She knows for certain that the poisonous barb of humiliation has done much more damage than the lash ever did. (p277) - Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa

We all carry our nightmares in unspoken places. The details are different, but the outcome is the same. They want to steal our humanity, to ease the weight into their own souls. Don't you let them. Don't give them one piece of you they can't take. Don't you become the empty vessel they want to believe you are.

(What advice do you have to give to budding writers?) Read, read, read. Read everything and pay attention. What works for you? What doesn't? Decide which writers you love and learn from what they put on paper. Equally important, find those you don't love and learn what not to do.

In a world where families are suddenly and inexplicably separated, where life and death can come at any time, the community holds continuity and safety.