Inked by Renda Dodge

Book Description:

Tori Liddell has struggled through her twenties suffering from undiagnosed Borderline Personality Disorder. She documents her radical lifestyle changes and shifting identity through the colorful tattoos that cover her body. By disconnecting from her family and personal history she has widened the rift created by years of absence, but when her widowed mother reveals her battle with AIDS Tori returns to small town Oregon to facilitate her care. At her homecoming Tori faces her own mortality, the inevitable loss of her mother and her new enigmatic neighbor's interest. Tori also confronts the realization that things and people are not always the way she remembers as she searches for the meaning of home in the rubble of her past. Inked is a window into the life of a woman struggling to overcome herself, her choices and a psychological affliction etched under her skin.

Author Bio:

Renda Belle Dodge was raised in a modern fractured family. She has lived all over the Pacific Northwest and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Renda has been writing since she was a child. Her stories began as drawings on stapled notebook paper, evolving into four first drafts and finally into her first completed novel Inked, released October 20, 2009. Renda's writing is emotional and personal as she strives to capture the struggle of identity in current America, and what it means to grow up and create lives and families of our own. Renda facilitates several groups for writer's fellowship, support and feedback. For the past six years she has been involved in National Novel Writing Month, and for the past three has been a Municipal Liaison for the Seattle area working with and encouraging writers of all ages and skill sets. She is also a member of the Pacific Northwest Writer's Association.

Excerpt:

When I was nineteen I decided to force drastic progress in my metamorphosis. I felt the process of change was moving too slow and I wanted to do something radical to push it forward. I elected to change my full name. I was surprised at how easy it was to do. I thought I would have to explain the what’s and why’s of my choice in front of a courtroom full of people, however, it was a simple process and legally I was no longer Antonia Olivia Preston. I walked out of the court house smiling at my victory, clutching the piece of paper that declared my name was now, by law, Tori Liddell. On the same day I changed my name, I had my first tattoo inked. A dark red star on the back of my right hand. It became a personal ritual to get a new tattoo every time I made a significant personal or lifestyle change. In addition to several more stars; I have colorful fish, hearts, skulls and Celtic patterns covering and circling my hands and arms. Every image has a story and significance to my personal mythos. A permanent outward testament to my personal revolution.

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