Edgewise: An Assignment To Remember

In my late-fifties, I've been blessed to enjoy the best of all worlds- both personally and professionally.  My romance with Carl, my husband of 40 years, is still going strong and we're extremely proud of our sons, Kenneth and Cory.  I've enjoyed several successful careers including interior design, marketing, image development, and mortgage finance.  However, life hasn't always been so blissful.  In January of 1984 my world was abruptly interrupted when I discovered our son, Collin, drowned in our backyard pool.   Three weeks later I was abducted by two men, sexually assaulted at gun-point, and abandoned.   As a defense mechanism my mind shut down and blocked out those traumatic events, leaving me in a deep state of denial and drained of any color in my life.   Sessions with the psychiatrist were primarily silent on my part, thus unproductive until several months later, when the doctor gave me the challenging assignment to write about my first memories.   An unexpected surprise came when my first memory was a very sweet one--the image of my father and me as a little girl.  That vision opened a floodgate of memories that unfolded onto the pages over the next several months, eventually bringing me back to reality.  Edgewise reflects those memories, with interspersed scenes in the psychiatrist's office chronicling my progression.  Delaney is my alter ego, and all the names are changed to protect the innocent, and the not so innocent. The manuscript was recognized Novel of the Year by the Atlanta Writers Club in 1996. I'm inspired when I read about someone overcoming life's roadblocks, and I hope my readers are inspired in the same way.    The events upon which Edgewise is based have made me stronger and more compassionate of others, and I thank God I'm here today to share my story.Â