It was a starry foreboding night long ago now. Rather than the end being in sight, it was an unanticipated beginning, a miracle chance to start life anew. And I was scared shitless.
After having solved the mystery of my lifetime on December 31, 1991, I’d spent nearly the entirety of 1992 wondering ‘What do I do with this new information I just learned?’ No not a movie, it’s real; a murder (and its "extenuating" circumstances) that had been covered up by a major metropolitan (San Francisco Bay Area) police department. Although the facts should have been the most unnerving, it was the secret itself that left me sleepless. Night after night I realized in some way, shape or form that the truth NEEDED to come out. But how?
Storytelling.
Having never had any interest in reading or writing while growing up, I knew telling my story myself was the only option, a last resort of sorts. The discovery of the truth represented its central plot. A book. Fiction? Or non-? Didn’t matter. This story NEEDED to be told. The truth needed to come out. I felt wholeheartedly as if my life depended on it. On that symbolic day, July 04, 2009, THE SEVENTH RITUAL was released as a novel for adults, my fifth book.
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I don’t write anymore. I’ve told my story; it’s not locked up inside me now. As a writer I was able to turn my own horror into fiction. But it was those other four books that changed my life, those teen novels. It was through that process that I discovered my purpose in life, my destiny.
After having finally told the story of my lifetime on July 04, 2009, I’d spent nearly the next year wondering ‘Now what do I do?’
Storytelling.
I’d now like to share with you me new true passion (that also happens to exist as a portion of my Business Plan’s Executive Summary):
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As a socially-driven (on-site) after-school service to students, Stories About Facing Fear gets the ball rolling so that teens can solve their own problems, by themselves, together. Collectively, these students listen and speak to one another, via personal storytelling.
Across the United Kingdom two debilitating maladies dominate school life: bullying and Social Anxiety Disorder, two mutations of the same virus, fear. Also prevalent amongst U.K. teens: self-harm, self injury and suicide. The statistics for teen depression within the U.K. are staggering. According to the charity Depression Alliance, at least 19,000 U.K. children attempt suicide annually (one every half hour) whilst more than 2 million children attend medical surgeries with some kind of psychological or emotional problem; suicide is now the number one cause of death for 18-24-year-old males.
Stories About Facing Fear was primarily created to give teens an outlet, a means for the expulsion of their own stress, anxiety, anger and fear within a familiar, safe and peer-supportive environment. Rather than internalizing these destructive forces, students are encouraged not only to share but to “get it all out.” Storytelling possesses the power to heal. At any age it’s cathartic, clearing the path for all things positive.
As well as being a venue, a method, a means for storytelling that liberates, Stories About Facing Fear aims to remind teens of the fearlessness they were born with, the ability to live life fearlessly; while at the same time instilling an objective of remaining fearless forever. Within our blueprint (for success) is one core principal: the majority of all fears are learned; only a small percentage being natural.
Thankfully, many resources are available to U.K. teens. Most come in the form on on-line assistance and seem to address the standard issues affecting teen life: sex, drugs, drinking, bullying, depression, not fitting in, not being accepted, unsupportive parents, peer pressure, etc. Stories About Facing Fear has found that teens, many times, aren’t immediately comfortable addressing such weighty issues in the midst of strangers; they prefer to start out slowly, with less (judgmental) consequences attached. S.A.F.F. welcomes this approach.
Several (U.K.) teen-issue websites are for parents only. Several after-school venues are off-site and focus on childcare, not necessarily on interaction or problem solving. Stories About Facing Fear is the only after-school organization offering storytelling as its foremost goal. This unique ingredient features prominently in S.A.F.F.’s marketing strategy while seeking the attention of partner schools.
As a non-profit social enterprise, Stories About Facing Fear, is not a franchise business. It is a service offered to schools, with the bulk of the service provided prior to, and during, the first on-site S.A.F.F. group meeting. Beyond this point, students and school staff are responsible for keeping the group independent, student-led and successful.
Stories About Facing Fear is owned and managed by Clint Adams. Clint is a published author of four teen novels that share one common theme: 'life begins again when you have no fear.' Clint possesses a master’s degree in marketing, owns and operates his own publishing imprint, Credo Italia, and successfully promoted his novels and facilitated their accompanying No Time For Fear (teen) workshops internationally. All S.A.F.F. services/training will be provided by Clint.
Overall, Stories About Facing Fear is a simply-run organization with a potent message. If communication is the key to success for basically all relationships, why should storytelling be exempt from this process? Storytelling has existed since the beginning of life, at a time when it wasn’t called entertainment. It solved everyone’s problems then; now should be no different. In the present, statistics prove that teens are starved for a way to purge…in the least violent most therapeutic way possible. S.A.F.F. = a safe haven, a place for young people to be free.
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To say, “thanks” properly to those that have supported me in my writing is a blog in itself. Next time, I promise. For now, I hope you’ll accept and appreciate my newest venture; the reason I’m here. Until next time, as the late-, great Red Skelton (and my eternal childhood hero) said, “Good night and may God bless.”
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This is syndicated from CLINT ADAMS BOOKS blog.
To learn more about Clint's recently-released occult crime novel for adults, THE SEVENTH RITUAL, his upcoming non-fiction book, STORIES ABOUT FACING FEAR: THE INTERVIEWS and his series of teen novels, please visit his website: Stories About Facing Fear.
