Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for July 19, 2023

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

Today’s topic is: Share one Interesting Fact You Know

Thank you for joining our Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge! Please put the direct URL to your blog post here so other participants can visit your post. Thanks!
1. Tanith Davenport  6. Michael Mock  
2. Lydia Schoch  7. M | RAIN CITY READS  
3. George L Thomas  8. Kel @ rewritingkel  
4. Stephen @ Reading Freely  9. Alex Isle  
5. Patrick Prescott  10. Priscilla King  

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Bad Henry by Ron Chepesiuk – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Henry Louis Wallace terrorized Charlotte, North Carolina, from May 1992 to March 1994. Wallace preyed on lower economic class Black women between 17 and 35 years old. He knew most of his victims, some through his job at Taco Bell, and gained their trust with his friendly demeanor and gentle nature-concealing a monster fueled by drug abuse and rage against women.

 

Enjoy an Excerpt

Carolyn Love Murder

On June 15, 1992, Love left her apartment and went to work. Bojangles was close, so she walked. At work, she asked her manager if she could change ones for quarters, which she planned to use at the laundromat after her shift ended. The manager agreed and Caroline left work, walking home.

On the way, she ran into her cousin Robert who offered to drive her home. Love accepted. Robert watched as she entered the apartment. Earlier that day, Wallace was at the apartment because his girlfriend, Sadie McKnight, was Love’s girlfriend and roommate. McKnight had cleaned the apartment. She had left her house key on the wall. When McKnight was not looking, Wallace took the key, made a copy, and put it back on the wall without McKnight noticing.

Later that day, Wallace was driving around when he decided to stop at his girlfriend’s apartment. When Love arrived home, she was surprised to see Wallace in her apartment, but she was not worried. After all, Wallace was her friend, her roommate’s boyfriend. He was harmless, or so she thought. He had let himself into her apartment using the key he had made from the key owned by girlfriend Sadie McKnight. Wallace said he was in the bathroom and would leave as soon as he came out. When Wallace came out of the bathroom, he went into the living room where Caroline was watching television.

Wallace came up to Love and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Love did not like it. She asked Wallace why he had kissed her. He did not really have a good answer. She told Wallace that if he promised not to do that again, she wouldn’t tell his girlfriend about it. Wallace blew up and attacked Love, violently putting her in a chokehold, which he would later describe to police as the “Boston choke.”

About the Author:

Ron Chepesiuk is an optioned screenwriter, documentary producer and the award-winning author of more than 40 books. He is a former professor and head of the Archives at Winthrop University in South Carolina. He is a two-time Fulbright Scholar to Indonesia and Bangladesh and a former instructor in UCLA’s Extension Journalism Department.

His articles, which number in the thousands, have appeared in such publications as FHM, USA Today, Black Enterprise, Woman’s World, Modern Maturity, New York Times Syndicate, Toronto Star, Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, among others. His documentary on Frank Matthews, legendary drug Kingpin, which he produced and directed, won the Silver Doc award at the Las Vegas International Film Festival. Four of his screenplays are currently in development for feature movies and four of his books have been optioned for movies. His script Death Fences was the grand winner of the Amsterdam, Holland-based 2019 New Visions International Film Festival.

As an expert in crime history, he is a consultant to the Gangland TV series the and has been interviewed on numerous TV programs, including Discovery, NBC Dateline, History, Biography, ID, Reelz, Black Entertainment Television, Starz, and TV 1. As a journalist, Ron has reported from more than thirty-five countries, including Cuba, Northern Ireland, Colombia, Kenya, Hong Kong, and Nepal, and his 16, 000 plus interviews include such luminaries as Gerry Adams, Yasser Arafat, John Kerry, Evander Holyfield, Jimmy Carter, Andy McDow, Abbie Hoffman, a former president of Nicaragua, and three former presidents and two vice presidents of Colombia, South America.

Ron is also radio host of CRIME BEAT Radio Show. The Crime Beat show has been on the air since January 2011 and has listeners in 160 plus countries. Guests have included Robert Kennedy, Jr., Henry Hill, Noam Chomsky, George Jung, Joe Piston (aka Donnie Brasco), F. Lee Bailey and Chris Kyle, American sniper

Website | Wikipedia | Twitter | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads

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Friday Five Writing Prompt Challenge for July 14, 2023

Each Friday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly five word writing prompt. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

Today’s five words to use as your prompt are:

banana, embark, pillow, ego, foot

Thank you for joining our Friday Five Writing Challenge! Please put the direct URL to your blog post here so other participants can visit your post. Thanks!
1. Echo Ishii  

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Catawba Falls by W.F. Ranew – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. W.F. Ranew will be awarding $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

PI Red Farlow travels to Camp Ridgemont for Boys for a reunion with his summer camp friends. On arrival, he discovers two camp counselors in the woods, hacked to death. Red’s investigation soon widens with more mysterious deaths, one of them a close friend.

Far-right extremist Troy Unsworthy knows the hills and hollows after a lifetime of growing up in these mountains. Red soon learns all the victims are connected to Unsworthy in the years leading up to a deadly auto accident.

When he learns Unsworthy was released just before the counselors’ deaths, Red goes into the mountains. His trek requires sure-footedness over rocky terrain and old-growth forest as he explores caves with endless tunnels, shafts, and deep-water pools searching for his suspect.

But, did Unsworthy really murder these people, or should Red turn his attention to other suspects?

Red treads a treacherous path on his quest to find the killer and bring him to justice.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Death visited late in the day. I came upon the human tragedy the following morning.

Near Kitsuma’s summit, a steady breeze rustled trees and bushes hugging the mountainside. Spring in North Carolina meant comfortable temperatures during daylight. Standing there, I felt the night’s lingering chill.

Years had passed—fifty or more—since I’d tramped the mountain’s footpaths.

Two dozen of us searched the area late the previous evening but had gotten nowhere near the summit. We resumed our task along the rigorous trail on the Old Fort side well before dawn. . .
We covered areas unreachable in the previous night’s outing. Two hours later, I came upon the campground, forty yards down a side trail and near a cove of rhododendron and mountain laurel.

The scene’s horror struck deep, painted in strokes of surreal hues. The blood, in the dim light, bore a black pigmentation. One young man’s skin tone paled to a faint glow reflecting his orange rain parka.

Two light-green pup tents stood side by side. One caved in toward the back; the other seemed undisturbed.

I looked around for the second camp counselor. Raking the mountainside, my gaze focused on something resembling a yellow night safety vest. I made my way downhill.

Soon enough, I came across another grisly scene. The young man’s head cocked at a strange, unnatural angle as he sprawled belly down in the bushes and leaves. The blood wasn’t as apparent with him as the fluid had seeped into leaves and pine needles beneath him.

Something tilted out of his left hand—a cell phone.

About the Author W.F. Ranew is a former newspaper reporter, editor, and communication executive. He started his journalism career covering sports, police, and city council meetings for his hometown newspaper, The Quitman Free Press. He also worked as a reporter and editor for several regional dailies: The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The Florida Times-Union, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Ranew has written two previous novels: Schoolhouse Man and Candyman’s Sorrow.

He lives with his wife in Atlanta and St. Simons Island, Ga.

Buy the book at Amazon.


Gracefully Broken by Michele Williams – Q&A and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Michele Williams will be awarding a print copy of the book to a randomly drawn winner (US ONLY) via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Is your life anything like it was two years ago?

My life is not the same as 2 years ago. I have started counseling and have discovered areas in my life that have been buried for many years. Through this I have discovered that I have been battling with PTSD which is a disorder in which a person has difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event.

How long have you been writing?

My writing started in college after taking an English class in communication.

I have had many years of writing down my thoughts , I believe this is the best way to remember and to express yourself.

What’s coming next?

I have a book of poetry that was written before this book. It is ready for print.

I am also working on a deliverance book to follow up Gracefully Broken. Many events have transpired in the years after writing that book. This is about the process of transition, what to do so that you don’t carry the burdens of your past into your present and future. Many people have suffered after Covid. The stress level has increased while the coping skills have decreased. I believe our children are suffering more than ever. The suicide rate is off the chain and our children are confused, hurting and lost. Parents are suffering as well with the increased death from covid. Many have lost spouses, children, finances and so much more. Also there are the ongoing neurological symptoms or mental health conditions from anyone who has contracted covid.

This world is full of many offenses that we never could have imagined years ago, many are so deep in their troubles and worries that they believe that there is not a God that can heal them. But I’ve grown to learn and understand that God is sovereign, He is waiting with arms open and offering his grace to us. A woman in labor endures the pain and suffering of giving birth, but through this process brings forth a beautiful child. Although you may be a diamond in the rough when under pressure and being weighed down for a long period of time, the suffering will cease the end result is a beautiful stone that is brilliant and bright. The trials of your life are just a testimony for the glorious work that god is doing in you. Hold onto the faith, fight the good fight and don’t quit. This is the key to being Resilient.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Transformation is a process of removing the grave clothes of your past life. It takes time and work. Your character must change. You must be aware of wrong thinking patterns, wrong attitudes, wrong beliefs, deception, lies, and pointing the finger. In transformation, your appearance may change. You will start to see things in a different light. It is hard work. Remember the old saying, Rome was not built in a day.

We have lived most of our lives in our own crazy mindset, and now it is time to give it all up to a God you can’t see, or touch. This is faith, and it will take all of your energy, focus and will to change.

God is a God of love. He will guide you and lead you into His truth. It may be a struggle at first, but in time, change will come. There will be a renewing of your mind, and the desire of what you thought you wanted will no longer be what you want. Friends may fall away, family may fall away, but continue to stand. In time, your loved ones will see that all is well, and you will become a better person as you transition.

About the Author: Dr. Michele Williams currently serves as an ordained Evangelist under the leadership of Pastor Dr. Suzette M. Myles For His Glory Church Ministries in Hartford, Connecticut. She was baptized and received the Lord as her Savior in 1985 along with her son Michael at Little Zion Church of Christ in South Norwalk. She was ordained as an Evangelist in 2005. She is also a professor at North Carolina Bible Institute-New England. She attended Mattatuck Community College for two years and completed and graduated in 1983 with an associate degree in science from South Central now, Gateway Community College. In 2009 She received a Certificate of achievement from Side Street to Main Street 12 Business and Leadership Development Program. In 2012, she graduated with her master’s degree in Biblical studies, from Elohim Christian Center. In 2017, she received her Doctorate in Biblical Studies from NCBI-New England.

The author is a retired worker from the State of Connecticut where she served as a school instructor after twenty-four and a half years of service.

Evangelist Williams currently resides in East Hartford, Connecticut, with her daughter and granddaughter. The author’s life experience is proof that she is a testimony of what God can do. Her love, commitment, and passion for others stem from her belief in Jesus Christ; she believes that there is nothing He can’t do. Delivered from drugs, alcohol, low self-esteem, rejection, abandonment, depression, and PTSD, she continues to walk in integrity as a servant of God as she matures into a virtuous woman. In this book, she discusses how you too can be made free. Discover the truth as you read and compare your life with those women in the Bible who have suffered in their time as much as women today but found faith and strength.

Buy the book at Amazon.


My Book Cover and How It Came About by Ann Hajdu Hultberg – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Ann Hajdu Hultberg will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

My Book Cover and How It Came About

The premise of my book is what it’s like to be the daughter of an immigrant, one who escaped during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. Because the focus is on my dad and his escape, I wanted the map of Budapest, his birthplace, in the background. And because of the title, Something to Hold On To, I wanted to include some of the physical things we hold on to as related in my stories found in the first chapter of the book—The things We Touch.

The prayer card is the main focus of the three objects on the cover. In my story about Dad’s escape, titled the same as the book title, that prayer card is the one my dad carried with him as he escaped from communism into Austria. It symbolizes the faith he had as he confronted the communists, which could have resulted in him being captured or killed. He carried the card as he crossed the Atlantic Ocean to freedom in the United States. His group of refuges was sent from New Jersey to Buffalo and eventually to Pennsylvania where he settled and acclimated into the American way of life, fulfilling the American Dream. He kept that card with him always. After Dad died, I became the possessor of this card, which I carry with me to church each Christmas Eve as a reminder of his bravery and fortitude and faith as he was smuggled out of his country, never to return.

The second item showcased on the cover is a rosary bead. This is the center of a story, “The Promise,” I wrote about my mom when she was dying of a very rare blood cancer. My mom was a good Catholic and always prayed her rosary and novenas. It is said that those who devout themselves to the Blessed Mother and rosary will have an easy death. But hers was anything but. I question the promise made to those who devote themselves to daily rosary meditations. Her death was long and painful. Why?

And finally the last object on the cover is a twist tie, such as one that is found securing a loaf of bread. This symbolizes a life style my mother –in-law knew before she was diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer disease. In my story, “What Gave Her Comfort,” I describe how she was a neat and tidy housekeeper and saved these twist ties to perform different jobs: holding together cords; rewrapping food into saved plastic bags; holding together loose shoe strings. As her disease progressed, and her new home now the nursing home, these twist ties took on new functions and were used as tooth picks, a substitute for a wedding ring, and hair pins. What once was was elusive to her now and this tangible object in her mind had new purposes. But it hopefully reminded her of a life she once knew.

A local graphic artist designed my cover. We went through probably 5 drafts until he designed exactly what I had envisioned. I hope you enjoy the book and can relate some of the stories to your own lives.

In life we hold on to our faith, family, friends, our sense of humor, our memories, and our promises. As a child, it might be a make-believe world. Sometimes it’s something physical like a prayer card or a twist tie, a school bag or a rosary bead. Maybe it’s a photo. Everything we hold dear brings us hope and comfort during both good and bad times.

I write what I and others have held on to; I recount my experiences as a late Baby Boomer raised in rural Pennsylvania, and most importantly, by a Hungarian father, an immigrant, who escaped the Soviet Invasion in 1956.

I hope that you the reader will connect to some of the stories and the things we hold on to.

Enjoy an Excerpt

from “Mom’s Girdle”

Mom was always losing or fighting with her 18-hour Playtex girdle. It seemed as if this contraption had a mind of its own, wanting to be seen, calling attention to itself, almost like a neon light flashing from a bar window. The trampoline like material sucked in all the fat so clothes appeared smooth and seamless without the ripples of excess pounds. From waist to upper knee, this apparatus was popular with my mom in the 60s and 70s. Her belly was flattened and thighs were made to look slimmer, something she said she needed after birthing four kids. These ghost white undergarments were a staple in mom’s underwear drawer.

The first time Mom lost a hold of her girdle was when she was out shopping, and the elastic, which had been shriveling on the waist band, probably from its years of wear, let loose. Like a broken rubber band snapping off a pony tail, the entire garment fell to her knees. Though in public, with many eyes upon her, mom simply shimmied the girdle down to her ankles, like a girl slinking down a fashion show runway; she peeled it off her ankles, and with a kick, tossed the girdle in the air like a spinning pizza crust. She grabbed at it and stuffed the undergarment in her purse as carefree as she would a wad of Kleenex. She continued on with her shopping.

About the Author Ann Hajdu Hultberg, born in Buffalo, New York, grew up in rural Bradford, Pennsylvania. A graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and St. Bonaventure University, Ann spent 34 years teaching English at Limestone, NY, and Allegany, NY, School Districts; she was also an adjunct college composition instructor and student teacher supervisor at University of Pittsburgh at Bradford for 15 years. She and her husband split their time between Bradford and Naples, Florida, and visiting with their daughter and son-in-law. Something To Hold On To is her debut book.

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Buy the book at Amazon or BookBaby.


Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for July 12, 2023

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

Today’s topic is: Describe Your Fashion Sense

Thank you for joining our Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge! Please put the direct URL to your blog post here so other participants can visit your post. Thanks!
1. George L Thomas  5. Michael Mock  
2. Lydia Schoch  6. Stephen @ Reading Freely  
3. Priscilla King  7. Patrick Prescott  
4. Snapdragon Alcove  8. M | RAIN CITY READS  

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The Airs of Tillie by Barbara Casey – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Barbara Casey will award a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The small town of Wellington, Florida, has the distinction of playing host to some of the wealthiest people in the world as well as the most prestigious equestrian events. King Charles comes from England to watch polo on the fields where he once played as Prince. The United States Olympics Equestrian team trains and competes there with teams from other countries. In sharp contrast, just down the road, due west, are some of the largest sugarcane fields in the world. The people who work these fields are for the most part poor. They come from many cultures and backgrounds, but they primarily come from Haiti, Jamaica, and the United States. This combination of horse owner and cane worker is an unusual dichotomy, and it is a blend of these things that makes up the world in which my story’s main character, Tillie, the 11-year-old daughter of a sugarcane field foreman, lives.

In The Airs of Tillie, Tillie Turpning lives in an imaginary world that is filled with beautiful horses, polite people, and luxurious homes. Her real world, however, includes living in a cane foreman’s small tenant house with her over-worked mother, an autistic sister, and a rebellious older brother who is searching for answers within a radical Muslim group. When Tillie is unexpectedly forced to assist in the difficult birth of a new foal, she proves that her determination and belief in herself will allow her to accomplish anything she sets out to do.

Enjoy an Excerpt

A gentle breeze stirred, scattering red and white petals from the potted geraniums that were decorating the field. The crowd noises softened. Arabesque picked up her gate into a slow gallop around the outer edge of the jumping arena in response to Tillie’s silent command, settling into her own pace, her natural rhythm. Then she felt the pressure of the young girl’s knees on her sides—another command, another signal from rider to horse. Arabesque began galloping faster, her eyes alert and focused on a split-rail fence banked with hedges. Faster, faster, up, and over, and Arabesque once again resumed her slow gallop.

This time she felt the reins pull slightly to the left. She angled her strong, muscular body in that direction and once again picked up speed. Three stone walls, each positioned in front of the other, blocked her path. “You can do it,” she heard the girl whisper. As Arabesque approached the first wall at a full gallop, she felt the girl shift her weight, working with her own, blending her body movement with that of the horse. Over the first wall, the second, and then the third. Arabesque snorted loudly and bobbed her head with exuberance. But she wasn’t finished yet. Again the girl pressed her knees, silently instructing and urging Arabesque to perform.

They negotiated three more jumps: the oxer, the tiger trap, and the vertical gate. So far their score was perfect. The crowd was totally quiet now as they watched the champion jumper obey the commands of its young rider.

The water hazard was next. Tillie and Arabesque had watched three other horses lose points on it, and one horse had to be disqualified for refusing to jump it at all. “You’re not afraid, Arabesque,” the horse heard Tillie whisper. Faster, faster the horse galloped toward the hazard. Up she went, once again feeling the young girl’s tensed body stretched in union with her own. They were over it. Arabesque looked across the field and saw Molly, her companion horse, watching.

“Good girl, Arabesque. Good girl.” But Tillie wouldn’t let Arabesque relax. The horse felt pressure, this time coming from the girl’s heels and knees. Arabesque continued in her rhythm. Two more jumps to go, and they were also the most difficult. Arabesque felt the girl urge her to pick up her gate. She didn’t understand that they had only a limited amount of time to complete the jumps or otherwise lose points. She only sensed she had to hurry; and that if she didn’t, for some reason the girl would be disappointed.

Arabesque felt the girl press her knees harder into her sides and turned toward the obstruction. Bales of hay were stacked into a five-foot barrier. Extending from both ends were fence rails of varying lengths. Arabesque perked her ears forward, her breathing was heavier now. Closer and closer she galloped toward the obstruction until she felt the girl’s body tense. Through the air they went, and when they landed on the other side, the barrier was still intact.

Murmurings could be heard from the crowd. So far, this young girl who had never ridden in competition before had scored higher than any of the other contestants in the Youth Division. There was one jump left—the dreaded spiderwort—and only fifteen seconds remaining on the clock.

About the Author:

Barbara Casey is the author of over two dozen award-winning novels and book-length works of nonfiction for both adults and young adults, and numerous articles, poems, and short stories. Several of her books have been optioned for major films and television series.

In addition to her own writing, Barbara is an editorial consultant and president of the Barbara Casey Agency. Established in 1995, she represents authors throughout the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan.

In 2018 Barbara received the prestigious Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and Top Professional Award for her extensive experience and notable accomplishments in the field of publishing and other areas.

Barbara lives on a mountain in Georgia with three cats who adopted her: Homer, a Southern coon cat; Reese, a black cat; and Earl Gray, a gray cat and Reese’s best friend.

Website | Barbara Casey Agendy | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads

Buy the book at Amazon.


Movie Review: That Night


That Night
Director: Zachary Trussell
Writer: Zachary Trussell
Stars: Julio Alexander, Oscar Mansky, Julie Gester, Maureen Azzun, Boogie Williams, Kendall McCarthy, Michael C. Hyatt, and Alexander Louis
Rated: 3 Stars (6 stars on IMDB)
Review by: Astilbe

THAT NIGHT tells the story of a young unknown artist who is forced to confront his career ambitions and win back his ex-girlfriend during a drunken night in Chicago with his irreverent friends. Any night out in a big city has the potential to be a good night, the risk of being a bad night, and typically ends up somewhere in between, but only some nights can claim to be “That Night”—the night where little choices lead to big decisions, chance encounters to second chances, Uber drivers keep themselves busy in the strangest of ways and taking the wrong pill can be really bad for the upholstery. For STACY, an artist with one eye on the future of design and the other stuck looking hopelessly at his ex-lover, that night is tonight—and the city, Chicago. So yes, there will be drinking.

Anything can happen overnight.

I loved this film’s varied sense of humor. There was something here for everyone, whether you like jokes about the pitfalls of accidentally taking the wrong medication or how one should properly milk an almond. All of the characters had a good sense of humour and weren’t afraid to gently poke fun at themselves or others if the conversation warranted it. There is definitely something to be said for that!

It would have been helpful to have more character development. I don’t mind watching stories about people who may not be terribly likeable at first glance as those can often be the most interesting characters of them all, but I was hoping to see everyone mature a bit more as a result of their wild night. There were a few signs that the protagonist was going to work on his flaws, and I appreciated that. Had I seen it in his friends, too, I would have happily chosen a higher rating.

The romantic storyline was fresh and realistic, and I’m saying this as a viewer who was honestly not that impressed with it in the beginning. It’s always nice to be proven wrong, especially with something as creative as this. I loved the way the director included little hints about where he was going with the romance early on while still leaving space to interpret them in multiple ways. That’s a fantastic way to foreshadow the conclusion without spelling things out too directly, and it makes me want to see more from these characters and this crew.

That Night kept me guessing.

A Day with Jesse René Gibbs Behind the Scenes – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jesse René Gibbs will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A Day with Jesse René Gibbs Behind the Scenes

I write from the heart, from my emotional core. Which means, for me to tell a good story I must feel that story in nearly every way. Which is one of the reasons that Girl Hidden took twenty-five years to be released. It was exceptionally hard to dive into the emotions of the abuse that I endured just to tell my story.

I would start with a story that I wanted to add to the book. Start writing from my experience and my memories and get it all down on paper. I would rewrite, cry, write again and repeat. Then I would dive into the myriad of boxes that my grandmother collected over the years that were filled with documentation about my experiences: court documents, my mother’s letters, my grandmother’s journals. And often I would find that my version of the events had multiple layers and extended stories that I knew nothing about.

I would meet with my therapist to walk through the pain of rewriting my history in my own mind, talk with my wonderful bestie, June, and usually cry again. Then it was back to writing, rewriting, or adding to the story until it made sense on the page and matched both my experiences and the truth of the documentation.

For example, my mother gave birth to me while in the Navy, stationed in Rota, Spain. Which is already an interesting story, but finding out through my mother’s letters just how little she wanted a child and through the doctor’s notes that she was trying to starve me to death for the first three months of my life was devastating. She stated in her letters that I, a newborn baby, was overwhelming demanding and shouldn’t be able to “demand that I feed her on her timeline.” So, back to the drawing board with that chapter.

It was a challenge every step of the way, but through the writing process I began to find healing and closure. June held my hand and cried with me and helped me sort through all the research that needed to be done to make Girl Hidden a reality.

Echoing among the Blue Ridge Mountains were the cries of newborn babies that disappeared into the night. The screams of children nearly drowned out by the sound of crickets. A girl, hidden and waiting to be found, terrified, and confused. The fireflies sparkling in the woods, bringing light to darkled places.

The bulk of Jesse’s memories were of growing up in the farm country of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. The farm folks stayed pretty much outside of town, except for visits to the feed store causing random tractors to travel down Main Street. There were beatings and abuses, manipulation and terror carried out in spaces breathtaking in their beauty. There were twenty-seven Baptist churches, three non-denominational churches, and one Catholic Church.

There were annual Ku Klux Klan rallies on the street where they would walk right by all the black families who came out to watch and the white folks who came out for moral support—whether of the blacks or the whites, no one knew for sure. Black people did not marry white people in a civilized society, and so were rarely seen socializing. There was a young woman who was pregnant with a black man’s baby, so her parents disowned her. Jesse’s family was accused of killing the child and burying it on their property.

There was the Berkley House Bed and Breakfast toward the end of town, with gold plated silverware and hardwood floors, rumored to be the local sex worker house. There was a mansion up on a hill that overlooked the other humble houses in the town. In the local cemetery, there was “Will B. Jolly” carved into the graves used by bootleggers back in the twenties. Everyone had some form of thick southern drawl, though the length of the “aw” would extend the further south you went. There was a tiny baseball field and a tinier fire department. There was an old lady in the foothills that let the family raid her garden during the summer. And in exchange, Jesse’s family helped her husband bring in the hay for their animals every year.

There was a black snake in the attic—the door opened inside the closet next to Jesse’s bed. She would find his shed skins left behind in the summer months measuring close to seven feet in length. There was a creek with crawdads and a moss-covered bridge. There were mulberry and pecan trees that filled her and her siblings’ aching bellies as the weather turned.

There were hot summer days and freezing cold winters. There were dogs that were best friends, cats that kept her warm at night, and a cow that committed suicide. There was red clay instead of dirt, hayfields instead of grass, and a favorite swimming hole: Lenny’s Mill, the local grain mill on a glacier-fed creek where you could take a dip if you were brave enough to challenge the frigid waters.

Girl Hidden is the story of an unwanted child, born nonetheless and forced into servitude, desperate to protect her siblings and find her way out from under the vicious, manipulative abuses heaped on her by the one person who was supposed to love her unconditionally: her mother.

Enjoy an Excerpt

He was standing with his hands over his face. His back was shaking. Jesse slowly walked in front of him and stood there, silently watching as the sobs wracked his body. She reached up and touched his arm, startling him for a moment. Tears filled her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She started weeping, her tears dripping onto his shirt. They held each other for a moment as the world seemed to stop turning around them.

Jesse pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. Robert looked down at her and stuttered a little as he tried to put words to his feelings.

She looked up into his eyes. “Poppa,” she said, stopping his attempts to speak. “I cannot be the grown-up for both of us. I’m not… I’m not strong enough!” Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, washing away the last of the makeup that she had so meticulously applied earlier that day. “Please, Poppa.”

Jesse took a deep breath, pulled herself together, lifted her chin, and walked back into the room with the black-and-white tile floor. Robert stood in the hallway and watched her go. His stepdaughter would never depend on him again. His heart broke a little more, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it. He forced himself to wipe his eyes again and walk back into the room.

About the Author: My name is Jesse René Gibbs and I am the author of Girl Hidden. I am an artist, designer, dancer and survivor. I am a stepmother to four, Amma to four more and blessed beyond measure with the family that I chose.

This book is based on the true story of my life, gleaned from years of my mother’s writings, my grandmother’s journals and my own experiences. I did my best to showcase the depth of damage that growing up with a narcissistic parent can have on a person, and how hard it is to come to terms with the amount of gaslighting that comes with that life. My siblings all have their own stories of being played against each other, bullied and even emotionally tortured by our parents. We were trained to not trust our own intuition, raised in a life of poverty, a lack of privacy and the endlessly traumatizing purity culture.

I was hunted in my own home by the man my mother married and escaped at nineteen only to land in an intentional community in Chicago that did nearly as much damage. My best friend in the book is also real, and she did more to walk me through my trauma, and she is the main reason that these stories were finally published.

My new life in Seattle didn’t start until well into my thirties, and I’m still working on deconstructing my life up to that point. I wrote this book to organize my life in my own mind and to undo years of lies. I also wrote it because others need to know that they are not alone.

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