And the bad news is…
I’ve been notified by Balboa Press that some of the entries in my memoir may be considered libelous. In order to use those poems I would need to get notarized statements from the people who I mention as being abusive (or just generally awful to me) before we can publish the work. Here is an example of something they consider potentially libelous:
Best friend’s brother, Scott
Stumbles through my small, sick world
Lusty, crazy nights!
Well, as it turns out, I don’t have to have a statement from people who are dead. However, in another complication, I DO need their permission (dead for less than 70 years…) to use images of me that were taken of me as a child.
Therefore, I’m thinking I’ve learned a very expensive lesson here. Somehow celebrities can write how horrible their childhoods were, but I can’t mention the things that happened to me! I asked the good people at Balboa Press, “Then, what, pray tell, am I recovering from?” as the book becomes an uplifting tome as I find peace of mind through recovery. (I have received no response though it’s been more than week…)
At any rate, I’m not going to publish the book. It was a book I needed to write, but apparently not one I needed to publish. I’ll make a few copies for my friends and call it good (and I WILL use the childhood images…so sue me!)
Now I’ve got to notify all the friends who went to the trouble to give me copyright permission. I know they were excited to see their images in print (so was I!) It was a long and arduous process, tracking down people I hadn’t seen in decades, but I did it. Only to discover that I would also need to ask people to admit, in writing in front of a notary, that they had been mean to me ten years (or 50 years) ago! Yep, an expensive lesson.
So goodbye for now, Little Valencia…I’ll tell your story to a select few. But your dream of having other people see that recovery is possible…is dead for now. I’m sorry, dear little hurt child. You are nonetheless, loved by me and many others.
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