We All Know a Survivor

The truth is this: everyone either know someone who has been abused...or has survived it themselves.

Abuse does not have a "look." It does not live only in the dark alleys or crime documentaries. It lives behind closed doors. It hides in silence. It smiles in public. It thrives in shame. And it survives because people don't recognize the signs, or they don't know what to do when they see them.

Abuse is like the boiled frog syndrome......if you put a frog in a pan of cold water the frog will sit and enjoy the nice cold water, smiling and happy. Much like the beginning of abusive relationships. Its everything you have ever wanted. Now we turn up the heat. The frog is now in warm water. That frog is a little uncomfortable but thinks to itself "the water will cool back down and be nice and cold like before." Abusers will start small, make you uncomfortable, much like the frog in the warm water. Now the water in that pan is hot! Yet the frog still doesn't jump out. Why? That frog has been uncomfortable for so long hanging on to that fond memory of that nice cold, happy water. Knowing that it was once so pleasurable to be in the water that it believes with all its heart that it will go back to being that way again..right? Abusers will make you feel like it's your fault, make you feel small, weak, like you deserve the "HOT WATER." Now that water in the pot is boiling! And that poor frog dies from the heat. Unfortunatly, that is the ending for so many victims of abuse. They just don't get out in time.

When I wrote Monsters, it wasn't just about telling a story. It was about telling HER story.

The survivor behind Monsters trusted me with her trauma, the kind that fractures your sense of safety, your identity, your voice. She shared the fear. The manipulation. The isolation. The subtle warning signs that escalated into something much darker. She didn't share it for sympathy. She shared it so others would see the red flags sooner than she did.

She shared it so someone reading would whisper, "That's happening to me."

And more importantly, so they could also say, "If she survived, maybe I can too."

That is why Monsters is more than a true crime story. It's a survival guide hidden between the pages. It shows how a MONSTER was made, how abuse starts, often not with violence, but with control. It shows how predators groom trust. It shows how victims are silenced. But it also shows resilience, strength, and strategy. The small, brave decisions that lead to freedom.

Survival isn't always loud. Sometimes it's quiet. Sometimes it's a secret plan. Sometimes it's simply enduring one more day until you can safely leave.

We have to talk about it. We have to remove the shame. We have to teach the signs, isolation from family, financial control, sudden personality shifts, walking on eggshells, excuses for bruises, fear disguised as loyalty.

MONSTERS lose power when we name them. So let all name them!

If this book does anything, I hope it does this: I hope it helps someone recognize danger. I hope it helps someone feel less alone. I hope it gives someone the courage to make a plan. And I hope it reminds survivors that what happened to them does not define them, but surviving does.

You are not weak. You are not foolish. You are not alone.

And MONSTERS only win when we stay silent!

The profits from the sale of MONSTERS will be donated to The Madeline Kingsbury Foundation: Where Joy Trickels In

Each purchase of MONSTERS helps a survivor find a way forward, find a new life, and have the strength to be free!

I would like to FILL THE ROOM

Come to my Author talk/ book signing featuring MONSTERS

w/ Guest speaker from The Madeline Kingsbury Foundation

Thursday March 26th @6:00pm St. Charles Public Library

Lets all raise our voices against Domestic Violence!!

Every voice, every purchase matters

SEE YOU ALL THERE!