Big Voice Pictures, transforming lives through inspiration, empowerment and education

There are some people we meet on our journey through life that shine bright. Our lives light up, like the sun breaking through the clouds. Recently I have been fortunate to have been ‘found’ by Simon Weinberg.

Simon connected with me through Linkedin and through our busy lives we shared what we were working on. His work is amazing… Okay… Amazing doesn’t cut it (Giggles) maybe I really should be using the word “Awesome” Yep… That about does it!

If you follow my posts here then you already know that I love to share wonderfully talented people with you like Susan Cooper of Finding Our Way Now, Audry Hardy of Hope Healing House, Cheryl Therrien of Geek Girl USA, the list is endless but I want to add Simon to the list.

Simon Weinberg

He has created and produced documentaries with his partner Kathy Barbini, Boys and Men Healing while also distrubuting The Healing Years for raising awareness about abuse, healing and prevention.  He took Big Voice Pictures films worldwide through screenings at universities including Penn State during the Sandusky trial.

Simon has led keynote speeches, training and workshops. His work is truly inspirational to all who meet him as he tirelessly works to help people who have been abused. Simon’s main aim to bring light and awareness to boys and men who have been abused. This is too often a forgotten group of people as a lot of the main focus is usually girls and women who have been abused raped and tortured so often boys and men are overlooked. Society still has the belief that because they are male, they can ‘handle it’… Well guess what… They are human too…. I know isn’t that something? That males can suffer too? See, when you read aticles a lot of times they can be very biased against men. How many times did you read… “It was the boyfriend, the husband etc… who raped, molested, sexually assaulted…” The list goes on but what about when the tables are turned? What about when a small innocent boy is raped, molested, beaten and he grows into a beautiful handsome man… with serious issues? Many people overlook boys and men who are abused focusing mainly on girls and women.

I strongly recommend you go to the links I have placed at the end of this post and check out his website. The vibrant love that he has brought to his work in order to help and heal others. I for one have added him to my list of heroes for spreading the word on abuse and bringing his light to people who so desperatley need to hear his message.

As Simon and Kathy Barbini have shown and shared their work, they have garnered testimonials that most can only dream of from their hard work and dedication:-

“TOUCHING AND BRAVE” Alex Bottinelli, Resource Coordinator Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

“USE THIS FILM TO CHANGE LAWS” Senator Joseph Vitale, New Jersey Senate

“AN EXCELLENT FILM” Ernesto Mujica, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst NYSPA Division of Psychoanalysis

 ”BEAUTIFULLY FILMED” Chrys Ballerano NYS Coalition Against Sexual Assault

10 Minute Excerpts from Boys and Men Healing

So let me ask you… Has he become a new hero for you?

 

 Big Voice Pictures should be at your university, school, workplace.

Spreading the word on abuse and spreading the light.

You can contact them at any of the links below:

Big Voice Pictures

Facebook for Boys and Men Healing

Twitter for Boys and Men Healing

The reveal! Transformation from Abuse

I just wanted to share with you the new logo for the concert and show I am putting together.

It wouldn’t be so amazing if I hadn’t had the wonderful help from an amazing artist, Susan Cooper of Finding Our Way Now. Her artwork is one of a kind and will be applauding her everywhere I go and raising a glass of vino to her! Susan… Salute!!!

I chose a scarab beetle because it represents transformations (i.e. Healing from Abuse) and the Egyptians believed it was the ‘Protector of the written word’ and purple is the color of the Domestic Violence Ribbon.

It’s going to be on T-Shirts, caps and banners etc!!

So here it is… The big reveal! Ta-Dah!

I hope you love it too!!!

Related articles

• Transformation from Abuse.. My new online show! (clairecappetta.wordpress.com)
• Author Interview with Susan Cooper and D.R.E.A.M. Catchers (clairecappetta.wordpress.com)

Transformation from Abuse.. My new online show!

Yes! You read it right! I’m going to be a talk show host on an online show!… Okay now that you have finished laughing, you can pick yourself up off the floor… Thank you!

You see… I was offered several different opportunities one being a book tour but when I thought about it_ most of my book sales have been Kindle sales. I’m still waiting for Nook to approve it and I’m having difficulties with Kobo but I’ll sort it out when I can. Kindle though has been wonderful, in fact I love it! You pay and BAM!! The book is there! How cool is that?

I sat down down and thought how crazy a book tour would be when just about everything I do is online! Therefore an opportunity online would seem to be the most fun way to go and VIOLA! It slam dunked it’s way right into my lap. Now those of you who have followed me know that I like to involve as many people as I can into a good thing… Spread the happiness, so to speak!

So here we go!

Transformation from Abuse – The new online show!

I am going to be hosting an online show called Transformation from Abuse. It will be aired worldwide as the internet is… Well.. Worldwide! Haha! Oh boy, can you tell I’m tired!

It will air twice weekly from NYC and will have a Twitter feed so the at home audience can ask questions in ‘real time’. There will be a set with a sofa, myself and a fully trained psychologist. Each episode we will have a different guest from celebrities, politicians, victims, survivors, doctors, advocacy groups… to be honest the list is endless!

We are then going to take it on the road! State to State, Coast to Coast! (This is where Claire fulfills one of her bucket list items… a t-shirt from every State! hee-hee). We will be meeting and introducing people from all around the country who is involved in abuse issues.

I hear you “Not my bag!” Your saying well not the case as there will be humor mixed in as well as some amazing healing techniques incorporating mind and body!!

To launch this wonderful show we are going to have an awesome concert! Yes! Here in NYC! Very R&B, very soulful!

On this night we are going to sell t-shirts with the logo on it, not only that but each t-shirt comes with a coupon of a free download of A Broken Ring!!!

Susan Cooper

Now one of the coolest things to all of this is the logo… Which I’m not releasing yet but you know it’s going to be awesome when I tell you Susan Cooper of Finding Our Way Now has been involved! Oh yeah baby! I have an original Susan Cooper graphic!!  Awesome!! Oh? You want a clue? It’s purple!! And no it’s not a ribbon! Fooled you!

Actually, on a serious note… It is fast becoming an amazing adventure more than I could have hoped for. It is becoming much more than the book… It is now becoming a whole new animal… One of healing, one of getting the word out there about abuse, one of letting people know they are not alone, giving a voice to people who are normally too scared to speak out as they can remain anonymous with an ‘Escape Button” on the site. A way of bringing communities and people together. I want people to come away from watching the show feeling empowered, inspired and totally uplifted! It will be about us, about ‘We the people!’ together, making a difference in this world as best we can!

Here is the video I have put together, as I updated my Indiegogo Campaign to incorporate the show as every little bit helps!

Now before you watch it think about this! There is a slide who someone put together for me and I have done so much reading and writing lately that I became word blind and missed a couple of grammatical mistakes. Thankfully, Sharla Shults found them for me but before I correct it I thought it might be fun to hold a little competition! First one to comment and say where they are will win a free Kindle Copy of A Broken Ring! Ta-Dah!!

So with out further ado here it is! And please every dollar, penny, pound… gold sovereign will help the show if you could take a minute to visit my Indiegogo Campaign here. I thank you most humbly!

DCI Banks and Lydia Castle ~ It’s a small world!

The Black Bull, Otley, West Yorkshire

Last night I settled down to escape into some television drama after a day of writing, cooking, cleaning… and listening to a 17 year old deranging about how cruel the world is because she has the 2 day flu bug. As I wrote through the afternoon my mind had drifted back to a discussion online, which I was commenting on,. After all I had started it in LinkedIn when I posted the link to my post of last week: Could you you forgive and forget?. It has stirred some memories of old places and people. Some of the comments touched on how we react when we meet people or places that brought back memories of abuse. It dragged back a lot for me! Memories long put away in storage and I considered myself thankful by the end of the afternoon that being 3,000 miles away I was no longer reminded of the back alleyways or ‘Ginnels‘ as we called them. I didn’t see the marketplace or the old clock-tower, presiding over the people and the stone buildings. When dinner had been eaten and the dishes washed and put away, the 17 year old finally sleeping her flu away quietly and the smell of fresh coffee wafted through our home, we finally snuggled down on the sofa. We were warm and cozy with candles lit giving a warming glow against the snow outside.

DCI Banks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The television slowly came to life, searching the DVR menu we found DCI Banks and my husband clicked ‘Start”. I had been looking forward to watching this series which had recently started on PBS Channel, for us on Long Island it’s WLIW21. This is where we click to watch excellent Downton Abbey Eastenders, Doc Martin… Some of the wonderful shows which make their way across ‘The Pond” to us here in New York.

I had decided over the last couple of weeks that I liked DCI Banks… yes it was set in Yorkshire, but never too ‘close to home’.

Clock tower Otley

Until last night! The starting sequence, not a problem for me as the characters were set way up on the moors. No it was a couple of minutes in… A clock tower in an old market place suddenly flashed on to the screen and my breath was caught, stuck in my throat. I coughed! The clock tower, the market place, cobble-stoned paths with old stone buildings! My past glared back at me! A rising panic, my stomach lurching, heart racing!

Seriously?! This is what I told my self as I squeaked out the word “Otley!” My husband looked at me as he replied “Yeah? Baby? Home?’ Forgetting for a second that everywhere in England is ‘home’ except Otley. Otley never felt like home even when I lived there. In A Broken Ring,  Lydia Castle’s home town is Hoakley, but then I guess you saw that resemblance!

Now don’t get me wrong, it is a delightfully quaint old market town… just not for me. It reminded me of fighting for my life, running to a Police car parked by the clock… banging on the window hysterical asking for them to help me as my stalker advanced in the darkness, of fighting for my life in the dark alleyways which now seemed to be fully lit and not in total darkness as they were when I was a teenager.

Otley

 

As I watched the show, it followed the story of a girl who had been raped and murdered in a dark back alleyway… Freaking seriously!?! It couldn’t have been a different story line? I told myself it was drama, I told myself not to panic, I told myself that what I was experiencing was THE PAST! Watch it I told myself, treat it like another healing curve but I will admit that even after all these years, faces of people who had abused me still loomed in my mind probably because some of them are still real and still want to connect with me through letters and Christmas cards, which of course immediately get tossed into the garbage.

All in all I think I had four baby panic attacks as I watched. I was determined to see it through to the end of the show. Why? Because I’m now bigger than this, better than this! This will empower me even more. I am my own light and no-one can dim it any more! I can shout out now against abuse and violence, no longer the timid Yorkshire mouse squeaking for help.

Now let me ask you a question…

Did you see DCI Banks “Friend of the Devil“?

Did you read A Broken Ring?

Did you see a connection?

Did you hear Lydia’s accent come to life?

Could you envisage the smell of a cold Yorkshire day?

The sweet taste of escape for Lydia?

Related articles

• ‘DCI Banks’ TV Series: PBS’s Newest British Detective (theepochtimes.com)
• BBC Worldwide Inks Syndication Deal With Public Television Stations for British Crime Drama ‘DCI Banks’ (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)
• BBC Crime Series, DCI Banks, Premieres on WPBT2 (channel2.typepad.com)

For a limited time only… A Christmas Special!!

For a limited time only… A Christmas Special!!

Buy A Broken Ring on Kindle for $2.99 for Christmas

Please feel free to share everywhere

Love n hugs ♥

www.amazon.com/abroken ring

It has been submitted into the library of Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence,

SCCADV is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing safety and support services to victims of Domestic Violence in Suffolk County, Long Island , New York.

http://www.sccadv.org

Also with Audry Hardy at Grove City Purple Purse Advocacy Gathering

http://clairecappetta.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/a-huge-thank-you-to-audry-hardy-of-grove-city-purple-purse-advocacy-gathering/

Indiegogo is a go for A Broken Ring

It took longer than I thought it would… but then everything seems to take longer to set up than I think! I look at sites to be set up and think “Ah.. will only take an hour!” and four hours later I finally sit back with a “Phew, finished!”

But I did it!!

I now have an Indiegogo campaign!!!

Why?

I am looking to raise funds through crowdfunding to fund a publicist because I know a publicist will be able to get the word out there better than me. Firstly for the book and secondly which is what I consider even more the word of domestic violence and abuse.

The purple ribbon for Domestic Violence Awareness month

I have watched the news this month, seeing a lot of pink for breast cancer awareness which is truly needed and awesome but not a lot about the fact that it was also Domestic Violence Awareness Month too. I even posted on a Facebook of a news channel asking what and when were they going to cover it… when I checked back later to see if maybe I had received a response, even just a simple “Like” to the comment I found my comment had been deleted! The only comments that  were left there focused about how cable needed to bring it back :-/

This is why I have put up a campaign on Indiegogo to raise funds to get the message out there!

I really hope you can support me by sharing this campaign. Please tweet, Facebook, blog… raise a flag lol Anything! It would be so greatly appreciated!!

Here’s the link to it:

www.indiegogo.com/abrokenring

Thank you, Thank you… and by the way Thank you!!!!

It says it all! <3

Goodreads Giveaway for A Broken Ring

I wanted to share my Goodreads Giveaway for those of you who are members… Woo-Hoo!!!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Broken Ring

by C.L. Cappetta

Giveaway ends October 26, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Does your life need a full 360?

Last summer my Blackberry died and I was so sad. It had become my little electronic friend through to quote  the “It was the best of times. It was the worse of times” of two years. It rarely crashed and I loved the little keyboard. However, when I went to the store with my husband who had recently upgraded to Android, the store representative suggested I should change to the Android too.

Vin said that as my business had changed from PDF downloads and using Word for my finance business I should consider the Android as it would be a lot more helpful for the new media outlets I would now be using i.e. Facebook, WordPress, my website etc.

Reluctantly, I agreed. I say reluctantly because some of my finance clients had struggled with it when they first started to use it, I think looking back they struggled with the Qwerty screen being a tap and swipe rather than easy little buttons.

I took my new little friend home and started to try and develop a relationship with it, sometimes a frustrating one as swipe texting can drive me insane some times! Vin suggested I talk the text… but… seriously? With my accent? People don’t always understand me let alone a phone! LOL

I did however discover some really cool aspects to it though. We have Vin’s seventeen year old daughter live with us and he was worried in Summer as to where she was going, if she was safe, what would she do if she had an accident or something happened outside of her control… Would she be able to call for help in time.

This is when we discovered Life 360 an App for Android, iPhone and Blackberry. It’s an amazing little app! You register your phone number to it after downloading it to your phone with easy walk through instructions and viola! We are all mapped! Gone were the phone calls between us of “Where are you?” “How long will it take you get home?” etc. It’s a simple tap and it shows you on a map where we all are. It incorporates and a red tap button for alerts if you need help. It also has a “Check In” so family members can “Check in” with each other! And if that wasn’t enough you can register your phone in case it gets lost or stolen, it will be tracked and found! And it shows all your local police precincts/stations, Fire houses and sex offenders in your vicinity! How beautiful is that!?

Now for those who have been in difficult situations before I think it’s a wonderful tool and seriously wished I’d had it available when I was being stalked and threatened. It would have been a lot easier than running through town trying to find a Police car… Which one night I did, surprising the hell out of them by banging on their window screaming for help! They let me into their car and called the officer who was looking after my case, who was a sweetheart because apparently he was having dinner with his family! He told them to escort me back to my car and follow me home so I arrived back safe.

Sorry I digressed for a moment there… flashbacks can certainly jump upon you suddenly!

I strongly suggest this app for everyone and not just women, I mean everyone can find themselves in truly terrible and horrific times in life without any notice at all.

It has won numerous awards too, Mobile Apps Showdown 2012, The National Parenting Center 2012 Seal of Approval Winner, National Parenting Publications Awards Gold Seal Winner, RCRWireless News Innovation Award, Mom’s Choice Awards
Gold Seal Winner, About.com 2012 Readers’ Choice Awards Coolest Parenting & Teens Gadget Winner, The Webby Awards
People’s Voice Winner for Best Use of GPS or Location Technology, Facebook fbFund “Technology Winner”, Babble Top 25 Apps for Moms, Google Android Developer Challenge Grand Prize Winner, PTPA. Winner.

Tell what do you think to these apps? Are they a blessing or a curse? Would it make you feel more empowered? Or do you feel they are an invasion of privacy?

Rather than post up a video about it from Life 360, I posted this one from a father who loves and shows you how easy it is to use.

Link to it from here: www.life360.com

 

The ‘A Broken Ring’ Launch.. giveaway and forums

This has been one crazy week! Just when you think you have completed one Author page, there’s another.. and there are not two minute pieces of work either I found out! They are full of uploads and copy and pastes and… and… Phew!

Any hoo… I think I’m there with it… sorta… kinda… finally, but I’m sure after Sunday I’ll be saying “Oh Wow! I forgot…” lol

So here we go!

Sunday I’ll be drawing a name out of a hat on video and posting it here for one lucky person who ‘Liked’ my Facebook page to receive a signed copy of the book A Broken Ring… Yay!

I’ll also be hosting a Q & A on my brand new Goodreads page: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/79787-ask-c-l-cappetta-something

Also I have set up a new Forum on my website to discuss anything about the book. The Who, What, Why’s and Wherefore’s: http://clairecappetta.webs.com/apps/forums/

It has been one crazy ride slowly picking up speed as I go lol 

I so hope you can join me on Sunday because after all you were with me the whole journey of tears, confessions, freaky moments and laughs! I also want to thank Dennis Golden of IM-Safe for being so incredibly supportive, he is a true hero!

But we did it and just in time for this years Domestic Violence Awareness Month!

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_Against_Domestic_Violence

http://www.breakthecycle.org/

http://www.im-safe.com/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/03/presidential-proclamation-national-domestic-violence-awareness-month

 

It’s here! A Broken Ring is here!

It arrived today!  The book… My book! A Broken Ring

Vin asked me earlier to day while I was quietly waiting for it to arrive how I felt… A total mixture of excitement, trepidation of will it be how I imagined? Will it look okay? to the simple crazy of… Will it look like a book?! lol.

Well… it has pages with writing on it so that’s a start, I looked again… yes they are my words I chose to write it! It looks like it did online lol.

It is a book, my book and I’m in disbelief as now it’s reality, no more talking about writing or editing , even formatting,,, it is a complete book and to top it off, it’s glossy. Sweet!

 I checked the first couple of pages and there is the Dedication I wrote to Vin and my children.

Dedications in A Broken Ring

Secondly I checked the Acknowledgments and yes they are there too. The first to my father who was my rock, the second to my sister, thirdly to Dennis Golden of IM-Safe for his encouragement and inspiration and lastly but by no means least one of the most important people who have been in my life over the last few months as I traveled this journey… YOU GUYS!!!

Acknowledgments in A Broken Ring

Thank you so much for being there for me with encouragement with words of wisdom, support and love.

I love you and huge hugs to you!!!

(Please excuse the quality of the pictures so excited we used the camera phone so they are a little fuzzy! lol)

Me!
Holding A Broken Ring!