[close] Angela Shelton's debut book, FINDING ANGELA SHELTON, is a groundbreaking, heartbreaking, joyous and sad, miraculous and a one-of-a-kind read.
It all began when successful Hollywood screenwriter Angela Shelton set out to make a documentary during the pending Writer's Strike of 2001. She had an idea to survey women in America by interviewing other women who shared her name. She had no idea her 13,000-mile odyssey of "Searching for Angela Shelton" that her life would change forever.

As she began interviewing other Angela Sheltons nationwide, Angela was shocked when 70% of them shared intimate stories about being victims of rape, childhood sexual assault and/or domestic violence. When the filmmaker Angela Shelton met an Angela Shelton who was tracking sexual predators and lived in the same town as the filmmaker Angela Shelton's own pedophile father, the journey became very personal.

Angela Shelton inadvertently fell into hell when her movie forced her to face her past, her father, her addictions and self-abuse. FINDING ANGELA SHELTON cleverly moves through the filmmaker's life story, her dreams, her fears and her journals as her search of women in America leads her to finding herself. Angela set out to make her documentary without the money to make it coast to coast but with a lot of determination and faith. Now, months before its publication, Shelton's memoir FINDING ANGELA SHELTON (Meredith Books; April 1, 2008; US $14.95/CAN $18.95) has ignited a nationwide grassroots movement—the Angela Shelton Tour of Joy Campaign. People are drawing inspiration from Angela and her experiences and dedicating themselves to buying her book, and spreading Angela's message.

"The only way we are going to end the abuse epidemic," Angela says, "is to first break the silence. Then we break the cycle." Inspiring and empowering shamed and emotionally scarred victims to move out of the patterns of abuse and lead joyful lives, Angela Shelton has become a highly sought-after speaker working to end domestic violence and child sexual abuse, which affects one in every four girls and one in every six boys in America.

Before beginning her documentary Angela Shelton had been a fashion model in Paris and New York, an actress, and a writer. Angela Shelton first brought her life to the screen with the award-winning movie, "Tumbleweeds" that she co-wrote based on her first novel about her life with her mother. The film won the filmmaker's trophy at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and brought the lead actress, Janet McTeer, an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe win. She received outstanding reviews for her screenplay for "Charms for the Easy Life," a Showtime movie starring Gena Rowlands and Mimi Rogers. Angela has appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "48 Hours Investigates," "Larry King Live," and Lifetime Television for Women.

A bold, unforgettable self-portrait of finding new faith, purpose, and wholeness, FINDING ANGELA SHELTON is both haunting and uplifting. [close]