Red Ribbons (Forgotten Series #1)

Foreword

This foreword comes almost nine years after the original posting of Red Ribbons but I figured it was necessary amid the new age where trigger warnings are the norm, I figured the very first book needed it's own.

The themes in this book are heavy. Abuse, complex PTSD, trauma responses, and healing from said trauma are things that affect everyone differently and what one person can handle and endure, another might not. This book follows a singular character, trapped in the world that the abuse she endured, created. She is flawed, she has setbacks and her healing is not linear because healing from these traumas never are.

That is why I wrote this book. The literary world is filled with tropes and cliches and some of these hurt people, real people. When we write misinformation into our books, when we consume it, when we see it, it reinforces negative stereotypes and in turn harms those who suffer from it. The werewolf genre especially is horrible for misrepresenting and misinforming people about abuse and trauma and how people heal from it, whether it be from writer ignorance or perhaps laziness, it is not my position to say. 

What is my position, however, is to do this the correct way. To combat the negative stereotypes and misinformation using the same medium as they are delivered, to write a story that showcases the grueling, tasking, and horrible realities that come with these themes in all it's brutal reality.

This book is a gritty, realistic, and occasionally unbearable look at abuse and how it molds people, how it shapes them, and how they can work through it to get better. To heal. 

If you want a book where the main character has three months away from her abusers and turns into a badass, this is not for you.

If you want a book where the main character has ability to shrug off her abuse and her healing and turn into a cliched strong and independent individual, this is not for you.

If you want a book where the main character doesn't show emotion, doesn't freeze at her abusers, or back sasses constantly, this is not for you.

If you want a book where you follow a young woman who has been severely abused and conditioned to live and act a certain way and her brutal growing pains as she attempts to heal from that abuse. 

If you want a book where everyone is flawed, where they act human, as gritty and illogical it can be at times.

If you want a book where the main character still struggles after years because healing from abuse is a life long struggle for the survivors.

If you want a book where you get to see an up close and personal look at just how abuse affects a person's psyche and how utterly hard and painful it is to work towards being better.

If you want a book where we tackle the misinformation about anxiety, abuse, CPTSD, abuse, and everything that comes with it.

This might just be the book for you.

But just remember that healing from abuse is a never ending process and everything I have written is based in reality and experience and there is no such thing as a perfect abuse survivor. We are all flawed, we all struggle, we all have moments where we wish we can give up or we get angry and we are  allowed to be angry, to be sad, to take time.

So here are some quotes that I leave you with:

"There is no timestamp on trauma. There isn't a formula that you can insert yourself into to get from horror to healed." ~ Dawn Serra

"Post traumatic stress injury isn't a disease. It's a wound to the soul that never heals." – Tom Glenn

"You don't have to save me, you just have to hold my hand while I save myself." – Unknown

"Your anger is the part of you that knows your mistreatment and abuse are unacceptable. Your anger knows you deserve to be treated well, and with kindness. Your anger is a part of you that LOVES you." - Lynds Gallant

"Healing from trauma isn't an overnight process. It's a lifelong journey that requires patience, support, and self-compassion." – Jasmin Lee Cori

To those of you who have survived or are surviving. I'm here for you, however you need me.