Guest Post: Nina Burleigh, contributor to the anthology Dancing at the Shame Prom

Welcome Nina Burleigh, contributor to the anthology Dancing at the Shame Prom, and a post about being a woman in the Middle East.

Take it away, Nina ...

Hello?  Guest post, where are you???

Unfortunately, I have yet to receive the post.  Allow me to assume the position of the girl on the cover of the book other there to the right.  

Coming soon ... As soon as I get the guest post, you will see it here.  Right here.  In this big open space right here.

Wanna hear a prom story?  Okay, so I was never a woman of the Middle East but I did grow up in a South East-ern town of Pennsylvania.  And, get this, I went to the prom on a double date with my now husband - only, and this is scandalous, he was my at-the-time best friend's date.  And the guy that was my date is still a friend of ours and he had his first child, a son, on the same day -the same exact day - as we had our first child, a son!   

That story wouldn't qualify as shameful enough for the anthology.  Those stories have a lot more to them.  Check it out:

Dancing at the Shame Prom: The Stories That Kept Us Small 

     

Whether it was the one-night stand you always regretted, the family secret you never revealed, or the emotional abuse you endured in silence, there are some things you are so ashamed of you keep them hidden for a lifetime. Shame can hold you back from what you love, diminish your sense of self-worth, and prevent you from fully being who you are. But what happens when you finally relent and share that secret burden?

In Dancing at the Shame Prom: Sharing the Stories That Kept Us Small (September 18, 2012, Seal Press), editors Amy Ferris and Hollye Dexter encourage readers to confront this powerful emotion head-on. They gather together 27 gifted and talented writers who reveal, explore, and embrace the root of their shame, in the process demonstrating the strength that comes from defeating their demons.

In a brilliant display of bravery, these writers share their darkest fears, offer up their most vulnerable moments, and reveal jaw-dropping secrets. Journalist Nina Burleigh discusses the shame she felt at being coerced into posing for "artsy" naked photos in "Year of the Rat." In "Playing Dead Under the Family Tree," Monica Holloway shows how her husband's infidelity initially isolates her with the shame of being alone. Meredith Resnick's story "Original Bra" weaves together her complicated feelings about body image with her quest to buy her first bra. From spilling long forbidden secrets to revealing their innermost faults, these authors openly share poignant and life-changing moments of humiliation, embarrassment, and despair, along with the wisdom they learned from letting go of the shame that's been weighing them down.

Freeing, provocative, and audacious, Dancing at the Shame Prom is about divulging the secrets that have made you feel small so that you can stand up straight, let the shame go, and finally--decisively--move on with your life.

Paperback: 264 pages   
Publisher: Seal Press (September 11, 2012)    
ISBN-10: 1580054161
ISBN-13: 978-1580054164
Twitter hashtag: #TheShameProm

Dancing at the Shame Prom is available in print and e-book format at Amazon,  Barnes & Noble, as well as your local independent bookstore.