RECLAIMED Tackles Truths Behind Your True Self

As an adolescent, Ray Cook's exemplary behavior as a straight-A student and model Mormon boy covered up a raging internal dilemma. Cook identified as a gay man, but was unable to embrace his sexuality because he lived in a culture that treated homosexuality as a liability.

Cook offers inspiration to readers searching to discover, accept and love themselves for who they have become in his memoir "Reclaimed." In the book, Cook candidly recalls difficult times after embracing his true self resulted in excommunication from his religion, and shameful status at home and in the community.

"I had to take full responsibility and accountability for what I believed in or didn't-no more blaming, no more playing the victim, no more following or subjecting myself to brainwashing," Cook said. "Excommunication was so taboo in Mormonism that even as prepared as I was, I felt lost. Without direction, identity, or support, I was afraid and lonely."

After his public shunning, and feeling ostracized from the family and friends he loved, Cook started a path of self-hate and isolation. These feelings took the form of self-destructive habits such as promiscuity, alcohol and extreme codependency.

This harmful behavior continued until Cook realized how acting out had caused him more pain and caused his family's silence to grow louder. In "Reclaimed," Cook helps readers start their own journeys to self-discovery by detailing how he learned to leave behind his dangerous lifestyle and embrace a healthy, happy life as a gay man.

"I thank the universe for the opportunities I had in order to earn my self-conviction," Cook said. "I've never known such power, nor realized that I was capable all along of determining my own path. This is the hope I wish to convey to my readers- the belief that life can be better."

For more information, visit http://www.rclmd.com/

"Reclaimed"
by Ray Cook
ISBN: 978-1-45258-244-3
Available in softcover, hardcover, e-book
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Balboa Press

About the author
Ray Cook, an Idaho native, came of age in Germany as an excommunicated Mormon. Cook graduated with a degree in modern languages from The University of Massachusetts and works as a flight attendant. He lives with his partner in Boston.

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