Pulling Up the Rug

What does it feel like to finally accomplish a goal that you have been striving toward for decades?

It feels like I still have work to do.

There are times when you can sit back and enjoy the fruit of your labor. This is not that moment.

At 50 years old, my dreams are still manifesting through the muck and mire of my day-to-day responsibilities. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing but joy in my heart because this process teaches me something new every day. But I also understand that finishing the book was never the final destination.

My why is the driver.

People deserve to read this provocative story because it peels back the layers of a subject that many generations have decided is untouchable. I believe it not only needs to be touched, but examined.

We can't begin to heal what we refuse to acknowledge.

However, acknowledgment is only the first step in what is often a tangled web that has taken years, sometimes generations, to form. There is no effect without a cause.

My process started with pondering.

I've pondered. I've meditated. I've lamented over how to bring this story to life.

It has taken on many forms over the years.

I once wrote a short story about it in a compilation book with several other authors. Then, I wrote more about it in a self-help book that I co-authored with three other women. That book sparked a ten-minute play I wrote called Secret Cousins, which was produced by the University of Houston during the pandemic.

But that was not enough.

It's not enough because the story hasn't been heard around the world.

It's not enough until it causes change.

It won't be enough until families begin having the tough conversations and doing the work together.

The time is out for one person being left to carry the burden of unhealed trauma.

Gone are the days when we make excuses for abusers and allow them to get away with crimes that rob children of their innocence. We love to say, "It takes a village."

Well, the village needs to stand up and take accountability.

The village needs to protect its children.

The village needs to stop protecting secrets.

And the village needs to be the one that applies the balm to wounds it has allowed to fester for years.

This novel is just the beginning.

I believe it will open eyes. I believe it will start conversations. I believe it will give people permission to confront things their families told them never to discuss.

And yes, I believe it can help set captives free.

Stories like Woman Thou Art Loosed opened doors for conversations that many people weren't ready to have. But there are still layers beneath the surface that we need to confront.

So now, I'm coming for the rug.

Not just one corner.

The whole thing.

It's time to pull up the entire rug and uncover the secrets that lie beneath.

Under the RugComing January 2027