EXCERPT FROM BETRAYED - A romantic suspense novel | Page 6

Introduction
Many of the scenes in Betrayed were inspired by events that
really did happen, but not necessarily in the same time frames,
the exact way or to the same people. That is what we authors do
sometimes. We take experiences or events and turn them into
fiction—products of our imagination.
An earlier version of the story was told in two books written
under the pen name Arliss Adams, but when the publisher went
out of business it was a wonderful opportunity to consolidate it
into one book, change character’s names and do what authors
often want to do as their writing skills evolve—make extensive
edits and changes.
Many of the events that happened back in the late 1950s
and early 1960s were the inspiration for creating the fictional
tapestry of what happens in the first half of Betrayed. These
shocking things did happen to someone we knew although I
don’t believe it ever made the papers or news. They were
relayed to my mother in letters sent from Chicago. Although I
was a young teenager at the time my mother shared those
letters with me. Maybe she did this so I would understand how
important it was to be careful and evaluate people. I knew if I
ever became a writer I wanted to tell the story somehow. It took
many, many years, but at last my imagination took over and I
had enough writing experience to handle a story of this
intensity.