About
Biography:
B. A. Hudson is an author and humorist who writes true stories about fake people or fake stories about true people but rarely fake stories about fake people or true stories about true people. Born in a part of Indiana that is divided up into grids, that didn’t take part in Daylight Savings, and that isn’t the most picturesque landscape, Hudson developed an innate sense of direction, punctuality, and humor that is unique to Midwesterners. Also having spent part of his youth in the Northwest, Hudson has seen much of America by train, car, and plane. During his formative years, Hudson was a seven-year-old rodeo prodigy, a logger, a ranch hand, a church janitor, a landscaper, a summer camp director, a grain elevator worker, an art gallery attendant, a bookstore clerk, a night watchman, and an occasional poet. After thoroughly experiencing small-town and rural America, Hudson moved to the big city of Nashville, Tennessee, back when Nashville wasn’t as hip as it is now. He now shares his Midwestern sense of direction, punctuality, and humor with his Southern wife and daughter, his two cats, and any of the students that care to listen to him as he teaches English at a local state university.
About I Digress
I Digress started out as a simple story designed to make a girl laugh. In the summer of 2003, I met a girl in the park, and we started dating. For one of our earliest dates, we went to The Frist Art Museum to see the Jack Mitchell “Icons and Idols” photography exhibit because we were very cultured and hip. Amongst the portraits of famous musicians, actors, and authors was a simple portrait of a young man with the title, “Poet/Bicycle Messenger”. The simplicity of the portrait and its title captivated us, and we both immediately started to wonder about the career choices one makes on the path to becoming a poet/bicycle messenger. In the weeks that followed, the photograph became a running topic of conversation with us and a source of amusement. A few months later, when my then girlfriend—now wife—was out of town for a week, I began to write her this little story using the idea of the poet/bicycle messenger as my writing prompt. When she returned, I gave her the beginning of what would eventually become a novella. I played around with the story for a couple years and finished it up when I had a few free weeks at the end of a summer semester in grad school. Like many other English teachers, I kept my manuscript tucked away in my nightstand with the assumption that it wouldn’t see the light of day, but, after ten years sitting in a drawer, the jokes still make me and my wife laugh, and, since we all could use a few more laughs, I’ve decided to share my little story.
I Digress is a story of a bicycle messenger/poet who is experiencing a quarter-life crisis in the form of a career decision. Throughout his meandering narration, he receives advice that pushes him one way and then another until he finally faces his deadline for making his decision. Adding humor and texture to the story, the narrator interacts with an eccentric street preacher, a homeless man with sage advice, a tai-chi-leading grandma, an overbearing boss, a girl in the park, and a slew of other quirky characters that are quick to share their two cents. Intermingled throughout the story are also puns, poems, and late 90s references. Being set in early days of cell phones and the dot-com boom, I Digress is a subtle reminder of the joys of conversation and face-to-face interactions, of the wonders of nature, of the peace of mind that comes from quiet contemplation, and of the idea that we do not need to escape ourselves or our surroundings to find meaningful enjoyment.