Journey

Everybody has a book in them, or so it's said. But it's something else again getting it onto the page and to a place where it might be shared.

I have been writing since I was a young child. Always, my dream was to see my name on the spine of a book. Books gave me life, a dream to live by. Through their portals I could escape so easily into other worlds. Books also saved my life ... yes, really!

This is the story of my books and my journey as an author, including a very personal view of my journey through Life. I hope it will inspire and give hope to writers and readers young and old.

Getting published can be a waiting game. It's hard .. and getting harder. But then sometimes it can happen in an unexpected way and suddenly, we truly are living our dream. And we realise that it isn't after all the winning that is important, but the journey that is ours along the way.

I would love to hear from anyone who connects with what is written here. A signed copy of any of my books is available. You have only to write and ask:

janineharrington53@gmail.com







Wednesday 14 September 2011

Kindling Interest


There is an art to getting Kindle books noticed through Amazon ... an art I haven't quite mastered. I've put two up there now, and they sit there, but there has to be a way to bring them to the wider public.

My first was a trial. PANDORA'S BOX is a story I wrote when my mother died. It's about a young girl who should be more careful what she wishes for. Her mother and she were close, just as I was close to my own. I grew to know Mum in later years as a woman, listening and learning how things had been for her. We shared so much. She became my soulmate. And in 1996 when finally cancer took her from this world into another, I wanted to follow her down, to know where her spirit may go.

As always, the way I dealt with that trauma and the whole grieving process was to write my thoughts and feelings, which slowly grew into a story. In turn, it became fascinating researching the Greeks, finding out about Pandora, wondering what became of her after she opened the box and let loose all the evils into the world. In my own version of the story she remains angry with the gods, she wants her life back, and more than anything else, she wants to try out all the new gadgetry the dawn of technology brings. Alisha, the young girl who loses her mother and who wishes at her grave she could join her, is a gift. Finally Pandora can exchange souls and live the life denied her. She's sticking two fingers up at the gods.

I enjoyed writing the book so much.

BETRAYED is the promised re-write of my very first book 'A Crying Game' , published in 1984. It has been a very long time coming and taken a certain amount of regression and courage to write. But finally finally it is done and put up as a kindle. All those years I lived as a victim are not wasted. Something positive came out of them. And I believe it's important to share that with the wider world. I want to reach particularly those who are still struggling in an abusive world. Who understand the mindset as their own. Who cannot find the way forward or a way out ... afraid to stay ... afraid to leave. And who need desperately to know they are not alone. I would welcome anyone who would like to find hope, to know that word is real, but which lies at the very bottom of the box of evils, to make contact with me.

In 1984 I founded LIFELINE which became a UK national support network for all those in abusive relationships ... mentally, emotionally, physically, sexually. I was forced to give up my Directorship almost ten years on to deal with personal affairs and protect my own. But the people I met and shared with through those years I still think about and wonder. For them I still have that special place in my heart. We were the only organisation working with the family as a whole ... victims, survivors, second loving husbands and partners and families, as well as abusers and paedophiles. It was important to recognise all parts of the problem in order to understand the source, to create more effective child protection programmes for the future, linking with all agencies involved. Often I have wondered what became of you. Often I have wished you well, hoping you found your own peace on earth as I did.