WHY I WROTE "A DAY OF RECKONING"

 I wrote “A Day of Reckoning", for two reasons: 

I got the idea for the novel when one of my family members was involved in a tumultuous relationship. They had two children together. After she had her second child she suffered from “Post Postpartum Depression”, more commonly known as “Baby Blues” or Melancholy Blues”. She found out her boyfriend at the time was trying to get back with his ex-wife which sent her into a long dark vortex of anger and self-loathing. They tried several times to make the relationship work but, they couldn’t trust each other. She was also in a love triangle, going back and forth between the ex-boyfriend and the other boyfriend. Then the other boyfriend ended up sleeping around on her as well. Both relationships were violent and even caused her to lose her job.

The second reason was another family member went through a nasty one-sided divorce. Long story short, her now ex-husband was having an affair with another woman. Instead of working out the relationship in an adult manner, he went behind her back and filed a divorce petition; claiming she was mentally unstable and unfit to care for their three children. He then drained their joint bank account leaving her with no money. She came home from work and found her oldest daughter sitting on the front porch. He was verbally abusive; mostly about their weight issues. He did some shady things and for nearly fifteen years she did not see her children who then lived with their father and new stepmother. She had no visitations, and when she and her daughter did get to see the other three children it was supervised.

There are actually three reasons for the book. My own story. Almost my whole life has been filled with abusive situations. I won’t go into them because not only have I moved past them, I had to forgive them to move on. I’ve been on both sides of abuse. However, my side was usually a result of too much alcohol. In my late teens and early twenties, I thought I was some kind of badass, and I had a bit of a temper. I didn’t actually go out of my way to hurt anyone. I was in a relationship at that period of my life and the person I was with liked to say things that made me feel like I was crap. I didn’t look right, I didn’t dress right, and if we were drinking (which was most of the time) he would say something about a woman that would set me off.

But then my first marriage made me realize I was in a bad situation and needed to get out before I was murdered, or in prison for murder. At first, he was sweet, complementary and I couldn’t understand why his ex-girlfriend came at him with a knife. I found out soon enough. I hated that man so much I was actually thinking of ways to kill him. The one time I pressed charges it took law enforcement six months to act on it and that was because we were at the Sheriff’s dept pressing charges against a landlord for pulling a pistol on us.

I was taken into a room and asked if I wanted to have the now ex-husband put in jail. As terrified as I was of him I told them no. I told them that if that happened he would hunt me down and kill me. I believed that. However, not too long after that, and through the power of prayer, I was able to break free from that monster. In the years since that time I’ve had to forgive this man. He did some terrible things to me and said some things that made me feel like I was shit on the bottom of someone’s shoe. I admit, I left him a couple of times but went back because I forgave him and I did love him at the time. He had some bad luck come his way, but it didn’t give him an excuse to beat other people, or me for that matter. That is another story. I also thought the drinking was what caused him to turn into an ogre, but I realized as our relationship went along he was an asshole through and through.

No one should ever have to go through what I went through. But, many do, and far worse than what I suffered through. Domestic abuse, physical, sexual, or verbal, it doesn’t matter is a sickness. Yes, sticks and stones do break bones and words do hurt. Even if the offender has begged for forgiveness, chances are they will do it again. It can start out “innocently” enough. A few words of degrading their loved one can turn into yelling, throwing things, and eventually hitting, pushing, a black eye, or a bruise. Then the excuses start.

What I think is the scariest thing is not being able to find a safe haven if one does get the courage to take flight, having children to take care of and what is called the obsessive ex syndrome. There are reports of men (and women) who stalk their ex-partners only to end up killing them and sadly sometimes their children. Most of those who are abusive are cowards. 

Another scary thing I think is the way some people look for those who are vulnerable so they can control them. Vulnerable by having low self-esteem issues or even being abused in their childhood. These people try their hardest to please their loved ones only to have them be torn down by words that can cut deeper than any knife.

Each day, this world seems to get a little uglier. Generations have gone through domestic abuse hidden behind closed doors. Thankfully, it’s not like that any longer. Many programs deal with domestic violence and can help if the affected person(s) will just take their hand and don’t look back, don’t go back, and learn self-defense. Take a stand.  

In the back of the book, I have a list of websites dealing with domestic abuse.  I think it's important to list them here as well. Please find some help if you are in a violent relationship. If not for you for your children (if there are children involved). 

Hotlines - Arkansas Department of Human Services

24 Hour Hotline Numbers - Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (DVCC) - State of Delaware

Domestic Violence Support | The National Domestic Violence Hotline (thehotline.org)

National Domestic Violence Hotline | The Administration for Children and Families (hhs.gov)

Domestic Violence Treatment Services - Child Welfare Information Gateway

Court Ordered Classes - Online WebCasted Court Program Provider

The 3 Stages of a Dangerously Obsessive Ex | Psychology Today

THE BOOK IS OUT, BUT WAIT FOR THE PAPERBACK

 December 12, 2022, my book "A Day of Reckoning" was published on Amazon. As excited as I am about that, I'll be far more excited when it comes out in paperback sometime near the end of January. I for one, am not that gung-ho on electronic books (e-books). I like having the book in my hands. I like the feel and the smell of a book. I guess that's because I've grown up reading paper/hardback books than reading from a tablet or ugh, my phone. I know it's the wave of the future, save the trees, but in a world where we recycle nearly everything recycling paper for books is now the way to go. There is just something about staring at a glaring computer screen, it's cold and impersonal? Plus if you drop it in the water your device is toast, whereas, you might be able to salvage a papered book. 

I also don't like the ebook version, I know I should have found an editor, but I can't or don't have 1k sitting around the house. But, the story is good and there aren't that many issues, but if you know what to look for you'll see the mistakes. However, the second edition I feel is so much better, I'm debating on whether or not I should put the second edition in e-book form or not. You can click on the link below and it will take you to the page. 

https://www.amazon.com/author/cdclarkbooks

 Hello all! An FYI: I attached my old blog "Stuff From The Attic" to this one. On the sidebar, you can see where it says "Stuff From The Attic (Original)". I left it sitting for so long that I can't get into it so, I decided to stick it with this blog site. I wrote too many articles in it for me to just let it slip into cyberspace. 

Well, today I uploaded my manuscript to Amazon! It will be a few days before it's online but I can't believe after all of these years it's finally happening. I thought about going through a traditional publisher but there is too much to go through. I know self-publishing has its own share of hardships but I think it's the best route for me, at least for now. Even if I don't ever publish another novel, I can say that I did publish one. I wish my parents and grandparents could have witnessed it. Especially my dad. 

Does it seem like a cop out? No. If you have ever had to go through the process of writing inquiry letters, cover letters, synopsizes, and searching for the right agent, right publisher, right audience, everything has to be just so, so or it's nothing. I've done this for a long time; I even came to a point where I thought it wasn't worth the effort, rejections, harsh criticism, and snobby remarks just do not cut it with me.  But, I couldn't leave the pen and paper alone. I had so many ideas swimming inside me with nowhere to go. I have notebooks loaded down with ideas and boxes full of articles and research material, How could I just quit? Well, I can't not now. 

You still have to find the right audience and you have to do a lot of the marketing, but it's still a better way to go. I'm sure I've made some grammatical errors, but finding an editor is another cost. I read that some editors charge as much as a thousand dollars! Yeah, got that in my pocket right now. 

It's an exciting time in the technology world. I know self-publication has been around for quite a while but I didn't understand it. I still don't but I do have the basic workings of how it works understood. There are many helpful programs and apps out there that can help with writing processes. Some are free and don't do as much as premium programs offered but what is offered is a huge help for my endeavors.

For those of you who have something you want to write about, then you should get it written down. Take a class at your local community college like creative writing. I'm sure there are Youtube videos and Masterclasses that can teach a person just about everything too. Get out a pen and a notebook and just start writing down your ideas. And read, read, read! If you don't like to read, then the writing process may be a hard road for you. 

A DAY OF RECKONING COMING SOON

 In the near future, I will have my first novel published! It's an exciting time for me and has taken a very long time to reach this point in my writing career.  It's also been a lot of work getting "A Day Of Reckoning" ready for publication.  Soon it will be ready for the first step; an e-book. Then sometime after the first of the year, I want to put it in print form. I'm not sure what kind of emotions will come when I first hold that book in my hands. Right now, it's just still a gauzy dream but it's a reachable one. I have to decide which cover I want for the book and it's a tough decision!

                                        
                                        

                                                   

. I still have a few things to do before I turn it over to Amazon but each day brings the reality closer!

UP AND RUNNING AGAIN!

 I started writing when I was in elementary school (5th grade) writing poems for the school paper. It was a few years later I tried writing short stories, albeit, they were crude but I was looking for a way to be creative and writing seemed to be the niche I was looking for. My dad was trying his hand at writing and I wanted to do what he was doing. 

For a long time though, I let writing slide into the background forgotten as I tried making my way into the world, graduating high school, then going to college.  I had assignments that need to be written, but it didn't really stoke the fire until I was in my thirties….I had forgotten what a rush it was to write a piece and flesh it out.     

Marriage the first time around allowed me no time to explore writing but it definitely gave me a few life experiences.  The second one (marriage) was not much help either, but at this time, was where I picked up writing short stories by taking a course through Long Ridge Writer's Group. I was able to publish a few articles in the company newspaper, but it seemed I was not going to get far. Time after time, I was shot down, with rejections galore.  I have a sensitive nature about me, so I just decided that maybe, after all, it wasn't what I was supposed to do if I couldn't take rejection.  

Well, a few years later, I found out that Long Ridge Writer's Group and Writer's Digest both had courses in writing novels. I had a lot of material written, but just didn't know where to get started putting the pieces together. I tried both courses, I stuck with Long Ridge Writer's Group because they were helpful and courteous. The instructor I had from Writer's Digest was in my opinion not helpful and cold. I put that behind me and began the arduous task of putting a story together. The job I had at the time allowed me to explore not only the library but the Internet as well which was still in its infant stages. I became involved in several online writing groups and attended writer's conferences.  

The one time I attended a writer's conference in physical form was great until one of the speakers asked us why we were at the conference instead of at home writing. I'm not a snobbish person, I don't try to make it like I'm super smart because I'm not. I think what turned me off from the whole conference thing is most of the attendees were more concerned about copyrights, which is important, but not the most important. The opportunities came but still, nothing opened up. I think that's my bad because I was intimated by the whole process of marketing, and publishing. I'm not a salesperson and I have different genres of material because that's how I read novels. I don't really care what type of novel it is as long as it keeps my attention. So again, I was stuck and as time went by I slipped out of writing, not completely but it again took a back seat. I had a new job that demanded more of my time, my husband (no.3, a keeper) is a musician and he was busy doing gigs and I wanted to put my time and efforts in that direction.  

Over the course of the years, I've gained a few things under my belt like growing a thick skin and just stay the course. It helps that I've retired from my job of 35 years, so not having time is no excuse!  

I'm a fiction writer, but I like writing articles about things that are of interest not only to me but to anyone who will read them. And now with self-publishing, I don't have to search high and low to find the right publishing company that may like my material. Haven't gotten that far yet, but I'm working on it. :)