The world turns upside down for a young girl when her father begins a fatal battle with the merciless affliction cancer. Before his illness finishes its devastating rampage through her adolescence, she is confronted by a new demon. She falls victim by the hands of a trusted adult to sexual abuse. The devastation of these events causes her to question God’s role in her life, and whether He ever loved her at all. The Tablet of My Heart is a collection of poetry from the journal of that young girl. It is narrated by the author of the journal herself, who paints a portrait of words illustrating her emotional journey from hopelessness to healing.
Elizabeth will be on virtual book tour in May ’09 to promote her latest memoir, The Tablet of My Heart. We interviewed her to find out more about her wonderful new book.
Q: Thank you for this interview, Elizabeth. Can we begin by having you tell us why you wrote The Tablet of My Heart?
A: I wrote The Tablet of My Heart for many purposes; to encourage former victims of child abuse not to let victimization define them. I really wanted to illustrate the defining moments between my victimization and my freedom in order to walk readers through the bondage and darkness of abuse and into the eventual hope and empowerment that I found at the end of my silence. I also wanted to give some insight for those who are concerned, into the heart of an abused child and the fear and emptiness that abused children must overcome, so that they can better recognize warning signs and be sensitive to the confusion and pain that abused children wrestle with. And, certainly not least, to encourage silent victims to tell. To fight their fear for their lives, and tell. I lost my voice (so to speak) during my victimization. Pen and paper became my very best friend. My secret journal hid my innermost fears and absolute emptiness from the eyes of outsiders. Now, my pen and paper can serve as the voice that I lost, and encourage others to use theirs.
Q: Once you began the process of writing, did you just go with the flow or did you outline first?
A: Wow, well ... actually originally I had planned to just publish the poetry from my journal. Then as I went on it kind of took a different form as I decided to include narrations to help the reader understand the poetry better. Then its form shifted again and turned from a book of poetry, to a narrated journal, into both—that reads like neither, but a story instead. So, I guess I really just “went the flow” and watched it evolve.
Q: What was the hardest part to write?
A: Oh my. The absolute most difficult part to write was the first memory I have of the abuse. The first incident. It was difficult to find words that were not filthy and offensive to describe (within reason) what occurred. I knew that I wanted this to be a book that was appropriate for a wide range of ages and reading levels. I also wanted my sons to be able to read it, so I really wanted to remain tactful in my verbiage throughout. Sexual abuse is a difficult subject to do that with, especially when the memories you are referring to in your writing are your own. I was not only trying to relay the actions and emotions in an way that wouldn’t cause the reader to close the covers and put the book on a shelf, I was also having to spend a lot of time with a memory that made me uncomfortable and angry every time I visited with it. It was tough. I cried a lot.
Q: What’s your favorite part?
A: My favorite part is the memory of playing church with my brothers. I actually laughed while I wrote it, edited it, and still giggle when I read over it. I loved writing that part. It was light and easy and safe.
