Everyone, every woman has a story to tell, but few are willing to relive it much less have the courage to tell it. It’s painful to watch yourself from your now enlightened place, do and say things you would never do now. It is hard for the swan to ever imagine that ugly duckling was once her – but it’s true! It is hard to imagine how the sharing of a few of your life experiences can help heal a fellow traveller’s hurt, can soothe a lonely hurt and comfort a tender soul. “She Who Walks Alone with One” is the sharing of my life journey as I traversed the pot holes of low self esteem and relational and emotional road works and many other issues we as women face along our own (and collective) life journeys. It is not a walk in the park but a look at a sista’s journey from the shadows into the light – for when I thought it was all over, when I thought I was a dead-end, when I thought I was truly alone… it didn’t know He was with me all along…
Chapter 1: Introduction
No drugs, sex or rock ‘n’ roll but a 2-part introduction illustrating how life sends many chances for us to restart our life’s journey and continue our walk. It outlines the scene of a life journey to date by an “ordinary woman with an extraordinary dream” who dared to move beyond the “mundane and mediocre”.
Chapter 2: Precious Moments
It’s amazing how our past reflects where we are whilst simultaneously showing glimpses of where and what we could be. “Precious Moments” is a literary snapshot of childhood memories steeped in the exotic flavourings of the Caribbean with a generous sprinkling of love, laughter and food! It is also the bittersweet memories of wrong turns, dead-ends and road blocks … and a looking for love in all the wrong places.
Chapter 3: Sandwich Generation – Open Top Filling!
When you realise your life journey is not mapped out according to societal norms, it can be a hard and bitter pill to swallow. Although part of the “sandwich generation” by definition, this is specifically for those women who have to juggle care responsibilities for family at both ends of the spectrum – alone. This is their heart cry.
Chapter 4: Carnal Carnival
Oh, the bittersweet memory of your first love, the pain of losing it and finding you’ve embarked on a course you never realised would take you so far and for so long. “Carnal Carnival” explores some of the internal and external “push-pull” factors which you might recognise as having led you to where to your present place. It’s a painful but necessary journey everyone needs to relive in order to get back on track…
Chapter 5: Ol’ Chocolate
What do you do when your search for a father’s love finds you walking away from the Ultimate Father… into the arms of a poor imitation? This chapter is a testimony to the truth of the title “She who Walks Alone…with One”.
Chapter 6: The Move
Moving from one place to another and transitioning from one phase of one’s journey to another, is not as smooth and as easy as it looks on TV makeover programmes. “The Move” is a humorous look at how relocation almost caused a dislocation in order to be in the right location and the reader is sure to find a truth behind the tears and purpose behind the pain.
Chapter 7: Shhh, Don’t Tell
On any long trip, we eagerly look out for those signs offering food and respite at the next motorway café, so we can stop and take a much needed break. “Shhh, Don’t Tell” is that break as the reader gets to meet and hear the experiences from other journey travellers. The compilation of true life storied and scenarios in this chapter reaches out to all women – for their journey experiences could well help you along your own path.
Chapter 8: Sista to Sista
This chapter captures a heart-to-heart moment with a sista, illustrating the need for us to carry one another’s burdens in the sharing of how we overcame. “Sista-to-Sista” helps us realise the mistakes, slip ups and stumblings we made on our walk, can be a stepping stone for someone behind us, on their own life journey.
Chapter 9: My Journey Jewels
There is an old saying: “How can two walk together unless they be agreed?” Although such wisdom is often used when considering that “special someone”, it is also relevant for those who you choose – or who life chooses – to walk with you. “My Journey Jewels” is in recognition of those whose extra sparkles and glistening shimmers have been a guiding light in my midnight walks of despair, low self-esteem and depression – and reminder for all to cherish their own “journey jewels”.
Chapter 10: There But for Grace (go I)
Love, betrayal and finally grace and restoration are the main ingredients of this chapter. A realisation that one more day, one more step, one more look, one more touch could have placed us in a worse situation, if it wasn’t for Someone Unseen, Unknown – but Ever-loving – walking with, watching over and willing you to make it. I believe this will resonate with many a reader and cause them to recognise in the midst of it all, Grace was with them.
Chapter 11: Pandora’s Box
Just when you thought you’d done and seen it all; when you congratulate yourself on having clocked up many a-mile on your walk thus far, you got sidetracked! It was all too much to leave behind; you just HAD to open it… and like a game of “snakes and ladders”, you’ve found yourself right at the bottom again… In this timely reminder not to open the box, always remember – all is not lost…
Chapter 12: Time to Get Back Up Again
Congratulations! You’ve made it this far! You’re an experienced runner! You’ve seen, jumped and cleared all stumbling blocks – but ouch! What do you do when you’ve taken a fall? Your foot just clipped the last hurdle and, surely, you should have known better by now! “Time to Get Back Up Again”, although the last chapter is a timely reminder that your journey is far from over – and points to you One Who is ever by your side…
Hi Shalisa - I'd guess this story is heavy on belief in the fundamental truths of Christianity, and there's nothing wrong with that. I also notice you posted a publishing/self-publishing query.
To my knowledge the market for faith-based stories in the UK is fairly small. In the US, however, it is huge and it may be worth your while to concentrate any promotional or marketing efforts on that side of the Atlantic. It seems to me it is the effectiveness of that effort, rather than how a novel is published, which ultimately decides the success or failure of any book. When trad publishers count as successful any debut author selling 3000 hardbacks, and most self-pubs sell only in the few hundreds, it's vital to get your story in front of as many potential readers/buyers as possible.
Best of luck with it.