Manassas Memoirist Bares Her Soul

By Reporter Kyle Ridley

Manassas author Syndia Payne’s memoir, Bare My Soul: MyStory," details her personal journey from being a victim of child sexual abuse to rediscovering herself through self-forgiveness, self-love, and self-acceptance. The Hylton High School language arts teacher merges personal prose alongside poetry in a book she describes as the “ultimate healing.”

Payne will appear Saturday at Phyllie B’s Unique Boutique in Occoquan for a special reading and signing of Bare My Soul.

Payne, a Jamaica native, began Bare My Soul five years ago as a fictional account of one woman’s struggle, but shifted gears last summer after moving to the United States. She switched to an autobiographical approach to uncover years of repressed pain and emotional anguish with the goal to break free of the chains of sexual abuse before she turned thirty. Ultimately, Payne’s candid writings helped her emerge a phoenix from the ash and she hopes her truth will inspire others to reveal their own story.

“The writing of that book closed a particular chapter in my life that should have been closed years ago,” she said. “It’s a new beginning.”

Ridley: What were the challenges in writing Bare My Soul?

Payne:The greatest challenge was exposing the experience of childhood sexual abuse and all the after effects of it.

Ridley:What’s been the most rewarding aspect?

Payne:That I’m free.

Ridley:Why did you dedicate the book to your grandma?

Payne:She has been the most important figure in my life. She has been there during my hardest moments... All that I have learned I have practically learned from her.

Ridley:You mention that there were many risks in choosing to write this book. Can you describe the risks?

Payne:Well in my profession as a teacher and how deep the book is... there are risks because you’re exposing the most intimate parts of your life... but again when it comes down to one’s own personal freedom, risks become unimportant.

Ridley: Aside from personal freedom, is there anything else you hope to achieve in sharing your story?

Payne: That other persons who might have experienced the same, or person’s who are going through difficult periods in their life-- who believe that they cannot at any point get out of it, will use this book as an inspiration to rise above it and to realize that yes, you can break free.

Ridley: Describe the process of writing the book.

Payne: The process of putting the thoughts together took five years... It started in the third person... I scrapped it over last summer and I took two weeks to write it... as I write in the first person it began to flow. I realized that over five years of writing in the third person I was still doing what I should have not been doing... I was running away from myself.

Ridley:Aside from your grandma, who are your other inspirations?

Payne: Portia Simpson Miller, the first prime minister of Jamaica, is my mentor. She’s an inspiration to me in so many ways. She’s a very strong woman and she has also always believed in me.... Her achievements, coming from a very low socioeconomic background to become the first female prime minister of Jamaica has been an inspiration to me.

Ridley: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Payne: I’m not a writer for money, I write because I want to inspire people. This book I hope will inspire people and will help other person’s regardless of their situation... to speak out. And the important lesson that I want people to understand is that… when there are situations that conflict our lives and we don’t deal with them immediately, that the after effects are very, very dangerous.

Payne already has ideas floating around for her next book, which will include a collection of lessons her grandmother passed down to her. Tentatively scheduled for release early next year, the book will take a “less heavy” approach and incorporate humor and Jamaica Creole.

Kyle Ridley can be reached at kridley4@yahoo.com

WANT TO GO?

What's up: Manassas author Syndia Payne book reading and signing

When: Saturday, Nov. 15, 6-8 p.m.

Where: Phyllie B’s Unique Boutique, 301 Commerce Street, Unit D/E
Occoquan VA, 22125

Info: (703) 490-4517