I Hate Marketing

I know marketing is an important aspect of writing novels. It’s a necessary part of the process if I hope to sell them. My publisher encourages her authors to publicize our books actively and often through launches, shows, signings and social media. Otherwise, our books would remain on a shelf in a dark closet, and neither the author nor the publisher would benefit.

My problem is that, like many authors, I’m an introvert. Unlike extroverts who are energized by interacting with other people, we introverts gain our energy and inspiration from solitude. Being alone with our thoughts recharges our emotional batteries. This fact is made clear to me every time I participate in a book fair or other author event. After several hours of being “on,” sharing my elevator pitch with 50 to 100 people, trying to grab their attention and gain their interest in my stories, I’m totally exhausted and ready for a two-day nap.

Yes, the profit margin is important. My books are products, after all. But more important to me is that I have spent the better part of a year spilling my guts onto the page, agonizing over every sentence and word choice, getting inside my character’s personalities and motives, rewriting, checking syntax, grammar and plausibility, and rewriting some more. Hoping to write something worthwhile, I allow myself to be vulnerable, often exposing my own fears, weaknesses and insecurities. After all that effort, I want to share my work. 

When I write in my journal, I intend the words for my eyes, only. Journal writing is an exercise in catharsis. I don’t fret over grammar, punctuation or spelling. The purpose of a journal entry is to liberate strong emotions, especially those of the negative variety. Novel-writing can also be therapeutic, but publishers aren’t interested in my personal therapy or emotional health. They are in the business of selling books for profit.

So, I will continue to market my novels. I’ll drag my introverted self to book shows and signings. I’ll promote my “author brand” because I want my publisher, who has placed a good deal of trust in me, to profit from the sale of my novels. More importantly, I will continue to market because I’m convinced my books, while entertaining fiction, can be helpful to my readers. I tackle tough issues like child abuse, battered women, alcoholism, and homelessness. My characters, like Stella, Edith and Mike in The Dark Room, Allison, Jack and Jack’s mom, Sylvia in Unrevealed and Abigail and her brothers in I Want to Go Home are relatable. The reader will care about them and desire positive outcomes for them. If I make a profit selling books, so much the better.

Cindy L. Freeman is the author of two award-winning short stories and three published novels: Diary in the Attic, Unrevealed and The Dark Room. Coming soon from High Tide Publications: I Want to Go Home. Website: www.cindylfreeman.com; Facebook page: Cindy Loomis Freeman. Her books are available through amazon.com or hightidepublications.com

Freedom From Violence

Why Me?

Since writing my book, The Dark Room, I’ve been thinking about why some women become victims of abuse. No one deserves to be treated with disrespect. It is important for abused children and women to understand that the abuse is not their fault.

In preparing to write The Dark Room, I researched the reasons people become abusers. To characterize the abuser, Hank, authentically, it was important to understand what created his need to over-power and control his wife, child and grandchild through physical and mental brutality.

But what about the victims? Are there qualities that contribute to making them targets? More importantly, are there practices that girls and women can adopt to prevent themselves from becoming targets? I’m happy to report that the answer to these questions is a resounding, “yes.”

What Abusers Look For

From studies, we know that batterers seek out people they can over-power easily, people they can groom to believe they are worthless, inferior, stupid, and responsible for the abuser’s behavior. The abuser’s attitude of entitlement may or may not be conscious, but unless he is truly psychotic, his behavior is learned.

Abusers convince their victims to believe falsehoods like, “If only I were better, prettier, smarter, more perfect, he wouldn’t have to hit me or humiliate me. If I do everything he wants, keep my opinions to myself, and serve his every need, he’ll stop.” No, he won’t stop!

It’s important for victims to remember that real love does not hurt. If someone is hitting you or putting you down, he is not acting out of love, no matter how many times he tells you he loves you and insists that your behavior is what causes him to lose his temper.

        

Self-Love

So, what can we teach our daughters and granddaughters to prevent them from getting sucked into destructive relationships? I believe the answer is self-love.

Liveyourdream.org is “an online volunteer and activist network offering flexible action opportunities to improve the lives of women and girls.” This organization’s website describes self-love as “naming and claiming all of who you are—even the scariest parts.” In other words, to protect themselves from becoming victims of child abuse and future violence, girls and women must learn to tell themselves the truth and believe the truth about who they are.

A good tool toward achieving self-love is journaling. In her new book, The Writing Rx, Ann Eichenmuller, another author published by High Tide Publications, Inc. recommends journaling to identify issues and express one’s honest responses to them. She even provides specific suggestions for how to get started.

In her book, Ann says, “Something about the act of writing gives you a sense of power over the subject.” It seems to me that writing self-affirmations in a journal would be a positive tool for empowering women and girls.

It’s Never too Late

What if you are already in an abusive relationship or a survivor of past abuse? Liveyourdream.org suggests it’s never too late to learn to love yourself. Self-love is not the same as selfishness. Self-love is about discovering that you are worthy of respectful treatment no matter what anyone else tells you. It’s about listing your qualities and talents and believing you deserve to be treated with dignity.

Cindy L. Freeman is the author of two award-winning short stories and three published novels: Diary in the Attic, Unrevealed and The Dark Room. Coming September 2018 from High Tide Publications: I Want to Go Home. Website: www.cindylfreeman.com; Facebook page: Cindy Loomis Freeman. Her books are available through amazon.com or hightidepublications.com

Character Development

Abigail (Abby) Jordan, the main character of my upcoming novel, I want to Go Home, considers herself a Christian believer because her family attends church and Sunday school. However, she hasn’t experienced a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe. Despite her religious education, she doesn’t realize she can be filled with the Holy Spirit for the asking. It takes the traumatic events of grief, loss, and homelessness for her to discover that God has been with her all along. She merely needs to call out, “Help me,” and God sends “angels” to assist her. Whether these beings are real angels or merely compassionate humans isn’t important. I prefer to let the reader decide. What is important is that through the acts of admitting helplessness, asking for forgiveness, and surrendering her will to God’s will, Abby finally makes the spiritual connection that changes her very existence.

Does Abby’s life improve instantly once she recognizes God’s presence with her? Does God rescue her immediately from her dire circumstances? No. If I wrote the story like that it wouldn’t be plausible because real life isn’t like that. Yes, God performs miracles every day—whether we recognize and acknowledge them—but in my experience, God is not a sugar daddy who lifts us out of hardships and challenges, magically removing the natural consequences of our decisions and actions.

In I Want to Go Home, seventeen-year-old Abby is a victim of her family’s sudden poverty and her mother’s alcoholism, but she also makes decisions that contribute to her unwanted circumstances. She thinks she has no alternative but to take her young brothers and run away. She thinks it’s the only way to keep the Jordan kids from being separated and placed in foster homes.

I’m convinced that God gives humans free choice to make decisions, but because we are flawed, often our decisions are unwise. The character, Abby, makes poor choices not only because she’s a flawed human like the rest of us, but because her father’s death and her mother’s inability to handle life throw her into an adult role before her brain is fully adult. 

With my story of the Jordans, I wanted to follow a family from middle class comfort to homelessness. As the plot and the characters developed, I found myself surprised by the direction the story took. That’s one of the reasons I love to write. It’s satisfying to watch my characters take on a presence and personality that surprises even me who created them. Could this development be a result of divine intervention? I hope so. 

      

Cindy L. Freeman is the author of two award-winning short stories and three published novels: Diary in the Attic, Unrevealed and The Dark Room. Coming September 2018 from High Tide Publications: I Want to Go Home. Website: www.cindylfreeman.com; Facebook page: Cindy Loomis Freeman. Her books are available through amazon.com or hightidepublications.com