My head rattles with stories from sunup to sundown. Every breath I take is a line in a story, every person I meet, a potential character. My books, while fiction, are each laced with my DNA. Each holds truths about who I am, what I dream about, what I fear and what feeds my passion. From the time I was very, very little, I’ve held pen to paper, trying to use words to tell stories, trying to use words to paint a picture of the inside of my heart.

As you explore each of these stories, read their excerpts, watch the trailers and dig deep into the lives of my friends, I hope you’ll find that the themes of abuse and pain are interwoven with a much larger theme: hope. Hope exists in the darkest corner of the world. Hope exists in the midst of every trial. The light of hope is subtle, softer than the burning wound evil carves into us, but, when cultivated and cared for, hope grows into the greatest motivator in the world.

These books are more than books. They are pieces of me; their tragedies and heartaches represent agonies I’ve experienced and their successes are the dreams I’ve passionately chased. And, most of all, I hope that these stories spark a bigger question and inspire you to do something magical: Share your story with me.