Okay so I realized I never posted the Essay that helped me win the 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading Award. I was nominated for the award because I had done an interview with them on their Christian Author’s Radio show. What I found interesting when they asked me to submit an essay of 1000 words was that I had to answer what inspired me to write and how is it I accomplished becoming published. I thought it would be more specific about the book being their book is called ‘Writers You Should Be READING’…
But then again being an avid reader myself I do enjoy knowing a bit more about the author and what makes them tick. I recently did a VIDEO interview for a new website called BEEK (Book peek)…at that time I answered questions in regards to the book but gave more of a background than I offer within EXPOSED. If you haven’t seen it already go to www.beeklibrary.com and click on the EXPOSED cover. Soon I will have a badge on my site for the BEEK as well.
Anyway, I’m rambling…I realize that I am procrastinating from finishing the very last few pages of the book I’ve been writing for my boys. Why do I do this? UGH. 🙂 I need to get to it. Here is the essay: ENJOY!
The eyes are the first part of a person that captures my attention. Strangers on the street, in the store, a busy airport, a new colleague, and a new acquaintance, in every single person the eyes can say so much and often they reveal to me a glimpse of the story their eyes have seen. I am intrigued by each person’s story because I realize it is in the sufferings and the joys that our personalities and behaviors are created. By knowing what a person has been through you can better understand how and why they react to or retreat from a situation or confrontation.
When I was 10 I put together my first story, with a beginning, a middle climax and end. I wanted to share an emotion that had welled up when I listened to a particular song. The only way to do this was to create a story that could reveal this emotion. As I grew in years and suffered through many emotions that were difficult to reveal out loud I began to heal by writing down what I’d experienced. Eventually it became my soul desire to tell my story, reveal the abuses and the emotions I’d suffered and the tragedies I’d experienced in an effort to help others from making the same mistakes and also to validate those that could relate with an understanding that they were not alone and they could live as survivors and not victims of their circumstances.
I have always felt deep within that this was my purpose in life, however getting to this point has not been easy. There were many years of countless rejections from literary agents and a few acceptances from small publishers only to be dropped once the year’s budget was reduced. However, the greatest victory was when I stumbled upon the opportunity to speak and tell my story to hundreds and eventually thousands. Soon those who heard me speak were asking for more details that could only be given in a book. There were a few people I spoke with that encouraged me to get my book published no matter what channel that needed to be done. The story was written but I desperately wanted it published traditionally.
I wanted to be validated that the pages I’d written and the story revealed was worth being available to the public. It wasn’t until a mentor of mine said ‘Times have changed, you have the platform and now you need to offer the book. It’s like piloting your story, get it out there and show what it can do. The traditional publishing will fall into place.’ At this point I was speaking to audiences of 5000+ every summer so I collected my pride and went with what I felt was the most respectable self-publishing house. It has been one year and the book has more than paid for itself and with a portion of the proceeds a substantial sum has been donated to the Maria Goretti Network, a non-profit abuse survivor self-help support group.
The response has been overwhelming and surpassed my intended goal –to reach others who needed validation, to know their worth and to recognize they could live as survivors and not as victims. EXPOSED has received recognition as runner up in the About.com 2011 Reader’s Choice Catholic Book of the Year Award and nominated for the ECPA 2010 Christian Book
of the Year Award. I do not know what the future holds for EXPOSED: Inexcusable Me…Irreplaceable Him but I do know that the validation I was personally striving for has been received tenfold. EXPOSED continues to generate speaking engagements and other possible opportunities and I am in the beginning phase of writing the sequel to EXPOSED which will focus on being a survivor of abuse navigating the tricky road of marriage and the journey to forgiveness.
Writing is my therapy. It is what I enjoy and often dread at the same time. There are always words that want to escape from my fingertips onto the keyboard but often I procrastinate out of insecurity. What if I can’t find the correct words to portray this scene in my mind? What if no one likes my writing style? Do I have a writing style? What if… But then I push past the litany of excuses and go forward realizing I can only do what I am capable and what comes from it remains to be seen. Often I’m reminded by the very Bible verse that inspired the name of EXPOSED: Inexcusable Me…Irreplaceable Him that the excuses and insecurities are not from God:
Ephesians 5:6-14 :
“Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. So do not be associated with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says:
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
We are not meant to keep our stories hidden. If you feel called to write, to share your story, create a story that allows others to escape or share knowledge of facts that intrigue and inspire then just DO IT. One mentor gave me a button and told me to keep that button handy and every time I saw the button to be reminded to ‘get off my butt (on) write!’
Blessings
Shannon