Cheryl Rainfield
I love to read. Books nurture me, helped me survive the abuse I endured as a child and teen, and helped me escape it for hours at a time. I also love to write. I write fantasy books and edgy, realistic fiction, both for teens. I have written for as long as I can remember.
My fantasy books often h
old hope that I need, and feel others might need, too, while my realistic fiction is gritty, intense, and emotional. All of my books have fragments of the abuse or pain I experienced. I write about some of the harsh things teens go through...things that I think shouldn't be hidden. But I also write about healing, hope, and love, and finding courage and strength. I write about the things I care about, things that touch me deeply. My work has been influenced by my healing from child abuse.
I am an incest and ritual abuse survivor, and I used self-harm to cope. I put some of that experience into my YA novel SCARS (WestSide, 2010), where Kendra must face her past and stop hurting herself before it's too late. It's actually my own arm on the cover of SCARS. There's a lot of me in SCARS; like my main character, Kendra, I am an incest survivor, I used self-harm to cope, and I'm queer and happy with that. And, like Kendra, I used art (and writing) to cope and to try to heal, I've been in therapy, and I've had to face my abusers.
In my YA paranormal fantasy, HUNTED (WestSide, Oct 2011), Cassie is a telepath in a world where that is illegal, and she must choose between saving herself or saving the world. Again, I drew on many of my abuse experiences to weave my truth into fiction. Like Cassie, I know what it's like to have my life repeatedly threatened, to have someone stalk me, and to have to decide between hiding my true self or being who I am, even if that means danger to myself. I also drew on my experience with cults and ritual abuse in creating the world that Cassie lives in. I am not a telepath, but I used to wish I was--especially as a teen, when I would read Lois Duncan's books over and over.
I've always loved to write, draw, and read. I can hardly remember a time without those things. They were my survival during my childhood, and my journey into myself. It feels so good to be able to give some of that to other readers, now.
Books give me hope. I hope mine will give you hope, too, or something that you need.
You can find me on my blog, my website, Twitter, and FaceBook. I'm always glad to hear fr0m other book lovers.
My fantasy books often h
old hope that I need, and feel others might need, too, while my realistic fiction is gritty, intense, and emotional. All of my books have fragments of the abuse or pain I experienced. I write about some of the harsh things teens go through...things that I think shouldn't be hidden. But I also write about healing, hope, and love, and finding courage and strength. I write about the things I care about, things that touch me deeply. My work has been influenced by my healing from child abuse.I am an incest and ritual abuse survivor, and I used self-harm to cope. I put some of that experience into my YA novel SCARS (WestSide, 2010), where Kendra must face her past and stop hurting herself before it's too late. It's actually my own arm on the cover of SCARS. There's a lot of me in SCARS; like my main character, Kendra, I am an incest survivor, I used self-harm to cope, and I'm queer and happy with that. And, like Kendra, I used art (and writing) to cope and to try to heal, I've been in therapy, and I've had to face my abusers.
In my YA paranormal fantasy, HUNTED (WestSide, Oct 2011), Cassie is a telepath in a world where that is illegal, and she must choose between saving herself or saving the world. Again, I drew on many of my abuse experiences to weave my truth into fiction. Like Cassie, I know what it's like to have my life repeatedly threatened, to have someone stalk me, and to have to decide between hiding my true self or being who I am, even if that means danger to myself. I also drew on my experience with cults and ritual abuse in creating the world that Cassie lives in. I am not a telepath, but I used to wish I was--especially as a teen, when I would read Lois Duncan's books over and over.
I've always loved to write, draw, and read. I can hardly remember a time without those things. They were my survival during my childhood, and my journey into myself. It feels so good to be able to give some of that to other readers, now.
Books give me hope. I hope mine will give you hope, too, or something that you need.
You can find me on my blog, my website, Twitter, and FaceBook. I'm always glad to hear fr0m other book lovers.
