Interview with Maggie Williams, author of Speaking Out, a work in progress.

“Heed the warnings and get out of there before your significant other decides today’s the day to end you. Because that’s where it will end if you don’t get out!” Is a powerful message that Maggie William's characters would like to send to readers. Normally, I would write an interview such as this as a short story. I like to take an author's answers and try to get inside the head of their character enough to write a scene as an introduction to their book. This, however, is a different situation. I couldn't even start to pretend to understand what a person who has been exposed to this level of abuse is thinking or feeling, especially since the book was written as a memoir. My hat goes off to Maggie for putting these difficult words to paper and raising awareness in the community for victims of abuse. Blog Facebook Abused victims will lie to you even though they know, deep down that you know the truth. They will tell you that they love this person or that he/she didn’t mean it. Lies. There’s numerous reasons why someone in that position will lie to you, but the main reason is they are scared. Scared of what would happen to them if the abuser found out that they spoke up. I know because I was a victim and I used to lie just so it wouldn’t get any worse. I want to tell you right now fight! Get up and fight, tell someone, get help, and get out of the situation. Because believe me if you don’t it will only get worse! What a powerful message! I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to chat with Maggie Williams to find out more about her book, Speaking out. Carol Ann: Are there any trigger warnings and/or explicit content readers should know about? Maggie: Yeah, there will be mentions and maybe a couple of abusive scenes Carol Ann: What genre would you say the book falls into? Maggie: Probably a memoir? Carol Ann: Who is your favourite character in the book? Please explain. Maggie: This one is a bit tough. My favorite would be either Perseus or Cloe. The reason being, Perseus is a hero in every sense of the term. He shows Cloe that she could trust again. Cloe because she’s a strong person who overcame her abuser. Cloe is a big beautiful woman with short, purple hair and is about 5’7. Perseus is her total opposite. He has a shaved head, skinny, and is very tall. Cloe is shy but confident, too soft hearted for her own good but a firecracker at the same time. Perseus on the other hand has a comedian’s personality, family is very important to him, and he’s very outgoing. Carol Ann: Are there a couple of quotes from your book of dialogue that shows their personality? Maggie: There’s no dialogue just yet...sadly I’ve scrapped what I had and am in the process of rewriting it because it wasn’t flowing right before. Carol Ann: Do you have any upcoming events scheduled? Maggie: Not at the moment but will let y’all know when there will be. Carol Ann: What is next for you? Anything in the works? Maggie: I have a couple of projects I’m working on. One with a co author (horror genre) and a few of my own…..one of which will be another memoir, then there’s a couple of romances. Carol Ann: Do you have any special mentions? (Editor, cover art etc...) Maggie: The cover art will most likely be an original made by my bestfriend’s husband, haven’t found an editor just yet. One shout out will be to my mom. She’s been my biggest supporter and inspiration for everything I do. Carol Ann: If your character could donate to any charity, which one would he/she choose? Maggie: Any charity that helps Domestic Violence victims (men and women, not just women) Blog Facebook Excerpt: Cloe was never very lucky in life. At just seven years old her childhood was ripped from her by Lucifer, her dad’s best friend. As she grew older her trust in men just slipped farther and farther away. When she reached high school she was ready to give up on life. She was drawn into herself and only trusted her sister. When her dad became ill her life only got harder. Her cousin came down for a visit but when she left Cloe left with her. Cloe did something she never thought she would. She told her cousin of the incident with Lucifer; in turn she told Cloe of what her dad did to her. When she was twenty one she met and married Demon who she’d thought she loved. When they married he did a one eighty. He began beating her, made it worst when he lost his job. He ripped Cloe away from everyone that she has ever known to somewhere she’d never been, to people she never met. Cloe had a job working for a great company, but never saw the money. A few short months later she’d lost her job, and he beat her. Cloe tried going to her friends house but he always found her and convinced her to go back home with him. The last time they’d gotten into an argument Cloe left, thought she was leaving for good, but Demon found her and brought her back to the house; beat her until she was nearly unconscious. She lost their baby that day. She decided right then and there that she was going to leave and leave for good. I'd like to thank Maggie Williams for her time and extend best wishes in the future release of her novel.