Spotlight on why I began writing Mark of Amara

As most of the population knows, there has always been a stigma around sexual assault. The statistics tell us that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 18 men experience sexual assault, and 1 in 25 people have experienced rape (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/sexualoffencesinenglandandwalesoverview/yearendingmarch2025#:~:text=aged%2016%20years%20and%20over%20were%20victims,aged%2016%20years%200.5%25%20of%20males%20(129%2C000) ).

These figures may seem shocking. But they are only the ones that got reported.

And that is what should scare you.

It terrifies me to think about how many cases have gone unreported due to the lack of support from the police and the Criminal Justice System. Victims and survivors are not stepping forward because they have seen the lack of justice being carried out in these cases, if they are believed in the first place.

Mark of Amara was my baby, a chaotic ball of trauma, loss and emotion that held me hostage for eight weeks until I had gotten to the final page. (Yes, that's right, I said EIGHT weeks.)

There was so much more that went into the story writing process, and I want to tell you a little bit about my reasons and what pushed me to start The Obsidian Games series.

With my own report, I remember the feeling of defeat. There was no substantial evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to the court because it was a historical case. I knew that going in. But knowing and feeling it are two very different things.

I still wasn’t ready for the war of emotions after they sat me down in their little office inside the police station and told me there was nothing they could do. It’s just the way it goes.

It took about a month for those emotions to begin to bubble to the surface. The rage. The disappointment. The sadness.

And I needed somewhere for it to go.

I sat behind a laptop for eight weeks, with the knowledge from my Forensic Psychology degree, my personal experience, my volunteer work and training to be a counsellor behind me, and I wrote my little fingers off, not literally, otherwise there would be no other books.

Mark of Amara emerged from that bubble. A story full of trauma that people experience every day around the world, of loss and grief, and stepping through that black pit of despair, forged into something new. Someone stronger.

Once Mark of Amara was out there, it wasn’t long before I got messages that thanked me for this book. Messages that said it connected with them on a deeper level and made them feel seen.

These are the messages that stay with me. The reason why I wrote Mark of Amara and started The Obsidian Games.

Because everyone deserves to feel seen and heard.