Noelle Blackwood is a pen name.

I could be your sister. Your cousin. Your friend. The coworker you pass in the hallway. The woman beside you in the grocery store.

I am one woman.
And I am every woman.

I am no one in particular.
And I am all of us.

I am an idea and a dream.

A dream of a future where our daughters do not grow up in fear of what might happen behind closed doors. A future where women recognize the warning signs of abuse before it steals years of their lives.

Because the truth is this: abuse often hides in plain sight.

The first step toward stopping it is knowledge.
The second is recognition.

These books are my effort to contribute to that understanding. They are written so the patterns can be seen, the signs recognized, and the silence broken.

If this story helps even one woman realize what she is facing…
If it helps even one person understand the reality victims live with…

Then these words have done their job.

This is the future I believe in.

Will you dream with me?

— Noelle Blackwood