just casually, but all of them unlikely candidates for murder-- were killed, many in their places of business by clients/patients/customers. One was a young family friend, pulled off her bicycle in a park on a bright sunny day. I worked with her mother; I saw what that did to that family.<br /><br />Did I have PTSD after that year? You bet, but I didn't know it at the time. (There were no carry permits available in my state at the time, nor was pepper spray legal, so I carried a spray can of Easy Off oven cleaner in my purse.) It may be one of the reasons I work from home nowadays-- I don't like going outside, not beyond my yard or my block or my (neighborhood) comfort zone. <br /><br />I worry a lot about kids growing up in our inner cities, kids who see shootings, stabbings and death around them all the time. Like growing up in a war zone, that can't be good. (And perhaps daily exposure to violence on the news is almost as bad.) <br /><br />Ellen Knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-20456797488954832132015-03-20T11:23:39.682-04:002015-03-20T11:23:39.682-04:00PTSD--been there, done it, didn't like it.
Ev...PTSD--been there, done it, didn't like it. <br />Even leaving out survivor's guilt, it can be devastating. It changes your life forever. For those of us fortunate to have effective therapy, it still leaves us sensitized. <br />There are so many destructive behaviors that accompany the syndrome (yes, the powers that be have gotten away from calling it a disease)--drinking, illegal drug use, etc. It affects what you watch, what you read, relationships, your world view. <br />Kudos to Simon for writing about such a devastating subject, kudos to Hank for a fascinating post. Diane HaleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-48038750705499291972015-03-20T09:49:01.114-04:002015-03-20T09:49:01.114-04:00Simon, you book is so--graphic. Not for the faint ...Simon, you book is so--graphic. Not for the faint of heart. How was that to write?Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-63454404402386515122015-03-20T09:48:04.083-04:002015-03-20T09:48:04.083-04:00Second chances, too, are always fascinating to wri...Second chances, too, are always fascinating to write about--we always wonder what we'd do if we could simply have a do-over.<br /><br />Some people don't deal with the world that way at all--what happens, happens, and there's no examination, or analysis. They just go one. My cousin was almost on the Bay Bridge when it collapsed. She went on to work, and found out later it had fallen into the water behind her. What if you had left thirty seconds later, I said, my stomach churning. You would have been on that bridge!<br /><br />I suppose, she said. But I didn't. SO I wasn't. SO it doesn't matter.Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-25800205686371446352015-03-20T09:38:18.269-04:002015-03-20T09:38:18.269-04:00Hi, Simon. I don't think I have any near PTSD ...Hi, Simon. I don't think I have any near PTSD experiences myself. But I am working on a project with a detective who definitely does have PTSD. Yeah, survivor's guilt. And no, he can't really see it for himself.<br /><br />I'm glad you got your second chance.Liz Millironhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04919409969263609919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-4402425093166628092015-03-20T09:20:08.955-04:002015-03-20T09:20:08.955-04:00Mornin', Simon - Thank you for this. I don...Mornin', Simon - Thank you for this. I don't think I ever connected PTSD with a person putting themselves in dangerous situations. Scary and fascinating, and I look forward to reading your newest.Kaye Wilkinson Barley - Meanderings and Museshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07486129009717476920noreply@blogger.com