There’s something special for me about the city of New Orleans. I’m not sure if it’s the music, the food, the eternal architecture which celebrates so many cultures at once, or the gumbo ya ya of the tourists and residents, all somehow seemingly talking in the same tone, rhythm, and octave, but New Orleans happily haunts a part of me I can’t explain. I proposed to my wife there. I’ve spent many hours walking the streets alone and with family. I’ve searched for existential truths and found spiritual maxims. To me, it’s a city beyond comprehension, but also simple enough for everyone to understand and love. When Hurricane Katrina devasted the city in 2005, it felt personal, even though I didn’t live there. I watched countless hours of footage, cried when I saw broken families, prayed until my knees were sore, and sent money to help victims. Just as the city had moved me in my life, the stories of those who lived through the hurricane, moved my heart. 

When the storm subsided and people were again moving back to the city of New Orleans, some personal traumas surfaced in my own life. As I did my best to work through them, I thought of the personal traumas persons in New Orleans were dealing with, even with the added trauma of losing their homes. This is when I began to write Words Alone are Certain Good, a book rooted in some of the truth in both my life and the history of New Orleans and the fiction of those events existing in the same place. 

This novel is a story of family, the resilience of the human spirit, and the unassailable force of love. The rhythm of the city of New Orleans was fused into each and every phrase and the vulnerability and strength of my personal history into every character and relationship. I hope that readers find in the pages a deep sense of truth, not in the way a history book might tell it, but more the way you experience it as you live it. 

From Pen and Leaf Press: 

"Words Alone Are Certain Good" is a haunting literary novel that follows Ernest Larsen through the most devastating week of his life in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Set against the backdrop of a city still healing from Hurricane Katrina, this powerful story explores the unbreakable bonds of family, the weight of honor, and the search for redemption in the face of overwhelming loss. Ernest struggles to care for his developmentally disabled brother Kirby while watching his wife Janus spiral into addiction after a family tragedy that changed everything.

When Ernest discovers an opportunity to escape their toxic home life with his alcoholic mother, he believes he's found the key to saving his fractured family. But as the past collides with the present over the course of seven transformative days, Ernest must confront the darkest parts of himself and decide what kind of man he truly wants to be.

Trenton McKay Judson crafts a deeply moving portrait of working-class life in New Orleans, where the music of the city mingles with the poetry of everyday survival. Through Ernest's journey, we witness the raw power of love, the burden of responsibility, and the possibility of grace even in our most broken moments.

This debut novel captures the authentic voice of the American South while exploring universal themes of family, loss, and the courage required to change. Rich with the atmosphere of New Orleans-from jazz clubs to hurricane-damaged neighborhoods-"Words Alone Are Certain Good" is both a love letter to a resilient city and an unflinching examination of what it means to be human.

A story about finding hope in the darkest places and the transformative power of unconditional love.