Samantha
Faces ~ Samantha begins with the main character, 8-year-old Samantha being pushed out of a car onto cold asphalt in front of General Hospital's emergency room by her cruel babysitter, Mrs. Essie. It is almost 1 o’clock a.m., and the Midwest winter cold engulfs Samantha's beaten and bruised body. Through her pain and agony, all Samantha can think about is who will protect her little brother, Tavis.
As blood fills her swollen belly, Samantha fades to black without noticing ER staff rushing to her side. Can she be saved? Will she return to protect Tavis? Through the darkness, Samantha fights for their lives.
The Curio
Journal Entry-May 27, 1989
My life has been a colorful and emotional journey. I don’t know when I matured enough to recognize what had happened to me at eight-years old, and how different I would be at twenty-three. Yet, tortured memories of my childhood have enslaved me. My relationship with my parents has begun to recover, especially my relationship with my mother.
Often I want to disappear into another world, where I would remain untouched, undamaged. However, I am still here sitting in my beautifully, decorated studio apartment, a constant reminder of Mom, our tenuous relationship, her need for independence, and my need for her acceptance.
Clarissa Burton, AKA Queen Of The Pen™, is an author, poet , essayist, and blogger. She has published in the Charleston Post-Courier, the KC Star, Flourish Mag, the KC Small Biz Monthly, a contributing writer for BlogHer, CNN iReport, and Yahoo, several blogs and is the founder of Queen of the Pen Books™, QOTP Artwork™, and Princess Onyx websites. Clarissa has published several books that include poetry, children's books that includes the Princess Onyx™ Fairytales series, self-help and training books, and a novel series, Faces. She is a Navy veteran serving from 1984 to 1990; has a B.A. in Psych from Ottawa Univ, an M.A. in Business from Webster Univ., and will complete her EdS in Adult Education from Walden Univ. Clarissa is a mother and grandmother. She lives in the Midwest with her cat, Bootsie.
