Author Spotlight #4 Angela Suttner

Angela Suttner took the time to discuss her writing with me and how she wanted to raise awareness of such an important topic: bullying. I was excited to hear about her writing journey and what it meant to her as she had a unique story to tell. I’m sure you will all enjoy reading as much as I did.


Hi, my name is Angela Suttner, I’m 44 years old, a wife for almost 24 years and the mother of four wonderful sons. I grew up in a very small town ( pop 300) so creativity as a kid was a must to have fun!

My husband and I raise our children in the outskirts of a small river town, where we still reside. I love nature, animals and I have an obsession with weather. I’m one of those people who would love to go on a tornado chase!

I’m also a bereaved parent of five years & (almost) 5 months since we lost our second born son, Kenny. I now spend my time raising awareness and prevention against bullying and suicide ( bullycide). My hope is to help anyone who is dealing with bullying or knows of someone who is. To honor our son by saving a life, that is my ultimate goal.

Where do you live?

I live in a small river town, Glasgow, Missouri.

Why are you a writer?

As a young girl I wrote stories and poems a lot. Instead of a journal or diary, I expressed my feelings through creative writing.

I co-wrote this book to honour my son and I wanted his story told to help others. There are so many articles about my son available but I felt like Kenny, who he was, was never really talked about much. So I decided to write Kenny’s book! Kenny’s story needed to be told!

What do you enjoy about writing?

Writing is freeing in many ways for me!

Writing for me is like sitting with an old friend and just purging all that’s stirring in my mind. Writing has been a major outlet for me while struggling with the grief of losing my son.

Tell us about your most recent works

The book that I co-wrote with my dear friend Lindsay Schraad, Where The Trail Ends: The Kenny Suttner Story, was released October, 2020.

Telling my son’s story was extremely difficult and some days I wasn’t sure I would be able to complete it, but I knew in my heart I needed to accomplish this goal for Kenny, myself and with so much hope of helping others.

I also maintain a blog post. There I talk about day to day struggles with loss, grief and bullying /suicide.

If you could write a book in a new genre, which would you choose?

Supernatural

Do you have any role models or people who inspired you to write?

My biggest supporter who inspired me to share my writing with the world is my co-author, Lindsay Schraad. Without her I would have never had the courage to share my son with the world!

Are you working on anything at the moment?

I am, I have a good start on a new project about the paranormal and hauntings based mostly on my own past experiences.

Where can people buy your books?

Where The Trail Ends: The Kenny Suttner Story, is available on Amazon, paperback and kindle.

What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?

My advice would be to just keep writing.. I know I had days when I doubted myself, questioned whether or not our book would be well received. But I can honestly say that once the book was released the sense of relief was amazing. Accomplishing something I set my mind on was an award in itself.

My hope is that Where The Trail Ends: The Kenny Suttner Story ends up in the hands of those who need to know they are not alone.

Where the Trail Ends: The Kenny Suttner Story https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M2HBCYT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6WYTAPZYAFDEZWPN4K1B

Angela was happy to be a part of this interview and I thank her for her time. I am so grateful that we have authors who are raising awareness for important issues, because we need that now more than ever. You will enjoy her book and I encourage you to support this. Thank you for reading and as usual have a wonderful day.

Child Abuse ~ Hard Silence

A single moment in a child life can cast a shadow that will stay a lifetime. Child abuse is an often quiet, silent abuse in which the children are often ignored and very frequently gaslighted. The children may be labelled liars, which is to diminish instantly anything they say.

Let me state my position on this awful and yet somehow ongoing issues in the modern world. Anyone calling a child a liar should automatically be registered on a watch dog type register with government. Then, they should be investigated using social workers. If it transpires that they are telling the truth, which I find hard to believe, then of course move on. But keep them on the register and provide support to the children. Because as the case may be, the child is all too afraid to speak out. Also, why would it be better to believe the adult? I have never met a child that lies, consistently. The occasional lie I can understand, it is part of natural development for a child to lie to understand if it is wrong.

Then the fear element is engaged. Abused children wouldn’t be instantly taken from abusive parents if an allegation is made, as far as I am aware. ‘Authorities’ get involved and this can take some time. Perhaps if there is instant support and the child is removed, that would help. I have yet to see this happen myself, although it probably is, but not frequently.

https://www.penngroup.co.uk/post/family-law-the-need-to-investigate-abuse-and-remove-children-from-the-risk-of-harm

It is still rampant and although the media has shoved articles and news down our throats about abusive relationships, domestic abuse to women, and abusive partners, during lockdown… it failed to mention child abuse. Do you think a woman is the only abused person in a house with children? Do you think the real issue was child abuse as opposed to abuse of women? Are you seriously telling me that during the lockdown in which schools, day care and others were shut that absolutely no children suffered abuse of any kind? Give me a break. It is under reported and hidden away because if people really knew how common this crime was then they might think differently about ‘lovely society’ or those abusive parents at school they met. Schools are an issue in themselves, often not caring as much as they claim. When cases of abuse are exposed the usual line of programming is ‘they are shocked and will work to make sure this never happens again.’ Rhetoric. If they did something, child abuse would have ceased hundred of years ago.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55682745

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/mother-stepfather-and-boy-14-found-guilty-of-murdering-five-year-old-logan-mwangi/ar-AAWsazX?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=bbcfcaea832647bcb57b6aad1cebb8a9

Having experienced child abuse, these children can often go on to use drugs and alcohol and develop mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. It might lead to more serious conditions like disassociation disorders – where the pain is too much so they disconnect from the body. In that situation, you might wonder how on earth they could ever get help if they can’t even remember the abuse. Those are the most serious cases, sadly I have read about them. It results in post traumatic stress disorder {PTSD} which can further impact a child. Flashbacks and feelings of reliving the events will seriously impact them. It does not matter how long it goes on, but that it will impact them for the rest of their lives. They can use coping mechanisms and may need medication to help. It impacts their wellbeing, sense of self and lot of people commit suicide because of the abuse. Many adults who experienced abuse as children may avoid talking about it or become very distressed or upset when asked about it.

The child has low self-esteem from the abuse. If it revolves around mental abuse, they will grow up with distorted perceptions of themselves, often not having confidence, feeling like they are not good enough or having emotional and relationship issues which might mean they prefer to stay alone. A hard silence they endure. If everyone spoke about the abuse they suffered, and I suspect it is very common, then it would be more than 1,000,000 people I suspect. Although the law prevents people from physically attacking people, it does not criminalise physical punishment on children. What this means is that, they can in fact physically hurt them and class it as ‘punishment’ for bad behaviour. Look at the article below.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/18327204/parents-could-face-five-years-in-jail-smack-kids/

I am not surprised that it is not law already. Can you believe people oppose this? They think punishment should be left to parents. Well, I have news for you, delusional political statues, any form of violence – mental and physical – is abuse and is disgusting. What you are really doing by opposing it, is saying quite obviously that you condone that behaviour. Do you realise what is being done to these children? Do you think slapping a 4 year old child across the face is acceptable? You might want to keep the dangerous cycle of child abuse in society, but I don’t.

What do you think? If I ever see someone hit a child, and yes it is more common than you think especially in public {disgusting} then I will and do speak out against it I would encourage you all to consider taking a stand if you see it.


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Valley

Valley hidden deep outside the bubble of society,
beyond my reach and out of sight,
out of your mind, you seem to discover a surprise.

It hertz, because it burns,
but you see the flower through all your hurt,
into the honeycomb maze,
crystallized spaces,
our secretive pagan races.

Plants guide the way, they've know it long enough,
taunted along the back wood,
hunched path,
a thud with each step.

Sun is glorious today,
showing me the way, 
as it slithers through broken branches,
catching the birds and bees,
off guard.

Vibrate with me,
get on my frequency,
you belong in my Valley.