Paige Dearth

Raped at the age of seven, I was a lost and lonely child. This experience inspired me to write my debut novel, Believe Like A Child. Growing up my family was poor, to help pay the bills, we took in my maternal uncle who sexually abused me when I was only seven years–old. As a child, living day by day, I had few aspirations and didn't dare to dream of my future, but I did make up stories in my mind to temporarily escape my living conditions, which helped me cope.

Living through the fear and isolation of my youth, I developed the ability to create stories that helped me cope and finally put them to use by embarking on a series of novels. Believe Like A Child, my debut offering, is the darkest version of who I could have become, had fate not intervened in the nick of time. It presents a fine balance between what lives on in my imagination and the evil that lurks in the real world.

My second novel, When Smiles Fade, was released in January 2013 and four months later I won as a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Book Awards in the thriller genre. I am currently working on my third novel and expect it to be published in early 2014.