# "Huffington Post" review of "Homefront"



## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

Carol Hoenig, a writer for the _Huffington Post_, recently reviewed _Homefront_. An excerpt of the review is below.

I also wanted to let you know *there's a chance to win a signed copy* of _Homefront_ and a free PDF of my short fiction collection _Carol's Aquarium_ at Backword Books, where another Backword author, Bonnie Kozek, asks many fun interview questions, and where you're asked to participate in a fun and unusual way to win the books. I hope you'll stop over!

From the _Huffington Post_ review:

"There are many novels about war, most from the battlefield where there's page-turning tension and drama. But there are few stories written from the point of view of a loved one back home waiting, and waiting some more, not knowing if or how the soldier will return home. Perhaps that's because so few have found an interesting way to write such a story, but that has changed, thanks to Kristen Tsetsi...

"It didn't escape this reader that the boyfriend's mother supports the troops with not one, but six yellow ribbon bumper stickers, all plastered on her gas-guzzling SUV. And, instead of trying to explain, we're simply shown that one married army wife might be unfaithful to her husband when "Her 'hi' sounds single." It's also easy to envision another character whose voice is "smoke scratched." In spite of such a somber story, these descriptions are pure delight. [And] there is Mia, a character so real that I ached for her pain, one that she medicated with vodka and the occasional joint while forcing herself to go through the daily motions that serve only as ineffective distractions.

"Mia tries to control what she can by refusing to get rid of a Christmas tree that is nothing more than a dried up bush....

"The cast of characters include one soldier who is against the war, or as some prefer to call it, a "conflict," and there is a Vietnam veteran who cannot forget how unappreciated he was when he'd returned home. Even though this novel was inspired by her own life, Tsetsi doesn't take sides on whether our previous president made the right decision with the lives of our men and women in the armed services. Instead, she shows what it's like to be paralyzed by fear, contrary to being strong for the country as an expected honorable sacrifice..."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-hoenig/what-do-we-do-after-we-se_b_316791.html


----------



## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Awesome! 

This is cool: "I wish more writers would take the time to read Homefront. Tsetsi does a perfect job of showing and not telling."


----------



## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

You Rock!!!!  That's great news!


----------



## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

MariaESchneider said:


> You Rock!!!! That's great news!


Thanks, Kel and Maria!

(Entering the contest maybe? Hmmm? Well, probably not Kel, because she's already read it.)


----------



## KLBrady (Sep 7, 2009)

Yaaay, congratulations!  That's got to feel purty darn good. I'm excited for you.


----------



## NAmbrose (Sep 1, 2009)

Kristen, that is fantastic news!  This is what happens when you write a quality, and very timely, work.  You deserve it!

Nic


----------



## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

Thanks so much for the congrats, y'all. It was (and continues to be) more than exciting.

I hope you'll take part in the contest too, though! It's fun, and going there means finding out who'll be interviewed next (and most of the people interviewing/being interviewed have books on the Kindle you can learn more about - while learning more about the authors, too). If you win a paperback, yay! If not, at least you'll know more about the book being sold on Kindle.

We're doing our best to make the interviews fun, and *reader-focused*, rather than the standard "so, you're a writer! tell me about writing" interview (who cares about that except other writers, anyway?). We want to interact with READERS. (Or writers who also read. And I think most do...  )

My husband jumped into the contest thread yesterday and referenced, in his own way, how writer-centric writers can be. He's a dork, though.


----------



## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Kristen Tsetsi said:


> My husband jumped into the contest thread yesterday and referenced, in his own way, how writer-centric writers can be. He's a dork, though.


I saw him in a video recently. Actors.


----------



## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Congratulations, Kristen. I would have said something sooner, but I was away the weekend. May your momentum keep on going.

--Chris


----------



## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

Thanks, Chris!


----------



## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

You're welcome. You haven't tooted this horn yet, but I just read the new interview with you at http://www.backwordbooks.com/2009/10/23/interview-with-kristen-j-tsetsi-and-a-chance-to-win-a-signed-copy-of-homefront-and-a-pdf-of-her-short-fiction-collection-carols-aquarium/. I found the questions fabulous and your answers informative.

Combine that with the review, and you're cookin'!


----------



## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

Bonnie asked some really fun questions!


----------



## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Two thumbs up, Kristen! I hate it that I still haven't read "Homefront" yet, but it's on my Kindle and it's moving up my TBR list.

But I can highly recommend your short story collection "Carol's Aquarium" to anyone who enjoys short stories.


----------



## MikeCrowley (Oct 8, 2009)

I saw the huffpo piece and picked up a copy of Homefront over the weekend.  I was surprised as hell when I saw a thread here about it.  So I had to take a moment and say how much I liked it.  Your story was an honest  to God slice of reality right there on the page.  I hope ya got more.
Cheers.


----------



## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

MikeCrowley said:


> I saw the huffpo piece and picked up a copy of Homefront over the weekend. I was surprised as hell when I saw a thread here about it. So I had to take a moment and say how much I liked it. Your story was an honest to God slice of reality right there on the page. I hope ya got more.
> Cheers.


Thank you, Mike.

And I'm working on the "more" part...


----------



## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

JimC1946 said:


> Two thumbs up, Kristen! I hate it that I still haven't read "Homefront" yet, but it's on my Kindle and it's moving up my TBR list.
> 
> But I can highly recommend your short story collection "Carol's Aquarium" to anyone who enjoys short stories.


Jim - I just saw this (don't know how I missed it). Thank you! I haven't been marketing CA very aggressively, so your plugs help enormously.


----------



## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

rjkeller said:


> I saw him in a video recently. Actors.


You should see the clips we _didn't_ send you! One involves him, a guitar-hero guitar, and an unusual hat.


----------



## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Kristen Tsetsi said:


> You should see the clips we _didn't_ send you! One involves him, a guitar-hero guitar, and an unusual hat.


I'm sure I could put those clips to good use.


----------



## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

Quick bump - contest ends at midnight tonight. Many interesting questions have been asked - ask your own for a chance to win a signed copy of "Homefront" (also available on Kindle, but not signed  ).

See original post in this thread for the link to the contest.


----------



## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

UPDATES: New year, new website! www.kristentsetsi.com I made it at wix.com, which I learned about from RJ Keller, who made her gorgeous new website there. Any indie authors who don't have a website, wix.com is awesome and, if you want, you can even have it up for free (you'll have to suffer their fairly unobtrusive ads, but again, it would be free).

In other news, I just ended a really successful giveaway for "Homefront," but those who missed out can get it for Kindle at just $2.00. "Carol's Aquarium," too, is only $2, and was very favorably reviewed by POD People.


----------



## Eric C (Aug 3, 2009)

I just had to say I loved that line, "Her 'hi' sounds single." So vivid I pictured a woman in my head saying hi to me like that instantly. Congrats on the review Kristen.


----------



## Kristen Tsetsi (Sep 1, 2009)

Thanks, Eric.


----------

