Writer Profiles

Caroline Cook

// Writer

CAROLINE COOK has written for pleasure as far back as she can remember. An academic article in a government magazine was her first published work. She then had 3 short stories published in 3 different compilation books before writing her own book: ‘Where There’s Life, There Really Is Hope’, through which she shares her experience of her daughter’s traumatic life experiences leading to drug addiction and then out the other side after an amazing encounter with our Lord. Caroline’s daughter, Valeria Tokoar, has written the other side of the story – her experiences – in her companion book called ‘Rehabilitated’. Auckland has been Caroline’s home since 2009. She and her husband, Richard, enjoy raising their guide-dog-in-training puppy, walking in the great outdoors and traveling. Caroline joined the Board of NZ Christian Writers during September 2018, serving as Treasurer and Membership Secretary for one year. Caroline returned as Treasurer for NZ Christian Writers from February 2022 until June 2023. Numbers are her other great love.

Photo: Emily Chalk

Where There’s Life, There Really Is Hope

WHERE THERE’S LIFE, THERE REALLY IS HOPE. Have you just discovered that someone you know is a drug addict? Are you heartbroken? Do you feel overwhelmed? If so, you are not alone. That is what happened to me. I thought I would have to bury my daughter by Christmas 2014. Snippets of mine and my daughter’s story aired on 60 Minutes and Seven Sharp in 2015 – current affairs programmes in New Zealand. Now you can read my full account of my perspective of the traumas that led to my daughter’s addiction, the impact of them on me and what I learned along the way. My daughter shares her story in a companion book. Together we have a miraculous story that has a happy ending. The great triumph after tragedy is that it is always possible to rebuild. Something more beautiful results. My daughter and I are closer now than ever and she is doing better than I could ever have imagined. Expect to feel encouraged, empowered and hopeful as you travel through the pages of this book. Where there is life, there REALLY is hope – the inside story of a mother of a P addict who survived the rigours and now wants to share the insights she learned along the way.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/valeriastestimony/
Writer: Caroline Cook

Private: Rehabilitated

REHABILITATED is Valeria Tokoar’s raw account of growing up with insecurity and anxiety and with a personality that found it hard to resist temptation. Always looking for the easy way out, Valeria made one wrong decision after another until she found herself in a world of drugs, alcohol and even prostitution. In an abusive relationship, and with the threat of her son’s custody being taken away from her, she knew she had to change. But change was not easy. How did she even become a person like this? And how was she going to sober up? Would she be able to resist a world of mental oblivion that was always calling her back? Is it really possible to get one’s life on track if you are so far gone? Rehabilitated is the story of how Valeria Tokoar managed to do just that. It’s a tale of love and loss, of family ties and of hope and faith in the face of everything.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/valeriastestimony/
Writer: Valeria Tokoar

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