Blog Archives - Page 3 of 6

Author Post: ‘The Holocaust Lady’

November 6, 2018/in Blog, Books/by Jennifer Scroggins

Aimee Ross is the author of Permanent Marker: A Memoir, an award-winning high school teacher, and a passionate educator about the horrors and history of the Holocaust. Here, Aimee explains how living and working in a small, rural town in Ohio fuels her desire to teach on that dark period of history.

‘The Holocaust Lady’

I remember her words like it was yesterday.

March 2004, San Francisco, California: the Northern California Forum on Holocaust Education.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum had brought me in as a team member to run one of five classroom sessions, accommodating more than 200 attendees, including survivors. We had just finished a few days of sharing resources and strategies for teaching about the Holocaust, which included finding survivor testimony, when she approached.

“Excuse me, Aimee?”

I turned, smiling, still on the post-workshop adrenaline high that accompanied a job well done, to find a middle-aged face, surrounded by frizzy dark curls, pinched in a frown. The room had cleared except for a few people looking at resources on the periphery.

“You know, you or the museum should really research the area you’re going into a little more,” she said. “I teach at a Jewish day school here in the Bay area, and we have no trouble getting Holocaust survivors in the classroom.”

The harsh fluorescent lights overhead glared back at me from her wire-framed, circular glasses.

How should I respond? I didn’t want to speak on behalf of the Museum, because it wasn’t my place. Plus, I was only trying to help those who might not have the access to survivors that she did.

“Also—” she continued.

I tensed.

“You made it very clear that you are from a small, rural town and that you are not Jewish.”

“Yes,” I said. During the course of the workshop, I’d shared my background with participants, including the fact that I was not Jewish, but just to provide context for my pedagogy.

“What right do you think you have to teach about this then?” she accused.

A Journey of Learning

A tight pain crossed my forehead, and my cheeks flared. I didn’t know what to say. She’d caught me completely off guard, which must have been her goal, because she turned and stomped out of the room then.

Hot tears formed behind my eyes, threatening to spill.

That woman didn’t know me or my journey over the past nine years, searching out any and all chances to learn about the Holocaust. She didn’t know I’d gone on a study trip to Poland and Israel, or that I’d developed my own course on the Holocaust, or that I had been receiving hate mail from deniers for the past seven years. She didn’t know I’d won a national contest through the Museum for a lesson I’d created about pre-War Jewish life in Europe, or that I was preparing to take a second field trip with students to Washington, D.C., specifically to visit the Museum and hear a survivor speak. She didn’t know I’d written and won a grant to bring a Holocaust survivor to my hometown for a community presentation in the next month.

And she had no idea that the more I learned about the Holocaust, the more I felt compelled to teach the time period’s most important lesson: that we are all human beings sharing the same world, no better than anyone else.

‘Humanity Is Reason Enough’

Does someone really have to be Jewish to teach about the Holocaust? Does someone have to be a victim to teach about injustice? No.

Humanity is reason enough, and I have every right to teach about it. Even if I am from a small, rural town in Ohio, and even if I’m not Jewish, which is even more of a reason if you ask me. Because if I don’t teach about it, who will?

Today, fourteen years after that moment of negativity and criticism, I’m proud to say I continued educating other teachers and students about the dangers of disrespect and intolerance. I even earned the nickname “The Holocaust Lady”—at least locally.

I refused to let her words stop me.

Yes, they stung. And clearly, they left a permanent mark.

But I’m leaving one, too—one I know will last a heckuva lot longer.

Author Post: Why I Changed My Mind about the Death Penalty

November 5, 2018/in Blog, Books/by Jennifer Scroggins

John T. Thorngren, author of Salvation on Death Row: The Pamela Perillo Story, writes about the experiences that caused him to change his thinking about capital punishment and undertake the process of telling the true story of life on Death Row in Texas.

Why I Changed My Mind about the Death Penalty

Although we may be merciful and compassionate in our hearts, there are instances to which we are ignorant—and therefore merciless by omission.

As an example, consider the sufferings of the inhabitants in Country X, of which we have no knowledge. We might have an inkling of their existence but no details on their plight nor means to help them. But closer to home, there are instances to which we are merciless by indifference, such as abortion or the death penalty. Indifference, in these cases, refers to those who have little or no concern about taking another’s life under special circumstances. Such special circumstances are ordained by the state and therefore not in their realm of interests.

And End to Indifference

Is omission worse than indifference? Is abortion worse than the death penalty? These are personal questions best answered by one’s direct experience. My indifference to the death penalty changed in a remarkable incident. When we moved to Shady Shores, Texas, I met a young man headed into the woods behind our house. I commented on his cap that had a cross on it and learned he volunteered to help the homeless in Denton, seven miles from us. He and his wife were renting a small mobile home nearby. Some years later they moved, and we kept up through Christmas cards and e-mail.

One day I received an e-mail from his then-ex-wife that “Jerry” was due for execution in another state for multiple homicides. How could this be? How could a professed Christian commit murder? I later learned that it was not Jerry, per se, but Jerry in an altered state under the influence of drugs. Jerry received a stay of execution while his appeals ground through the slow legal process, the limbo between life and death. They are ongoing. Jerry and I agreed to write his painful story in hopes that it might help others, but shortly into this effort, he realized that such information might endanger his appeals, so we placed the project on hold.

Feeling Called to Act

Still, I felt I needed to do something on behalf of all of those on Death Row, for we all have a purpose for our lives and the state should not take a life in revenge. Starting with a fictional heroine, condemned to lethal injection, I would create the great American novel about the injustice of the death penalty. But I needed some authentic background on the actual process. By divine chance, I found an old pen-pal request from Pamela Perillo, who had been on Texas Death Row and was still incarcerated at the Lane Murray Unit in Gatesville, Texas.

To that point, Pam had refused authors wanting to write her biography because they seemed transfixed on the sensational aspects of her life. But she and I discovered that we had a Christian match and a mutual purpose for sharing her story: to release but one person from the chains of drug addiction and subsequent imprisonment. Thus began our seven-year effort to create Salvation on Death Row: The Pamela Perillo Story.

And thus began my walk as a Christian—as a human—no longer mercilessly indifferent to the wrongs of the death penalty.

John T. Thorngren, a Texas writer and graduate of the University of Texas, has enjoyed a myriad of life experiences, working everywhere from basements to boardrooms. He is a songwriter published in Southern Gospel and an author of several patents, technical articles, and a nonfiction book on probability and statistics, in addition to Salvation on Death Row. John and his wife of more than five decades live in Shady Shores, Texas, on Lake Lewisville, where their livestock freely roam the grounds.

Q&A with Author Karl Williams

October 29, 2018/in Blog, Books/by Jennifer Scroggins

Karl Williams is an author and songwriter with a special passion for the self-advocacy movement. After meeting Barbara Moran at a conference years ago, Karl felt compelled to help Barbara share her story with the world, both because of the uniqueness of Barbara and her experiences with autism and also because of the universality of the need to be understood and appreciated.

In March, ahead of Autism Awareness Month, Karl and Barbara will release Hello, Stranger: My Life on the Autism Spectrum. Here’s a look at how the book came to be, as well as Karl’s goals for how the book will affect readers.

What inspired you to work with Barbara Moran and share her story with the world?

Barb is compelling. You can feel an intensity of purpose that has enabled her to survive experiences that could have destroyed who she is. But they did not; she did not allow them to. When we agreed to work together, I was, as a writer, excited. She’d come out of a lifetime of everyone she encountered completely misunderstanding her and trying to change her into someone else. What a story! I was honored to be able to help her tell what had happened to her and how she came through it

How did you and Barbara go about working together?

We started by recording long conversations in person. Once they were transcribed, I took out all my words and went to work with “the material”—what Barb had told me, her own words—to create a coherent whole. But as I worked, I had more questions for her. And so next there were phone calls and more transcription. … We learned to communicate so that she could feel understood and so I could help her tell her story. And along the way, we got to be friends.

What was most challenging and what was most rewarding about working with a neurodiverse person?

Working with anyone requires understanding, reconciling points of view and preferences, and accepting each other’s idiosyncrasies. What was most rewarding about working with Barb was learning how much of what we call preferences and idiosyncrasies are actually neurology. We all have neurological quirks—sensitivities to sights and sounds, a need to do things in a certain order, anxiety, etc. We’re all neurodiverse, of course; it’s just that many (most) of us are what could be called “neurotypical.” Barb, then, is part of a “neurominority”—not inferior, just different. I was privileged to come to understand that more completely.

What aspect of Barbara’s life experience resonates most deeply with you?

Barb’s ability to retain her sense of self no matter how many people were telling her she had to change. This is just one amazing aspect of her story. From her earliest years, she was told she shouldn’t draw traffic signals, she shouldn’t talk to buildings, she shouldn’t continue to pursue her own extremely creative method of dealing with the isolation life had dealt her. She resisted that pressure and held on to who she is. It cost her emotionally (and in other ways because of the drugs she was given as a child), but she did not lose who she is. And then, at the same time, she was constantly struggling with primary overarching questions: Why am I like I am? Why am I so different from everyone else that they refuse to accept me? And she never allowed that struggle to get the better of her.

Please tell us a bit about the self-advocacy movement and why it’s something you’re passionate about.

Self-advocacy, the struggle of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, is part of the larger social justice movement which seeks to make the world fair for people who have no power because they are poor, because of their gender, or because of their racial or sexual identity. People with disabilities are the most recent ones to join the fray. They too, for the most part, have no power because of social discrimination and, too often, poverty. The first step to achieving social justice is for people to find their voices. And to find one’s voice, a person needs to be with others who share his or her life experiences. Self-advocacy results from people with disabilities getting together, sharing their stories, and through that process finding their voice and the power of speaking out together.

What is the primary takeaway you hope readers get from Hello, Stranger?

I hope that after reading Barb’s story, people will approach every child they work with, every child they meet, with openness and acceptance and respect. Difference is not really difference; it’s just identity. The most sacred thing a child has is his or her uniqueness, his or her sense of self, and that must be honored.

Welcome New Author: Sanja Kulenovic

October 9, 2018/in Blog, Books/by Jennifer Scroggins

KiCam Projects is delighted to welcome Sanja Kulenovic to our family of authors!

Sanja’s book, which will publish in September 2019, tells the story of the Bosnian War through the lens of Sanja’s own family. Having grown up in Bosnia, Sanja was in California on her honeymoon when war broke out in her homeland in 1992. As the country of Yugoslavia broke up, Sanja and her husband, Djeno, found themselves stateless refugees, worried about their family and loved ones who were suffering thousands of miles away.

Sanja’s book includes heartfelt letters sent from her loved ones who lived daily with the horrors and uncertainty of war. Meanwhile, Sanja and Djeno worked to build a life from scratch, forced to take on menial jobs while they waited to hear if they would be granted the right to stay in the United States.

Today, Sanja lives in Southern California, where she works as a financial analyst. She and Djeno are parents to two adult daughters, and all are proud to be both Bosnian and American. Sanja supports the Bosana Foundation, which provides scholarships and other programs for Bosnian students in Bosnia.

Sanja’s book reminds us of the horrors of war and the dangers of division. It’s also an inspiring story of resilience and determination. As Sanja’s daughters told her, “You refused to live like a refugee. You built a wonderful and successful life for yourself and your family.”

We’re proud and excited to publish this book, which puts a personal face on recent world history and encourages all readers to fight through whatever obstacles they might face.

Welcome to the KiCam family, Sanja!

Q&A with Author Kathleen English Cadmus

October 2, 2018/in Blog, Books/by Jennifer Scroggins

When Kathleen English Cadmus found herself sitting across a table from a bounty hunter she was hiring to find her missing daughter, she was shocked by the surreal turns her life had taken.

She’d lost her son Shawn to a tragic accident, endured a divorce from her college sweetheart, and now she was trying—again—to track down Laura, the beloved daughter she had adopted from Korea and who was in flight mode brought on by bipolar disorder.

Like all moms, Kathy’s experience of motherhood is at once unique and universal. Her debut book, Intertwined: A Mother’s Memoir, is a raw but loving tribute to the pain and beauty of motherhood and to the way a mother’s life and her children’s lives are distinct yet inseparable. Here, Kathy describes her writing process and shares what she hopes readers will think, feel, and learn from her memoir.

What inspired you to write your memoir and share your story with the world?

I started out a few years ago wanting to write about my son Shawn’s life and sudden death. I felt there was something there that might help other parents who had lost a child. My daughter, Laura, and I enrolled in two online writing classes at our community college. This led to my enrolling in graduate school and earning my MFA in creative writing five years later. As I became braver and bolder in my writing, and with the help of my writing mentors, I came to understand that Shawn’s life was the backstory to my unique mother-daughter journey. It was the writing and reflecting that made me realize my journey could help others. Writing inspired me to want to share my story.

What was the most challenging part of revisiting the difficult moments in your past?

In terms of the writing process, the most challenging part of revisiting these difficult moments of my past was knowing what to include and what to leave out. Intertwined spans a thirty-year period, which makes using the right words in the right place in the book crucial so that those “difficult moments” are reflected correctly and are conveyed at the time when the reader will most benefit from hearing about them. To help me decide what to take out or what to leave in, I challenged myself throughout the writing process with my mentor, Thomas Larson’s, question: “Does it serve the story?”

In terms of the emotional process of writing memoir, the most challenging part of revisiting the difficult moments was dealing with the pain that comes to the surface so abruptly when pulling up the old memories again, and in addition, processing the change in perspective on those memories that comes with the passage of time.

Was there a therapeutic aspect to your writing process?

Absolutely! And pursuing an MFA in creative nonfiction when your thesis is memoir is the best, albeit most expensive, form of psychotherapy available. I would have found it very difficult without the support of a writing community who understood the emotional transformation that most often accompanies the writing of memoir.

How did writing Intertwined affect your relationship with Laura? And with your sons, Pete and Ryan?

Writing Intertwined strengthened my relationship with all of my children. I would consult Pete and Ryan whenever I wrote chapters centered on their brother Shawn. They would provide a different perspective on the events or remember other details that I had forgotten. Sharing those perspectives with them as the adults they now are brought us closer and increased my understanding of the experience of their loss.

Since Laura is ten years younger than Ryan and fifteen years younger than Pete, she has no memories of the years surrounding Shawn’s death. She has read most of my completed memoir and has encouraged me to tell events that help the reader understand the situation, even when those events are painful memories for her. She has clarified events and made suggestions on my writing. It’s not easy being a character in a book! There were sections where I felt I needed to hold back or minimize events, but Laura would encourage me to write more. “It’s your story, Mom!” is what she has repeatedly told me. She is amazing. But Laura is a writer too and is currently completing her own MFA in creative writing. Laura and I share our writing with each other. It is one way to share our thoughts and feelings that is natural for both of us. This has given us better understanding of each other and brought us closer. And, I believe it has made us both better writers and stronger and better humans.

What did you learn about motherhood as you looked back on your life as a parent?

Writing about my mothering involved intense reflection on my own childhood and how I was parented. What stands out most to me now is the awareness of how fortunate I was to have both a mother and a father who trusted me and believed in me. Because of the parenting I received from them, I grew up believing I could do anything I chose to do. But, more importantly, I grew up feeling valued for being me. I believe that is reflected in my parenting of my own children. Writing this memoir made me more aware, sometimes painfully so, of how the joys and traumas of my own childhood shaped how I responded to each of my children’s joys and traumas.

How did your experience as a nurse, especially someone with expertise in mental health, inform your writing about Laura’s bipolar disorder?

As I wrote about Laura and her anxiety, depression, and subsequent diagnosis, I tried to provide a balance between the objective facts and the subjective experience of the emotions that both she and I experienced. Since most of my career has been centered in the mental health arena, I had to be reminded at times that the reader needed more explanation. It was a challenge for me to give the reader information about bipolar disorder without sounding too clinical and have the information still serve the story that needed to be told. I am also aware that many readers have had their own issues with depression or anxiety and bring that experience to their reading of my book. There may be similarities with their experience, but hopefully the reader comes away feeling everyone’s experience is uniquely their own.

What has been the most fulfilling aspect of writing and publishing your memoir?

The most fulfilling aspect of this experience has been the effect it has had on my relationship with my daughter, as well as with my sons. I love writing and what it does for me. The cherry on top for me is knowing that my story will give other grieving parents hope and that the short but full life of my son Shawn will help others.

What is the primary takeaway you hope readers get from Intertwined?

Most people who decide to read a memoir do so to get lost in a real-life story, to learn something, and/or to be inspired. I want readers to experience all of this and come away instilled with hope regarding their own human experience, whatever that may be.

Kudos to Camille and the Little Free Library

August 13, 2018/in Blog/by Jennifer Scroggins

Earlier this summer, KiCam Projects was thrilled to donate books to a Little Free Library being established by Camille Patton in Leland, Mississippi.

Camille Patton and her Little Free Library in Leland, Mississippi

Camille, a rising senior at Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans, wrote to us to request help in making a dream of hers come to life.

As Camille said, “I have been very fortunate to have a mother who is a teacher who encouraged me to read, and I have always had access to books through my school, nearby libraries, and bookstores. However, I acknowledge that this is not the case for many people.”

She chose to build her Little Free Library in Leland, a rural town in the Mississippi Delta, because it’s her father’s hometown, where her grandparents and extended family still reside.

“My library is located at the main playground in Leland, where many children and teenagers are able to access it,” Camille explained. “While collecting books to put in my Little Free Library, I am trying to represent diverse age groups and authors to capture the attention of more readers. I am conducting book drives in New Orleans and will be taking books to Leland each time we visit. My aunt, who lives there, will refill the library whenever it begins to be depleted. My library is the first of several I will build for the Delta.”

Camille was kind enough to send us a photo of the installation of her Little Free Library, and we could not be more proud to be part of this project.

Young people like Camille are amazing examples of how each of us can change the world, one act of kindness at a time! Kudos, Camille!

Do you know of teens and young people doing extraordinary things? We’ d love to tell their stories! Email us at submissions@kicamprojects.com with details!

Welcome New Author: Peter Bowling Anderson

July 16, 2018/in Blog, Books/by Jennifer Scroggins

KiCam Projects is delighted to welcome Peter Bowling Anderson to our family of authors!

Peter’s book, which will publish in September 2019, shares the inspiring and humorous story of his time working for, and becoming friends with, Richard Herrin, a middle-aged man with cerebral palsy. Richard overcame a lifetime of obstacles to earn multiple degrees and become a gifted motivational speaker. Peter worked full-time for Richard for five years, tutoring him, feeding him, dressing him, and taking care of him in every other way.

“I learned many invaluable insights from him, not just about the best ways to care for the physical and emotional needs of someone with CP, but also about perseverance, joy, and the proper perspective on life,” Peter says. “He’d experienced much over the years and possessed a wealth of wisdom. The book is about how limitations should never be placed on someone, either by others or by the individual, simply because of a physical challenge or disorder.”

Peter, who lives in Shreveport, Louisiana, has a master’s degree in communications/writing as well as a master’s in teaching (English, sixth-twelfth grades), and his work has appeared in The Connect Magazine, MotherVerse: A Journal of Contemporary Motherhood, Goodtaste International Magazine, Because We Write Magazine, and Ezine Articles. Peter shares his life with his wife, Leslie; son, Henry; and daughter, Clementine.

Peter’s story is heartfelt, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny in places! We’re absolutely thrilled to bring this book to readers around the world.

Welcome to the family, Peter!

KiCam Publisher Part of Local Scholarship Committee

June 15, 2018/in Blog/by Jennifer Scroggins

KiCam Projects’ mission is to bring both inspiration and information to the world, so where better to start than in our own community?

Jay R. Purdy

Our publisher, Lori Highlander, was thrilled to be part of the selection committee for the Purdy-Games Memorial Scholarship created by her stepfather, Jay R. Purdy, who passed away in 2017. Purdy’s bequest of more than $1 million will provide for an annual award of up to $10,000 in post-secondary scholarships for students graduating from Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington High School, Highlander’s alma mater. (Purdy’s mother, Helen Games, was an elementary teacher in Ripley.)

In its first year, the Purdy-Games Scholarship was awarded to Whitney King ($7,500), Kamri-Beth Offutt ($7,500), Brian Dunn ($2,500), Andrea Preston ($2,000), and Madisyn Blackburn ($1,500). Winners were selected based on criteria including academic performance and grade-point average, ACT score, extracurricular activities, employment history, financial need, and strength of a written essay.

Purdy-Games Scholarship winners, from left: Madisyn Blackburn, Whitney King, Kamri-Beth Offutt, Brian Dunn, and Andrea Preston.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to know Jay has left such a legacy right here in our own backyard,” Highlander says. “Jay was an amazing man, and I’m thrilled to be part of this scholarship fund, making it possible for our local graduates to further their educations and better themselves.”

Congratulations from KiCam to all of this year’s winners. Your futures are so bright!

For information on 2019 scholarships, please email RULH counselor Jasmine Osman.

Digger the Hero Dog author Kilee Brookbank

IBPA Member Spotlight Features KiCam Projects

May 29, 2018/in Blog/by Jennifer Scroggins

We’re honored and delighted to have been featured in the Independent Book Publishers Association‘s most recent Member Spotlight!

Not only did they publicize the news about our recent opening of KiCam Books & Gifts, but they gave us the opportunity to tell our backstory and share our philosophy.

We also got to offer some advice to other indie publishers while talking a bit about what we’ve learned over these past two-plus years. (And we’ve learned a LOT!)

The IBPA is a phenomenal resource for small publishers and self-published authors, and we’re absolutely thrilled to be part of this organization and to be given the chance to introduce ourselves to anyone who might not have met us yet.

Speaking of meeting us, we’ll be on the floor attending Book Expo this week in New York, and we’ll be exhibiting at the American Library Association’s annual conference next month in New Orleans.

Stop by and say hello, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Q&A with ‘Going Through Hell to Get to Heaven’ Author Dr. Scot Hodkiewicz

May 14, 2018/in Blog, Books/by Courtney Watson

Dr. Scot Hodkiewicz is a veterinarian who lives in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, with his wife, three children, and a menagerie of animals. He never intended to be a writer until he
was moved to share the story of his near-fatal car accident—caused by a drunk driver—and his resulting journey of faith.

With Going Through Hell to Get to Heaven, Scot hopes his memoir becomes a trusted companion for other Christians seeking to walk more closely with God.

What prompted you to write your memoir and share your personal experiences with readers?

We went through an incredible journey. It started out tragically, and through all types of twists and turns, ups and downs, and surprises that no one could have foreseen, it ended up as the best thing that could have happened to us. I could never have guessed that I would be saying that after having my entire family—everything that was important in my life—very nearly destroyed in an instant. It is a truly amazing story of how tragedy can be a blessing. This story just had to be told.

How did reliving your most painful experiences—a near-fatal car crash, the ensuing recovery, your addiction to pain pills—affect you? Did it feel therapeutic, or was it harder than you anticipated?

Reliving this was very painful. I had buried the hardest parts of our ordeal far away; they were just too upsetting to deal with. Writing the book brought all those memories back to the surface and forced me to explain each one of them in great detail. It would have been easier to gloss over things as I told the story, especially my drug addiction. Yet it was those very raw and painful moments that connect with people. It took me years to write this book and to get it right. That time allowed me to fully understand how these events changed me. Reflecting upon the struggle we went through and how it directed us onto God’s path was the best therapy I could have asked for.

What did you learn about yourself in the process of writing your book?

The first version of the book was more just a chronological narrative of what happened. To be honest, it was not very interesting. There was a message there that had to get out. This is a story of hope, not just a series of events. God kept telling me, “You can do better.” When I listened, the story told itself and people connected.

Why do you feel your story is suited for Christian groups and readers trying to grow in their faith lives?

When the crash happened, I was Christian in name only. God used this terrible event to wake me up. He showed me what I refused to see: that He was in charge and I needed to listen to Him. It was a slow process with a lot of wrong turns, but He kept turning me back to the faith. Christians always want to grow closer to the Lord. For me, I had to give up the control we all want and think we can achieve. Our story shows us that control of our lives is an illusion. Once we give that up, we can finally see all the wonders of this world and God’s love for us. God was with us in our struggle, and that struggle brought us closer to Him. As people learn to trust in His plan, not our own, we get ever closer to God. Completely trusting in Him is true faith.

You’ve lived through some extraordinary tragedies and challenges. Why does your book resonate with readers who have not endured such difficulties?

I was leading a pretty easy life before the crash. I grew up in a stable, loving family in a supportive community. I had achieved everything that I had set out to do, and life was going well. I reference my “great plan” for my life and I was following it to the letter. That plan was taken away through no fault of my own. Those who have not endured challenges are like me before the crash. At some point, we all will face adversity. What I learned is to embrace these challenges because they are what push us to grow in faith and strength. They are the spiritual workout we all need to find God and find our heaven. For those who have not gone through their own hell, they will be prepared when that day comes.

What’s the primary takeaway you hope readers get from Going Through Hell to Get to Heaven?

Our crash showed us that there is Hell on Earth, but our recovery showed us that Heaven is here also. It took nearly dying and a terribly painful recovery, but I finally saw Heaven through the angels that came into my life. Though it was not my choice to be in the Hell I was in, it was my choice whether I stayed there. Leaving Hell is easier said than done because you have to do something that we are all reluctant to ever do: You have to leave the anger and hate behind. If you hold onto those things, you will be stuck in Hell. The hard part is that you can only get rid of hate and anger through forgiveness, and forgiving someone who hurt everyone you love is not easy. I finally took the Lord’s Prayer to heart and listened to His words: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Once I forgave the man that nearly killed myself and my entire family, I was able to leave my Hell and see God and Heaven all around me. The best part is that once I forgave the man who did something that terrible to me, it became really easy to forgive everyone else. That peace that forgiveness brings opens the doors to Heaven, and it is right here on Earth. I know, because I now see it every day.