Guest Post + Giveaway: Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

Today is my Teen Book Scene tour stop for Scars by Cheryl Rainfield. So, please give a warm welcome to Cheryl. Her book Scars is truly a powerful and inspirational read, that will touch many lives. I will be posting my review of it tomorrow, so look out for that! In the meantime, check out the guest post and giveaway below. Thank you Cheryl for giving me the opportunity to ask you these questions and for giving a book away to one of my followers.

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Cheryl Rainfield writes realistic edgy fiction for teens, fantasy for children, and some nonfiction articles for adults. She edits and critiques children's and teen fiction, and on her website she reviews a wide variety of children's and YA books. In addition to writing, Cheryl is also a talented artist. She lives in Toronto with her dog Willow and cat Amazon.

For more info on Cheryl, visit her site(s):
-Website
-Twitter
-Facebook
-GoodReads
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Scars by Cheryl Rainfield
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Release Date: Available Now
Publisher: Westside Books
Pages: 250

Summary: Kendra, fifteen, hasn't felt safe since she began to recall devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, especially because she still can't remember the most important detail-- her abuser's identity. Frightened, Kendra believes someone is always watching and following her, leaving menacing messages only she understands. If she lets her guard down even for a minute, it could cost Kendra her life. To relieve the pressure, Kendra cuts; aside from her brilliantly expressive artwork, it's her only way of coping. Since her own mother is too self-absorbed to hear her cries for help, Kendra finds support in others instead: from her therapist and her art teacher, from Sandy, the close family friend who encourages her artwork, and from Meghan, the classmate who's becoming a friend and maybe more. But the truth about Kendra's abuse is just waiting to explode, with startling unforeseen consequences. Scars is the unforgettable story of one girl's frightening path to the truth.

Book Trailer:

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Guest Post + Giveaway:

1) Thank you Cheryl for giving me the chance to feature you on my blog. In your novel, Scars, the themes are very realistic and edgy. What inspired you to write this story?

CR: My life, my own experiences of abuse and trauma and of using self-harm to cope, and my feeling so isolated and alone—all those things drove me to write Scars. I was always looking for my own experiences to be reflected in the books I read—books were a big part of my survival—but I never found it, not completely. So part of the reason I wrote Scars was because it was what I needed. I also really wanted to reach other survivors and people who’ve used self-harm to cope, and let them know they’re not alone. It makes everything feel worse to be alone in your pain, to think you’re the only one. I also wanted people who hadn’t had such experiences to come away with greater compassion and understanding. I think there’s a lot of judgment out there about self-harm, and being queer, and I think compassion can make a healing difference in the world.

2) If one of your readers was going through the same situation as your character Kendra, what would be your best advice?

CR: I would tell them to find someone safe to talk to—and to keep talking, not only until they get safe, but also as a part of their healing. Get yourself safe any way you can. See a good therapist if you can; a good therapist can help SO much. By a good therapist, I mean a therapist who feels good and right for YOU. (That is such an individual thing.) Seek out support and compassion, and try to keep getting out the emotion; don’t hold it all inside or turn it on yourself. It helps a lot to get out the emotion in safe ways (through expression, such as dancing, art, or writing; running or hitting a pillow when angry, getting a hug when sad, etc), and to find ways to comfort and love yourself, as much as you can. It is so important to try to be gentle with yourself, to have as much compassion for yourself as you would for a friend, and to try to let go of negative or critical thinking about yourself. And most especially, to know that you don’t deserve to be hurt, not by anyone—and that includes not by yourself.

3) Besides Scars, what other projects are you currently working on?

CR: I’m working on two books right now, both for teens. One is a paranormal fantasy, about a teen who can read minds in a society where she can be enslaved or killed for that, so she’s often on the run for her life. The other is another edgy realistic novel about a girl with a port-wine stain who is abducted, who has to then face her abductor and rapist and free herself, while working through some body issues. All of my manuscripts have bits of abuse in them—pieces of things I’ve been through myself, and woven into fiction. Abduction and rape are common in ritual abuse. Body issues are something probably most of us know—and especially survivors of abuse, and girls/women. And facing the threat of death, loss of freedom, or enslavement is also something that frequently happens in ritual abuse. I try to put small pieces of my experience into my fiction so that there’s truth that resonates but hopefully it’s not overwhelming, the way I think it would be if I put everything into one book. I think it’s important for books to have emotional truth in them, as well as to entertain.

CONTEST IS CLOSED.

::Contest Details::

-One person will win a signed, finished copy of Scars and bookmarks.
-This contest is for U.S. & Canada residents only.
-Deadline will be on September 18, 2010 at midnight EST time.

(Please enter through form and not comments, thanks!)
!! FILL THIS FORM OUT TO ENTER !!