Thank you for inviting me Shelah!

What inspires me?  Besides my life?  My 15-year-old niece who at the age of 10 spoke up and broke the chain of abuse that plagued our family. I write for her. For my mother. For my aunt. For me.


I blog at http://walkingwithshiloh.com and I'm also a team member of Hip Homeschool Moms.  I am currently working on a memoir about growing up in a Pentecostal cult, dealing with abuse and eventually the arrest of my father for pedophilia. There's so many layers to my story that I'm in an "I'm overwhelmed" stage. :)

Hi, I'm Shelah!  

I'm currently editing/revising and re-working a Memoir I co-authored with my friend, Zenab Ibrahim. To say I was inspired by this resilient woman would be an understatement. In fact, although I've kept a journal all my life, I hadn't seriously considered writing a book before I met her! Here's a brief book description:

Hausa Blues is the memoir of Zenab Ibrahim, a young woman born to a wealthy Hausa tribesman in the remote village of Yoko, Africa. When at the age of 12, Zenab’s father expels his first wife from the family’s tribal compound, Zenab resolves to avoid the spiritual death that defeated her mother and her father’s other wives by boldly striving to experience an exclusive love and a modern, free life—like the Western women who captivate her on the village’s only television set. She dreams of a mutually respectful marriage, and when she learns at the age of 16 of her arranged marriage to a Hausa man who wears blue jeans and studied in Europe, she is hopeful that her role might veer off the traditional path of a submissive, servile Muslim wife.

But when their wedding is postponed due to a serious car accident, it’s the beginning of a series of events that cause her to believe her sisters were right all along—her life is cursed. Zenab’s naïve hopes for a transcendent love and free lifestyle begin to unravel when she discovers that her husband adheres to traditional roles and treats her like a contemptible servant, as does his mother. Although bad fortune repeatedly thwarts Zenab’s vision for her life, serendipity intervenes when she crosses paths with a night manager at her local bus station—a man from a scorned Christian tribe. This forbidden friendship empowers her to risk everything for the chance to realize her dream, igniting Zenab’s faith in both herself and others. It leads to her escape from the bondage of her marriage and to her discovery of a true and pure love that is more life-affirming than anything Zenab ever dared to hope for.

I blog about spirituality, culture, relationships, and books at www.theopenjar.com

You can also visit my author website at: www.shelahmaul.com

Looking forward to meeting you!