Strong At The Heart

I’m just coming off the marvelous rush of speaking on the radio about STRONG AT THE HEART. Live radio interviews are the polar opposite of a writer’s usual experience. Radio is more like white water canoeing or maybe surfing.

On radio there is no opportunity to ponder, edit, rethink and polish. You are totally in the moment, focused on the interviewer and the questions that come at you—some of them totally unexpected…

During the first interviews early last week I just worked at staying upright and not falling into a deluge of words, or worse, dead air. I was lucky to have good hosts and, with a little experience, I found my balance.

On Saturday, I spoke with Dr. Mike Roizen on his show You: The Owner’s Manual which is broadcast by Health Radio network to 25 stations nationwide.

He and his cohost, Jim Graham, were both incredibly enthusiastic about STRONG, which was so sweet to hear. There were technical difficulties—the people in the studio and I could hardly hear Dr. Mike, who, like me, was calling in by phone. We ended up speaking over each other at times. (The engineer got the sound balance right, though, as the show went out.)

You can hear that interview on line at Health Radio Network. Look for the show dated 2005-11-05. You can use the slider to get to the interview, which starts 2/3 of the way into the hour.

On Monday morning, I drove to Ferndale, CA, to be interviewed on KHUM by Cliff Berkowitz on his Monday Morning Motown show.

Cliff established KHUM (Radio without the Rules) in 1996. He is the author of the Stop the Violence campaign which began in 1990 when he was a consultant to WPGC in Washington, D.C., and has spread to an unknown number of other stations.

Stop the Violence is a grass roots effort by radio stations to educate their communities about violence and to encourage people to take responsibility to stop violence in their own lives. They address everything from domestic abuse to gang violence and hate crimes. You can hear more about the campaign, via the internet or podcast, at KHUM’s site.

Our interview on STRONG AT THE HEART is on that same page, a little further down under my name.

By the next interview on Monday—KHSU’s Homepage with Bonnie Johnson—I had hit my stride. It was so much fun to be in the studio with her. It’s not that you relax, because with radio, like canoeing and surfing, you have to stay totally alert and in the moment. But I felt at ease in that space. It was sheer pleasure to talk with a bright and curious person about the work that is my passion.

As Bonnie and I talked, the studio phone was ringing off the hook. Afterwards, people emailed me through this website. What a great feeling to have reached out, been heard, and to hear back from listeners.

The whole radio experience was made infinately more comfortable and fun because my friend and fellow writer Rashida Smith helped me prepare. She gave me sound advice and coached me through questions that we thought I might be asked. Thanks, Ras!

book launch party

Plans for the party this Friday are coming together. Tamra Tafoya of Celebrations Catering hurt her back and the food situation looked grim for a few beats. But good friends stepped in to carry out her original plan. Thank you, Tanya, Eileen, Queteria, and Kari!

If you are in the Arcata, CA, area, please join us for the launch party and book signing at Northtown Books, 957 H Street, this Friday between 7-9. The event is a benefit for CASA of Humboldt. Volunteers from that organization will be on hand to answer questions. They provide a voice in court for kids who have been abused.

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!