Broken Wings: Real-life stories and advice that empower women to soar from unhealthy relationships to self-esteem.
Welcome to this call for submissions. The EXISTENCE project is closed and we are no longer accepting submissions for that project. We received over 2500 submissions for the Existence Project from which 12 poems were selected for publication.
I welcome your submissions for this ongoing project. The Broken Wings project is in its 7th month and we have received over 850 stories for consideration. I look forward to reading your story, but, must stress that you FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS of any emails we may send you as well as any instructions in this document.
I do look forward to getting to know your story and hearing your advice for this project. Please remember I sometime cannot respond to emails for extended periods of time. You can read more about this below. Please read all of this page before you write to ask a question.
Thank you,
Bryant H. McGill
Book Description
Broken Wings: Real-life stories and advice that empower women to soar from unhealthy relationships to self-esteem. Broken Wings is a book of optimism, hope, courage, determination and transformation. Through in depth research, and intimate real-life stories, you will learn from women who have found the courage to love themselves. More than just a book of analysis, Broken Wings seeks to build a foundation of understanding of the relationship patterns of abused women. It further seeks to offer women the psychological tools, inspirational real-life stories, and emotional framework to see themselves for who they are, and to guide them in articulating a plan for the transformation of low self-esteem into a strong, healthy and compassionate self-image of their greater selves.
How do You get started? What do You do first?
Send Chris your contact information. Send him your photo, name, city and state, email address and profile URL or web address. Why do I need a photo? Because I can remember a face even when dealing with thousands of emails a year, but I will not remember you by your name alone. Let Chris know what project your are writing in about.
First send me your advice. At least a well written paragraph. Make it pages if you like. Here are some topics I would like to see covered.
What constitutes a good relationship?
What constitutes a bad relationship?
What is abuse?
What do women need emotionally, sexually, intellectually and spiritually?
How are women's needs different from men's?
What is your background and history in relationships?
What toll has abuse had on you personally?
What have you learned from mistakes in your past?
What was the hardest part of your experience to get over?
What blame do you carry for your own mistakes?
What does take for you to be happy in a relationship?
What does true love mean?
What can you tell another woman who has a good relationship?
What advice can you offer to a woman who is in an abusive relationship?
Did you follow you own advice and inner voice when it mattered?
What tips do you have for long term happiness and health in a relationship?
Secondly and optionally, When you have more time, please send me your "life story," especially focusing on the parts that may have conditioned you to gravitate toward your behaviors and pair-bonding habits, either good or bad. Think about things and tell me how you got where you are as a person. I may also setup a phone call for an interview.
If your story in included or used for material in any way for publication it will be completely anonymous; it will be attributed to a fake name and city and any clues to who you are will be removed or intentionally distorted to protect your privacy.
Important Note on Contacting Me
It is important that you realize four things about communicating:
Read directions, and instructions. After going to this page do not send a letter that says, "So, what is this all about," or "what type of info do you need," or "how do we get started." or "I'm up for it, let's chat on messenger X." It will simply be deleted by Chris without an answer. Follow the instructions.
While I am very interested in getting to know you it may take a long time to get back to you. Now if I am available and inspiration hits me from something you said in your email or profile, you may hear from me quickly, or, you may not hear from me for six months or more. Please do not take it as a personal insult if I do not get back to you within a span of time YOU feel is appropriate. I receive over 5,000 emails, autograph requests and submissions a year, read submissions for several journals and publishers, and it can be very difficult to deal with. All of that on top of that fact that I am often traveling or deeply engrossed in research. Not to mention, I also have a family and life. So please, do not send a hostile letter complaining about not hearing from me. I will not get it anyway as my assistant will screen it out.
I do NOT talk to or deal with anonymous people. At the minimum I need to know your real name, city, state, country and your email address. If you are so paranoid and insecure that you can not provide this basic information then do not write me. I only deal with real people I can call by name. You know my name, have my photo and contact info, and I assure you I have greater privacy concerns. I like to have a photo to put into my contact manager. It helps me to remember people because I remember faces more easily.
If you are given any private contact information for me such as an address, phone number or direct unscreened email address, DO NOT POST IT OR GIVE IT OUT.
Questions and Answers
What can I contribute?
You can privately share your advice and experience that could end up in this book. Your input can help women out of unhealthy relationships, and rebuild their broken spirit, and maybe even save a life. I am looking for women who are willing to privately share their experiences and stories about unhealthy treatment in relationships, both physical and emotional. I am currently interviewing over 1000 women from all parts of the world, and gathering first-hand accounts of abuse and its effects on the heart, mind and spirit. I am also interested in how woman have escaped the abuse, and what they have done to heal.
Why are you interested in this?
My interests in this topic are multitudinous; some personal and some external. I have always had great respect for women and was raised to believe – as I still do, that women are special. It deeply saddens me to think of someone going through such horrors. Most importantly though, I believe that every person is precious, and inside, we are still like little children who yearn for acceptance, unconditional love and the gentle, warm affection than can only come from another soul who is whole enough, and generous enough to reach out, and give the gift of acceptance and compassion. I would like to be such a person, and am therefore reaching out with a hope that I could bring some degree of peace and happiness to another human being.
Can I help if I have not been in an unhealthy relationship?
If you are a healthy person who has always had healthy relationships then please share what healthy means to you, and how you maintain it so that others can learn from your wisdom and heartfelt thoughts. If you have had a friend in an abusive relationship that you observed or advised you can help. I am looking for honest stories from people willing to participate in private questionnaires, and in some cases, phone interviews. You can participate if you have never been in an abusive relationship by sharing how you have stayed out of them.
Why are you using a personal or pen pal service to meet people?
Well, these places are a wonderful resource where millions of people have their photos and profiles up, and who all want to meet other people. The people are usually single, and in many cases are coming out of a relationship that was less than ideal. They are easy to use, and allow geographic specific search criteria. It is easy to move through the 98% of people who have nothing to offer and find those with meaningful input who want to share. They allow me to meet people of my choosing, and these are a few reasons I like them.
It has been months and I have not heard back from you! Please read items one and two in the 'Important Note on Contacting Me' above.
Why should I share anything with you? I'm writing my own best seller. Please, never contact me again.
Front Book Cover Rough Concept (Rev 4)
I would like to thank the eminently talented photo artist Chad Marc Wolett for his work on the cover photo for this book. I have admired his work as a photographer for some time, and as with all professionals of his caliber, working with him on this project was a true pleasure. Please visit his site here: http://www.cmwolett.com/
Welcome to this call for submissions. The EXISTENCE project is closed and we are no longer accepting submissions for that project. We received over 2500 submissions for the 
