BOOK UPDATE

$1 from EVERY sale of "Walking Between The Raindrops" between 3-15-15 and 4-15-15 (paperback or eBook) will be donated to The Warrior Survivor Project PTSD. Help spread the word! Help the Healing!

On sale at: https://lnkd.in/bGbeJW3

Anniversary of Evil

Abduction happened here.


This Thursday, February 26, 2015, marks 7 years since the morning that turned our world upside down and changed, not only the course, but our whole lives forever. It's been said over and over that our lives can change forever in an instant. Most of us, I know I did, smile and nod as if we know what that means. But I truly believe that until it happens to you, we never really understand and, I don't think we really understand "the Grace of God" until we have only survived because of it. At least, I didn't.

I'll be posting several times over the next several days with photos (some never seen here or in the book) some video and excerpts from "Walking Between The Raindrops" to commemorate this infamous anniversary; ending where we are today.

"Walking Between The Raindrops" by Mary and Paul Roland - An American couple's true story of kidnap-for-ransom in the United States as directed by the most vicious drug cartel in Mexico. (Now available worldwide on Amazon.com)

Some reviews -

"Excellent read! This could have happened to anyone." Mark Flickinger
"Incredible true story! Very hard to put the book down." Lance Self
"Incredible story! So well written that I find myself rechecking the locks on all my doors at night. The cooperation of all law enforcement agencies restores my faith in the system. Very impressed with the dedication and capability of Investigative and District Attorney personnel in such a small community." Darlene Miller

Available Now

It's been a long time coming but the day has finally come and "Walking Between The Raindrops" is on sale in Kindle and print format at Amazon.com. ( Letting go of this book for public consumption is hard to do. I want to keep fixing. I want to make sure it represents truthfully, in every way, the heroes, the victims and the perpetrators. It's hard, too, because this is highly personal and many of these details have never been shared with anyone. We hope that those who read this book will look at the world around them in a little different way. We hope we will all be more aware - be more kind - be more engaged with the ones we love.

The support and encouragement throughout the writing of this book has been phenomenal. Every beta reader has helped to shape the published version. To you, friends, family, co-workers and the incredible heroes who saved the day and fought for justice we are forever grateful. God bless you all.

- Mary and Paul Roland

CORA - Four-legged PTSD Therapy

There has been so much written about PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) - soldiers coming back from battlefields, people who've survived disasters and people who've survived violent crime. These victims and their families endure the aftermath of whatever trauma has upended their lives in many different ways and for various lengths of time. Some never "get over it". Suicide, divorce and family devastation are too often the final chapters to these stories because there are few proven therapies and few trained therapists. Often, the therapy only focuses on the immediate victim - the soldier or the victim - and the people who make up that person's support system are either overlooked or, at best, given little more than a pat on the back.

"Dateline" aired a special three years ago - "The Desperate Hours" - which dealt with five kidnap-for-ransom cases from Mexico, Central and South America. All five men were rescued, either by ransom or by law enforcement, and all five had been married with families at the time of their kidnapping and rescue. Their stories were horrifying and miraculous. What stood out to me, however, was an end note: 'five years after they were rescued, only one couple remained married.' Could that happen to us? I knew the answer was "yes" because our family was splintering around the edges.

In searching for a therapy that would help Paul and I "move past" the trauma of his kidnapping, I found more and more articles written about "therapy" dogs and how these service animals produced faster and deeper healing than most traditional therapies, not only for the victim but for the victim's family as well. PTSD sufferers and their families were reporting less stress, better sleep and less depression. The more I read, the more shows like "60 Minutes" that covered the growing treatment and resulting success, the more convinced I was that no "person" could provide the therapy that Paul and I needed to move forward in our lives together.

Two years ago, we adopted Cora. She protects us. She knows when Paul is feeling anxious or down and soothes him. She "reads" us. It's amazing. She's taken over our home and our hearts, healing the wounds no traditional therapist ever came close to doing. She is love and trust and confidence in a fur coat. I am so glad that, in large part, because of Cora, more than five years later, "there's a smile on my face, knowing that together everything that's in our way, we're better than all right". (lyric from "Between The Raindrops"-Lifehouse and Natasha Bedingfield)

WALKING BETWEEN THE RAINDROPS - coming soon.

In the hands of professionals...

I have this dream that I'm watching a heart surgeon work on a patient. It's about the middle of a surgery, I think, because the chest is open, an ash-gray heart struggles to beat as stainless steel clamps and instruments flash like strobe lights above the patient's chest. There's a lot of blood and surgical assistants mop the brows of the surgeons. For some reason, I'm standing right there - gowned and masked - my gloved hands aloft in the "ready" position. I am not afraid. I am absorbed in the process. That is, until the surgeon turns to me and hands me the heart, the beating heart, and says, "Hold this for a moment. Don't let it fall." Then, I usually wake up.

Well, I feel like I'm the surgeon now and "Walking Between The Raindrops" is the heart. I've worked on it. I've massaged it. I've cut on it. Now, I have to "hand" it to someone else and let them do their part, trusting them to "not let it fall" but to make it thrive. Luckily, I'm confident that the editor that I've handed "Walking Between The Raindrops" to is going to help me do just that.

I'm so excited to announce that the manuscript is in the hands of a professional editor and once they're done, and corrections and changes are made, the book will finally be ready to launch!

Check back for more news coming soon!

Bad guys

Writing about bad guys in a novel or screenplay is fun. You can design them to fit whatever ulterior motive your story needs. They can be consciously evil or developmentally evil - your choice. You can describe them in terms your reader will immediately associate with "criminal" (think of Javier Bardem in "No Country For Old Men") or, for a "Dexter" character, endow them with smooth good looks and charm.  It's fun and, ultimately, can make or break your story.

Bad guys in true crime are already drawn. As a writer, it's more important to capture their truth as you find it. It's okay to point out their flaws and highlight their strengths, good or bad, but there is no room for redesign. And that's okay. True bad guys - the living, breathing kind - are the blueprints for all the fictional ones anyway. Digging into their stories, hearing their voices and learning the facts of their crimes makes true bad guys much scarier than any movie bad guys to me.

"Walking Between The Raindrops" - Texas Ranger Matt Lindemann and Williamson County Detective James Maugham question a suspect:

MATT: Who does the brother need to be concerned with - watching out for right now?

AB: Them people from over there from Mexico. Them fools don’t play.

MATT: So, you know what they’ll be driving? It’s not like – it’s not Jorge?

AB: Uh-uh. But, they’ll probably come in Tahoes or some shit, which is out of the blue, some low bullshit, shitty cars. Just f***ing go light them up.

#1 Hero

There is one person that, despite the personal cost to himself, was as much and, it could be argued, more, a hero than the deputies and the rangers and all the other officers involved. Taking nothing away from them, because they are most definitely larger than life stars in our world, the Number 1 hero in "Walking Between The Raindrops" is Paul Roland. He was terrified, yet he remained calm. He was ready to die but he kept holding onto God's hand, trusting that He would prevail. He never gave up and he never stopped trying to leave us clues. His strength throughout his captors' torture and threats is amazing. Torture and torment that would have destroyed most of us.

Paul Roland is Hero #1 in my book and in my life.

It could have been you...

On a crisp Tuesday morning, February 26, 2008, Paul walked through the garage attached to our apartment to get into his truck and go to work. It was no different than any other morning. The apartment complex, located in a growing area of north Austin, full of working families, professional singles and a few retirees was quiet. Kids roamed through the parking lot on their way to waiting school buses. People got into their cars and headed out to work.

At the same time, two young people, a man and a woman dressed in hoodies and jeans, hung out beside the mail kiosk across from Paul's truck waiting for him to open his back truck door and put his briefcase and laptop inside. While his back was turned the man ran up behind him.

"Are you Paul?"

"Yes," Paul said as he turned.

The man jams a gun into his ribs and forces Paul into his own truck, striking him several times. The woman then joins them, helping the man push Paul further inside and onto the floor so the man can climb into the truck on top of Paul. The woman drives the truck out of the complex. Shortly after that, Paul and his truck are turned over to others; others who demand $500,000 ransom within 15 hours or promise torture and death to him if they aren't paid.

Through the years people have asked lots of questions about this but mostly they ask, "Why Paul?" Maybe because he's such a nice person. Maybe because they hope that whatever the reason, it could never have been them.

Paul didn't know these people and didn't owe anyone a debt. He isn't a high profile politician or celebrity. He wasn't and isn't involved in drug trafficking. He isn't a journalist or high ranking officer of a global corporation.  He wasn't the first target of this gang. He isn't the last target of criminals like them. It could have been anyone...even you.

UPDATE TO THIS POST - I think about this picture and this synopsis of what happened especially when, twice a year, we are notified that two of the convicted kidnappers are being reviewed for early parole and then two more times when we are contacted by the parole board to learn of their decision. So far, neither one of them has earned early release and, with quarterly reminders, neither have we.


In "Walking Between The Raindrops," walk in Paul's steps as he's kidnapped, terrorized and moments from certain death. Follow law enforcement as they chase the suspects - sometimes only seconds away - to save two brothers from the hands of the most vicious drug lord in Mexico and agonize with the family who waits.