Authors Supporting Authors: Tegan Habeb

What is your name?  
Tegan Habeb
 
Where are you from? 
California, United States
 
What genre are you in?
Inspirational
 
Please list your books and the year of publication.
Shattered Glass, 2014
 
Why are you an Author?  
I want to help others that are struggling to overcome their challenges by writing inspirational stories to help readers see they can overcome and make the right choices. My first book, “Shattered Glass,” is about how to overcome school bullying and childhood abuse by using my life story as an inspiration. I was an abuse victim and was bullied by other students in school and overcame it. I wrote my life story to share with others how they can overcome it as well using the techniques I used.
 
What inspires you?
God inspires me to write. He blessed me with a writing gift. It is only because of God’s gift that I am able to keep doing this every day.
 
 
Where and what times during the day do you work best?  
I like to work best in the afternoon in my bedroom.
 
 Who is your target audience?
Junior High, High school and young adults
 
How do you want your readers to feel as they read your book?  
I want them to feel hope and inspired. 
 
 
What is one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
Never give up on your dreams to write. Even if you get rejected over and over again by a bunch of publishing houses, still keep trying to get published. Use self-publishing companies or Independent companies if traditional publishing houses keep rejecting you. Remember rejection does not mean failure. The only true failure is when you stop trying.
 
 
Share one thing about yourself that you would like readers to know.
I am able to write inspirational literature to help victims overcome abuse, because I was an abuse victim myself. I was there. I know how it feels.
 
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Book Excerpt
 
It was Valentine’s Day, 1997 and Taylor was in the sixth grade. Her school was having a celebration where the students could send a valentines gram to each other. It consisted of a rose and a note. The students would spend five dollars to have a rose and a note delivered to the homeroom of the student they wanted to give the gram to. It could have been a friend, boyfriend/girlfriend, or any other loved one the student had. Taylor was in her homeroom when she got her gram. Taylor got a Valentine’s Day gram from Arnold Bates. She thought it was a joke at first. She thought he was being deceptive. He had been giving her the silent treatment until she received the rose with an attached note saying “Taylor, I like you please meet me at the PE field by the tennis courts at lunch”. 

Taylor was shocked. She was thinking to herself: Is he joking? He does all these abusive things to me and says he likes me? Taylor knew that immature boys will sometimes tease a girl he likes because he is too immature to tell her he likes her. Or in his case, give her the silent treatment. Ignoring someone is just as bad as abusing them. It is a different kind of abuse. She doubted that Arnold could like her, considering he convinced her she was a worthless mistake.As a result her hardened heart converted her to think anyone was crazy if they thought they liked her. Yet there was still a glimmer of hope. She was kind of excited actually at the thought of being liked by a boy, it’s never happened to her before. She was antsy all day long, waiting for lunch to come, so she could meet with Arnold. Taylor was so excited while she waited to meet Arnold. First period went by. Then second. By third period she was super anxious. Finally the lunch bell rang. Taylor was excited all day long about meeting with Arnold. She walked over to the tennis courts, she was overwhelmed with excitement. By the time she got there she saw Arnold waiting for her. I can’t believe it. Taylor thought, He’s really serious? Suddenly, the unexpected happened. Arnold started to laugh so hard. He was laughing like a crazy person. He laughed so hard, if he were sitting in a chair, he would have fallen over backwards. 

He yelled at Taylor, while still laughing: “You fell for my joke. Pretty funny, huh? You think I actually like you? You think anybody likes you? Just look at you, you are nothing. Garbage is worth more than you. No guy will ever love you. If any guy does like you he’s either playing you or there is something wrong with him mentally, because no guy in his right mind will ever want you. Why don’t you just kill yourself now and get it over with. You are just wasting your time living in a world where you are unwanted and unloved. Just do it now and spare yourself the misery later. This would be best for all of us.” 

Taylor ran away feeling horrible. Other characteristics bullies have that Arnold was exhibiting were showing little concern for the feelings of others. Bullies have a false feeling of a sense of superiority, (thinking they are better than anybody,) and bullies do not have respect for authority or rules. Arnold hated following the school’s rules, he wanted to do what he wanted.

At this point for sure, Taylor was convinced she was unloved. That she was unlovable. She became even angrier inside. Now her hardened heart was hard as glass. She wanted out. Her solution was to stay strong, and never commit suicide, because then she would let them win.  She wanted to stay thankful for what she did have, Hailey, Adalae, and her favorite class, English. She may not have had very many friends, but she had her intelligence. She felt numb the rest of the day. When it was time to take the bus home, she took the rose home with her because it was pretty and she did not like to waste pretty things. Her grandmother saw the flower when she came home and immediately asked her if a guy gave her that flower as a Valentine gift. 

She was too humiliated to tell her grandma what really happened, so she just lied and said “Yes. A guy who likes me gave me the rose.” 

Her grandma just smiled, took the rose, and put it in water for her. Taylor kept it in her room until it died. The best advice, is to stay thankful for what you have and know suicide is never an answer. Remember, you don’t want to let them win. Abused victims may think that suicide is the only way out, but it’s not, it is only going to let the bully win. The only way out is to think of the positive things that you have, and if you have absolutely nothing else, you have God.