Why I've written a book about my childhood sex abuse
As a small boy I loved to ride my bike, play cricket and football with my friends and to laugh. I loved my life and I was always smiling.
When I was just eight years old, I was targeted by a group of well-organised, predatory paedophiles who subjected me to 18-months of horrific sexual abuse. I was too ashamed and scared to tell anyone what had happened ...not my parents, friends or family.
My memoir, A Small Boy Smiling, recalls my story of the trauma of childhood sexual abuse, teenage alcoholism, living with sexual anorexia and post traumatic stress disorder, and my subsequent healing during the last 25 years since I have been in recovery from addiction.
My search for healing inspired me to explore a variety of healing pathways including conventional trauma therapies for PTSD in the UK; to Spain where I enjoyed an exhilarating month long pilgrimage along the 500-mile Camino to Santiago de Compostela; to Brazil where I experienced profound healing on a meditation retreat; and on numerous visits to India where I have studied spiritual philosophy, meditated in ashrams, and trekked the Himalayas.
However, the catalyst for my healing has been the 12 Step programme of Alcoholics Anonymous. Since I joined at age 20, AA has become the foundation to my life, and I have now been sober for the over 25 years.
A Small Boy Smiling is my story of how I’ve overcome my demons to reclaim my smile and learn to love and laugh again as an adult.
I have enjoyed working in the world of entertainment for over twenty years, as a theatre manager, organiser of several prestigious international festivals, and of large-scale community-based cultural projects supporting children and young people.
My hobbies include spiritual philosophy, travelling abroad, exploring the countryside, disappearing into secondhand bookshops, drinking Earl Grey tea, meditation, dogs, cricket, rugby, and theatre. As often as possible I visit India.
A Small Boy Smiling is my first book.
