My Book Cover and How It Came About by Ann Hajdu Hultberg – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Ann Hajdu Hultberg will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The premise of my book is what it’s like to be the daughter of an immigrant, one who escaped during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. Because the focus is on my dad and his escape, I wanted the map of Budapest, his birthplace, in the background. And because of the title, Something to Hold On To, I wanted to include some of the physical things we hold on to as related in my stories found in the first chapter of the book—The things We Touch.

The prayer card is the main focus of the three objects on the cover. In my story about Dad’s escape, titled the same as the book title, that prayer card is the one my dad carried with him as he escaped from communism into Austria. It symbolizes the faith he had as he confronted the communists, which could have resulted in him being captured or killed. He carried the card as he crossed the Atlantic Ocean to freedom in the United States. His group of refuges was sent from New Jersey to Buffalo and eventually to Pennsylvania where he settled and acclimated into the American way of life, fulfilling the American Dream. He kept that card with him always. After Dad died, I became the possessor of this card, which I carry with me to church each Christmas Eve as a reminder of his bravery and fortitude and faith as he was smuggled out of his country, never to return.

The second item showcased on the cover is a rosary bead. This is the center of a story, “The Promise,” I wrote about my mom when she was dying of a very rare blood cancer. My mom was a good Catholic and always prayed her rosary and novenas. It is said that those who devout themselves to the Blessed Mother and rosary will have an easy death. But hers was anything but. I question the promise made to those who devote themselves to daily rosary meditations. Her death was long and painful. Why?

And finally the last object on the cover is a twist tie, such as one that is found securing a loaf of bread. This symbolizes a life style my mother –in-law knew before she was diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer disease. In my story, “What Gave Her Comfort,” I describe how she was a neat and tidy housekeeper and saved these twist ties to perform different jobs: holding together cords; rewrapping food into saved plastic bags; holding together loose shoe strings. As her disease progressed, and her new home now the nursing home, these twist ties took on new functions and were used as tooth picks, a substitute for a wedding ring, and hair pins. What once was was elusive to her now and this tangible object in her mind had new purposes. But it hopefully reminded her of a life she once knew.

A local graphic artist designed my cover. We went through probably 5 drafts until he designed exactly what I had envisioned. I hope you enjoy the book and can relate some of the stories to your own lives.

In life we hold on to our faith, family, friends, our sense of humor, our memories, and our promises. As a child, it might be a make-believe world. Sometimes it’s something physical like a prayer card or a twist tie, a school bag or a rosary bead. Maybe it’s a photo. Everything we hold dear brings us hope and comfort during both good and bad times.

I write what I and others have held on to; I recount my experiences as a late Baby Boomer raised in rural Pennsylvania, and most importantly, by a Hungarian father, an immigrant, who escaped the Soviet Invasion in 1956.

I hope that you the reader will connect to some of the stories and the things we hold on to.

Enjoy an Excerpt

from “Mom’s Girdle”

Mom was always losing or fighting with her 18-hour Playtex girdle. It seemed as if this contraption had a mind of its own, wanting to be seen, calling attention to itself, almost like a neon light flashing from a bar window. The trampoline like material sucked in all the fat so clothes appeared smooth and seamless without the ripples of excess pounds. From waist to upper knee, this apparatus was popular with my mom in the 60s and 70s. Her belly was flattened and thighs were made to look slimmer, something she said she needed after birthing four kids. These ghost white undergarments were a staple in mom’s underwear drawer.

The first time Mom lost a hold of her girdle was when she was out shopping, and the elastic, which had been shriveling on the waist band, probably from its years of wear, let loose. Like a broken rubber band snapping off a pony tail, the entire garment fell to her knees. Though in public, with many eyes upon her, mom simply shimmied the girdle down to her ankles, like a girl slinking down a fashion show runway; she peeled it off her ankles, and with a kick, tossed the girdle in the air like a spinning pizza crust. She grabbed at it and stuffed the undergarment in her purse as carefree as she would a wad of Kleenex. She continued on with her shopping.

About the Author Ann Hajdu Hultberg, born in Buffalo, New York, grew up in rural Bradford, Pennsylvania. A graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and St. Bonaventure University, Ann spent 34 years teaching English at Limestone, NY, and Allegany, NY, School Districts; she was also an adjunct college composition instructor and student teacher supervisor at University of Pittsburgh at Bradford for 15 years. She and her husband split their time between Bradford and Naples, Florida, and visiting with their daughter and son-in-law. Something To Hold On To is her debut book.

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