About the Book:
A waking nightmare descended on our lives.
“My
twelve-year-old daughter had put a chef’s knife to her chest and threatened to
kill herself. Her step-dad was sexually abusing her. I felt swallowed by
darkness — like Jonah in the belly of the whale. This can’t be happening.”
A family
member... a friend... someone you know has sexually abused your child.
Tumultuous emotions buffet you from all sides. You’re feeling lost and
confused. Where do you turn for help?
Part memoir,
part devotional, author Debra L. Butterfield offers…
• comfort
for your heartache
• practical
guidance for daily needs
• a biblical
path to healing, and
•
encouragement and hope along the way.
Let yourself
be Carried by Grace as you journey toward restoration.
ISBN: 978-1-936501-24-3
Paperback: $13.99 (April 3, 2015)
E-book: $5.99 (January 2015)
A Brief Interview with the Author:
Debra, what do you love
about this book? Carried by Grace
is the next best thing to being across the table to share hope and
encouragement with a mother who is hurting. So often when we struggle with a
heart-rending issue, we feels no one understands how we feel, and that we’re
all alone. In the case of sexual abuse, that aloneness is compounded by shame,
whether you are the victim or the mother of the victim. You don’t want anybody
to know, not even family members, and so until you are brave enough to open up
to someone, you are alone. We have God, of course, but having another woman who
has experienced this and really understands the emotional battle and can be
there beside you gives you strength. That’s how I designed my book to be, as
close to being there in the flesh as possible.
Can you share two
things you learned during the writing/publishing process? When you write
about a personal journey, the writing of that journey can bring new healing and
insight. I thought I had found complete healing, but when I started writing
this book, I discovered there were still wounds that had scabs yet to heal.
Writing the book was like applying a healing salve to those as yet unhealed
wounds.
As far as the publishing process goes, invest in an editor
and proofreader. Find the money somehow. It’s very difficult to see your own
mistakes. I thought it was pretty clean when I sent it to the publisher, but I
found quite a few errors that needed to be fixed after it was laid out and read
to send to the printer.
What do you hope
readers will tell other readers when they've finished? I hope readers will
be brave enough to tell others this book exists. Because of the sensitive
nature of sexual abuse, it’s not one of those books where everyone you meet you
say, “I just read the most fantastic book!” I sincerely hope moms who read Carried by Grace will find hope and encouragement
for their situation and that they’ll be willing to tell others that this book
can help them, too.
About the Author:
Debra L.
Butterfield dreamed of being writer
since she was a pre-teen. Fulfillment of that dream began when she was
forty-five years old and Focus on the Family hired her as a junior copywriter.
In 2006, she stepped into the world of freelance writer. In 2014, she
joined CrossRiver Media group as an editor.
Debra is
passionate about helping other writers in their journey to publication because
for over 15 years, fear and doubt about her abilities kept her from even
trying to be a writer. She doesn’t want that to happen to others. She blogs
about writing (and marketing—yes that most frustrating aspect of being an
author), and does freelance editing and coaching in addition to her editorial
work with CrossRiver.
Debra is the
author of Carried by Grace and Mystery on Maple Hill (a short story
ebook). She has contributed stories to numerous anthologies that include Miracles and Moments of Grace: Inspiring
Stories of Survival, 2014 Penned from the Heart, and The Benefit Package. Her
magazine credits include CBN. com, Susie, Live, The Vision,
and On Course online, writer’s newsletters and guest blogs.
Debra is a US Marine Corps veteran, enjoys the
outdoors and, oddly enough, likes the smell of skunks. (Her kids always tell
her take a deep breath whenever they smell one.) Like most writers, she loves
to read, usually not one book at a time either. She has lived as far west as
Hawaii and as far east as Germany and lots of places in between. Now living in
Missouri, Debra has three adult children and two grandchildren.
