Living in a World of Sexual Secrets

Patricia Eagle was thirteen when the sexual relationship with her father - a relationship that began when she was four years old -- ended. Patricia's journey is one of courage and hope as she finds the strength to see what was unseeable - and finally speaks the unspeakable to help herself and others.





For Patricia, shame became too great a burden. Not speaking up added to that weight. Sexual abuse is so prevalent - so many abused children, so many perpetrators injured in some way that leads them to inflict injury - and all this in our big world of secrets. How can anyone get help when we don't talk about this? Patricia decided to step into that pool of courageous survivors who have told their story. She believes that continuing to stay silent would have killed her.

Do Negative Circumstances Make or Break You?

Qiana Hicks is a mother, a college graduate, a career professional, and an author. Her parents were drug and alcohol addicts, and her father spent most of Qiana's youth in prison.  She has an MBA with a specialization in finance and is now managing a team of IT resources for a pharmaceutical management company in Minneapolis.

Although her life can be categorized as that of a disadvantaged childhood, due to her mother’s substance abuse problems, her biological father’s absence, and her stepfather’s alcohol and drug addictions, she survived a tumultuous youth. Qiana and her siblings suffered from many forms of abuse, neglect, and poverty and had to raise themselves.

At age 15, Qiana became an adolescent-parent.  But she worked tirelessly to overcome the challenges of her past and positioned herself to face the obstacles of the future. She finished high school on time, then enrolled in college immediately after graduation, and raised her son while pursuing a college degree and building a career. 

Qiana REFUSED to allow her past to determine who and what she would become.  She used her experiences as opportunities and lessons for her future, making her wiser and stronger.  (I nicknamed her Qiana 'tenacious' Hicks and you will too!)

How to Recognize an Abused Child

Lisa Gray is a licensed mental health counselor, minister, author, and speaker. She travels extensively speaking at women's conferences, jails, and seminars to bring awareness to the complex and emotional topic of sexual abuse.

"They Don't Tell - Child Abuse:  A Mother's Perspective" is her powerful book especially for mothers who have to deal with the pain, hurt, shame, and guilt that comes with discovering that their child had been sexually abused.

"Mom, if I had something to tell you, would you be a mom or would you be a friend?" Those words are forever etched into Lisa's mind when her 16-year-old daughter finally told Lisa that her stepfather had been sexually abusing her since she was in the third grade.

This is the day Lisa's life changed forever and began a process of dealing with the shock, pain, guilt and shame surrounding the abuse.  She is passionate about bringing this awareness to parents, teachers, counselors, and anyone who works with children whose innocence was stolen.  She is an advocate for these women and to help bring the abusers to justice.

I Deserved the Abuse.....And Other Lies

Roxanne Fawley went from longing for death to loving life, from debilitating depression to being extremely happy.  

In Roxanne's memoir But I Like It...And Other Lies, she shares her experience as a victim of physical, mental, and sexual abuse.  She wrote the book because she knows she is not the only one who believed the insidious lie that a woman likes or wants or even caused her own sexual abuse.

She shows us how she has been completely restored to health and freedom that comes from knowing the truth and rejecting all the lies that may hold us captive and hopeless because of abuse.

Helping You Reach Your Goals and Success as a Writer

Cindy Sproles is an author, speaker, managing editor for Straight Street Books and SonRise Devotionals.  She is the executive editor and co-founder for Christian Devotions Ministries.  

Her dream is to do nothing more than craft words that speak from the heart. 

Her best-selling novel, Mercy Rains, addresses the tough subject of child sexual and physical abuse.   Even though it is set in another century it will take you to places you may not want to go but must...... as it addresses a current problem.



Her best-selling 

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.  

One Woman Inspiring Others - Make your Mess your Message

Jamaican born Claudette Esterine studied International Relations at Kiev State University in the Ukraine and then theological studies at Newman Theological College in Alberta, Canada.

She has worked as a chaplain for both hospitals and prisons and has further studied Behavioral Counselling and Case Management in the Federal Correctional System.

As an active blogger, she helps women (and men) work through the daily realities of life including child abuse, domestic violence and racial marginalization.  

She endured sexual, physical, emotional and mental abuse her entire life -- was stabbed by her own mother and used as a sex object 'pimped out' for years.  

After realizing something was missing in her life during a 16-year same-sex relationship, she was able to turn her life around.   Now free from guilt and pain she is a WOUNDED healer -