If
you’re a fan of supernatural fiction then you will be captivated by this true
story about a spiritually sensitive girl and the path that led to her
possession. Part one of a two-part series, Saving Mary is the story of a
modern-day Mary Magdalene—the woman from whom Jesus cast out seven demons.
Deidre Daily is drawn to anything seemingly spiritual, desperately seeking a
spiritual existence. But inside this vibrant girl hides a terrified child who
sincerely believes she has married the devil. Through a series of spiritual
encounters her fear turns into reality, and she ends up possessed.
Deidre’s fascinating memoir relays her story from childhood to adolescence:
invisible eyes leering at her from the corner of her bedroom, horrible
nightmares tormenting her, and her desperate attempt to find God—only to end up
possessed. It is a candid account of possession from a first-person
perspective. This dark memoir brings to light an intricate world of deceitful
spirits hell-bent on manipulating and damaging an innocent girl’s life, not
only through her dreams, but also through seemingly every-day encounters.
Bio:
Deidre D Havrelock grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
where she eventually met her husband to be, DJ. It was DJ who initially noticed
Deidre’s dark state and worked to seek out someone willing to perform her
exorcism. Eventually, the newlyweds found their way to the southern hot spot of
Brooks, AB where Deidre began writing. From there the family trekked across
eastern Canada to Moncton, NB where they learned to love French fries with
cheese curds and gravy.
Currently nestled in the hills of Kennewick,
Washington, Deidre has two horses, one dog, three cats and too many rabbits…and
let’s not forget her wonderful husband and three energetic daughters. Her
memoir, Saving Mary: The
Possession chronicles her dark childhood and the path that led to
her demonic possession. She is currently working to finish book two of her
spiritual memoir, Saving Mary: The
Deliverance.
How did you come up
with the title of your book?
I called my book Saving Mary because just after my
exorcism my boyfriend convinced me to go to a Bible study. I had already decided
I would keep my possession and exorcism a secret. (It seemed all just a bit too
strange to talk about.) During the Bible study, however, BAM! A woman caught me off guard. She came up to me at the end of
the study and told me that God spoke to her. “God told me to tell you that you
remind him of Mary Magdalene—the
woman from whom Jesus cast out seven demons.” It seemed that I wanted to keep
my life a secret, but God didn’t get my memo!
I didn’t go to another Bible study for over a year. Those prophetic
people, you can always count on them to spice things up.
Give us a glimpse into a typical day in your day
starting when you wake up till you lie down again.
My day is pretty boring. I
get up and pray…I make coffee. I then crawl back into bed and either read a
book or answer emails. At that point my husband leaves for work. Then I wake
the kids up and get them some breakfast: yogurt, cereal and fruit. I then read
some more or answer emails. I then tell my kids to get dressed. I then make
lunches. (Bored yet?) I get a fresh coffee and read or answer emails. I then
remind my kids to brush their teeth, and then I get the kids out the door so
they can catch their rides to school. I then jump in the shower and then I
work. Work entails: reading, answering emails, writing, editing, marketing,
blogging, filing, sending out queries. (Sometimes my friend Lori Skypes me!) I
do this for the next five hours then I jump in my car and rush to begin the
cycle of picking up kids and getting them to soccer, basketball or softball.
When I get home, I feed everyone some kind of food I’ve managed to scrape
together. Then me and my hubby go for a walk and talk about going on vacation
to Greece. This is where I am right now in my life. I love being with my
family. Although, it would be great if I could do less driving.
Any other books in
the works? Goals for future projects?
I’m working to finish part
two of Saving Mary…The Deliverance. The story of how I
became unpossessed. I am also working
to edit a book about the femininity of the Holy Spirit, The MotherHeart of God: Biblical Evidence for the Femininity of the
Holy Spirit.
What inspired you to want
to become a writer?
My imagination, plus my mom
read a lot. At a young age I wanted
to write something for her to read, so I wrote The Bloody Dagger in grade three. I’m sure my story of a guy who
hides in the shadows and chops up people impressed her. I know it impressed my
teacher, Mrs. Whalen, who asked, “Don’t you have any happy thoughts?”
What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?
Oh gosh, my quirk is that I write in bed. I sometimes
get my laptop and stay in bed for hours! My husband calls it my office.
When you were
little, what did you want to be when you "grew up"?
I wanted to be a writer and
then a lawyer and then I just wanted to party (I sort of lost focus). I used to
pray, “Dear God, pleeeeease make me
good at just one thing.” I always felt I was exceptionally good at
nothing—probably like most of us, I suspect. My husband calls this “The Gift of
Insignificant helps.”
Excerpt:
Chapter Four
Curses
Me and Kelly, we make plans for
sleepovers all the time. We don’t ever sleep at my house. We sleep at her
house. I sleep over at Kelly’s a lot ‘cause I know there’s no little eyes or
ghosts creepin’ around at her house.
At Kelly’s house
we play in her playhouse. We sit on neatly stacked bricks, pretending they’re
chairs. She’s writing the rules for our new club. I’m colorin’ the membership
cards, tellin’ her about the little eyes in my house. She calls me a freak. I
then decide to tell her about a dream I had. The one she was in.
“It’s dark
outside. And quiet. The leaves in the trees aren’t moving, that ugly ol’ Fort
Road is empty and the street lights—they’re dim. Only the moon gives light. It
all looks like one of those old pictures, you know, shadowy and still. The only
sound comes from Angie’s shiny black tap shoes as she moves down the sidewalk.
They’re all, clippity-clop, clippity-clop,
CLIPpITY-CLOP, clippity-clop ’cause of the echo.
Angie isn’t dancing though. She’s just walking, wishin’ her shoes would shut
up. We’re all wishin’ her stupid shoes would shut up. You turn to Angie with
your eyebrows pointing to your nose. The way you do when you’re mad … ”
I tell Kelly about
the church and about the robbers and about how she hid and how I didn’t hide
very good. She says, “That figures.” And we laugh. Then I say how I was pulled
to the altar, how I was made to get married and how I was kicking and
screamin’.
“But nobody even
cared,” I say. I take a yellow crayon, start colorin’ a picture of a bee. Then
I tell her how I pulled the robber’s mask off.
“It’s hanging from
my hand, his mask. And I don’t know what to do now, and I’m wishin’ I hadn’t
done it at all. I look around for you, hoping you might come out from hiding,
but you don’t.”
“What’s he look
like?” asks Kelly.
“He’s cute,” I
say. “With short brown hair. He smiles at me, shaking his head a little like
he’s saying, ‘You know, you shouldn’t have done that’—pulled his mask off he
means. He feels weird.”
“Weird?”
“Yeah,” I go. “Weird. Nothin’ about him feels right. He’s
all wrong. And he’s got these black eyes that look and pull all at the same
time, so I wanna run away but I can’t.”
“So what do you
do?”
“I smile, just a
little, to say sorry. But I don’t think he cares ’cause he doesn’t smile back.
Then I spy around for you. I’m still hoping you might come out and do
somethin’. That’s when he starts laughing.”
“Why’s he
laughing?”
“’Cause he knows
you aren’t coming, and even if someone did come—it’s too late. We’re already
married. He laughs harder and harder ’til the laughing changes him.”
“Changes him?”
“Yeah, his hair—it
starts going all creepy. It’s red now.”
“What’s creepy
about red?”
So I tell her how
his hair’s turned into red-hot flames. How he’s laughing with his head tilted
back. His hair swishin’ and glowin’, all on fire.
“Does he do
anything else?”
“He smiles at
me—big, really big.”
“Why?”
“‘Cause he knows
I’m scared and he thinks it’s funny. Then his face also starts changing. Like
it’s made of Play-Doh.”
“Play-Doh?”
“Yeah, like when
he smiles the smile changes. It keeps twistin’ itself up all screwy-like.”
“That’s more like Silly Putty,” says Kelly.
“Sure,” I say,
“like Silly Putty.”
“Man, I wouldn’t’ve hid. I woulda beat the crap
outta him.”
“I know you woulda.”
“Geez, Dede.
You married the Devil.”
I nod. “I know,” I whisper. Then I say, “Kelly, can
you divorce the Devil?”
“Don’t know,” says
Kelly. “I guess you’d hafta find God for that.”
I put down the
yellow crayon, pick up a black one and write ‘Busy Bee Club’ at the top of the membership card. I’ve got a heaviness
on me now. Like when something’s gone wrong and it’s got to be made right. Just
then Kelly goes, whack! hitting me right in the shoulder; she tells me to
get up.
“Let’s walk to
your house, so you can get some clothes for the sleepover,” she says. Down the
alley we go where two big kids stop us and ask if we want a knuckle sandwich.
Kelly pulls her eyebrows down, says, “No!”
I say, “Yes.”
They punch Kelly
in the face.
Thanks for stopping by today, Deidre.
