Sometimes, our writing can have unimaginable consequences

I co-ghostwrote a memoir called BELONGING by Sameem Ali. Sam was forced into marriage at age 13, had her first child at age 14, and ran away when she discovered her family was beating her son, knowing that they would hunt her down and try to kill her. Which they did...try, that is, obviously.

The book was very successful, and Sam now has a pretty big platform on the topic of forced marriage. She's very involved with the Forced Marriage Unit here in the UK, and last month, a documentary about forced marriage aired that included a segment on Sam.

If you've seen the breaking news tonight, three women have been rescued after 30 years of domestic slavery in London. And the thing that inspired them to make the call for help was....last month's forced marriage documentary!

HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT??!!!

My part in the story is indirect and small, but you simply can't imagine how good I feel tonight.

Here are links to the story:

BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25040741

CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/21/world/europe/uk-captivity-arrests/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Mr Flibble said:

As was the work of the charity.

Click to expand...

Thanks, everyone, for your kind comments.

I'm just quoting this one cuz, really, their part was much bigger and more important than mine. I'm just a bit of colour in the background; the women are the main story, and the charity and those who work for it are the real stars.

Still, it's really grand to be a bit of colour in the background.

Also, this isn't the first 'rescue' related to the book, it's just the only one I know of to hit the news....and boy, did it hit the news in a big way! Ever since the book was released, young people (mostly women but a few men) have contacted Sam to let her know that reading her book gave them the courage to leave an abusive or forced marriage, engagement, or relationship. As a matter of fact, we've just started work in the past few weeks on a follow-up book. Talk about timely!

It's a really huge thing to know that something you've written has had such a dramatic effect on another person's life.