Austin SCBWI

The Patience Books, Courage in Patience and Hope in Patience, are the story of fifteen-year-old Ashley Nicole Asher, who is sexually, emotionally, and physically abused by her stepfather, from the age of nine. Courage in Patience begins Ashley’s story. When she at last tells a trusted teacher what has been happening to her, Child Protective Services steps in, and Ashley is removed from her mother’s home. She is then reunited with her biological father, who has not been a part of Ashley’s life since infancy. Through the summer school English class taught by her stepmother, Ashley learns to face her greatest fears and, along with other teens, discovers just how strong she is. Ashley’s story continues with Hope in Patience, as Ashley continues her rocky road to recovery, wonders what it would be like to have a boyfriend, and faces the ultimate betrayal.

Ashley’s story is about courage and the power of hope to overcome fear.

This is not ‘an abuse story’– it is a survival story, as evidenced by the bravery shown by all the teenagers in Courage in Patience, who face life-changing events head-on. A huge part of Ashley’s ability to begin to heal comes about by witnessing acts of profound courage, all around her. Hope in Patience is anyone’s story– anyone who has ever overcome what they thought they never could; anyone who has ever known what it is to want to be loved and accepted as-is.

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I was inspired to write this story by my own recovery from childhood sexual abuse. In the process of working through my own grief, disbelief, and anger, I was writing poems and short stories, and sharing them with my (long-suffering) therapist. One day, he suggested that I try writing a novel.

It took me about four months of starting and stopping, always ending up in the same place: stuck inside myself– until one day I became so sick of the scenery that I decided to try to imagine what it would have been like if I had been able to get out of the abusive situation I was in at age 15– instead of remaining in it much longer. What if a young girl in that situation had a father who had allowed his own shame at being a lousy dad to keep him away for her entire life, as Ashley’s father, David does? AND- what if he was able to come through for her in a way he never thought he could, when she needed him the most?

In the process of knocking down the walls I had built around myself, I found Ashley Nicole Asher, age 15, and Patience, Texas, a tiny East Texas town populated with people who can be found anywhere, dealing with the same problems that all people must face, whether they want to admit it or not.