Off Season: A Novel of Healing by E.S. Ruete - Book Tour - Book Sale - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hello lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host E.S. “Ned” Ruete and his new book, “Off Season: A Novel of Healing”!  For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post – except the Available at Amazon picture.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Ned and to increase your chances of winning!

This book is on SALE during the book tour for ONLY $0.99 during the book tour!!  See below for more details.

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!

Off Season: A Novel of Healing

by E.S. Ruete

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GENRE: Fiction

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BLURB:

Dottie woke up wondering where she was and why she was so cold. The first thing she noticed was that she must be outside – she was lying on cold ground and snow was hitting her in unusual places. That’s when she noticed the second thing. Her skirt was pulled up past her waist and her panties were gone. Damn those bastards. It started to come back to her.

Dottie is now on an odyssey; a journey not of her choosing; a journey of healing, integration, and reconciliation that will involve her partner, her friends, her enemies, her church, her whole community. And her rapists. As she fights her way through social stereotypes about rape and rape victims, she also finds the strength to overcome society’s messages of who she should be and lays claim her true self. But the memories, the loss, the anger – and the fears – never go away. No woman chooses to be raped. I asked Dottie why she chose to tell me a story of rape. She said that millions of women, hundreds every day, have stories of rape that never get told. She told her story because she could. Because she had to. Because maybe people would hear in a work of fiction a Truth that they could not hear in any other way.

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EXCERPT THREE:

“Look to your left. That person has divinity inside them. Look to your right. That person has a divine spark. Now tap the shoulder of the person in in front of you. When they turn around, say, ‘Namasté. I honor the divine spark within you.’

“As you prepare to celebrate Christmas, as we prepare to invite one another to the communion table, think on this: Mary was an unwed mother, but she was not unclean. Joseph was a lecherous old man, but he was not unclean. The shepherds lived in the fields with the sheep, but they were not unclean. The Magi were heathens from a pagan land and probably not circumcised, but they were not unclean. And Jesus was born among the donkey dung and slept on top of a cow’s supper, but He most assuredly was not unclean.

“Let it be so.”

As Pastor Allen spoke, Mandy sat with her arms folded across her chest and her legs pressed together. When others were looking left and right, she didn’t move, and when she was tapped on the shoulder, she didn’t turn around. She just pursed her lips into a tighter line.

But those who sat near her thought they saw the least glimmer of a tear in the corner of her eye. Whether it was for her church, or for the Pastor, or for herself, no one could guess. Even Mandy didn’t know. But part of her, a part she was afraid of, a part she was trying to ignore, thought that maybe, just maybe, it was for Dottie.

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GUEST POST:

Why Did You Write About Rape?

The first question people ask about my book is usually, “What's it about?” Naturally. How are you going to ask anything else about a book when you don't know what it's about?

When I say, “ It's about one woman's healing journey after rape,” the second question is usually, “Why did you write about rape?” The clear implication is that a man isn't supposed to write about rape. There must be something in my life that makes the subject personal to me. Many people have explicitly asked if there was someone close to me who was raped. While statistically the answer to that question is undoubtedly “yes,” in fact only a few friends have let on that they have a story and none of them have shared that story with me.

However, that doesn’t mean that I have no reason, no place writing about rape, about a woman's healing journey. I remember watching the Civil Rights Marches in the 60s. As I looked at the faces in the crowd, I thought, “Until those faces are seventy percent white, we'll still have a problem.” Until half the people writing and talking about what men do to women are men, we will still have a problem.

Some people would disagree, on both points. Some would claim that both women and people of color have to claim their own power, that that’s not something white men can give them. And I heartily agree. But white people are the purveyors and main consumers of racist ideas, and men are the source of genderism and gender-based violence. Until we join them in their struggle, we will be passively or actively complicit in their oppression.

Joss Whedon is often asked, “Why do you write such strong woman characters?” In one media blitz he was asked 48 times in one day.  When he talked about this in his acceptance speech for one of his many awards, he shared many great answers. But when he gets tired of answering the question, he just says, “Why do you keep asking me that? I would think you’d ask 100 other writers why they don’t.” Why did I write about a woman’s healing journey? Go ask 100 other men why they don’.

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AUTHOR BIO:

E.S “Ned” Ruete is an author, speaker, group facilitator, women’s rights activist, LGBTQIPA+ ally, lay preacher, guitar picker, and business analyst. He is the author of Seeking God: Finding God’s both/and in an either/or world and Lead Your Group to Success: A Meeting Leader’s Primer.

Now retired, Ned lives in Niantic, Connecticut with his second wife. He continues to offer pro bono group facilitation and facilitation training to schools, churches, community groups and not-for-profit organizations. He has led strategic planning retreats for United Action Connecticut (UACT), Fiddleheads Food Co-op, and ReNew London. He is actively involved in LGBTQIPA+ advocacy and annually attends and presents sessions at the True Colors Conference. He is a member of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) formerly served on the Association Coordinating Team (ACT, the IAF Board of Directors). He was associate editor of Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal and has contributed articles to Group Facilitation, The Facilitator, and other publications on group facilitation and management consulting.

Off Season is Mr. Ruete’s first fiction work.

See his consulting products at MakingSpaceConsulting.com

(http://www.makingspaceconsulting.com/default.html) and his books at MakingSpaceConsulting.com/publish: (http://www.makingspaceconsulting.com/Publish.html).

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CONNECT WITH NED:

Website:

http://www.makingspaceconsulting.com/default.html

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/esrueteauthor

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/edwardruete

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16514232.E_S_Ruete

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34442620-off-season

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AMAZON BOOK BUY LINK & BOOK SALE INFO:

**Off Season is on SALE during the book tour for ONLY $0.99!!!**

https://amzn.to/2Koanu3

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Ned will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.