About

Everyone has a story to tell

Rowena Fortuin is the author of Caged, a story about finding silver linings, and Stitches and Strings, a book about learning to embrace your sensitivity. Rowena is passionate about stories and believes that everybody has one to tell. Through words she hopes to evoke a sense of empathy.

Book and Film Recommendations

Looking for something to read and watch? Here are some great movies and books to check out. 🌼

Mignon "Mossie" Van Wyk

A young girl caught in a love triangle tries to cope with the anxiety of being a teenager in a world of promise, happiness, family and friendship.

One Hour Photo

Sy Parrish runs a one-hour photo developing lab in a small mall. He's a perfectionist about his work and generous to his regular customers, including a typical family headed by Will Yorkin. Over the years, he's seen their family grow through their photographs, but when he sees evidence of Yorkin being unfaithful, coupled with a threat to his position, his already precarious mental state tips over the edge.

Forrest Gump

Slow-witted Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) has never thought of himself as disadvantaged, and thanks to his supportive mother (Sally Field), he leads anything but a restricted life. Whether dominating on the gridiron as a college football star, fighting in Vietnam or captaining a shrimp boat, Forrest inspires people with his childlike optimism. But one person Forrest cares about most may be the most difficult to save -- his childhood love, the sweet but troubled Jenny (Robin Wright).

Canvas

In a small coastal town, contractor John Marino (Joe Pantoliano) struggles to understand his wife, Mary (Marcia Gay Harden), when she starts behaving strangely. After a doctor's visit, they discover she has schizophrenia. Nothing the doctors do helps, however, so John must live with his wife's incurable mental illness, while also helping their confused child Chris (Devon Gearhart) make sense of it. But as Mary's mental state declines, John finds an unexpected source of comfort in his son.

Everything Everything

Maddy (Amandla Stenberg) is a smart, curious and imaginative 18-year-old who is unable to leave the protection of the hermetically-sealed environment within her house because of an illness. Olly (Nick Robinson) is the boy next door who won't let that stop them from being together. Gazing through windows and talking only through texts, Maddy and Olly form a deep bond that leads them to risk everything to be together, even if it means losing everything.

Misery

After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.

The Lucky Cat(Black Cat #1) - A Salem Massachusetts Mini Mystery by Lisa Shea

Kathy Taylor had weathered eight rough years as a black female police officer in Boston - but enough was enough. She turned in her badge, moved up north, and set up shop as a private investigator in historic Salem, Massachusetts. Now she's surrounded by wiccans and herbalists, by crystal shops and psychic pizza-deliverymen.

And her first client has just stepped in the door.

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Orange Is the New Black meets Walter Dean Myer’s Monster in this gritty, twisty, and haunting debut by Tiffany D. Jackson about a girl convicted of murder seeking the truth while surviving life in a group home.

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it?

There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary’s fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?

Flight of a Starling by Lisa Heathfield

Best friends and sisters Lo and Rita have spent their lives flying through the air on the trapeze under the lights in the big top. The nomadic circus community is a close-knit family, but those bonds are threatened as secrets and lies surface and Lo finds forbidden love with a boy from outside the circus. The two sisters find themselves at odds with each other for the first time as they both search for love and test the limits of family loyalty. Lo must face up to a family member's deception and navigate her newfound love. Will she manage to land on her feet?

The Trouble With Flying by Rochelle Morgan

Sarah doesn’t talk to strangers. It’s awkward, stressful, and there’s the uncontrollable blushing to worry about. When she boards a plane to fly home after an overseas holiday, she plans to stick her nose in a book and ignore everyone around her.

Aiden’s terrified of flying, and it’s his first time on a plane. If he can distract himself by talking non-stop for the entire flight, he will. Too bad for Sarah he’s sitting right next to her.Against all Sarah’s expectations, she ends up enjoying Aiden’s company. They laugh, argue, concoct stories about other passengers, and accidentally hold hands during the turbulence. When the time comes to say goodbye, Sarah can’t help the crazy thought that she shouldn’t let Aiden go.

Then he kisses her.

And then he’s gone.

With her world turning upside down in more ways than one, Sarah has to make a decision: stick with the safe, predictable life that’s been mapped out for her, or find the courage to go after what she truly wants.

The Way Home by Ruth Hartzler

The four Miller sisters are injured when their buggy is hit by a car driven by Noah Hostetler who is on rumspringa.The oldest sister, Hannah, is the first to recover physically, but is left with a fear of buggies and worse still, unforgiveness in her heart for Noah.Can Hannah recapture the love she once felt for Noah?Will love be enough to heal the wounds of the past? The Way Home is a happy, feel-good Amish Christian romance.

Nobody Knows But You by Anica Mrose Rissi

The nail-bitingly intense story of a summer at camp that ends in a disturbing death—and depicts a powerful friendship that won’t ever be forgotten. Perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying and Broken Things.

Kayla is still holding on to Lainie’s secrets.

After all, Lainie is Kayla’s best friend. And despite Lainie’s painful obsession with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, and the ways he has tried to come between them, friends don’t spill each other’s secrets. They don’t betray each other’s trust.

The murder at the end of the summer doesn’t change all that.

Besides—Kayla knows that the truth is not the whole story.

Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield

June's life at home with her stepmother and stepsister is a dark one—and a secret one. Not even her dad knows the truth, and she can't find the words to tell anyone else. She's trapped like a butterfly in a net. Then June meets Blister, a boy from a large, loving, chaotic family. In him, she finds a glimmer of hope that perhaps she can find a way to fly far, far away. Because she deserves her freedom. Doesn't she?

Inspiring Quote

My Mother's Keeper - Releasing September 1!

Pre-order my latest release, available in ebook retailers

OH HEY, FOR BEST VIEWING, YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR PHONE