Never Give Up On Your Dreams

Simone Pond is an award-winning USA Today bestselling author of dystopian fiction and urban fantasy. As a young girl, she loved writing in her journal and making up stories, though it took several years before she published her first novel. Since then she hasn’t looked back. Pond currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their Boston Terrier. 

As a young girl, Simone felt overwhelmed with hopelessness, starting from the age of twelve when she realized her father was a drug addict and was selling drugs from our house. Her severely depressed mother locked herself in her room for about a year, while Simone muddled her way through puberty. She wanted to disappear. The shame was too heavy. She lived in the constant fear of her family being arrested.  She watched her father fading away before her eyes and at one point wished him dead.  

In rebellion she became an alcoholic who was severely depressed and manic. Simone went through two divorces which left her suicidal. This devastating event was the pivot point in her life when she made the decision to take control, get help and she turned her entire life around.  Now, she has a passion to help other young women who may be going through similar circumstances. 

What Happens When You Give Your Baby Up for Adoption?

Angela Rushing is a world traveler, adventurer, trust and freedom seeker, health and fitness enthusiast, animal advocate, and author.

After a successful career in the beauty industry as a top hairstylist in Los Angeles, it looked like I had it made, although my life felt empty and incomplete, unfulfilled and deeply depressed. Having grown up as the only child in an alcoholic family, I self-medicated well into my thirties and forties to numb the pain of my childhood and adolescence. I finally reached a point where I knew I had to make a significant change and find real meaning in my life, or I would likely die.

Her message rings true: You can't overcome obstacles in your life while in 'victimhood.'

Her book is called The Birth Mother Roller Coaster: Navigating through guilt and fear and arriving at self-love and completion. It is an account of how she became a birth mother. She shares her lonely childhood growing up in an alcoholic household, her teenage and young adult years of depression and her own drug and alcohol use. She knew her experience leading up to her adoption/placement and the feelings that came with that must be shared with the world.

When We Are Rescued, We Often Become the Rescuer

Mary McLaurine is a writer, a poet, and a contributing blogger at Huffington Post. She survived a torturous childhood sexual abuse by her father but learned how to overcome the aftermath that affected her later in life. 

She has much to offer anyone who has suffered from PTSD, sexual abuse, and rejection.  

She is an advocate for organ donation (as a recipient of a kidney after years of dialysis) and therapy animals, rescuing them from their abusive situations.  

You cannot compare someone else's pain with your own.  It is pointless as we only know our own battle of what we have had to endure.  But you CAN be an overcomer and draw strength from your weakest moments.  

It took a lifetime of raw emotion, endurance and determination to assemble her "mosaic."   The most beautiful part is not the multi-colored stones but the dusky, gritty grout that holds all the pieces together and made her unbreakable.  The broken pieces, sharp edges, soft curves, rough surfaces, and smooth stones are beautifully imperfect but they made her strong.  

You will not want to miss her story, especially if you know of anyone who has been abused.  

Build People Up Instead of Tearing Them Down

Donya Zimmerman is a business consultant, certified mediator, aspiring author and public speaker.

Donya received her Juris Doctorate from te University of Baltimore Law School and is a contributing writer with the Maryland Daily Examiner.

She is an active blogger and is conducting workshops on business start up and female entrepreneurship.

Donya knows the pain of rejection from her mother who 'gave her away' when she was 12 years old.  She had to assume the role of mother to her siblings.

Donya helps women realize their goals by

You Can Rise Above Rejection and Abuse

Dan Farnow's book, The Quest for Marriage, is an off-beat and unorthodox relationship book.  It is a practical step-by-step guide to being better equipped on your quest for marriage.

It was written for guys, but gals love it.  It is a no-holds barred straight-forward book.

In Dan's early years, he suffered much emotional abuse, major depression, suicidal thoughts and also resorted to cutting himself until he was 22 years old.

After a life-changing experience, it is now Dan's mission to teach people how to not only survive all the rejection and abandonment issues but to turn your situation around.