New Book
Brain Health deserves a seat at the same damn table as Dental Health, Cardiac Health, or Respiratory Health!
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It's only the CONDUCTOR of this weird orchestra called the human body!
It's Brain Health, NOT Mental Health
This book is not rocket science nor is it intended to be medical advice in any way, shape, or form. It is my road map to sanity (a very elusive term).
I am an intensely curious person. I am also stubborn. When I sensed that my sadness, hopelessness, and despair were not ‘mental health’ issues, but rather something else, I sought answers. In the beginning there were precious few. When my doctor prescribed a medication for my oppressive sadness, I knew it wasn’t working on my ‘mental health’ but rather on my organic brain components. This fully ignited my determination to get to the bottom of its organic origin.
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Over the past 30 years I have worked, in my personal little world, to destigmatize ‘mental health’. I hate with a passion that so many people don’t seek help because they still equate mental health with crazy. I hate that we don’t give brain health equal press coverage (at the very least) as mental health. I hate that Brain Health cannot sit at the same table as cardiac health, dental health, or vision health! I absolutely believe that if we called it ‘brain health’ rather than ‘mental health,’ more people would seek help.
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I urge anyone suffering from inside-the-skull health to seek out professionals. Go see the psychiatrist or therapist, but know the difference between these two. Also, know that the difficulties are more than likely as much chemical as ‘mental’ – get your brain health in order first. Don’t feel shame – be loud and proud you are taking care of YOU!
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For everyone who’s ever felt unheard by the system, who’s Googled their symptoms at 2am, who have begged for help and been offered yoga instead of science – this is for you.
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Brain health and mental health, currently, are best friends and worst enemies – it’s high time we stop mistaking one for the other.
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So, here it is. Equal parts memoir, manifesto, and metaphor.
From my mind to yours – with intentional irreverence, sass, and a few curse words along with engine fumes, Daisy Flickers, and wind chimes.
Table of Contents
Chapter 3
Brain Health Defined: It's Not All in Your Head - It IS Your Head
Chapter 4
Mental Health Demystified: No Sparkle Band-Aid Allowed
Chapter 5
Why Mental Health Follows Brain Health: Why Do You Put Your Underwear On Before Your Jeans?
Chapter 6
Brain Chemistry 101: Tornados, Hormones, Hijackings, and Monthly Mayhem
Chapter 7
Myths, Misunderstandings, and B.S.: You Can't Sparkle Your Way Out Of A Nervous Breakdown, Sweetheart
Chapter 8
Your Engine's Tool-Kit: If You've Tried Breathing Exercises While Crying Into A Bag of Doritos - You're NOT Alone
Chapter 9
Don't Just Survive - THRIVE!! The Garage and Your Pit Crew - The "A" Team
Chapter 10
The Racetrack - The Map and Moving Forward: This Isn't Your Mama's Racetrack - It's Movement, Momentum & Evolution
Chapter 11
In Conclusion: You're Fabulous !!
Warm Winds & Silly Moons
Discover Magic
Embark on a journey with me through the capricious and whimsical realms of imagination with my second book in the series, "Doorways: A Journey."
I take you back to your six year old self, dancing in your auntie's beautiful black high-heels to music only you can hear . . . Fly, once again, down that steep hill with five kids piled up on the bike - and no brakes . . . smell Grandma's bread baking just for you . . . and delight in the touch of your first love.
Warm Winds and Silly Moons will make you laugh, but mostly, it will bring back to you your childhood. Enjo
I love this book !
Burning Fields and Winter Storms
Devastation, Beauty, and Resilience Through Turbulent Times
Take a trip with me to the nuthouse after a suicide attempt
"Breakdown - The Narrative"
Brave and HYSTERICAL!
Perspectives. Sometimes It's important to take your brain out, dust it off, turn it 90 degrees, then put it back. By looking at 'things' differently, we learn.
This book is brooding, dark at times, and always a painfully accurate reflection of some of life's challenging moments - but not without a touch of pathos. It's a great bathroom reader!
Let me know what you think of them!
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Read excerpts here
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​Winter Storms
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Flashpoint
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A Child in My Classroom
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Growing Up is Hard
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To Give
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Prisoner in Her Own Mind
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My Time is Near
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Birth
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Reality
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No Illusions
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It’s Time
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If Only Tree
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Burning Fields
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The Blue Suitcase
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Through the Eyes of Her Mother
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Precipice
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Walking Alone at 17
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Annie
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Exorcism
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Ocean
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Miscarriage
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Getting Older
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Thanksgiving
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Hopelessness
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Breakdown, A Narrative
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Normal is an Illusion
Scheduled for October 2025 Release
An important, ground-breaking book -
a MUST READ for every girl (and woman)
I'm often asked how I became a mentor to so many young girls. My answer is simple - the need was there; the need the girls had for an older woman to help guide them through the minefields that are their adolescence (something I wish I had had), and the need in me to be needed, to give them Truth (capital T), life lessons I learned, and compassion and understanding for the pressures they go through as they navigate stressful and often painful waters of growing up.
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The first question I always ask the girls at the beginning of each year - and I now pose the question to YOU: Would you take your toothbrush to school (or work) and let anyone use it who wanted to (knowing you had to bring it back home and use it again)? The response is always the same - HELL NO! "So," I quietly say, "You have a firm boundary for your toothbrush but not yet for yourself.
. . . . . . LIGHT-BULB MOMENT! Yes, we need boundaries with our friends, boyfriends, and even husbands. We also need boundaries with our parents/children, and sometimes, we need financial boundaries, or intellectual boundaries, certainly emotonal boundaries, and on and on. This books unmasks the complexity and lays it out, bare-bones, why we need boundaries, how we set boundaries, and how we enforce boundaries. It's not brain surgery. Along the way, I tell you how I became a mentor - what set me on the road to wanting to protect girls with Truths? It's all here. I don't claim it's the last word on the subject, but it's a damn good start!