Human Trafficking Success Story

SUCCESS STORY


•Susie, 39 years old, was in high spirits at the airport in Mombasa. She boarded a plane on her way to Germany to spend a three-month holiday, courtesy of her 'boyfriend' who had lavished gifts on her. All hopes of an exciting, wonderful stay in a foreign land were shattered on arrival in Germany, when her boyfriend/trafficker confiscated her passport and denied her food for several days before informing her that she would work as a sex slave. She was raped repeatedly, beaten, and threatened with death. After enduring gross exploitation, Susie used a cell phone to call police.

Human Taficking-Did You Know

DID YOU KNOW: In June 2003, the FBI in conjunction with the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children launched the Innocence Lost National Initiative. Their combined efforts were aimed at addressing the growing problem of domestic sex trafficking of children in the United States. In the five years since its inception, the initiative has resulted in the development of 24 dedicated task forces and working groups throughout the U.S. involving federal, state and local law agencies working in tandem with U.S. Attorney's Offices.


Statistics (as of June 2008)
Children Recovered: 433
Seizures: Over $3 million
Convictions: 308
Task Forces and Working Groups: 24

Investigations have successfully led to the conviction of more than 300 pimps, madams, and their associates who exploit children and women through prostitution. These convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences including multiple 25-year-to-life sentences and the seizure of real property, vehicles, and monetary assets.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Human Trafficking is the exploitation by force, fraud or coercion of vulnerable people for forced labor, domestic servitude or commercial sex operations.

Clues that may help you identify a possible trafficing victim:

1) Accompanied by a controlling person or boss: not speaking on own behalf
2.) Lack of control over personal schedule, money, I.D., travel documents
3) Transported to and from work; lives and works in the same place
4) Debt owed to employer/crew leader; inability to leave job
5) Bruises, depression, fear, overly submissive

Release of Deadly Deception

Deadly Deception is available now for preorder at a 15% discount for four weeks only. Go to www.bookstrand.com/deadly-deception

Human trafficking. One of the most prolific and profitable businesses in the world and growing every day. But that's only in third world countries, right?

Isabella Donnelley finds out the answer the hard way--through personal experience--when she is drugged at a friend’s house and transported from Denver, Colorado, to Stoney Creek, Viriginia, to be sold to a crime boss as a sex slave.

She puts her life in the hands of a man she finds intensely attractive but also distrusts. Now she must rely on him to keep her safe from her pursuing abductors--and maybe from him, too.

Wyatt Bowman, former-cop-turned-detective, is assigned to the Task Force of Human Trafficking. Sparks fly when a young and beautiful woman bursts into his house. But what neither one of them counted on was how much their lives would change.

Still waiting

I 'm so exicted about my upcoming release, Deadly Deception about Human Sex Trafficking, scheduled for release in Dec sometime from Siren-Bookstrand. I haven't even seen the cover and the final copy yet. It'll be out in paperback in May 2011. I'm so excited for everyone to read it,  including me, I can hardly stand it. Hope you, the reader, will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it.

BOOK REVIEW

Just finished 'Shoe Addicts Anonymous' by Beth Harbison and it was definitely addictive. Four different women. One common shoe size. And a shared lust for fabulous footwear.

Helene Zaharis's politician husband keeps her on a tight leash and cancels credit cards as a way of controlling her. Lorna Rafferty is up to her eyeballs in debt and can't stop her addition to eBay. Sandra Vanderslice, battling agoraphobia, pays her shoe bills by working as a phone-sex operator. And Jocelyn Bowen is a nanny for the family from hell (who barely knows a sole from a heel but who will do anything to get out if the house).

On Tuesday evening nights, these women meet to trade shoes and, in the process, form friendships that will help them each triumph over their problems--from secret pasts to blackmail, bankruptcy, and dating. Funny, emotional, and powerful, Shoe Addicts Anonymous is a perfect read for any woman who has ever struggled to find the perfect fit.

Do you have a Kindle or e-reader?

If you have a Kindle or E-reader of some sort hopefully you'll be able to help me out. My first book comes out in e format in Dec 2010 and I want to be able to make intelligent recommendations to my readers. I would value any input you can provide me.

What do you like about your Kindle or ereader? What don't you like about it? Are they proprietary to certain companies, i.e The Nook to Barnes & Noble, etc. What should I look for when purchasing one? What's new on the horizon in ereaders?  Are they here to stay or simply a trend? I know they have come down in price significantly so what should I expect to pay for one?

I would greatly appreciate any and all advice you can provide to me. Thanks so much for your valuable time!!

Book contract

I receved my first offer for a book contract on my romantic suspense about HUMAN TRAFFICKING last week. Of course I answered yes to the offer and now I'm waiting for the actual personalized contract. The e-pub for DEADLY DECEPTION will be available December 2010 and paperback available May 2011. I'm so excited since it is not only the first novel I wrote but now I can finally get the message out there about how prevalent human trafficking is in our everyday lives, everyday towns and cities, etc.

History of Father's Day

It would be interesting to know how Father's Day came into practice and celebrated worldwide with an equal sincerity and respect as any other significant holidays. Here's a short history on the holiday, and meaning of the different colors of roses to be worn that Day.


About 4,000 years ago a young boy named Elmusu wished his Babylonian father good health and a long life by carving a Father's Day message on a card made out of clay. No one knows what happened to Elmesu or his father, but the tradition of having a special day honoring fathers has continued through the years in countries across the world.

The Countries, where the Catholic Church were of significant influence on the culture of the society, Father's Day is celebrated on St. Joseph's Day (March 19). However, a more secular celebration which is not associated with any religion is followed in recent times to highlight the increased diversity among people from all over the globe coexisting together in one place.

Father's Day is celebrated popularly on 3rd Sunday in June in many parts of the world. The idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a mother's Day sermon in 1909. Having been raised by her father, Henry Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. President Nixon, in 1972, established a permanent national observance of Father's Day to be held on the third Sunday of June. So Father's Day was born as a token of love and gratitude that a daughter cherishes for her beloved father. Roses are the Father's Day flowers: red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has died.

History of Mother's Day

The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the 1880s and 1890s there were several attempts to establish a Mother's Day, but they didn't succeed beyond the local level. The holiday was created by Anna Jarvis in Grafton, West Virginia, in 1908 as a day to honor one's mother. Jarvis wanted to accomplish her mother's dream of making a celebration for all mothers, although the idea didn't take off until she enlisted the services of wealthy Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker. She kept promoting the holiday until President Woodrow Wilson made it an official national holiday in 1914. The holiday eventually became so highly commercialized that many, including its founder, Anna Jarvis, considered it a "Hallmark Holiday", i.e. one with an overwhelming commercial purpose. Jarvis eventually ended up opposing the holiday she had helped to create. She died in 1948, regretting what had become of her holiday In the United States, Mother's Day remains one of the biggest days for sales of flowers, greeting cards, and the like; it is also the biggest holiday for long-distance telephone calls.

Spring Flings!!

We've all had them, right? Whether in dreams or reality or both. The excitement of a new scent, taste,  sight, or a soft msaculine voice that stirs your senses beyond thought processing. His image won't leave your head. You take him to dinner with you and to work and home again. He's with you constantly and you're unable to think about anyone else.

The newness of a relationship, the excitement in a new touch, a voice, a whisper.The dreams of what could be, would be, or shouldn't be.

Tell me about YOUR Spring Fling(s)!

HUMAN TRAFFICKING: IF YOU SEE IT IN YOUR CITY, IF YOU HEAR ABOUT IT, IF YOU SUSPECT IT, REPORT IT.

SUCCESS STORY

• Susie, 39 years old, was in high spirits at the airport in Mombasa. She boarded a plane on her way to Germany to spend a three-month holiday, courtesy of her 'boyfriend' who had lavished gifts on her. All hopes of an exciting, wonderful stay in a foreign land were shattered on arrival in Germany, when her boyfriend/trafficker confiscated her passport and denied her food for several days before informing her that she would work as a sex slave. She was raped repeatedly, beaten, and threatened with death. After enduring gross exploitation, Susie used a cell phone to call police.

DID YOU KNOW: Human Trafficking

DID YOU KNOW:     In June 2003, the FBI in conjunction with the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children launched the Innocence Lost National Initiative. Their combined efforts were aimed at addressing the growing problem of domestic sex trafficking of children in the United States. In the five years since its inception, the initiative has resulted in the development of 24 dedicated task forces and working groups throughout the U.S. involving federal, state and local law agencies working in tandem with U.S. Attorney's Offices.

Statistics (as of June 2008)
     Children Recovered: 433
     Seizures: Over $3 million
     Convictions: 308
     Task Forces and Working Groups: 24

Investigations have successfully led to the conviction of more than 300 pimps, madams, and their associates who exploit children and women through prostitution. These convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences including multiple 25-year-to-life sentences and the seizure of real property, vehicles, and monetary assets.

YOU CAN HELP STOP HUMAN TRAFFICKING

KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK a possible trafficking victim:

• What type of work do you do?
• Are you being paid?
• Can you leave your job if you want to?
• Can you come and go as you please?
• Have you or your family been threatened?
• What are your working and living conditions like?
• Where do you sleep nd eat
• Do you have to ask permission to eat/sleep/go to the bathroom?
• Are there locks on your doors/windows so you can't get out?
• Has your identification been taken from you?

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Human Trafficking is the exploitation by force, fraud or coercion of vulnerable people for forced labor, domestic servitude or commercial sex operations.

Clues that may help you identify a possible trafficing victim:

1) Accompanied by a controlling person or boss: not speaking on own behalf

2) Lack of control over personal schedule, money, I.D., travel documents

3) Transported to and from work; lives and works in the same place

4) Debt owed to employer/crew leader; inability to leave job

5) Bruises, depression, fear, overly submissive

Opportunities

START GOING THE EXTRA MILE AND OPPORTUNITY WILL FOLLOW YOU.

Habits

ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE THE HABIT OF GOING THE SECOND MILE EVER FIND THE END OF THE RAINBOW.


It is a fact of life that most of us try and fail many times before we ultimately achieve the level of success that we desire. You can expect to travel the extra mile many times only to find fool’s gold at the end of your rainbow. But you will most certainly miss out on the great riches that await you if you quit trying. A superficial commitment to doing more than expected based only on what you expect to receive will not sustain you in the long term. Great achievement results from a commitment to do the right thing regardless of the consequences, and that commitment will ultimately lead you to the pot of gold at the end of your rainbow.

Napoleon Hill

Happy Valentine's Day

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint — is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.


One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Habits

Well, the New Year has come and gone. As usual, we’ve organized the clutter, cleaned out a few closets and washed the holiday linens. Just like we do every year. Just like a habit.


Habits are formed so slowly that most of us don’t realize what is happening until the habits are too strongly entrenched to be broken. Seldom can one pattern of behavior be eliminated without replacing it with another. It has been said that nature abhors a vacuum and will always find something to fill a void. The best way to thin out the "weeds," or faults in your character, is to identify those traits with which you are dissatisfied and replace them with their positive counterparts. If you have a tendency to lose your temper, for example, find a replacement for your anger. Neutralize it with a positive expression or affirmation such as, No one can make me angry unless I let them. I will not let anyone else control my emotions.

Napoleon Hill

We all do it. We make resolutions or even silent promises to ouselves that THIS will be THE year of fame, fortune, love, and happiness, etc. And at the end of the New Year spontaneity (January 5th or so) we start to FIND excuses for each and every one of our promses.


We all know we have to make our own successes. Or at least we should all know by now. We have to make things happen ourselves. If we want to lose weight, we need to eat healthy and excercise. If we want to get a book written this year we have to write it. If we want ot get it published we have to focus on that until it's done, going around, through or over mountains that may impede our success, doing whatever it takes in whatever we want to get it done.

No one's going to do it for us, no one's going to write a book for us or market a book, or lose weight for us. We HAVE to do it ourselves.

What have you promised yourself you will accomplish this year? How are you going to do it?
When are you going to do it? Where are you going to do it?

DO WHATEVER IT TAKES! JUST GET IT DONE!