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NILES — On Wednesday morning, a Niles woman’s work 28 years in the making became available on Amazon.

“Unbeaten: Stories Untold” by an author going by the pen name of “C.J. Holiday” was published by Simms Book Corporation. The book is available both on Kindle and in a paperback publication.

“As I was writing, it was more of a therapy for me,” Holiday said. “The more I wrote, the more I realized other people could maybe benefit from the healing I got from writing my story.”
Holiday’s story will include details from her own experiences of abuse and battery in relationships.

“Throughout the story, the things that are told are things that people are afraid to talk about. Things that may have happened [to them],” Holiday said. “People are afraid of hurting other people. In reality, these things are a burden, and they hold you down until they are talked about.”

Holiday wrote her story down 28 years ago. She rediscovered her writing after a recent move.

She was speaking with a friend who had also recently published a book, which is when she discovered the opportunity to partner with a fellow Niles native.

“I’m a Christian. I believe everything happens for a reason,” Holiday said. “I have a friend in Atlanta, Georgia, from Niles. She asked me if I could help her getting a signing together.”

“Out of the Ashes: A Story of Survival,” was also published by Simms Book Corporation, and features an author who also grew up in Niles with the pen name “Lady Façade.”

As Holiday worked with Façade, she told her about her story.

“I kind of shared about something I had been through,” Holiday said. “[Façade] reached out to her publisher, who is now my publisher.”

Holiday will now be flying down to Atlanta to get a copy of her book in hand and will be interviewed, along with Façade.

“We are going to be interviewed with four other authors on abuse, different ways to heal, women’s empowerment and standing up for yourselves,” Holiday said. “We realized you can remain ‘unbeaten,’ no matter what happens to you.”

Holiday said the whole process, from beginning to end, in getting a book published was a much longer and more involved experience than she had previously imagined.

“I was so ‘green’ at this,” Holiday said. “I have had so much time, being off due to COVID-19. I had a lot of time.”

Through the writing of her book, and teaming up with Façade, Holiday said she is hoping for further healing for herself and others.

Holiday recalled a conversation with her eldest son, speaking about her worry of writing down her experiences. While the names are changed, her experiences remain.

“I told him some of the stuff that was in the book,” Holiday said. “He said, ‘the way I see it, if people weren’t mean to you, they wouldn’t be in the book.’”

She hopes the book will empower others in similar situations like hers.

“Nobody very attempts to hurt others, but once you know better, you do better,” Holiday said. “There is not any anger towards anybody, but I do feel there’s so much healing in writing it out and letting people know about it.”

Holiday and Façade are in the early stages of forming a nonprofit organization to benefit women coming through abusive situations.