Writers

Writers are placed in categories.
Academic referring to those with education and a few extra letters after their names include a long list of published accomplishments. I am honored to know several of these accomplished writers and do admire their work and their wonderful talent. There are so many levels of writing and some of the most impressive poets I know write from their heart or experience or even both and you would never know the difference when up against an accomplished writer. I am envious of the education of my fellow writers. My life has limited the amount of education I have received and therefore my vocabulary, grammar and word usage is limited. My writing comes from experience. It is rare for me to write about things. My writing is focused on my experience with sexual abuse as a child and domestic violence. Not quite the subjects that most people want to hear about or talk about much less write about due to the personal and painful aspects of it. Sometimes I write about my upbringing and the humor I find in my culture. I have tried writing about love but there again without the experience my pieces are just words without sense. My experience writing about places are much better (my opinion). My first two books are pretty much self published which to me isn't important where they came from instead it is about the message. I wrote about abuse because that is who I am. I'm a survivor of abuse and as a survivor I write from my gut. People mistaken my writing for coming from my heart; abuse has nothing to do with the heart. It comes from the tightness in my throat and in my stomach as I hold back the cries of an abused woman (or man). My third book "Off the Beaten Path" was published by Mouthfeel Press. Ms. Maloney (publisher) believed in my advocacy and gave me a voice allowing me to speak out once more for those who can't or won't. My books do not attract bookstores, book signings or even other poets or writers unless you have walked in the shoes of a survivor or you are one yourself who lives in silence or you know one. At the time my last book was published I was on cloud nine. My voice was louder and stronger than ever. I had a partner who was my rock, my protector and lifted me higher than I had ever been with support and encouragement. My biography was in the development stages and I felt the world was mine. Things change, people change and I was suffering from depression this past year. I am getting better one day at a time. I am writing again when prompted and I am looking forward to one day finding the inspiration to write on my own again. I do have a new book coming out in 2012. The poetry in this book will be my first that is not focused on abuse instead it is poetry of place. Still, I have written three other books the ones we don't speak out loud about because of the topic. I am a mother, a survivor (sexual & domestic abuse), a writer and a poet. These are the letters behind my name and my education came from a demented mind of a sexual abuser and the fist of the man who claimed to love me. I am not ashamed of being a survivor and I hope that you aren't ashamed to know one.