Interview With Inspirational Author Diane Young

 

             

 

 

1.      What is your book, Wilderness Woman: A Triumphant Spirit, about? My book is a powerful memoir which recounts my turmoil of childhood experiences and my journey towards healing.  The subtitle, A Triumphant Spirit – emphasizes the transformative power of love, faith and connection with nature.  I refused to let my wounded past define me!   When I turned twenty-six years of age, I was wise enough to seek out help with pastors and counselors.   Their resources helped me overcome the pain of a crumbling marriage – divorce – and deep loneliness. The heart of my story is FAITH – I’ve learned when I am weak, then in the Lord, I discover my strength.  I wrote to those who struggle with past wounds and desire to become A Triumphant Spirit!

 

2.       What inspired you to tell such a difficult story? I write to bring Hope to others thru their days of healing therapy!  I learned by sharing my story, that my load of buried memories grew lighter.  I gently began peeling my onion layers off – I began to see my jumbled life pieces fitting together –which began to make sense!  I faithfully kept chipping away at my pile of unjustifiable treatment.  I previously felt like I had been thrown to the wolves. I chose to TAME my dragons Not Slay them! In my eighty’s I experienced a miracle of EMDR Therapy, my assignment was to sit down and write out ten of the most traumatic events in my young life.  My therapist and myself decided which event to (go thru the pain) during each session.  My goal was to gain more control over each of my memories.  Quote:  from Winston Churchill   “We make a fellow person better by what we give.”

 

3.      What role has faith played in the restoration of your life?  FAITH is Forsaking All I Trust Him!The Lord, restored  my body, mind, and  my soul!  The Lord knew my love for His creation --  my safe place has always been, “In The Woods.”   As I look back seventy plus years - I’ve used all my senses:  Visual – smell – hearing – and touch-  as I walked thru those dark and winding valleys of buried memories.  God drops reminders of His assurance that He’s still with me!  One golden moment after a spring rain I was walking along side a shallow creek.   I glanced down and picked up an arrowhead.  It had been skillfully craved from a light blue marbled flint rock.  I called my arrowhead expert friend.  Yes, “this 3” long arrowhead would bring down an adult deer. The second golden moment while out on Christmas Day afternoon I had settled down and was concealed in hunting gear, waiting for  …And a trophy buck came strolling out of the field,  a  few feet from me  and I slowly raised my camera,  to get my shot.  A month later I was hiking near the same area and found the SAME buck’s antler.  I had compared it to my photo of the buck. WOW, God’s So Good!

 

4.      What advice do you have for millions of others seeking to find normalcy in life after being a child abuse victim? Let’s revise the last part of the question!  Yes, I was an abused child – I removed the SHAME Label, I ‘m now an OVERCOMER! There was no good family comparison.  The Fraternal Grandma was in charge of my grooming.  She kept the chocolate covered cherries in her ice box and an innocent, warm, and wiggle puppy! I was their possession – body, mind and my soul.  My advice is to have courage and quickly seek help!  It is very hard to trust anyone or just even trust myself!  The results were, Seeing myself in a new way. During my parents’ divorce at age four I was defenseless.  The judge took me into his chamber room.  He asked me which parent would I prefer to live with?

I chose Mom - the lesser of two evils.                                      

      
5.  Over three million child abuse or neglect cases are opened annually in the United States. Why does this epidemic exist today?  In my case the Division of Family Services was not established:  Now we have a Law – mandated reporters.  The number one urgent social problem is the safety of our children.  They are our future!  The border crossings expose women and 300,00 children are missing and being used for sex-trafficking.         Fatherless – child abuse effects each generation.  I began addressing my abuse early as an angry mom. I learned quickly as an infant to watch for the unspoken body language, from my family of origin. The evil caregivers concealed the Family Secrets.  Due to my abuse from an infant, thru fours old, I was vulnerable with delayed speech abilities! Here are common cooping tools used by abused children and adults…  To Fight or Flight – or to (FREEZE was my chose and stop breathing to appear smaller.

6.   Early in your life you learned an ugly lesson: You didn’t deserve happiness. How did you unlearn it? Very Important:  Thru therapy starting over forty years ago I started Talk Therapy which takes more sessions, to detangle my can of worms. Talk Therapy verses E M D R Therapy -- The Difference! In Talk Therapy were conversations – we worked on my thoughts, emotions and behaviors.  I learned new coping tools to change negative to positive thoughts.  At age eighty-one years young, I started E M D R Therapy which Eye   Movement   Desensitize and Reprocess. This therapy results in fewer therapy sessions (I go thru the pain of PTDS memories.). Goal: Relieve the stress of PTDS memories and emotional impact.  We selected ten major traumatic events in my young life.  I wrote in details of the ten traumas.   We confronted each trauma, in a one-hour session. The traumas were (blocked or STUCK) in my brain.  The EMDR process cleared the (blockage) to let the left side of my brain begin to calm down and heal my thought process - thus it helped with my depression and anxiety!

     
7. The abuse in your family was multi-generational.   How does one finally break the cycle?  To break the silence of abuse: “If you see or hear something odd – notify someone who is in authority.”  Call the police nearest the abused person.  See Hotlines listed in the phone book, call anonymously. Call The Division of Family Servicer, they are mandated reporters.   A good place to notify is their school’s counselors. I broke the abuse cycle by listening to my gut feelings.  I realized I was an abusive Mom Why am I so angry?   My rage was roaring inside myself and erupted onto my innocent sons!   I was a new mom at twenty-four-years old.  The week after giving birth to my two sons!   Looking back, I now realized I had postpartum depression. My migraine headaches were daily for the next four years.  These are Not excurses for child abused!I started reaching out and searched for help by talking with my pastors and shared my experience of uncontrolled  anger. I started “Talk Therapy” which helped address my anger issues.  QUOTE:  Helen Keller, was born blind and also had a hearing loss.    She was an author and speaker.  Her message was: “The world is full of suffering children and adults .  It’s also FULL of the Overcoming of it”                                                                                                                                                                                                              

        
8. How did your love of horses help you to mentally escape life? Now, I didn’t realize it at the time,but I was starting Equine therapy!  Being alone with my horses away from mom, was my safe place!  I watched and listened with my heart as the horses taught me how to heal.  We shared unconditional love.  Most days were uneventful!  I learned that Horses also have non-verbal body language.  If my horses’ ears were back – tail swishing = this says , “Lady,  back off!” My pre-teen years with my horses helped my self-esteem and confidence grow.  I quickly developed self-control.  Example:  When one of my horses stepped on my foot – I didn’t hit back. Instead, I took a deep breath and quietly signed.     Horses are a prey animal with acute hearing and watch for unexpected movement.  “Our goal in life is to SURVIVE.”  QUOTE:  “Inside every wild horse is a Gentle Horse!”  

          

9. How did the way you were treated as a child impact and influence how you raised your children?  Yes, my childhood impacted how I raised my children!  I was an Abusive MOM!  I was afraid to have children!   I asked myself, “Would I be an abusive mom?”       Some good news!  I do recall being a Mommy Bear!  Two different times - - One son was four years old -- and about three years later, the other son was seven years old.  Two pre-teen girls at two different times tried to molest my sons.   I used God’s given intuition - “a hunch” which stopped these events from happening! Looking back fifty plus years after giving birth to my twins, I had deep depression.  I lacked a natural “Motherly feelings.”   This night mare haunts me to this day!  This was NOT the kind of mother I wanted to be! Later I shared my honest feelings, which took courage.  I heard someone say, “That happened to me too!”  I later asked my sons separately, for their forgiveness! Now I’m a fun-loving kind Grandma.  I learned to re-examine my poor choices.  My good Legacy is now passed onto my children and grandchildren!

10. How does one get rid of a lifetime of resentments and setbacks without letting the anger consume her? My anger and rage consumed me as a result depression encircled my lonely body, mind and spirit! You see on my desk a can labeled, “Worms” and an onion alongside it!  Now let’s open the can of slimy worms and peel back gently a layer   and do “Talk therapy!” I’m looking out over the country side and see a farm (Silo) which I built out of cinder blocks which is VERY tall.  I sit alone inside – there isn’t a door to get in or OUT.         Loved ones throw their flowers and gifts over the top and drop silently at my feet.  Recently at eighty years YOUNG  -  EMDR  therapy guided  me to (go thru each P T D S memory  and as  helped me to see clearly how to begin to knock a hole into my walls.  FREE AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!

                 

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About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum