Ask the Author: Sara Niles
Answered Questions (12)
Sara Niles
The back door was locked and the children were all tucked in bed safe and sound. The police found only the dog remained alive the next morning.
Sara Niles
If you mean this question generally: any mystery that has romantic potential for a romantic plot, family drama secrets, like skeletons in the family closet, local secrets; for example, I will not divulge where this happened, but there was a murder in a small town by one of the richest men in town....everyone suspected he did it, but there was no proof and he was powerful. That would have made a great movie, and it had all the elements of a great book.
If YOU had been a member of that family, you may have been on his murder list if you wrote about it while he was alive. He died and the rumor continued...we will never know the details.
Crime Drama, Romance, Social Issues, Natural Disasters, Near Death experiences....the list is endless
AS for MY life, I have already written about it...not too many secrets left: I wrote about my personal experience as the product of prostitution, my life of being abused, how mental illness impacted the Niles family, about murder and suicide, all within the family,,
Keeping Secrets about subjects that hold a public stigma, is the reason why the stigma remains.
WE must stop hiding the truth and speak up, stand up, in order to impact change
If YOU had been a member of that family, you may have been on his murder list if you wrote about it while he was alive. He died and the rumor continued...we will never know the details.
Crime Drama, Romance, Social Issues, Natural Disasters, Near Death experiences....the list is endless
AS for MY life, I have already written about it...not too many secrets left: I wrote about my personal experience as the product of prostitution, my life of being abused, how mental illness impacted the Niles family, about murder and suicide, all within the family,,
Keeping Secrets about subjects that hold a public stigma, is the reason why the stigma remains.
WE must stop hiding the truth and speak up, stand up, in order to impact change
Sara Niles
Torn From the Inside Out was born from a dark tragedy, years after I fled abuse from a homicidal husband. The trauma caused by the dysfunctional and toxic environment in which my five children spent part of their formative years, had poisoned our healing process. It was as though we could never fully escape the violent and abusive effects of Thomas Niles.
It was in the throes of a toxic episode by one of my children that I decided to use my writing talent to turn pain into passion, and to convert it into a tool of change. The process would become a life mission:
This happened around 1995, and it would take ten years before the first draft was in book form. I was single handedly raising five children who had become teenagers, by then, so had no free time. I was working a fulltime job, a part time business, and was going to night school in pursuit of my degree. I had to take my two week vacation to complete the first version of Torn From the Inside Out, nine years later, in 2004.
The book was sold door to door, presented at the state capitol to the governor and senators, wrote about locally, and some one started a petition to get the book on the Oprah show. One thousand signatures were obtained. The process continued, as life got in the way again.
The last edition (5) is up; but due to brutal algorithms and stiff competition, Torn is still struggling to get noticed.
I will continue.
It was in the throes of a toxic episode by one of my children that I decided to use my writing talent to turn pain into passion, and to convert it into a tool of change. The process would become a life mission:
This happened around 1995, and it would take ten years before the first draft was in book form. I was single handedly raising five children who had become teenagers, by then, so had no free time. I was working a fulltime job, a part time business, and was going to night school in pursuit of my degree. I had to take my two week vacation to complete the first version of Torn From the Inside Out, nine years later, in 2004.
The book was sold door to door, presented at the state capitol to the governor and senators, wrote about locally, and some one started a petition to get the book on the Oprah show. One thousand signatures were obtained. The process continued, as life got in the way again.
The last edition (5) is up; but due to brutal algorithms and stiff competition, Torn is still struggling to get noticed.
I will continue.
Sara Niles
Robert B Parker's Spenser and Susan. I like the autonomous nature of their relationship: each are unique professionals with differing views, yet both can accept the other without judgment.
Sara Niles
Thank you for that question, Christine.
My abuse occurred from 1973-1987, when I fled with my small children. The short version of why I wrote books about my abuse experience, is because over the years after I fled, I discovered the story did not end with my escape in 1987. I began to understand the scope of the damage only after my children began to 'act out' when they approached the teen years. The blame, guilt, anger, projection, and a whole host of other issue-laden behaviors began to crop up. By the year 1995, during a particularly stressful event concerning one of my teen-aged children, I was fed up with the problems created during the years I and the children were with 'Thomas', their father and my abuser. I was inspired to use whatever means necessary to effect some type of change in our lives and reclaim our power. The first book was 'born' when I became determined to write 'Torn From the Inside Out', regardless of how long it took, it became a mission.
In 1998, I began to work for a domestic violence prevention agency, and it was during that time I was exposed to a broader group of victims, survivors, and perpetrators of domestic violence and family dysfunction. I realized the long-term effect of abuse upon my own children, was also impacting millions of people in the United States and the world. The Journey was born, followed by Out of the Maelstrom. The latter is a compilation of short stories that showcased the best and the worst of human nature.
I was driven to write all three of these books because of the importance of the message: the cycle of abuse within a family is often repeated, it has to be stopped.
Sara
My abuse occurred from 1973-1987, when I fled with my small children. The short version of why I wrote books about my abuse experience, is because over the years after I fled, I discovered the story did not end with my escape in 1987. I began to understand the scope of the damage only after my children began to 'act out' when they approached the teen years. The blame, guilt, anger, projection, and a whole host of other issue-laden behaviors began to crop up. By the year 1995, during a particularly stressful event concerning one of my teen-aged children, I was fed up with the problems created during the years I and the children were with 'Thomas', their father and my abuser. I was inspired to use whatever means necessary to effect some type of change in our lives and reclaim our power. The first book was 'born' when I became determined to write 'Torn From the Inside Out', regardless of how long it took, it became a mission.
In 1998, I began to work for a domestic violence prevention agency, and it was during that time I was exposed to a broader group of victims, survivors, and perpetrators of domestic violence and family dysfunction. I realized the long-term effect of abuse upon my own children, was also impacting millions of people in the United States and the world. The Journey was born, followed by Out of the Maelstrom. The latter is a compilation of short stories that showcased the best and the worst of human nature.
I was driven to write all three of these books because of the importance of the message: the cycle of abuse within a family is often repeated, it has to be stopped.
Sara
Sara Niles
I would say I am biased, but I think two genres are the hardest: one in the nonfiction category, and one in fiction. The most difficult genre in the nonfiction category is literary narrative told in the first person,simply because the truth must be told creatively. A really good nonfiction memoir has to be told with a strong primary antagonist and protagonist, there has to be rising conflict and subplots; just as in fiction. The difficulty is to take from real life only what is needed, and arrange the story so that it is interesting to read.
In fiction, I think the most difficult genre involves mystery and believable science fiction, with multiple subplots: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter series, and quite a few others are famous for such richly crafted stories.,,.Epic High Fantasy.
In fiction, I think the most difficult genre involves mystery and believable science fiction, with multiple subplots: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter series, and quite a few others are famous for such richly crafted stories.,,.Epic High Fantasy.
Sara Niles
I have never really had 'writer's block'....I can write about anything at any time.
Sara Niles
Authors are 'The masters' of their fate, as W.E. Henley so famously stated. The author can make fiction live, can record history or make a permanent record of their own pasts, using only the mechanized 'pen', which of course is usually a computer nowadays. Writing is power.
Authors can write in the wee hours of the morning before the household arises, or can write on a moving train. The schedule and the method leaves a lot of wiggle room.
Authors can write in the wee hours of the morning before the household arises, or can write on a moving train. The schedule and the method leaves a lot of wiggle room.
Sara Niles
The old adage "Write what you know" is still true. I would add to that to write what you are passionate about, no matter what it is. Regardless of whether a story is fiction or nonfiction, the enthusiasm of the author comes across.
Sara Niles
I had five children and now I have four, because my middle child committed suicide last year at the age of 33. Shenoa (Ariel) was a driven, intense and intelligent child who was consumed by her own issues, and in the end, the issues won out. When I received her personal belongings, I found a note that she had written a week before she died: " If I only had six months to live" the note began, she would focus on three things: getting closer to God and her family, and finishing her book.
I am working on completing my daughter's book " On the Wings of Moonlight", and I am also working of a book about schizophrenia (my daughter had schizophrenia).
I am working on completing my daughter's book " On the Wings of Moonlight", and I am also working of a book about schizophrenia (my daughter had schizophrenia).
Sara Niles
I write about what creates a natural passion within me. Injustice in all of its forms has always raised my ire, even when I was a child. I primarily write memoirs and nonfiction that have injustice as a central theme.
Sara Niles
My most recent full sized book is the third book of the Torn Trilogy: Out of the Maelstrom. I wrote Torn From the Inside Out, a true story of my own life of extreme domestic violence and my escape with my five children. I had not planned to write a trilogy, but the story of the children had to be told (The Journey) and many years after my escape from abuse I worked for a domestic violence intervention agency, during which time I came in contact with many types of abuse stories, and many different types of victims and abusers. There were stories of survival that were uncanny, as well as stories that ended in disaster.
I knew I needed to write about the 'big picture' in terms of domestic violence and family dysfunction in order to portray the magnitude of the problem. There were many humorous and sad happenings that are part of everyday life, as well as staggering world events, like the day of the catastrophe that was known simply as " 9/11"-all were part of my own life and was part of the fabric of humanity.
I realized there needed to be a third book as I and two staff members sat outside a domestic violence shelter while two shelter clients talked about their lives. I mentioned the idea of a third book and one said "Please write it for all of us", and I did.
I knew I needed to write about the 'big picture' in terms of domestic violence and family dysfunction in order to portray the magnitude of the problem. There were many humorous and sad happenings that are part of everyday life, as well as staggering world events, like the day of the catastrophe that was known simply as " 9/11"-all were part of my own life and was part of the fabric of humanity.
I realized there needed to be a third book as I and two staff members sat outside a domestic violence shelter while two shelter clients talked about their lives. I mentioned the idea of a third book and one said "Please write it for all of us", and I did.
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