A riveting account of the events of 9/11, as told by an eye-witness to one of the most destructive and deadly days in America’s history.  As our nation honors the fifth anniversary of the horrific events surrounding 9/11, one woman shares her story of shock, despair, hope, faith, and strength.

“Character of the Soul is a powerful and griping story.  It is touching and moving to see how one woman survives against very challenging circumstances on the worst day of her life and in American history. It's a you-are-there daily account of a woman's unforgettable business trip that at first allowed her to see the very best New York City had to offer, then suddenly turning into a tourist’s worst nightmare....It does give us hope, to see that the human spirit can triumph no matter what happens around us.”  -- Michael L. Barrera, President & CEO, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

“’Oh my God,’ I cried.  Then I looked up at the Tower and saw it crumbling and disintegrating in mid-air as it pancaked in the most amazing way to the ground, screeching metal, and cracking, crumbling cement turning to powder, adding to the cacophony of sounds around us.  It disappeared right before me. It dissolved itself.  It was gone! “I heard someone saying, ‘No, no, oh, no!’ “It could have been me saying it.  I couldn’t believe what I’d seen.  My heart ached with deep sadness.  Were people still in the towers?  While I stood in shock, huge clouds of ash roared toward us, rising up like giant white balls, taking us prisoner and blacking out the blue sky.  All I could see was the gray-and-white haze as it surrounded me.  The many people trying to escape or outrun the ash were holding their heads, arms, or holding one another up. Some were wounded, bleeding, or being carried on stretchers…Everyone’s hair was matted with gray-and-white ash.  The ash was all over their bodies and clothes.”

When Carmen Munoz arrived for a weeklong business trip to New York City from Dallas, Texas, her experience as a tourist was typical.  After getting ripped off by a cab and getting shut out of a chance to see a Broadway play (The Producers), she enjoyed the sites:  walking through Times Square, Chinatown, Little Italy and taking in views of the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, and the expansive skyline of the nation’s largest city.  She even went to see the World Trade Center for the first time, admiring the size, décor, and prominence of the monolithic structure.  But her stay in New York City was to be anything but typical.

“I witnessed up-close the tragic events of 9/11,” says Carmen. “But I am here now to inspire, educate, inform, and love.” And she shares her harrowing experience and lessons learned in her new book, Character of the Soul, a gripping eyewitness account of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 that shocked the world and forever changed the United States.  Written by a survivor of that tragic day, Carmen Munoz took six revisions and over four years to finally deliver her story.

As you read her account of the events leading up to, during, and after 9/11 you can’t help but feel as if you are personally there.  Her captivating words hold the reader and give you a sense that you are walking with her through the cloud-covered panicked throngs, struggling to make sense of what is happening while fighting through the crowds to find space to breathe, to rest, to find safety and solitude.  There are several moments during Carmen’s harrowing experience that she’s brought to tears and many readers will cry along with her.

Carmen shares with us her first-hand accounts of:

·         Seeing the second plane hit one of the towers and explode into a fireball.

·         Watching one of the towers completely crumble just blocks away from her.

·         Being lost, alone, fearful, and confused – while separated from her family.

·         Watching the debris shower lower Manhattan like a ticker-tape parade, along with people leaping a thousand feet desperately to their deaths.

·         Watching – and joining -- the walking-wounded and shocked as they wander the streets as a caravan of police, fire trucks, ambulances, and National Guard descended upon a majestic-city-turned-war-zone.

“My book has the immediacy of me being right there, right where it happened,” says Carmen. “And I reveal my lonely and frightening struggle to make sense of what was happening and trying to figure out how to get to somewhere safe.”

She also shares insight on how to:

§         Reach out to strangers in a crisis.

§         Deal with the stress and strain of being disconnected from family during a challenging time.

§         Handle fear and feelings of hopelessness.

§         Survive during difficult times.

§         Digest the unbelievable horrors you’ve witnessed.

“I believe my book shows the depth of my character under the most devastating, shocking, and unimaginable circumstances,” says Carmen. “How would you hold up under such a situation?  I went from being a happy-go-lucky tourist to a survivor, in a matter of minutes. Thank God my family drove from Texas to rescue me from the worst days of my life. I am still healing.”

About Carmen Munoz: She owns a travel agency, www.isdcruises.com, sells Pre-Paid Legal, and serves as the publisher of Writers’ Choice LLC.  Carmen, who just turned 60, is afflicted with Polycystic Kidney Disease. Carmen's kidneys are now failing and she needs a kidney.  She is actively campaigning for a kidney because her immediate family does not quality to donate to her a kidney.  Therefore, she is looking for a miracle matching donor willing to offer her the "Gift of Life." Raised in Kansas City, Missouri, she resides with her family in Dallas, Texas.

Publication Data:  Character of the Soul: An Eye-Witness Account of 9/11 by Carmen D. Munoz; Published 2005 by Writers’ Choice Publishing; Trade Paperback; 160 pages; $21.99; ISBN; 0-9768973-0-9

Contact Information: Writers Choice LLC Publishing,  Carmen Munoz: cmunoz@writerschoice.net.