Book excerpt: Dear God, please let my dad die in his sleep tonight-pleeeease, don't let him kill me before he dies. As a child, Marisa's prayers were left unanswered as she begged God to save her from her abusive alcoholic father. Now she is convinced her nightmares are a punishment. God left her, and the nightmares are a curse the Devil placed on her for being a bad child.Finding herself alone in a world she doesn't understand, Marisa's fight for survival leads her to bullying others, taking drugs, and entering an abusive relationship as her life plummets into an endless chasm of bad decisions. Now in her forties and newly divorced, the nightmares return. Questioning her mental state and her ability to raise her kids, she begins a quest to find out the truth about the demons in her head. Marisa is astoundingly open about her doubts and concerns along her unlikely journey. Can she break the curse to find her inner peace and redemption? The Lotus Tattoo is a remarkably candid memoir of one woman's story of resilience after abuse and the fear, anger, and mind games she battles along the way.