OSWEGO, NY – Amy Quonce (A.L. Daniels) hopes “Breaking The Silence” will be as helpful to others as it was to her.
“The story covers how my family was affected after my developmentally disabled daughter was abused. I wanted my book to focus on the aftermath (legal issues, therapy, etc.) and not on the abuse itself,” she told Oswego County Today. “There are thousands of people who are affected by the same issues and I wanted my book to inspire them to break the silence and speak up for themselves.”
“I decided now was the perfect time to release the book. March is Developmental Disability Awareness Month and April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month,” the local author added. “The book captures the heart of both these issues. By releasing my book now, I can help support both the causes.”
As of March 1, the book has been available in paperback. It’s also available on Amazon.
The author took some autographed copies down to the River’s End Book Store in Oswego Thursday evening.
“There were sections of the book that brought me to tears and I would have to walk away until I could deal with it again. Sometimes this would take a couple of weeks, but I persevered and kept at it,” she said during the writing of the book.
Since writing the book, several people have already confided in her for the first time ever and disclosed their own victimization, she added.
“I wrote the book as a way to deal my feelings. It was difficult to write, yet I believed that it also helped me,” she said.
After trying to ignore her emotions for several years, Quonce said it felt good just to express herself.
Quonce has begun a blog tour to help promote her first book.
“I will featured on several sites over the next month or so (including Lisa Buske’s – author of Where’s Heidi?; Elaine W. Miller, author of We all Married Idiots, and local romance author Regina Edwards Drumm) Each of these will feature a free book giveaway,” she explained.
Her blog coordinator is scheduling stops for her along the tour where she will be giving away free copies of the book.
“If you, or anyone you know, would like to have me visit your blog, I will add you to the list. If you don’t have a blog, you could always post your review right to Amazon.Com or GoodReads.Com,” she said.
How does it feel to be a published author?
“I’ll let you know when I come off from the cloud I’ve been floating on,” she replied.
She wanted to publish this book to bring to light how our most fragile children are often viewed as the perfect victim for predators.
“In my book, the character Kate goes to great lengths to protect her daughter after she was abused. My hopes is this will bring strength to other parents facing similar adversity,” the author explained.
Why did she choose to write about such a sensitive topic? The answer to that one is simple, she said.
“Too many people are still living in silence. The character, Megan, spent the first six years of her life as a non-verbal individual, like many autistic children are. Once she learned to speak her mother didn’t want her to be silenced anymore,” Quonce said. “There are a large number of sexual abuse victims who refuse to talk about their pain in fear of being judged. Kate (the mother in the book) tells her story to give a voice to all victims and especially for those who have a disability and cannot speak for themselves.”
Stay connected:
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For more information about how you can get involved, to learn more about sexual violence or if you or someone you know is a survivor of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence or stalking please call the Abuse & Assault Hotline at (315) 342-1600. The hotline is staffed by trained counselors and is available 24 hours, with collect calls accepted within Oswego County.
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