HOLDING MY HAND THROUGH HELL Officially Launching at Heartland Fall Forum

Well known for her hands-on work with victims of violence, and through her previous books, HOLDING MY HAND THROUGH HELL is based on the true story of Susan Murphy Milano’s life, written with the flow of a novel, in a style that will incite heightened awareness about hope, survival, abuse, murder, and the ripple effect of family violence on society.

The official publisher's launch of Holding My Hand Through Hell will be held at the Heartland Fall Forum, a trade show, conference, and celebration of independent bookselling hosted by the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association.

Ice Cube Press' Steve Semken, publisher of Holding My Hand Through Hell, and one of author Susan Murphy Milano's dear friends and fellow author, Jillian Maas Backman, will hold the official launch party on the airwaves, Thursday, October 4,  with a live broadcast on her popular internet radio show, Change Already!  

To listen to the LIVE broadcast CLICK HERE

Due to her battle with cancer, Susan is unable to personally participate in the launch, but is on the sidelines cheering its success thanks to her friends and large fan base.

Holding My Hand Through Hell is much more than a story of survival, the book is a re-enactment of how God reaches through the fire of chaos and brings peace and hope. A woman questioning her faith through a multitude of experiences finds herself continually in the midst of battle, within her own relationships, and through the thousands of high risk intimate partner violence victims whom she rescued and became a thread in the tapestry of her life.

"More than a memoir Holding My Hand Through Hell is like a true crime drama played out through the years of one woman's life."

The premise of Holding My Hand Through Hell is gripping, yet heart wrenching, and readers say they are compelled to follow Murphy Milano through her journey to the end. After years of torment and abuse, her Chicago Police Department father murdered her mother in the family home, and took his own life,  but Murphy-Milano decided not to be another crime victim, but to survive the worst tragedy of her life and make sure it didn't happen to others. Leaving a lucrative career as an investment banker, she spent the next 20 years in the trenches with other victims of abuse, like her mother, enriching the lives of each and every one who enlisted her help.

Often shunned by traditional domestic violence organizations, Susan Murphy-Milano became like a one man band, utilizing unique strategies specific to each individual she helped. Using her connections within courtrooms and the media, she found herself face to face with some of the worst abusers, often questioning whether God would bring her through the next crisis.

Join in the live radio launch party of HOLDING MY HAND THROUGH HELL on Thursday October 4 at noon central time, 1 eastern time with Jillian Maas Backman and Ice Cube Press Publisher, Steve Semken LIVE from Heartland Fall Forum. 

Ice Cube Press, a small publisher who still individually wraps each order, represents the heartland of America and it's authors, striving to bring Midwest living and the experience to the forefront in the digital age.  Ice Cube press is a member in good standing with the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association, and also participates in the Great Lakes Bookseller Association Trade Show, combining this year as The Heartland Fall Forum.

Jillian Maas Backman is an award-winning radio personality and author of BEYOND THE PEWS: Breaking with Tradition and Letting Go of Religious Lockdown, a San Francisco Book Festival Award winning book.  Her radio show, Change Already! can be heard weekly on BlogTalk Radio.

Murphy Milano Journal on Hiatus

While working through her current health crisis, Susan Murphy-Milano's Journal is taking a break.

Please follow her current blog, Conquering Cancer, for the latest updates on her battle with cancer. Readers who would like to assist Susan in covering her medical expenses can find ways to help at the blog, as well as alternative ways to contribute.

Susan's newest book, HOLDING MY HAND THROUGH HELL, will be released in October, 2012, and is now available for pre-order through Ice Cube Press and Amazon.


We expect that she will be back to writing when her energy level dictates that she's able.

Brother’s Blood: A Heartland Cain and Abel

Author and Professor Scott Cawelti grew up in a small, quiet Midwestern town in Iowa which was rocked to its core in 1976 when a complete family, including 2 small children, was violently annihilated in their home. Brother’s Blood: A Heartland Cain and Abel (Ice Cube Press) relates the true story of murder, anger and greed within a family considered pillars of the community.  A tragic case of intimate partner homicides.

Jerry Mark, Cawelti’s high school friend,  was a Peace Corps volunteer, lawyer, 4-H leader, vice-president of his Cedar Falls High School senior class, and certainly a most likely-to-succeed young man when he graduated in 1960. Sixteen years later he was convicted of four cold-blooded execution-style murders of his own family.

This book is not a whodunit but a whydunit. This account engages readers with the actual facts: the killer’s cross-country motorcycle ride, the landmark investigation in which the murderer was fingered in ten days, the trial where circumstantial evidence was used to make a powerful case against him, and his appeals which continued for three decades.

Scott Cawelti and murder victim Jorjean Mark’s father, George Colthurst, join Dr. Laurie Roth and Susan Murphy Milano  on The Roth show to discuss this case which has been compared to Capote’s In Cold Blood. Jerry Mark, convicted and sentenced to 4 consecutive life sentences, has served 35 years and continues to profess his innocence and use all the appeals afforded to him.

Wednesday January 18, 2012 from  7-8pm ET

Listen LIVE: http://therothshow.com

Join Dr. Laurie Roth and Susan Murphy Milano each Wednesday from 7-8ET

About the Author

Scott Cawelti was born and raised in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He attended the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), graduating with a vocal music education degree in 1965 and a Master s Degree in English in 1968,and a PhD in Modern Letters from the University of Iowa in 1978. Dr. Cawelti taught at UNI from 1968-2008 and continues to teach a variety of courses as an adjunct since his retirement. He has published two writing textbooks and edited The Complete Poetry of James Hearst, (University of Iowa, 2001).

www.imaginepublicity.com

The Keeper of Silent Secrets

No matter how many years pass after the murder of my mother, Roberta Murphy, I continue to be the keeper of her silent secrets. As described for the first time in a recent radio interview with Vito Colucci, -http://archives.warpradio.om/btr//Crimetime/060523.mp3

She lived in the silence of the violence just beyond the front door on Highland Avenue in Chicago. A vibrant neighborhood, where one could always find at least one fireman or policeman living on every city block. It was considered a melting pot of middle class families. The wife of a Chicago Violent crimes detective and mother of three hid her pain and fears from anyone who came in close contact with her. And if one looked closely enough, they could see the sadness and fear in her bright brown eyes. Her smile, infectious and disarming. Throwing off anyone who might want to ask if everything was alright. Roberta Murphy always made you feel and believe "she was just fine."

Throughout my childhood, although she had plenty of opportunity, my mother never once spoke a disparaging word about my father (pictured with her above). When he would do the unfathomable and beat her bloody, to the world and her children she held her head high, often making excusing for his violent behavior. As kids we were like confused animals under bright headlights. Unable to comprehend why she stayed. When I would question or ask "why does daddy do this to you"? Her response never made sense and I accepted our lives the way we survived as normal.

That "normal" would play like a national anthem in my own personal life as an adult. Keeping myself carefully guarded from the outside world so I could not be hurt physically by a relationship. I was already prepared for any emotional assault that would come my way, never realizing I accepted it because it was an invisible tattoo deep into the core of who I was.

As the keeper of my mother secrets I would never fully realize their destruction upon my life, until now. Those "secrets" were lifted like a celebration freedom dance in the street. Last week I finished the final chapter of the upcoming book "Holding My Hand Through Hell." The final copy is at the editors and is scheduled for release sometime in the fall.  What the book is about is described in the following :

Summary

This poignant well-written book tells the story of a police officer’s family and a daughter’s quest for justice long after the murder of her mother embracing a legacy of unconditional love and faith to triumph over a life plagued with unspeakable abuse and pain.

Based on a true story written with the flow of a novel, with frank wisdom and wit, “Holding My Hand Through Hell” encourages the reader to immerse themselves into this family's life and become an advocate for change. It will incite discussion, debate, and heightened awareness about hope, survival, abuse, murder, and its impact on our society. In the end, it will leave readers applauding this woman wondering how she escaped, sometimes at the eleventh hour and now 20 years later, realizing that God, after all was holding her hand through hell, delivering her from the evils of her life in order to save others.

http://murphymilanojournal.blogspot.com/2011/07/house-on-highland-street-crime-scene.html

Susan Murphy Milano is with the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education. She is an expert on intimate partner violence and homicide crimes. For more information visithttp://www.saferelationshipsmagazine.com/

Susan is the author of "Time's Up A Guide on How to Leave and Survive Abusive and Stalking Relationships," available for purchase at the Institute, Amazon.com and wherever books are sold. Susan is the host of The Susan Murphy Milano Show, "Time's Up!" on Here Women Talk http://www.herewomentalk.com/and is a regular contributor to the nationally syndicated The Roth Show with Dr Laurie Roth. Susan is a survivor- the daughter of a police officer family intimate partner homicide by her father who murdered her mother before committing suicide.