Amazon Best Selling Contemporary Romance Author Celebrates One Year Anniversary

(Newswire.net — September 7, 2015) Portland, Oregon — SM Stryker, Amazon Best Selling Contemporary Author shares the story of how she started writing Stolen Innocence to help her heal from years of sexual abuse as a child. She hopes that others will find hope in her stories.

 “I have had several readers contact me about their experiences with sexual abuse. They have told me that they are now empowered to seek help in healing too.” Said Stryker, who is celebrating her one-year anniversary since releasing Stolen Innocence.

 SM. has always thought about writing, but her family has always came first. It wasn’t until her youngest daughter went off to college that she started thinking about it again.

 

We asked her about when and why she began writing?

 “I was a young mother when I first started thinking about writing but put it off for my family. To say that my childhood was dysfunctional is an understatement. With years of sexual abuse and no one knowing my demons, I tried to live a normal life keeping everything bottled up inside me. It wasn’t until 2014 that I seriously gave it any consideration. After talking to my family (because of the content) and receiving their approval, I started asking my favorite authors how to start. I received a lot of good advice. So, on the 9th of April 2014 I came home from work, pulled out my computer and started to write Stolen Innocence. 

I had suppressed many of my childhood memories and as I started to write and remember, I was flooded with all the emotional baggage I had been carrying. That’s when I felt I was starting to heal. I was telling my story and finally getting it out. Through many tears, it was published in September 2014. Initially I started to write so I could heal. I had been abused for 16+ years and I was broken. When it finally came out in 1994, most of my family tried to sweep it under the rug not wanting to break the family unit apart.”

 “I on the other hand wanted to bring sexual abuse to the forefront. There are so many people that have been sexually abused that are still hiding in shame and someone needs to let these men, women, boys, and girls know that it isn’t their fault and they don’t need to carry around guilt or demons any longer.”

 

Stolen Innocence: After years of abuse at the hands of her father, Parker feels the only way to escape is to move to a new city. She runs into a man that not only makes her feel something she’s never felt before, but makes her think of the future and that scares her and sends her running. Ian feels that connection too, but she runs away. When he sees her again he’s determined to get to know her. Parker feels that no one would want her because of all the demons she carries inside her. All Ian wants is to help and protect Parker, but its frightening how the demons of her past come back to haunt her.

We aked if there’s a particular person or event that inspired her stories and characters?

 “I write what I know, experiences and events in mind and my families life. Some of my characters are totally made up; others are inspired by my people and places in my life. Stolen Innocence is part of my own life…this book has a lot of meaning to me because of the topic of sexual abuse. Never Forgotten Love is based off my husband’s childhood. Loving Redemption has events from several of my daughters. One of them was in the military and the events happened to her. Anchored to love is based on one of my other daughters.”

 

 Please tell us about your books?

 “I want my books to inspire the reader; I want them to feel as if they are friends with my characters. I want them to laugh and cry as my characters do. I try to show that no matter what happens in life you can get through it and come out a better person for it. Life happens, things that happen that we don’t understand and maybe never will but I try to show that things happen for a reason, sometimes we find that what we go through helps others that we might not even know.”

SM, You released your fourth book Anchored To Love, August 2015 can you tell us about it?

 

Charlie has worked and trained for this time in her life the chance to play softball in college. Little did she know that it would be short lived. The one good thing in her life though was Zain.

 

Zain is from a wealthy family that had priorities that didn’t involve him. After graduating, he took off to see America and to find himself and any woman that wanted to be with him…no strings attached. That is until Charlie ran into him. She was different, almost innocent but with attitude. But life changed things, throwing in a curve ball and life started to fell apart.

Charlie gave up on her dream and flew home and Zain not to far after, but not knowing where she was, her not answering his calls. After searching for months, Zain finally gave up. Charlie found a job and there she met Braydon, he was nice, and eventually they fell in love, maybe not the soul mate kind of love but love. That changed, one night tragedy struck and Charlie was alone again that is until she was set up on a blind date with Carson.

 Carson wasn’t just any other guy and that pull she felt years ago was back. Charlie wasn’t that shy innocent girl any more; she was tatted and pierced almost everywhere. How will they work through the pain, hurt and lies that were told of each other?

 “I was amazed at the response from my readers, and from all over the world. I am in awe at how well my books have done and the 4 and 5 star reviews I have received. I have fans in the UK, Australia, and Canada offering their homes to me if I would come and do a book signing in their country.”

 

What is your favorite quote from any of your novels and why?

 From Loving Redemption: “Mitch you’re fighting it so hard and you know you’re going to lose. It’s like a willow root. It quietly makes its way, winding and twisting around you until it’s too late and there is no way to stop it. Even if you cut it off, that root will continue to grow, shooting out more roots until it takes over.”

 

You already writing a new book. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

 I’m on my fifth book. It is the fourth book in the Second Chances crossover series. Each book is a novel on its own. You don’t have to read book one to pick up book two. There are

different main characters in each book, although there are guest appearances from characters from some of the other books.

 This books is about Richard and Nicole, they are in their 40’s and find love for the first time. Each of them has issues in their pasts that they have to overcome. Nicole was brutally raped and beaten in college, leaving her broken forcing her to make decisions no one at her age should have to make. Richard lost his family in a horrible accident, leaving him alone and by himself. Both of them immersed themselves into their work so they wouldn’t have to feel pain again.

 

 What can we expect from you in the future?

 “I have several books currently in the works. Currently I am writing Sins of a Child. It will be a stand-alone book. It’s about a girl that learns she has had a guardian angel looking after her after being abused as a child. I’m also starting a novella on Harlow’s POV from the Second Chance Series, Never Expected Love is currently getting ready for editing, and I expect it out at Christmas. Most of the characters that are in Never Forgotten Love will have their own book that is unless my readers want something different and I’m editing a version of Stolen Innocence that Amazon had banned. Once my readers found out that the original had been banned they all started asking for it. So, I am going through the final edits and looking to publish it.

 

SM never realized just how much she needed to write. She has found that writing is her outlet, her sanctuary, and now her life. To read more about SM Stryker, you can go to her website at http://www.smstryker.com

SM Stryker, shelly@smstryker.com, 503-951-2333, Gervais, Oregon United States, @smstryker https://www.facebook.com/Author.S.M.Stryker