Letters to a Prisoner

by Cornelia "Connie" DeDona (Author, photographer)

Required Reading at Habilitat-the place of change.
Honorable Mention in Poetry at the 2011 New York Book Festival.
Poems and letters from a Mom to her meth addicted son in prison as she learns to confront the addiction demons and stop enabling.
Get unstuck and learn to spot YOUR enabling behavior.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction

100 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2011

About the author

Cornelia DeDona is the recognized author of Letters to a Prisoner by Connie D. She is a co-editor and the creator of one Anthology, Saturdays with Lillian. Published from 2008-2013 in Rain Bird, award-winning Literary and Art journal of Windward Community College, Kaneohe, Hawaii; in 2010 her poem, Writing Retreat received Rain Bird's, Kolekolea Honorable Mention and in 2013, she won Rain Bird's coveted Kolekolea for her poem Speaking French.
Published online:
www.authspot.com, www.herenow/7beats, www.postcardshorts, www.aarp.org/sixwordmemoirs, www.smithmag.net, www.bambooridge, www.hazardcat.blogspot, www.barrierislandsreview, www.OneFortyFiction.com.
Published in print:
www.islandscene.com, June 2011 issue of Hawaii Fishing News for her poem, “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” as well as the July 2nd, 2008 edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for her poem: “Book Makeovers”, in honor of The Annual Book Sale sponsored by The Friends Of The Library. Chronogram December 2015 "Fine Wine" and March 2016 "We Plant Seeds". The Pen Woman April 2016 "We Plant Seeds".
Cornelia created, facilitated and hosted poetry events for local television and YouTube at Habilitat, a drug rehab in Kaneohe.

Cornelia is currently an Arts and Letters Member at Large of the National League of American Pen Women. In 2015, The National League Of American Pen Women awarded her third place in the multi-disciplinary category of the inaugural Vinnie Ream competition for her latest book, Hawaiian Time.

Cornelia contributes to Blueline’s House of Thirty Poetry Forum, where she is currently working on her 34th round of thirty.

Reviews

[Kitty Honeycutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Title: "Letters to a Prisoner”
Author: Connie D
Published By: Self-Published
Age Recommended: 18+
Reviewed By: Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating: 5

Review: Connie D. expresses her anger, anguish, sadness, and most importantly a mother’s never-ending love and hope of redemption for her meth addicted son in this amazing book of letters and poems.
For anyone that has or is dealing with the heart-ache of an addicted family member, this book is a great and informative read.

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of poetry letters from a mother to her meth addicted son who is in prison. An enlightening look at how she connected with him while he was in and how she coped with how addiction was affecting both of them. Showing pain yet remaining with some hope. Required reading at Habilitat - The place of change. Most of us can relate on some level or another.

[Eric Shaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An honest and searing look at what being the mother of a meth addict means--with all of the horror, confusion, revulsion, repentance, anger, and resignation required by the circumstances. The book does reveal how personal catastrophe can inspire one to stand up and speak as we all must do, loudly and clearly, at least once in our lives.

[Rheathebookwormdreamergirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this through the Goodreads giveaways, so I was super excited about it!

The book came this morning in the mail, I received it at around 7:00am, and I finished the book at roughly 9:30pm(this is only because I had things to attend to during the day), because I just couldn't stop reading the book. After reading the first page, I said "I'm finishing this book today" and that is exactly what I did. I just couldn't stop reading it, I just couldn't help but devour the content and get so into it. The read was so effortless, but at the same time, I was extremely engaged in the novel.

I am someone who just loves reading books that are written in Verse, and include letters or form that goes away from the conventional writing format, and frankly this book does it, and does it extremely well. I was blown away by the quality of the work, and the quality of the diction and how the story was told. The raw emotion, and feeling that came through the writing simply made me feel something I hadn't expected to feel. What drew me to the novel was the title, I just felt like it was something that just made me want to enter the giveaway. I am beyond thrilled that I won this book.

The subject matter of the novel is also one that I am drawn to. Though, I, myself, have never experienced this kind of addiction, I feel that the emotions felt by both the addicts, and those dealing with someone troubled, are feelings that I can relate to. I also believe that drug addiction is super important to address, and this book covers that clearly, and deeply. The book makes you really understand the struggles and the different emotions felt. The book, being from the perspective of a mother, added another layer to the story, and that made the story that much stronger.

Connie D, is a wonderful author, and I am beyond pleased that I was able to win and read her novel.

[Kortney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book to me looked like it would probably be something I am not interested in. Turned out to be the complete opposite. I read all of it in about an hour. The one thing I disliked about it is that there were no letters specifically from her son. Other than that I loved her letters responding to her sons as well as the poems she included with the letters. The similes and metaphors put everything into reality just how serious she felt about it. Not like those that sometimes are just like "yeah whatever." She truly wanted to know where they went wrong as parents. I love that the son was making progress over the period of her letters as well. Hopefully all goes well for her son and her family.

[Jennifer Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful, thought provoking book written in free verse poetry. The subject matter is from the prospective of a mother dealing with the roller coaster of emotions that come with having a crystal meth addicted child that is incarcerated. It is a journey of questioning where she went wrong as a parent, how she enabled his habit along the way, and ultimately realizing she needed to let go for her own sanity and well being as well as his.

Connie D. encourages finding help. Knowing you are not alone in facing this struggle is a first step. Anyone struggling with addiction, be it themselves or someone they love, would benefit in reading this book.

[Cornelia DeDona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honorable Mention in Poetry at the 2011 New York Book Festival!!
Outstanding! A unique perspective from a Mom into the mind of the enabler.
Available now on: Goodreads E-Pub, Amazon, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Nook and Apple through Blurb. com Click on this link for Apple downloads: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail...

This problem affects everyone in the family, not just the addict. A Survivor speaks out!
Required reading at Habilitat-the place of change, a drug rehab in Hawaii

[Griffin Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very touching book. I loved the poems and the emotions put into them. The individual letters in this book, to the prisoner, also made this book rememberable. It was a book that wouldn't usually be in my genre, but I found it extremely great to read. Thank you for the signed edition of this book.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I won through the site. The author shares letters she has written to her son in prison along with poems concerning her son's meth addiction. Both are courageous works which display raw emotions. She displays her role as an enabler as well as a parent practicing tough love. This book is meant for other parents who may be going through similar situations. According to the author her son has been sober for over a year now and he is doing well.

[Minisha Patel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good descriptive poems, my favourites were Enablers and Affliction. Very quick read. Nice to get a mothers point of view and emotions of a son's meth addiction.