from Flickr user a strangelyisolatedplace

I have been busy, and neglecting you, fair blog readers.

But I’m on a train after spending New Year’s Eve at a benefit for A13, an initiative by Resolution Hope to stop sex trafficking of minors by building awareness and to provide care and appropriate homes and healing resources for women and and children who are rescued from trafficking.

I was there because I worked on a novel by Susan Norris about the problem. The book is called Rescuing Hope. Working on it gave me nightmares and has turned me into a fanatic about keeping Child in sight.  The book is being marketed as Young Adult Fiction, and though it is definitely PG-13, it is probably more like Creative Nonfiction–Susan’s agent calls it “Faction.”

So last night was a fundraiser/event/kickoff/book release party with a lot of very loud Christian Contemporary music, semi-preachy (like the intersection of fund-raising and a worship service) rhetoric, and no drunk people (until afterward, on the drive home, when a dude with hollow, booze-consumed eyes who didn’t know he was walking on the street instead of the sidewalk fell on the street, and the good Norris family stopped to help him).  It was not my normal comfort zone, but owing to my upbringing, I squirmed less than I might’ve for sure. Besides I expect that the rhetoric would be more healing than damaging to victims of sex trafficking, and I can’t think of a better cause for which to endure some discomfort in my sometimes excessive broad-mindedness regarding religion.

I will tell you more about Susan soon, when I write the blog post about how to be a terrific self-publishing author to work with. In the meantime, I present to you:

This is what you do with a BA in English!

Oh, you wanna know what the front cover looks like, too?  And where to buy it?  All right.

You can go here to see more pictures, and to purchase in paperback or eBook.

And for die-hard Amazon devotees, here.

I’ll keep you posted on what’s happening with the book.  In the meantime, you can get involved in the petition to the White House to stop sex trafficking of minors here, donate here, and engage in awareness-building/networking here.