Brenda Taylor has always been motivated to write. At a young age she penned several books and attended the annual Young Authors Conferences in her home state of Illinois. However, the trails of life and the belief that her journey would help and inspire others led her to pen the ultimate story, her own.

Brenda’s motivation stems from a life that saw her as an abused child, a young mother, domestic abuse victim, and later a survivor. The author paints the picture in her outstanding debut novel “Beauty For Ashes.” She guides the reader of the autobiography through a fast paced series of experiences from growing up in Chicago’s Cabrini Green Projects to being a young mother and wife, to her ordeals of abuse that culminate in a very grisly murder attempt and her survival from that ordeal. Woven in are a series of passionate poems that reflect her inner strength toward situations sometimes beyond her control. The reader will be pulled in by the no holds barred writing and encouraged by the resiliency of faith.

Today the mother of two, who finds time to pursue hobbies like furniture restoration and home decorating, has a passion for and is committed to helping the helpless, healing the broken, seeing the invisible, changing the unchangeable and doing the impossible. Acknowledging a higher power was at hand in assisting her through difficult times, she is a devout Christian who believes God chose her to inspire the lives of others through her ordeal. She has an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences and is currently pursuing her MBA as she moves toward yet another helping and healing role by fulfilling her desire to be a physician.