Kissing Asphalt
by Delicia Niami
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GENRE: Memoir
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BOOK BLURB:
Resilience isn’t inherited. It’s a hard-fought skill forged by our ability to pick up the broken pieces of our past and remake them into something new.
Meet four-year-old Delicia, a poor but carefree child who is about to have her world shattered. Along with her seven-year-old brother Nile, she is kidnapped from her Los Angeles home by her estranged father and taken to Iraq, a foreign world she has never known. This is just the beginning of a string of traumas, hardships, and assaults Delicia will endure throughout her tumultuous childhood.
Now an adult living back in California, Delicia Niami bravely recounts how she survived the unimaginable in her debut memoir. Kissing Asphalt, the first in her memoir trilogy, ResilientAF, grapples with the power of resilience, acceptance, and self-love. She revisits her terrifying past with vulnerability, compassion, and the honesty of a true survivor. Hold hands with Delicia as she faces her childhood scars and learns how to confront her fears, accept her true value and identity, and embrace her unique gifts. It’s a multi-decade roller coaster ride that is the beginning of her liberation, propelling her to live an inspired life and embrace her full human potential—a human potential she knows lives inside everyone, no matter what life has thrown at us.
For anyone who has struggled with childhood trauma, Delicia’s unflinching journey through darkness and back to light will resonate. She has decided to share her story publicly in hopes that it will serve as a guide to the many who have suffered in silence and continue to struggle against the daunting weight imposed by childhood trauma.
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EXCERPT ONE:
It was a sunny day in Arleta, California. A layer of smog covered the sky, giving it the most illustrious orange hue. My brother and I were anxiously awaiting our five-day Easter vacation with our father. Our parents were going through a tumultuous divorce and had been separated for about a year at this point. I felt extremely sad because I never got to see my “dad.” I thought it odd that he cut all ties with our family, especially his own children. At only four years of age, I couldn’t understand the concept of a father wanting nothing to do with his kids. Imagine the excitement my brother, who was seven at the time, and I felt after almost a year of not seeing him. Now we were going to get to spend five whole days for Easter with our “dad.”
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GUEST POST:
Writing This Book Has Taught Me…
Thanks for the opportunity to be on your blog and share my story. I never dreamed that writing my memoir would have such a profound impact on my life. I learned many things along the way.
First, there were things I learned about my abduction that I never knew. Following my mother's murder, I acquired a binder containing various documents. In it I found receipts, letters, handwritten phone messages from FBI agents (remember the “while you were out” pads?) amongst other various paperwork. My mother lost all rights to us the moment our father got us onto Iraqi soil. She knew she had to involve whomever she could the minute that she realized we had been taken.
This binder evoked many emotions in me. It demonstrated the immense effort my mother put into getting us back, even resorting to threatening suicide in a letter to him, which ultimately convinced him to allow us to return home. That, along with the fact that she agreed to give him anything he wanted, including not pressing charges for kidnapping. Once he returned to the states, I didn’t hear from him again until I was 35.
Writing this book made me realize that I was actually a victim of abuse. I never considered myself abused. Even after I wrote Kissing Asphalt. I changed the original subtitle after my distributor suggested using the word “abuse.” Initially, I felt confused, but upon reflection, I came to the realization that I had experienced abuse in numerous ways. I knew I had been sexually molested, but I wasn't aware of the physical, emotional, and mostly verbal abuse I endured as a child. When you are a kid, you only know what your world is and if screaming and yelling is the normal in your house, that seems standard. You don’t know what you don’t know….
Along the same lines, I realized that my brother, Nile, had frequently subjected me to verbal abuse as an adult as well as throughout my life. Writing this book allowed me to see that I AM ResilientAF! I stood up to him and even stopped speaking with him for some time. Now if he screams at me or calls me names, I don’t take it. He's aware of it now and has been more respectful since I asserted myself.
This story taught me that my life was filled with trauma and abuse, yet I triumphed. Not only did I overcome, but I am a well-adjusted, happy person. That is why I wrote my story. I wanted to let people know that if I can get through my life, anyone can!
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AUTHOR BIO:
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Delicia Niami is an acclaimed memoirist and LGBTQ+ advocate, whose raw and edgy storytelling has touched the hearts of readers worldwide. Residing in Santa Cruz and an alumna of UCSC, Delicia draws inspiration from her own journey of resilience and empowerment. Through her memoirs, she fearlessly addresses topics such as sexual abuse, trauma recovery, and the importance of self-compassion. Delicia's work not only sheds light on difficult experiences but also empowers others to find their voices and embrace their own resilience. Her passion for advocacy shines through in her writing, making her a powerful voice for change and healing in today's world.
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Delicia will award a randomly drawn winner a signed special edition copy of the featured book, "Kissing Asphalt," via Rafflecopter during the tour.
We appreciate you featuring KISSING ASPHALT on your site today.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a very interesting book.
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