‘Through The Fire: One Woman’s Experiences in Surviving Domestic Violence’ Online Book Tour June 2011

Through the Fire

Join Harriet Cammock, author of the inspirational non-fiction Through The Fire: One Woman’s Experiences in Surviving Domestic Violence as she virtually tours the blogosphere in June 2011 on her first tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About Harriet Cammock

Harriet Cammock It doesn’t matter how you start, it matters how you finish. This can be said of Harriet Cammock’s life. Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Harriet’s journey is one marked by a strong faith in the belief that you can overcome, if you try hard enough.

Through childhood, her grandmother instilled in her a drive to succeed. After an abusive marriage, Harriet determined she would use her own experiences in overcoming abuse to teach other women that there is help available. She channeled those experiences in writing and through her blog, The Grace Chronicles, she provides inspirational and uplifting messages to many people.

Harriet began The Faith Hour in 2009 and used this platform to launch The Renewed By Grace Conference, which was designed to bring together men and women whose lives were touched by abuse. “I want to show women that you don’t have to look like what you went through,” Harriet said. Using creative resources and with involvement from other community organizations, Harriet plans to host another conference sometime in the next several months.

A published author, she now hosts The Harriet Cammock Show. The Harriet Cammock Show uses principles of surviving and overcoming; principles that Harriet learned first-hand. Harriet has appeared on The Word Network and Atlanta Live! and is a guest writer for The Hinterland Gazette. A gifted speaker, Harriet is available for speaking engagements.

Visit http://www.harrietcammock.org for more about Harriet Cammock’s projects.

Find Through the Fire at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble

About Through The Fire: One Woman’s Experiences in Surviving Domestic Violence

Through The Fire In Through The Fire, Harriet Cammock has written a captivating account of surviving domestic violence. Having lived countless years in an environment of verbal and physical abuse, Harriet recollects events no person ought to be able to call to mind. Vivid accounts create unease, knowing people are able to harm each other on such levels and call it love. Harriet shares her blinded love, innocent assumptions, dreaded encounters, and fear-driven hopes, as she recaptures the essence of her painful memories. We journey with her through dating a perceived white knight; coping in a hopeless marriage; raising a child matured, too early, through unfathomable pain; and surviving near-fatal encounters with a madman.

Harriet exposes the reader to an abuser’s enchanting personality as he unfolds to reveal heinous acts, detrimentally affecting the surrounding families, friends, extended networks, and self. “That my heart was beating was a miracle, because I was so afraid I could barely open my mouth to speak, much less breathe and give oxygen to my heart. I didn’t know what he was going to do.” Through the trials, Harriet made a plan, and you will root for her to accomplish that plan. “I would imagine what my future life would be like. I would imagine my daughter and I would one day live free from this horror and it would all be just an experience far behind us. We would be free to do normal things mothers and daughters do.”

Whether you or someone else is abused, has been abused, is curious to the signs of abuse, or simply wishes to read a remarkably engaging story, this book is for you. Once you open this book, map out some time, and get cozy, as you will not want to put Through The Fire down.

Read an Excerpt

People have often asked me exactly when the abuse began. But as I look back, it seems to have begun from the very beginning. It was November 22nd, 1989. It was unseasonably cool and dreary. And, it was my wedding day. The strangest things happened during that day. To my dismay, the photographer could not find his camera. He arrived at the wedding ready to take pictures, but he had no camera. Later on that day, I remember asking myself, how can you be a photographer without carrying a camera? Without a camera, there was no way to take pictures. Without pictures, there would be no tangible evidence of the wedding, no permanent record of that day. What saved us was a guest recorded the wedding on a camcorder. That recorded videotape has since been long lost. Apart from the marriage registration record, there is no other piece of evidence of the wedding ever taking place.

On that day, I had a frown on my face. I had been to many weddings before, and I had never seen a bride with a frown. But as I gazed in the mirror, my frowning face gazed right back at me. When I paused to really think about it, it seemed as though this wedding was the wrong thing to do. My best friend, at the time, told me that if I were to actually marry this man, she would never come to my wedding, and, despite all of the years we spent as almost-sisters, I would never, ever see her again. She held true to this right up until the morning of my wedding; she called me and reminded of her promise. And despite my pleadings, she held fast to her pledge. I never saw her again. It was no small matter that my mother, bless her heart, told me I shouldn’t marry him. When I asked her why, she said I just don’t have a good feeling about him.

My father, who at the time, had spent most of his life absent from mine, also said don’t marry him. My friends also said don’t marry him. But nobody gave any concrete reasons why I shouldn’t marry him. I remember one of his friends, who later became an acquaintance of mine, saying it was an unsuitable match.

But why on earth did no one tell me that he beat every woman whom he had ever been intimate with? Afterwards, I began to feel that maybe it’s because domestic violence was not talked about in polite circles. People would not talk about a man hitting his wife because it just wasn’t discussed. The woman was expected to deal with it and accept it. When my best friend made her statement, she hinted at a prior relationship, which Sam had, for which the woman involved had been violated; at the time it sounded like idle gossip. I thought I was in love and I felt that love would conquer all, and I would never know how things would work out. So I determined to give it a try.

Later on, I wondered why did I get married? What on earth made me marry a man who, for all intents and purposes, seemed hell-bent on destroying my life? As the old adage goes, love changes people, right? It might get better over time with love, right? But it never did.

What Reviews are Saying

THROUGH THE FIRE is a must-read riveting recount of one woman’s courage and perseverance in overcoming domestic violence. It is an excellent guide to anyone going through an abusive marriage or relationship and how you should break free.

– Janet Shan, Founder of The Hinterland Gazette

Through the Fire Tour Schedule

Monday, June 6th

Interview at Book Marketing Buzz

Tuesday, June 7th

Guest Post at The Story Behind the Book

Wednesday, June 8th

Interview at The Hot Author Report

Thursday, June 9th

Guest Post at The Hot Author Report
Guest Post at Tina’s Book Reviews

Friday, June 10th

Review at Tina’s Book Reviews

Monday, June 13th

Guest Post at The Book Connection

Tuesday, June 14th

Guest Post at Karen’s Healthy Lifestyle

Wednesday, June 15th

Review at Karen’s Healthy Lifestyle

Thursday, June 16th

Guest Post at Just Another Book Addict

Friday, June 17th

Review at Just Another Book Addict

Monday, June 20th

Interview at BlogCritics

Tuesday, June 21st

Interview at Pump Up Your Book

Wednesday, June 22nd

Interview at Divine Caroline

Thursday, June 23rd

Guest Post at One Day at a Time

Friday, June 24th

Review at at One Day at a Time

Monday, June 27th

Interview at The Examiner
Guest Post at Reading, Reading and Life

Tuesday, June 28th

Review at Reading, Reading and Life

Wednesday, June 29th

Guest Post at Reviews and Life

Thursday, June 30th

Review at Reviews and Life
Review at Mom’s Tree House

Through the Fire Tour Schedule

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Harriet Cammock’s THROUGH THE FIRE ONLINE BOOK TOUR will officially begin on June 6th 2011 and end on June 30th. If you would like to participate in this tour, please contact Jaime at jmfictionscribe(at)yahoo(dot)com(dot)au. Thank you!


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