Spellbound release date change and some thoughts

So a few updates have come up in the last few weeks.

First off, the release date for Spellbound by Fire has been changed to Nov. 16, 2011, due to publishing and scheduling changes with my publisher.

Secondly, I now at least have a secure internet connection which means more blogging and more marketing for my books. I feel that I missed out on that over the summer not having a proper internet connection.

And the cover art for She Wasn't Allowed to Giggle is near done, just adding a few more little touch-ups to it and it will be done. I will share it with everyone as soon as I can!

The next step on my self-publishing journey is editing, typesetting/formatting and eBook conversion before I will be able to have the book released in eBook format. Print version will wait a little while for me to see how it sells in digital format.

 Something that must be said…

Something in the news caught my eye recently. A 15-year old girl in Alberta committed suicide not long after confessing that her father sexually abused her. For some wacked up reason she was put back into the custody of the same father. What is wrong with our society that when a young girl cries abuse no one listens and they put her back into the hands that she claims stole her innocence? It's unbelievable.

It's tragic that she took her own life in order to avoid being hurt anymore. It's infuriating that no one listened to her. It's scary because she could have been anyone's daughter, sister, best friend, or cousin. It isn't enough that the hands of a parent who should have cared about her and loved her instead tortured her to the point where she no longer wanted to live. Society and the justice system had to turn their backs on her and leave her to deal with it- alone.

Hers isn't the only story. The media doesn't normally report on suicides out of fear of copy cats. This was an odd one that made it through the cracks of all the news and junk that usually gets reported on and I'm glad it did get mentioned. People need to be aware that no community is immune to child abuse and/or domestic violence. None. We all need to do our part to raise awareness and help those as much as we can. Stories like this are a sombre reminder of the attitude that is given to abuse a lot of times. It is also a reminder of how much work needs to be done before people will finally understand just how serious this issue is, even in our own towns and neighbourhoods, and often, in our own homes.