Denise: Before we touch upon your novel, I'd like to know about your life. Where do you live and what do you do 9-5?

Amey: I'm currently living in New Albany, OH, which is a suburb of Columbus. My day job is testing software applications, which I guess makes me a computer geek.

Denise: Have you always wanted to be a writer? What was your journey to publication like?

Amey: Yes. As a child, I kept notebooks full of character sketches. I never actually managed to write down the stories, but I wanted to know more about people. As I grew older, I never thought I would do anything with any of my stories, though. Then my friend, Kerry, dared me to write a novel, and Alison's Journey is the result.

Denise: Is your novel, Alison's Journey, a fictional account of a contemporary woman's life or a collage of many women's lives?

Amey: Alison's Journey is completely fictional. I based her reactions on things I've heard from women who have been through similar situations.

Denise: Tell us about Alison and the illusion she tries to project?

Amey: Alison needs for the outside world to think that her life is perfect. Having grown up with a mother who demanded perfection, she is afraid for anyone to know that it's a complete facade. After all, how many women get to live a life where they don't have to work, but can do it for fun?

Denise: What made her husband, Eric, abusive? Is it something from his childhood? Is he an alcoholic?

Amey: Eric, though you're not told this in the novel, was abused as a child. These led to his own insecurities which are taken out on Alison in the form of abuse.

Denise: What finally convinced Alison to run away from her husband and toward living a normal life?

Amey:Alison is lucky enough to have a friend who realizes what is going on and points her in the direction of a therapist. Even then, she doesn't leave, thinking that it's somehow her fault that he thinks she's cheating.

What finally sends her running is an incident like any other. Only after this beating, she realizes that she can't stay with Eric if she wants to live. It's really her survival instinct that makes her leave.

Denise: Where does she head to and what does she find? How does she deal with the transition?

Amey: Alison sets off without any destination. She winds up in Grabill, Ohio when her car starts making unusual noises, and decides to stay. It's a small town, very unlike her hometown of LA, and she has trouble believing that anyone would be as honest and trustworthy as the people she meets while she is there.

Denise: Must she always look over her shoulder to see if Eric has found her?

Amey: I can't tell you that. It gives away the ending of the book. Actually, though, Alison does spend a lot of time looking over her shoulder and fearing what Eric might do if he decides to pursue her. He spent so much of their life together threatening her that she just knows that he's going to kill her.

Denise: Can she start a new life?

Amey: It's a struggle, but any woman in Alison's situation has the ability to start over.

Denise: Did you do research on this subject before writing the book? If so, what did you learn about domestic abuse? Is there a rise in this type of abuse? Have shelters saved lives? Where can women turn to for help?

Amey: Women in all situations are abused. It's one of those problems that cross racial and financial boundaries. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't understand the problem, and think that women stay because they want to. This isn't true. In most cases, women stay because they don't think they have a choice, or worse, they think that they deserve the treatment that they are receiving.

Shelters definitely save lives. They give women a place to go that is safe, and in many cases they help them to start over.

In my area, the Center for New Beginnings is an excellent shelter. They provide housing and services for the women who come to them. They also participate in community activities to raise the awareness of everyone to this problem. The administrators are very forward thinking and wish to prevent this from happening through education. That is why I donate 10% of the royalties from Alison's Journey to this organization.

--Interview conducted by Denise Fleischer
Nov. 2005
Copyrighted by Denise Fleischer