Giveaway and Interview with Author Arlene Crenshaw

Please give a warm welcome to my guest Arelene Crenshaw,  author of Twelve Roses for Uretta.  This is a touching tale and I'm so happy to have Arelene here.  Thank you so much for stopping in Arlene.  Thank you for having me.


Please tell us a little bit about yourself.....

I’m a 48 yr woman with one son and two grandchildren, I raised my son on my own. We struggled many of days but we made it.  I blessed in so many ways.  I lost my job about a year ago for something that was not my fault.  It’s been difficult, finding work, and I prayed everyday for God to help me find something in this world I enjoyed doing, and in a dream a voice came upon me (God) and said to me. “You are here for a purpose and it is to write and inspire people.”  Something I’ve did all my life…inspire people, who would think that I would be writing novels today. Dreams do come true if you believe.


Is Twelve Roses for Uretta your first novel?

Yes it is, and I’m so very proud of myself.


What inspired you to pen this novel?

I had reached a point in my life that the pain became too much. I was tired of suffering mental and physically with my health and everyday life I was just plain unhappy no matter what I did or what other did for me. I realized I had be crying my entire life and sometimes I didn’t even understand why, so I decided It was time to go right to the cause and this was my way of healing within. Thank God, it worked now I feel like a whole new world has opened up to me.


Do you relate to your characters in any way?

In my book I am Erica who tells the story.


What was the hardest thing about writing this particular novel? 

This is a true story, the hardest thing was all the memories I had to deal with, and how the more I wrote the better I felt getting it all out of my system after 47 years of carrying this pain around. It was very hard for me but it was something I had to do for myself.  I wrote, I cried and I got it all out.  I got rid of the pain that claimed most of my life.


Have you received much controversy with this book?

If so, how do you handle it? I have… most people really enjoyed my book; they said it was a very emotional read. I did have some problems within my family, but I had to remind them this story was told through the eyes of a child.  It was not meant to hurt anyone, it was told for self healing and remembrance of someone that was so special to me.  And I also wrote it for awareness that things like this happen everyday, and It happens to those who you least expect it to happen to.  They just may be going through situation like in my book or going through something even worse.


What message do you hope readers will take away from your book?

My book “Twelve Roses for Uretta” takes this message seriously.  Love should not hurt and domestic violence can kill, don’t be a victim, there is always help. “Just reach out.”

What dreams have been realized as a result of your book being published?

My wildest dreams, that I able to do something wonderful and that is creative by me, something people enjoy and seem to really like and they want more and more.  I realized that dreams do come true.  I was once told that the only thing that comes to a dreamer is a dream.  Well I’m living proof that dreams do come true and I’m enjoying every bit of the ride.


Where do you hope your writing will take you in the future?

 I love writing I hope to put out as many books as I can but my goal is for someone out there to see my writing talent and pick me up to be one of the writers on HBO or Lifetime Channel.  I would love to be a writer on projects like 24, Treme, Flash Forward, Big Love or even True Blood I love those series.  Wish me luck…


Are you currently working on any new projects?

I’m always working on something, I have another book coming out in mid July 2010, a book of short stories and also I’m putting together another book for later this year.


What advice can you give to aspiring authors?

If people listen to what you say when you talk or even write it down, both in my case, and want more and more from you, give them what they want…write books.  I’ve always been told I was in the wrong career, which was the medical field all my life.  Then one day I decide to take charge of my life and do what I loved to do and that was.  “Write stories and quotes” and I do them both daily.


What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to know about you?

That would be I never thought I would be a writer. I can write stories all day but, my punctuation sucks…


Any events or news you would like to share with us today?

Yes, my next novel is called “Hidden Closets” due to be release the middle of July 2010.  This novel is a book of short stories about people’s hidden secrets that they keep hidden, and want to remain hidden.  There is a variety of stories that I challenged my self on, there is a lot of drama, suspense, comedy, and down right outrageous things that people hide. In this book, I really put secrets out there a truly must read.



Where can your readers connect with you?  Facebook, Myspace, Twitter?

I’m on facebook daily, where I do my daily quote of the day. I do that to encourage, enlighten, inspire and, motivate people to keep on keeping on, no matter how tough any situation in their lives may be, they can always come to my facebook for a quote of the day to be inspired. My website is http://www.mscrenshawbooks.com


Any parting comments?

Always inspire to be the best at whatever you are, and with you’re dreams there is no dream that can’t come true. It’s you’re world as well as mine spread your wings and soar high.


Thank you so much for taking time to chat with us today.

You’re so very welcome…stay blessed!

The Giveaway:

Leave a comment for Arlene and you will be entered into a drawing for a $10 Amazon Gift Card.  Drawing will be July 15.

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Please be sure to include your email so I have a way to contact you should you win.  Good luck!

Talking on Matters of the Heart with Cissy Hunt

Please give a warm welcome to my guest Cissy Hunt.  She is the author of A Rose Blooms Among The Thorns,  a fictional novel delving into the subject of domestic violence.  This title will take you through the storms of the life of LaRae,  from fear to healing. 

Cissy lives in the Ozark Mountains with her husband.  She loves working in her yard,  and the mountains give her serenity.  She is an ordained minister,  reaching out to help hurting woman,  helping them through the healing process.

Thank you so much for stopping in today Cissy.  I know domestic violence is something most people don't think too much about unless it is effecting their lives in some form.  I appreciate you discussing such a touchy subject.

Cissy Hunt speaks about Domestic Violence:

My book, A Rose Blooms Among the Thorns is a fictional story about a woman's journey from domestic abuse through healing to forgiveness. This book covers a subject matter that is very close to my heart. the subject matter it covers is domestic violence. Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic affecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Violence against women is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior, and thus is part of a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence results in physical injury, psychological trauma, and sometimes death. The consequences of domestic
violence can cross generations and truly last a lifetime.

Did you know?
One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year. 85% of domestic violence victims are women. Historically, females have been most often victimized by someone they knew. Females who are 20-24 years of age are at the greatest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence. Most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the police.

Even though A Rose Blooms Among the Thorns is a fictional book it is taken from my own life experiences. I choose to make it fiction rather than non-fiction because I want every woman that has gone through domestic violence to be able to relate to it. I don't want them to just read about another woman who experience domestic violence. I want them to know that another man is not the answer that healing is their answer.
Jumping into another relationship after domestic violence without healing 90% of the time leads to another abusive relationship. Yet, if they take the time to heal then they can find a new life that does not include domestic violence.

I would like to leave you with this exert from my book.

After stepping to the podium, LaRae looked down at the urn holding Terri's ashes then to the picture displayed on the easel before looking back up and beginning to speak.

"Terri never made it to true womanhood for she was only nineteen years old when she died. She will never know what it means to be a mother or a grandmother because her life was devalued so greatly by
her abuser that it meant nothing to him to take it. Her life was snuffed out instantly with no thought of remorse because her life wasn't her own; it had been taken from her. She had become property not a human being.

Domestic violence and emotional abuse are behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control another. Do you know that every nine seconds a woman is assaulted and battered in this country, and 5.3
million women are abused each year, and that Domestic Violence is the single major cause of injury to women, more than muggings and car accidents combined. Fifty percent of all women murdered in the
United States are killed by a spouse or an intimate partner. Also, over 500,000 women are stalked by an intimate partner each year. An average of about four women per day dies because of domestic violence.

So you see on the day Terri died at the hands of her abuser so did three other women. Three other families in this country lost a mother, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, or a niece.  Terri Carter is not the first nor will she be the last this town will gather together in mourning over. I wish she would be the last, I pray she would be, but until this community starts changing and becoming aware of domestic violence; there will be more victims like Terri. Think about it! The next service could even be held for one of your family members...maybe even one of your daughters."


Thanks again for chatting with us on such an important subject Cissy.  Please visit Cissy's website at http://cissyh.webs.com  for more information about Cissy and her book.  Leave a comment today for your chance to win a copy of A Rose Blooms Among The Thorns or purchase at Amazon.