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Official Release on February 25, 2026
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With gripping honesty and emotional depth, this memoir tells a story of abuse, addiction, sex work, and the long road to self-forgiveness.
Far from a polished redemption arc, this memoir is a reclamation. It is not about triumph as much as truth—about speaking what has been silenced, and naming the pain others are still living in.
“This isn’t a hero’s journey. It’s a human one,” Sharp says.
“This is for the ones still using, still surviving, still believing they’re too far gone.
I wrote it to say: you’re not.”
Dreams Are For The Dead is a raw, honest and deeply personal memoir by Author S. Elias W Sharp about surviving childhood abuse and finding a way out of addiction. Told with unflinching clarity and emotional truth, this book traces the author's journey through trauma, self-destruction, and ultimately, healing.
With vivid scenes, painful memories, and moments of unexpected grace, Sharp invites readers into the silence he carried for years- and the words he finally found to break it. For anyone who's lived through darkness and wondered if change was possible, Dreams Are For The Dead is a powerful reminder: even the most damaged stories can still be told- and still be redeemed.
Born and raised in the American South, Sharp's story unfolds in a world where silence was survival, and shame was stitched into the seams of everyday life. Through the pain of abuse and the isolating weight in a place that demanded conformity, Sharp learned early to disappear. What followed was a long descent into self-destruction: addiction, broken relationships, and the quiet belief that his life simply didn't matter.
Through shattered moments and unexpected mercies, something began to shift. This memoir traces that transformation not as a clean arc, but as a series of staggering steps. Sharp does not flinch. He does not sugarcoat. Instead, he brings the reader into every dark corner. What emerges is a story both harrowing and holy, filled with brutal truths and the radical act of choosing to speak them aloud.
This is a memoir for the unheard, the unloved, and the unseen. For those who've made it through, and those still fighting their way out. It's about survival, truth-telling, and the unkillable belief that every person deserves to tell their story.
“When I sat down to write Dreams Are For The Dead, I wasn’t trying to follow a formula. I wasn’t chasing a tidy arc or a clean narrative. I gave myself permission to break every rule I’d ever learned about structure, genre, and voice. I didn’t want this memoir to just tell a story—I wanted it to feel like what surviving actually feels like: chaotic, nonlinear, beautiful and brutal all at once.
I let memory guide the flow and I allowed pain to exist on the page without needing it to be tied up with a bow.
This wasn’t just writing. It was rebuilding. It was therapy. It was an experiment in honesty, and in whether the truth—even the ugliest parts of it—could still be beautiful.”
— S. Elias W Sharp