ABOUT THE BOOK:
What woman hasn’t wished she could erase painful life events, challenging circumstances, and haunting memories?? But what if, instead, every woman had the courage to unveil the truth behind her story and look for the redemption on that path?
Patricia Bonelli’s “Owning Patricia”, is a raw, tender inspirational true story of a grown woman retracing her youthful missteps into darkness. Bonelli’s purpose of fully embracing her story, owning who she was in the past, in order to command her life in the present, provides inspiration for anyone who might themselves dare to illuminate a less than pristine past.
She writes, “By the age of 12, I found myself left to my own devices…With no sense of who I was or how I would provide for myself, I chose a series of degrading and desperate corridors to walk through.” Life as an out-of-control runaway living on the streets paved the way to prostitution and entrapment (“I had a seventh-grade education and the only way I knew how to make money was on my back.”); leading to being “rescued” by becoming the domestic partner of a drug runner. By age 23, Bonelli was a single mother of three, requiring refuge in the Witness Protection Program.
As Bonelli tells her tale of transcending her early circumstances to lead a rewarding life and successful career in law enforcement, and becoming the mother to her children that was never modeled for her, readers witness the unstoppable determination of a woman proving her worth and prioritizing connection to those she cares about.
At each chapter’s end, Bonelli has worked her memoir into a self-help format, providing thought-provoking questions for the reader to journal about. Bonelli is a seeker and a sage, showing how she transformd her life--and hopes to help others do the same--in a book that readers won’t put down, without learning life-lessons of their own along the way.
Bonelli invites readers into her story by saying, “Sometimes we need to relate our stories to one another to share the tragedies we have faced in life. We gain comfort in knowing we are not alone. There are universal struggles we each face with abandonment, rejection, loss, though through different unique sets of circumstances. By telling the unedited version of my story, I have realized, at a deep level, how much I have in common with women everywhere.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
An adopted child from birth, Patricia Bonelli lost the happy innocence of childhood early. Being gang-raped at age 13 was merely the beginning of trouble stalking her at every turn: A school dropout in seventh grade. A runaway living on the streets. A prostitute for a pimp. A single teenage mother. All of this, she had experienced by the tender age of 18.
In 1984, Bonelli began working as a parole/probation officer at San Quentin prison, counseling criminal offenders whose choices, like her own history, had led them to desperate places. “I was tough with them, but I also had bottomless empathy and caring for these people because of where I came from.”
Patricia retired after 20 years in Law Enforcement and relocated from San Francisco to Maui, Hawaii, where she wrote her inspirational true story of courage and redemption, "Owning Patricia: A Story of Breaking Free", about her life as a teenage prostitute and single mother, to her triumph over adversity, and how she forged a successful career.
In 1998, Bonelli became a certified Life Coach, Mentor, and Motivational Speaker. Bonelli believes it is possible to overcome any hurdle in life by combining faith and optimism. She has appeared on numerous radio and TV shows around the country. Her passion is working on the The Affinity Center, a charitable foundation for young women in need of safe harbor. Money from proceeds of "Owning Patricia" will be used as seed money for a retreat center where young women will be inspired, educated, and motivated about how to pursue their life goals.
Patricia Bonelli was born in San Francisco, California. She graduated from St. Mary's College in 1992 with a degree in Business Administration. She completed a Bachelor's Degree at Sonoma State in 1989, in Psychology and Criminology.
Patricia is the mother of 4 adult children, 3 daughters and one son. She resides in Laguna Beach, California.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Get to know Patricia Bonelli and her inspirational book Owning Patricia: A Story of Breaking Free at the I Love Authors Blog Talk Radio Show Thursday, August 26th at 9:00pm(est).
Join us for some fun and sharing with Patricia Bonelli as we discuss the book and how we all can own our life despite whatever life throws at us!!
CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:
Website:
Owningpatricia.com
Blog: n/a
Facebook:
Patricia Bonelli
Twitter:
@patriciabonelli
BUY THE BOOK:
Owning Patricia: A Story of Breaking Free, Paperback, $11.52, 238 pages.
CONNECT WITH I LOVE AUTHORS RADIO SHOW HOST MELISSA LIERMAN:
I Love Authors on Facebook
@ILoveAuthors on Twitter
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