Do you ever really know a person? I mean know down to the core and back, through the heart and deepest layers of hidden secrets. Some say it's impossible. Human nature is a lunar landscape full of mysteries and unknown spaces that never see the light of day, or truth. We hide intentions and manipulate our way through life, getting our needs and wants met as best we can, sometimes at a terrifyingly high price with no regard for so called loved ones. Yvonne Anderson was a lonely, desperate single mom running a hair salon and looking for love. No more would she accept cold, lonely nights as the norm or throw up her well defended blocks to possible suitors. Meeting James Wood changed her life and turned it into a fairytale. Red flags be damned, he'd just been released from Angola prison, this man was charming, handsome, sweet, and everybody deserved a second chance. She just didn't know this was infinitely more than his second ride in the rodeo of relationships. He had already left a bloody, mangled mess of bodies and lives since his childhood, but swore love and devotion to our dear Yvonne and her little girl. They married and soon had a son, and the happy family thrived and flourished living the good life in beautiful Shreveport. For five years theirs was a union others looked at and were jealous. Yvonne and Jimmy had it all and her big family and circle of friends couldn't get enough of the blessed couple. But like a simmering steam cooker Jimmy knew he was close to blowing the lid off of the best thing that ever happened to him, and he finally did. Shocking truths came out and next he knew he's run out of town, told never to return. Life though always continues, and Yvonne began a daily brutally painful ritual of finding her new normal without him. For months there was no news, no messages, no word about her Jimmy. He'd gone off the radar. But then the call came from Idaho. Someone was asking her how she felt about her husband being arrested for kidnapping, rape, and murdering an eleven year old girl. Her world was falling apart with no one to stop the catastrophic destruction of her sanity, family and belief in love. But one thing she most certainly learned about lightning fast, and that was that pure, unadulterated evil exists, and she had loved and married it.
Steven Milner is a Psychotherapist in private practice in Houston, Texas, his home since moving there in 1988. He grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana and went to LSU-Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Beginning in boyhood, Steven has always been curious about the deep inner workings of the human mind, especially criminal behavior and abnormal psychology related to the nature versus nurture psychological premise. His professional interests are rooted in positive psychology and helping his clients thrive and flourish. He is a natural teacher and trainer, delving into multi-faceted mysteries of the human psyche, especially the effect of childhood traumas on personality development and maladaptive behaviors. He holds a bachelors, several masters and a doctorate of positive psychology degrees. Dr. Milner has been an Artist for many years, occasionally showing and selling his works. An avid trail cyclist, he continues to write fiction and non-fiction, create dynamic, multi-media art, and volunteers with several local programs fighting adult and child sex trafficking and abuse of people, especially the elderly, with chronic mental illnesses. He lives in a restored 1923 Craftsman in a heavily wooded neighborhood near downtown Houston with his Partner of ten years Tony; pet, cohort, and close ally JoeJoe, his foxhound; and their beloved Catahoula Cur Boudreaux. More books and stories will be coming out very soon from Steven!
