1 – Author P.R. (Piper) Newton is an adoptive mother with a background in psychology, her experiences in both of these areas inspired the writing of this story.
2 – Shattered Embrace is told from the perspective of both the mother and daughter, which provides a special insight into the dynamic of adoption.
3 – Bethlehem Lily’s perspective is not shown through part of the story. This was done intentionally to reflect the fight or flight state that she was in during that time due to stress and trauma. Life for Bethlehem would have been so overwhelming during that transition, higher level processing would have been difficult.
4 – Many scenes throughout the book were inspired by real events in the adoption community, yes even the worm scene. Thankfully that one is not very common.
5 – Although this novel has been “in the works” for six years (from the very first idea of writing), the bulk of the story was actually written over a six week period. Once the words started flowing it was hard to stop them!
6 – After writing the story, it went into storage for over a year. That much time was needed before Piper could view it with fresh eyes.
7 – While writing the scenes about Ernest, Piper was in the public library and started crying. She saved the tougher scenes for private writing moments after that.
8 – The first chapter of Shattered Embrace was written on check out slips at the library while her kids played in the children’s section. Piper had to keep checking out more books to get more paper.
9 – As a devout geek mom, Piper slipped in references to two of her favourite shows, Doctor Who and Firefly. She is curious to see how many readers find them.
***
Bethlehem took her first breath as her mother took her last.
Left to survive in overcrowded Ethiopian orphanages, she developed survival skills rivaling a warrior - a fierce, independent fighter before she could walk or talk. As she approached her second birthday, Bethlehem lived her days guided by two rules: everyone leaves and trust no one.
A world away in Canada, Tory Witcraft is trying to adopt from Ethiopia with her husband, Matt, when her adoption agency goes bankrupt, threatening her dreams of becoming a mother. Against the advice of many, including government officials threatening to revoke the adoption, she goes to Ethiopia, and her new daughter, Bethlehem.
The adoption journey was difficult, but no one expected the hardest part of the journey would begin once they met.
***
P.R. (Piper) Newton is a proud geek mom of two little boys, one through birth, one through adoption. She has a background in psychology and continues to take post-grad courses in childhood trauma and development. In her writings she loves to explore the human mind, putting her characters through unthinkable things, just to see how they react. She is a full-time author, who believes in the magical, creative inducing powers of arm warmers and stripy socks.
Website: http://prnewton.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PRNewtonAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PRNewtonwrites
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