Synopsis

Trekking in Nepal. Climbing Snow Creek. Camping in Anza Borrego. Mountain climbing and hiking in the High Sierras. Stunning mountain top vistas, unexpected storms, gold mines, and icy alpine lakes are the backdrop.

This is an adventure story with deep human insights. After a stint on Wall Street, Wendy makes a change in life, joins Main Street, and takes up mountain climbing. Along the way she encounters rhinos, crocodiles, monkeys, elephants, tigers, and bears, as well as a pack of Wild Englishmen.

What lessons does she learn in her real life adventures? Speaking truth leads to a clear pathway that truth wins. Truth brings peace. Truth brings power. Truth brings light.

The commitment to truth, even when someone else works unendingly to keep secrets, is worth every struggle on that pathway.The book is about love over hate, truth over lies, compassion over indifference, light over darkness.

The early trauma was childhood sexual abuse. My grandfather was a bishop in the American Lutheran Church, and he was a pedophile who preyed on little girls in his own family.



This book looks at the secrecy that surrounds this timely issue. It is set decades later, long after the abuser has died, and enlightens the reader about why anyone would keep these secrets.



The #metoo movement focuses on holding men accountable for their sexual misbehaviors. However, the movement remains silent on the problems within a group (family, church, school, etc.) that allow a sexual predator to flourish. The book seeks to explain the potent shame and guilt that silences mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins while empowering them to embrace reality.

Many self-help books focus on courage: the courage to remember; the courage to heal; the courage to move on. My message is to find inner strength by speaking truth.

The message is one of compassion and love. The story focuses on the aftermath of sexual abuse rather than the actual abuse.

My story speaks to the destructive cycle of anger, bitterness, and hate and how truth, compassion, mercy, and grace bring about peace of mind.

My objective is to reach people who have been sexually abused and reassure them that a life of love, compassion, grace, and truth will lead to greater inner strength and tranquility.





Outline

1. My Coyote Keeps Me Safe. The book opens in

Oriflamme Canyon in Anza Borrego Desert State Park in California.

2. Trip to Nepal. Chapter 2 is set in Nepal as my mother takes my sister-in-law and me on a trek in Nepal.

3. At Diane’s House. I have left a difficult

job where I experienced years of sexual harassment.

4. Mammoth Men I Have Known. I accept an invitation to go skiing with 3 WWII veterans.

5. Back at Diane’s House. The conflict with my mother begins to escalate.

6. Villager Peak. My boyfriend and I decide

to climb Villager Peak for Valentine’s Day. But, we get caught in a sudden

rain storm.

7. Preparing for Easter. Back at Diane’s house, we begin preparing the meal for Easter. The conflict between the women again escalates subtly.

8. Climbing Snow Creek. I join my boyfriend

and his mountaineering friends on a climb of Snow Creek.

9. Mother’s Day Brunch. I take my mother to

brunch for Mother’s Day.

10. “The Wedding.” I accompany my friend and her companion to Mammoth Mountain for a “mock” wedding.

11. Indian Head Peak. After joining a canned pheasant hunt in Anza Borrego Desert, my boyfriend and I decide to climb

Indian Head Peak off trail.

12. A Dream

Mountain to Climb. I find my dream mountain to climb in the Sierras.

13. The Gay Priest. My mother and I are having coffee and reading the paper. The abuse scandals from the Roman

Catholic Church are in the headlines.

14. Epilogue. This chapter is set many years later. My mother no longer speaks with me, and I have a son, and I am determined to speak the truth.

Audience

The target audience is those who have experienced CSA and wish to understand the family dynamics that enable a pedophile to continue to commit such acts. The audience is also family members who want to understand the power silence and shame can have over victims.

In addition, the Catholic Church continues to be rocked by continuing news of pedophile priests.

The numbers are staggering. Let's take a look at some statistics:



One in four

girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18

years old

girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18 years old

30% of women

were between the ages of 11 and 17 at the time of their first completed

rape

were between the ages of 11 and 17 at the time of their first completed rape 12.3% of women

were age 10 or younger at the time of their first completed rape

victimization

were age 10 or younger at the time of their first completed rape victimization 27.8% of men

were age 10 or younger at the time of their first completed rape*

The effects of child sexual abuse can be long-lasting and

affect the victim's mental health. Victims are more likely than non-victims to

experience the following mental health challenges:5



About 4 times more likely to develop symptoms of drug abuse

About 4 times more likely to experience PTSD as adults



About 3 times more likely to experience a major depressive episode as adults



Out of the yearly 63,000 sexual abuse cases

substantiated, or found strong evidence, by Child Protective Services

(CPS), the perpetrator was most often the parent:

80% of perpetrators were a parent

6% were other relatives

5% were "other" (from siblings to strangers)

4% were unmarried partners of a parent**

Out of the sexual abuse cases reported to CPS in 2013,

47,000 men and 5,000 women were the alleged perpetrators.

In 88% of the sexual abuse claims that CPS

substantiates or finds supporting evidence of, the perpetrator is male.



In addition, Christians and members of other religions will want to understand how a pedophile uses a position within a church to shield himself.



Christianity is the largest religion in the United States. In 2016, Christians represent 73.7% of the total population,

48.9% identifying as Protestants, 23.0% as Catholics.









*National Sexual Violence Resource Center

** RAINN.org





Promotion

Pre-launch Marketing

I am sending an email to all personal email contacts (3,500+) to announce the launch date and ask for support by joining my launch team. Those who join my launch team will receive special recognition on the acknowledgements page.

I currently have a launch team with Facebook contacts in excess of 9,000 contacts. This is across the U.S. and Britain.

One member of my launch team is an accomplished, published author and poet. Another is a prize winning blogger.

I am posting on Facebook and Twitter daily with a CTA. In addition, I am posting information about The Bishop’s Cross in Facebook groups. One group has 14,000+ members, another has 40,000+ members, and a third group has over 7,700 members.

Post Launch Marketing

I will send weekly emails with updates on the campaign, CTAs, and asking for support by forwarding/posting the link to the Publishizer page.

Personal messages to all who preorder the book with requests for support in spreading the link.

Personally emailing organizations such as SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests), Childhelp, Justice for Children, and The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.

I will also personally contact advocacy groups through state bar associations and associations for psychologists and psychiatrists.

I will send press releases detailing the publication of The Bishop’s Cross.

Overall Marketing

The launch of The Bishop’s Cross is in conjunction with my blog. I will be posting daily to it regarding the book.

I will include a page on my website, Hoke Consulting Group, dedicated to the book with links to the preorder page.

I will be posting videos on YouTube as well.

Competition

The Bishop's Cross faces competition from two main categories dealing with sexual abuse: books by victims and how they recovered; books by doctors and psychologists who treat survivors.

My book differentiates itself in a critical way. This story focuses on relationships (in my case, mother/daughter) that allow childhood sexual abuse to go unchecked. The story examines the power struggles between those who want the abuse to remain secret and those who want it to stop or to report it.

"Miss America by Day" by Marilyn Van Derbur comes closest to paralleling my particular perspective. Even so, there are crucial differences between the books. Mrs. Van Derbur touches only briefly on her relationship with her mother, who clearly knew that her husband was molesting their daughter.

My book goes into the power relationship in much more depth. However, while it details some unpleasant truths about those power struggles, ultimately the message is to view others with compassion and mercy, even a mother who does not protect her daughter.

In short, my book is one of very few that attempts to answer in a very personal way this question: why does anyone remain silent about childhood sexual abuse when they know it is happening?

Most other books available in the marketplace focus on the abuse itself, the abuser, and/or the struggle to emotionally heal from the abuse.





Books by survivors include:

"Miss America by Day" by Marilyn Van Derbur

Mrs. Van Derbur wrote an exceptional story of recovery from PTSD due to CSA. However, she touches very lightly on the subject of her mother.





"Silent No More - Victim #1's Fight for Justice Against Jerry Sandusky" by Aaron Fisher

A heart-wrenching story of Mr. Fisher's fight against Jerry Sandusky and the battles he fought to bring Mr. Sandusky to justice. His story also includes how his mother fought to protect her son, which is a very different message from The Bishop's Cross.





The following books are by professionals who treat victims. Their messages are relevant; however, they are not from personal experience, and they focus on the psychological healing necessary to recover from CSA.







"The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood

Sexual Abuse" by Dan Allendar, Karen Lee Thorpe

"REPAIR Your Life: A Program for Recovery from Incest &

Childhood Sexual Abuse" by Marjorie McKinnon



"The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the

Healing of Trauma" by Bessel van der Kolk, MD

"The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child

Sexual Abuse" by Ellen Bass, Laura Davis