Strong At The Heart

Welcome. I’m so glad you made it to my website. I hope you find what you are looking for. If not, let me know.

I am delighted and amazed to have reached this point myself! For six years I searched out people for the book, traveled to interview and photograph them, wrangled transcripts, wrote, revised, edited, and made all the thousands of decisions that go into turning raw material into a finished book. This project was my constant companion.

Now that work is done. STRONG AT THE HEART is poised for release next week. (You can actually buy it on line and in bookstores already. Someone at FSG jumped the gun!)

three reasons for this blog

1- What happens next with a book is pretty exciting. I want to take you along for the ride on this first year in the life of a book. You can look over my shoulder as the book is launched, reviews come in, and people respond.

2- This gives us a place to have a living conversation about the book and about healing from child sexual abuse. Do you have questions about STRONG AT THE HEART? Is there something in your own experience that can help other readers? What’s on your mind?

3- I want a place to pass on news to you about new developments in child sexual abuse recovery and prevention. And I hope that you will post news, too. What’s happening in your community? Do you have ideas about how to make the world safer for kids?

the party

If you are in my neighborhood on November 11th, please come to the launch party at Northtown Books, 957 H Street in Arcata, CA. It’s drop-in from 7 to 9 p.m. Tamra Tafoya of Celebrations is catering the event. There will be wine, too, and friends and stacks of books. Book sales will benefit CASA.

CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Humboldt, is a local nonprofit that provides trained volunteers to advocate for abused children in court. They listen to the child and give voice to the child’s concerns. There will be CASA volunteers at the book launch to answer questions about their work.

one woman

You can see what one incredible survivor is doing (okay, she is also the most influential woman in America today) at Oprah’s Child Predator Watch List.

about the blog

I’d love to know what you think about STRONG AT THE HEART, this website, healing from abuse, and what we can do to make the world a safer place for kids.

The first time you post a comment, you’ll be asked to register but your email address will NOT show up on the blog. There will be a delay before your comments appear. Both of these mechanisms are in place to insure that the blog is a safe space for you and others, free of spam and harassment. Thanks for joining in!