TRAFFICKED – my first novel
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything, but I’m back! I’ve been busy taking care of my kids and writing a novel, which is being published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin, and is coming out in February, 2011. It’s called TRAFFICKED and it’s about a seventeen-year-old girl who comes to LA from Moldova to be a nanny and ends up (follow this with an -ing) working as a slave. You can find it on Amazon, though you can’t buy it until February – http://amzn.to/oj1Kqn.
As I’m sure you can imagine, much of this novel is based on the real-life stories from ESL speakers and immigrants I worked with in Los Angeles. Immigrants are second-class citizens in America and in many countries around the world and my students and foreign friends have told me many sad stories. If you’re an illegal immigrant, it can become a real life nightmare. I wanted to write a novel so that I could combine all the stories into one girl and show what it’s like to be trapped (stuck, kept in one place, unable to move) and feel like you have no way to escape (to get away, to run away, to go somewhere else).
If you are in this situation, I hope you can find it in yourself to reach out (talk to, call, approach) to someone – a neighbor, a friend, a police officer, and to know that things can get better.
If you are in another country and you are tempted to work in America or some other country, make sure you ask a lot of questions, like, “What are my wages?” “When will I get my first paycheck?” “How many hours a week will I have to work?” “When will I get time off?” “Where will I be sleeping?” “Will I be sharing a room with anyone?” “How many people will be in my room?” “What is the address for my employers and my residence?” “What is a phone number where people can reach me?” “Do you have any former employees who I can call for a reference?” If the people who are hiring you hesitate (pause) or laugh at these questions, don’t go with them.
If you have to get false documents, I know it is tempting, but try not to do it. You are more vulnerable (weak, open to attack) if you start out (begin) illegal. And finally, if you do get false documents, keep your legitimate (real) ones on your person (on your body)! Never give them to someone else or you will be trapped and it will be hard to escape.
My greatest hope by writing this book is that it will stop someone from going with a trafficker (a person who buys and sells people). And maybe it will save a life.
I wish you all the best (I hope you have a happy life). And now, to improve your English, start writing. Every day, write one page of journal writing in English. Send it to me under the comments. I’ll publish them.