Today we will be visiting with a dynamic lady & fellow writer, Arteria Stevens. She will be sharing a bit about herself and her awesome book about pain, healing and moving forward.
About Arteria Stevens in her own words:
Arteria has evolved into a very philosophical, passionate, and
motivational personality. Life has strengthened her and elevated her
mindset.When Arteria embarked on her journey to write her story, she
questioned her life in many areas. She decided to begin therapy which
opened her mind up to understand and deal with her pain in a healthy
way. Throughout her ten years of therapy she has studied, researched,
and gained information and wisdom.
This is a difficult subject to discuss and I applaud your bravery and candor in sharing with us today. I hope this message will reach who is intended to see it... believe this was written for a reason.
Where did you get the idea for the
novel?
When I initially began writing my books
ten years ago, I was in search of healing and closure and I knew that
it was necessary for me to face my fears of reliving the pain of
molestation in addition to five attempted rapes. Even though my books
revolve around my family life in the projects of Atlanta Georgia, and
my church life, I decided to be very transparent and hide nothing
about my life, so I exposed every skeleton in my closet. I wrote
about things I never told a soul. My mother scurried up my stairs
after reading my book, “Don’t Touch Me” for the first time and
she gave me this look before she even began to speak. “I’m mad at
you! Why didn’t you tell anybody all that stuff?....and that boy! I
would’ve, oooh! And I used to wonder why you never went outside and
I told yo daddy, she don’t never go outside! And ooooh! You had a
miserable life!” I looked at my mom and smiled and then I laughed
and said, “Mama, I didn’t have a miserable life. I had a good
life.” My mother couldn’t see the things that I saw. I can take
the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of my life and celebrate
everything with triumph because I am stronger today. That miserable
life had a lot of laughter and fun filled days built inside of it,
and I had far more good days than bad ones. Yes I was molested by
various men in my life, and yes I experienced five attempted rapes in
addition to the molestation, but my tragedies are now my triumphs
because I was able to get out of my sick bed of pain and tell my
story and make it tangible for someone else who may be hurting. It
was the positive discoveries that led to me writing an accompanying
journal, “The Healing Roads Journal.”
Your title. Who came up with it? Did
you ever change your title?
Because I changed all the names in my
book, initially I was going to name the book after my character,
“Tweety,” until I realized how much I used the words, “Don’t
Touch Me.” If I was anywhere in public being approached by a
flirting man, it wasn’t “Don’t talk to me” that entered my
thoughts, it was “Don’t Touch Me.” I realized that those words
represented my invisible walls designed to keep harmful men away from
me, so I kept that title for my books.
Since becoming a writer, what’s
the most exciting thing to ever happen to you?
The most exciting thing that has
happened to me since becoming a writer was simply having the ability
to see the personal growth and all of the life awakening, and life
changing moments that come when you take the time to really examine
your life and all that happens in it. There are many lessons built
inside of life’s journey if you are willing to invest in yourself
with a goal to resolve pain of both the past and present. Having
closure in every area of your life is a wonderful gift because it
allows you to live freely. No guilt, no shame, no blame, and most of
all no anger. Writing has definitely been a gift within itself which
is why I will keep writing myself into an even better, wiser me.
Which came first, the title or the
novel?
The words began to flow from my heart
long before I had any idea about a title. I was drawn to pick up a
pen and paper and write my earliest childhood memories. It was as if
those memories had been hanging around waiting for me! I guess I had
been playing ‘hide and seek’ with myself because I found details
that took me far back in my life as two years of age. I shocked my
mama when I called her up and told her about the Mayfield Milkman
delivering those bottles of milk to our door. I even told her how
Daddy would use the empty bottles as water bottles and he would drink
right from the bottles. “Well you were just two years old back
then. How did you remember that?” I remembered me and my brother
having to leave Mama and Daddy to go live with my grandmother when I
was three years old. Ironically, I was having a phone conversation
with one of my Auntie’s and she mentioned that I told my mother
that she was a bad person when I was little. “I wasn’t a bad
person!” she protested. “Well Auntie, I didn’t say you were a
bad person, I said you used to whip me and my brother with switches
everyday just to make us fall to sleep at nap time when I was three
years old.” She humbly admitted and apologized to me, but was
amazed that I remembered that far back in my childhood. She was just
a teenager herself at the time. It wasn’t until I was writing that
I was able to recall those memories. I never thought about my early
years until I began to question my life which seemed like such a
struggle at the time. My inner voice led me to start writing and I am
so glad that I listened to what my heart was telling me. Many people,
from Oprah Winfrey, to Joel Osteen who has one of the largest
churches in the world, echo a lot of the words I put on paper ten
years ago in their teaching moments in front of crowds of many. It
all serves as confirmation that the books have a needed message not
just for me, but for someone else.
What book are you currently reading
or what was the last book you read?
Since I started writing my books years
ago, I didn’t want to be influenced by anyone or anything but my
own heart, so I intentionally closed every book I had, and I have
tons of books. I wanted to make sure that my voice and my journey was
felt on every page. I knew my story was significant to my growth, so
I felt that it was imperative that I shut out every other voice for
this voyage. I didn’t know how long it would take or how far I
would have to go, but I am still writing. My books “Don’t Touch
Me” are a three volume series accompanied by an individual journal
for each book entitled, “The Healing Roads Journal.” I’m
completing another book that I started writing ten years ago entitled
“Life after Death.” This book is about my spiritual journey
through severe depression, being healed, and never being depressed
again. It includes the story of me going to heaven over ten years
after being healed from depression. I share what happened while I was
in heaven and what happened when I returned back home. I like all
kinds of books from romance, self-help, mystery, and even children’s
books. I love reading just as much as I love telling stories. I can
entertain children for hours with happy stories from my childhood
memories.
At a book signing, do you just sign
your name or do you write a note? How do you come up with stuff to
say?
My major book launch hasn’t happened
yet but I do have plans for a book launching party here in my city of
Loganville, Georgia. I did just get my first pre order of books and I
autographed and mailed them all with a personal note to those early
buyers. Because my books were designed to motivate, encourage, and
empower others, I have a typed page of encouraging sentences that I
pull from when I sign books, but if it is someone I know well, I
speak from my heart like I did with my mom, sister, and daughter.
What do you want others to get out
of reading your books?
My main message in all of my books were
intended to show others that you can heal, you can move beyond
‘unforgiveness,’ you can become a better person, and you can
live a better life. The books tell my stories that will make you both
laugh hard and cry hard the same way you would at a good movie, and
the journals, are encouraging, motivational, and inspirational. The
journals also have a personal journal for every reader to write in,
with guided questions and even space to write your own thoughts in
order to lead others to their own healing roads.
What advice would you give to others
who aspire to write a book someday?
The best advice I could give to anyone
who has a desire to write is to first put their words on paper.
That’s the first step. Get everything out of you that you feel you
want to express, no matter what genre of book you are writing. Don’t
worry about the order, or the style…just empty yourself. Once you
get everything out of you that you feel you need to express, then
congratulations! You are now a writer. Once you take a second look
at all that you’ve written you will be able to put a clear order
and style together and then you would want to start doing the
research online and in the library on self-publishing and how to get
an agent, how to write a query letter, rules of writing, costs and
pro’s and con’s associated with self-publishing, professional
editing, and everything you need to know about what it takes to
self-publish. The advantages of having an agent and a major
publishing book deal so you can make an informed decision about
publishing your book. You will find that the “how to” information
about publishing a book is easily accessible with tons of step by
step guides. I happen to be self-publishing my book, but
self-publishing may not be the best route for someone else.
What was the greatest challenge
about writing your story?
The greatest challenge about writing my
story was me having to face traumatic events as I relived all of the
pain in my past. I was in tune enough with my spirit that I felt
guided to pick up the phone and call a therapist and ask for help. As
I wrote about my grandfather molesting me at the age of nine, I was
remembering details that put me back in that fearful and helpless
place. The tears fell fresh and it felt like I was nine again. Since
I had already made up in my mind before I had even began to write,
that I was not going to run from the pain any more, I decided to work
hard on resolving the pain. Therapy proved to be a necessary tool to
help me to understand all of the “why’s.” As I went from one
event to the next, I didn’t move forward until I had satisfied
every answer about that event and felt at peace with it. There were
times when I had to pause for months at a time depending on how much
work would be required to reach closure. Fear was my greatest enemy
but it would always hinder me unless I defeated it, so once I
embarked on my journey of writing, there was no turning back for me.
Three volumes later and I succeeded! Our true source of power is in
both knowing and understanding our history.
How has your story affected others
and what are some of your upcoming books?
My story has awakened others to take a
closer look at their own lives and begin to self-examine things in
their past and present that might help them to reach some higher
plateaus in various areas of their lives. Not everyone has a
molestation story to tell but the common bond I share with everyone
else is that we all have pain. No one is exempt from pain in life but
I want others to understand that pain is a necessary part of growth
in all of our lives. Our greatest challenge when it comes to pain is
understanding, and finding the good in it. The good is always there
waiting to be found. In the same way that my mom thought that I had a
miserable life, while I believe I had a good life, it is all about
perspectives. We have to look for the positive in everything because
everything has an opposite. You have to choose to live on the
positive side of life, and you have to do it on purpose by going in
search of good replacements. It’s the same way God sees us in life.
We may see failure but God always sees the capacity for greatness in
our failures.
In addition to the titles I have
already mentioned, I am writing a book entitled “My Cheating Man,”
which is actually an encouragement for married couples who struggle
with the issue of infidelity. Marriages can survive infidelity if you
are willing to do the work necessary to understand the true root of
the problem which lies within each of us individually. Other titles I
am working on are “Perfectly Imperfect” and “Pounds of Pain.”
Each book is yet another “tell all” about different aspects of
my life. I have been blessed with a willingness to be totally
transparent but I realize that transparency is not a common thing in
many lives.
Learn more about Arteria Stevens and her books here:
***Special note from Arteria....
You can order from Amazon, Kindle and
Barnes & Noble, and my books are also available in EBooks on
those sites. You can also see inside the books on Amazon. Also, for more information on healing
and moving beyond pain of the past and present and for support with a
variety of issues from drug abuse, to domestic violence and sexual
abuse, you can go to the website and find tons of information. You
can also find my blog spot, and toll free support lines. You can
also contact me.
For ongoing updates and events, I
welcome you to friend me on Facebook Author Arteria Stevens on Facebook or follow me on twitter The Healing Roads on Twitter
I welcome you to find me on LinkedIn
under Arteria Stevens.
You can also write me at:
Healing Roads Publishing
PO Box 3220
Loganville, Ga. 30052
