Story Behind The Book
Everyday there is a story. We hear of the children who die along the way, and now we are hearing the stories of those who have survived horrible things done to them in the name of love, by loved ones, trusted ones. Somehow, for most, there is a sense of personal responsibility. blame or self-hatred seems to filter into these lives. I hated my life for many years. It was simple, I could pretend it never happened. Our memories don't have to be the way we live, right? After many years, and many attempts, I decided it was enough. I had seen enough of my childhood bleeding into my work, and I needed to silence the ghosts of the past. A story that came out in my writings while teaching in Daegu, South Korea. After letting the work lay silent for about six months, I went through the painful task of editing and reshaping what I could no longer ignore. It is non-fiction, told from the perspective of a reader who reads the work rendered. The "Magic Book" referred to is very real, where portions of this work was actually transcribed from. As the editing process was underway, my family hesitated to read the work. Like any group that exists, there are many differing perspectives that are possible. Since I knew that I could really only tell my story, I felt it was important for the others to see for themselves and to ensure their identities were safe. My brother fully supports this effort, because he realized how many people this could help along the way. Though we had not seen each other in over 30 years we managed to come together with other family members to come forward to provide histories I had only a faint outline of. Some of those accounts killed the mythologies along the way. Some of the accounts gave a clearer picture of what was underneath the surface. It is not my intention to profit from this pain. Nor did I want to be pushed to sensationalize and be more graphic than I needed to be. That is why I decided to publish in the manner I have chosen. As I let the readers know, this is not for you, the ones who have no problems and came from a loving home. This book is for those who are in hell, not to be preached to, or told that you have to be someone other than you are. You aren't told to really believe in anything. It is just a story...that changed lives along the way.