One of the best parts about having my stories published is getting to meet my readers. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the feeling of meeting someone face to face and having them tell me they enjoyed my books.
And yes, you’ll see that I work very hard to get to several conventions a year specifically to meet readers, current and potentially new.
But I also wanted to take the time out to get out there for other events. Tomorrow, I’ll be at Tri State Martial Arts Academy for a Women’s Self Defense Workshop. I believe these seminars and workshops teach important skills for any person, young or old, man or woman.
Yes, it’d be wonderful if we, as a society, could teach our members to never consider attacking one another. But I personally can’t see myself raging at someone else’s parents or family because they didn’t teach that person not to be a rapist or a serial killer. Rather than blaming the world for being unfair, I choose to do my best to prepare myself and not be a victim in the first place, maybe even help someone else if the circumstances require.
Realistically, I encourage people to take control of their own lives and build the skills to survive in an imperfect world.
That doesn’t mean turning into a fighter. But in terms of self-defense, it does mean learning all you can about being aware of your surroundings and being able to assess a potential threat. It means learning how best to get yourself out of a potentially dangerous situation as quickly as possible. Those skills can help you avoid ever having a confrontation at all.
Mackenzie of Heart’s Sentinel survived a vicious attack by a crazed stalker. She turned to the River Gap Pride to learn how to use her new, unasked for, cougar abilities. She found her strength and her personal power again.
At the Free Women’s Self Defense Workshop tomorrow at Tri-State Martial Arts Academy, I’ll be giving away a signed print copy of Heart’s sentinel to one attendee. I’ll also be giving out fun swag to everyone. For people in the NJ/PA area, I hope you’ll join us. 
Self defense is really important. Parents can only do so much and after that their children’s actions become their own. It’s good to be on the look out and aware. And ready to defend yourself if necessary
I agree that the first level of self-defense really is being self-aware of potential situations. And it’s sad that we have to consider such things. But people are what they are.
A sad, but true reflection of our time, but at least we aren’t living in the middle ages…
Although the post was serious, and for good reason, I hope you have some fun at the self-defense workshop, and enjoy meeting your readers.
For me I think picking up some personal survival skills are essential for everyone. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in a martial way as lets face it, we can’t all be Chuck Norris. But some of the other things that people tend to forget are some basics:
1) If you’re going to a strange place, plan your route to the letter and memorise it. EG. When I go to London, I work out my various trains, where to change, platforms and then also get my Underground route figured. If you can’t remember things too well, put your directions in a form you understand into a book, then you can open it up to check the next step etc. Failing that, its always good to find a cafe, have a drink and reaffirm yourself. To many people get flustered and single themselves out as a stranger that way.
2) You don’t have be able to bench press double your bodyweight to be effective. Too many forget this, they think that you have to be as wide as you are tall to stand a chance. Having an escape route can be a simple as keeping a handful of lose change in your pocket, flinging it in the persons face and then running like hell whilst they cover up (its an automatic reaction). It’s simple its direct and because its scatter you don’t have to worry about being acurate. For this reason I often carry about twenty pennies in my pocket. Or if you can find something cheaper that works just as well go for that.
Anyway back to the point, a well thought out post and to be honest I wish more people took notice of things and learned simple strategies to help keep them safe.