AprilLove

Author/Public Speaker/Survivor

My name is April Love, and I am a survivor of sexual abuse, kidnapping, and rape. I was sexually abused until age 17 by multiple perpetrators. Then at age 19, I was kidnapped at knifepoint from my place of employment and raped. I suffer from chronic depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and a dissociative disorder.

For years I struggled with feeling like a second-class Christian because no matter how much I prayed, I was never healed from my emotional problems. I thought I didn't have enough faith, or God was punishing me. In time and with Christian counseling, I realized there was nothing wrong with me--I was normal when considering the life-circumstances I had lived through.

I am also learning to accept who I am, just as I am now, and letting God turn the horrible abuse I suffered into good. He has done this by giving me the ability to write--a gift created out of the dissociative disorder I suffer from. So now I have written what I wanted to have read when I was struggling not so long ago--a Christian book that honestly talked about what it is like to survive abuse and rape.

I consider "Secrets of a City Bench" as a gift from God. I began writing as a preteen/teen. By age 17, I was writing at a professional capacity. At that time in my life, I wanted to be the next Stephen King. However, after the kidnapping, I lost my ability to write. It died, and with it, I died inside.

My counselor kept saying it was not dead, simply dormant. She was right. Five years after the kidnapping, my writing came back, but it was changed. I no longer desired to write about unknown horrors, but about the horrors that exist in the lives of so many--the horrors of sexual abuse and rape.

"Secrets of a City Bench" literally popped into my mind. One minute there was nothing, the next minute there it was. Of course it took years to write, but it was always in my mind, just waiting.

And now I pass it on to other survivors so they can know they are not alone. This is the kind of book I would've wanted to have read all those years I was suffering alone feeling like a freak. I wrote this book so that others won't have to suffer alone like I did.

It is also a helpful tool for those who are helping survivors along their healing journey and for loved ones of survivors. It will give realistic insights as to what it is like to be a survivor from the eyes of a survivor.

Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Home Guest Book Message Board Links/Resources Contact Info Gift of the Morning Author Bio (GM)	April Love Author/Public Speaker/Survivor
Buy/Browse Book (GM) Reviews (GM)	My name is April Love, and I am a survivor of sexual abuse, kidnapping, and rape. I was sexually abused until age 17 by multiple perpetrators. Then at age 19, I was kidnapped at knifepoint from my place of employment and raped. I suffer from chronic depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and a dissociative disorder.
Secrets of a City Bench AUTHOR BIO (SCB) Buy/Browse Book (SCB)	For years I struggled with feeling like a second-class Christian because no matter how much I prayed, I was never healed from my emotional problems. I thought I didn't have enough faith, or God was punishing me. In time and with Christian counseling, I realized there was nothing wrong with me--I was normal when considering the life-circumstances I had lived through.
Reviews (SCB) Free Bookmark	I am also learning to accept who I am, just as I am now, and letting God turn the horrible abuse I suffered into good. He has done this by giving me the ability to write--a gift created out of the dissociative disorder I suffer from. So now I have written what I wanted to have read when I was struggling not so long ago--a Christian book that honestly talked about what it is like to survive abuse and rape.
	I consider "Secrets of a City Bench" as a gift from God. I began writing as a preteen/teen. By age 17, I was writing at a professional capacity. At that time in my life, I wanted to be the next Stephen King. However, after the kidnapping, I lost my ability to write. It died, and with it, I died inside. My counselor kept saying it was not dead, simply dormant. She was right. Five years after the kidnapping, my writing came back, but it was changed. I no longer desired to write about unknown horrors, but about the horrors that exist in the lives of so many--the horrors of sexual abuse and rape. "Secrets of a City Bench" literally popped into my mind. One minute there was nothing, the next minute there it was. Of course it took years to write, but it was always in my mind, just waiting. And now I pass it on to other survivors so they can know they are not alone. This is the kind of book I would've wanted to have read all those years I was suffering alone feeling like a freak. I wrote this book so that others won't have to suffer alone like I did. It is also a helpful tool for those who are helping survivors along their healing journey and for loved ones of survivors. It will give realistic insights as to what it is like to be a survivor from the eyes of a survivor.
	Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. Psalm 94:17

	Copyright 2002