The Swetky Agency - Friend Fix

Submission Synopsis

Friend Fix
by Shelley Burton

Length:
116,000 Words

Genre:
Chick Lit

Woman's

Sentence:
Three loved and trusted people, three victims of child abuse. All would betray her, only one had murder in her heart.

Blurb/Logline:
On the verge of an emotional breakdown, Annie Delaney seeks professional help. Her search for inner peace and self-worth begins with the unveiling of a secret. Annie has hidden from reality for more than two decades. Now the man she once loved and trusted like a brother is dead--but so is her rapist. While Annie searches for answers and a way to fill the emptiness, she is oblivious to the dangers ahead. Hate explodes into the ultimate act of violence: someone else had to die.

Synopsis:

Annie Delaney is a wholesome, intelligent, middle-aged woman living in rural western Canada. On the surface she lives in a beautiful country home, is married to a hard-working locomotive engineer, and has a loving relationship with her daughter and grandchildren. Annie has the financial security to allow her the freedom to pursue her passion for animals. By all outward appearances her life is full. Yet on the inside, there is a deep spiritual void, and a need to fill that emptiness.

Annie Delaney's story is an inside view of the turmoil and loneliness the human spirit must endure in the face of long-term psychological abuse. Her inner strength and character are explored as she battles against the oppression and passive-aggressive control of a degenerating alcoholic.

Her road to finding inner peace begins with the unveiling of a secret, kept hidden for three years. Annie must come to terms with the betrayal and defilement of being raped by a trusted family friend, (Kelvin Meyniak.) At the time of the attack his wife Terraline Meyniak is Annie's best friend. Out of a sense of loyalty to Terraline, Annie is silent about the rape. She buries the memories of the attack, tells no one, including her husband Neil. When she discovers her loyalty has been sorely misplaced, she finds herself in a state of disintegrating emotional health. Suffering with insomnia, anger and depression, she is referred to a psychologist, Dr. Pamela Hollander. During counseling sessions Annie finally reveals the facts surrounding the rape and her relationship with Terraline. The revelation ultimately leads to the opening of a nostalgic Pandora's box, triggering a deep-seated need for emotional healing.

Through vivid revealing flashbacks, therapy sessions and the disclosure of her daily routine, we gain a clear picture of Annie's life—the depth of her loneliness. Her journey to the past, reveals her relationship with her husband, a product himself of a dominating and physically abusive mother.

As we take the journey with Annie, her painful secrets are coaxed to the surface. For twenty-three years she has hidden from the reality of her life, preferring to view her world through the haze of the proverbial rose-colored glasses. As we learn about the hardships she has endured, we discover the reality of her marriage and the depth of her character.

Her story is revealed, through a lonely, traumatic journey aboard a psychological roller-coaster. We learn that marriage, takes her from a happy middle-class city life, surrounded by family and friends, and thrusts her into the unfamiliar isolation of country life. As a new bride she finds herself living in poverty on a failing hog ranch, with none of life's amenities. Before the honeymoon is over, her life as a new bride is marred by insidious emotional and physical abuse. Intimidation has set the pattern for her life.
Twenty three years later, she is forced to ask herself, has her life changed? Will it change? How long must she endure the hidden secret of living with an alcoholic—a husband given to controlling rages and covert, verbal and psychological abuse? Can she forgive herself for allowing it to happen? Can she break the pattern?

As the layers of Annie's life are slowly uncovered, the true character of Terraline—her friend turned nemesis—is also revealed. Terraline's cruel and abusive relationship with her daughter materializes. Like an old-fashioned jawbreaker, the layers of both women's lives are dissolved, exposing the truth at the center of both their lives.
The sessions with Dr. Pamela Hollander help Annie search her heart for what is missing in her life— the source of her unhappiness. Meanwhile, she is oblivious to the danger that lies ahead, unaware that the sick and mentally deranged Terraline has a plan and murder in her heart. The old adage, "what goes around comes around" proves true. The repercussions of a lifetime of severe child abuse unfolds. In the end, justice and revenge are violently executed by the hands of an emotionally and physically abused daughter.

Bio:
Born in Edmonton Alberta, in 1951, Shelley Burton has been a lifelong sportswoman, enjoying skeet shooting, skydiving, Western Pleasure Riding, and English Riding—both jumping and dressage. From early childhood she has nurtured her passion for creative writing. She is an accomplished poet and designs custom greeting cards, has written for local newspapers, and provided custom writing for community businesses. She was graduated with Senior Matriculation from Ross Shepherd Composite High School and has received the Award of Merit and Diploma from The Writing School, Quality of Course, in Ontario.

Burton has worked as a Constable in law enforcement, and as a Crime Prevention Coordinator, managing seminars on both Business and Home Security. She has conducted lectures on Armed Robbery prevention and was deeply involved in the Child Identification Program. She is the proud grandmother of five beautiful granddaughters and has a great love for animals. She has has guided her black Labrador Retriever to four obedience and retriever titles. When she is not writing, she enjoys playing the piano and bass guitar.

The author comes from three generations of locomotive engineers to qualify her knowledge of railroad life. Her home on a pig ranch in Northern Alberta makes her no stranger to country life. When asked, "What is your biggest accomplishment in life?" her answer is, "Battling cancer and surviving."

Burton has a deep-seated desire to be a voice in the recognition and elimination of family abuse. To that end, she wrote the novel Friend Fix in the hope that the story will serve as a wake-up call for women living in physically and psychologically abusive relationships.

Film:
The graphic nature of the subject matter lends itself more to a movie than television, although the language and graphic scenes could be toned down for a hard-hitting based-on-reality television movie or series.