Life Inside My Mind

I've been very busy with an impending book deadline this week (er, this year, actually), and I JUST GOT MARRIED, like, two weeks ago, but I wanted to be sure that I called your attention to a wonderful anthology that I was fortunate enough to contribute to, which recently hit shelves wherever books are sold. It's called LIFE INSIDE MY MIND.

Here's the description:

Your favorite YA authors including Ellen Hopkins, Maureen Johnson, and more recount their own experiences with mental illness in this raw, real, and powerful collection of essays that explores everything from ADD to PTSD.

Have you ever felt like you just couldn't get out of bed? Not the occasional morning, but every day? Do you find yourself listening to a voice in your head that says "you're not good enough," "not good looking enough," "not thin enough," or "not smart enough"? Have you ever found yourself unable to do homework or pay attention in class unless everything is "just so" on your desk? Everyone has had days like that, but what if you have them every day?

You're not alone. Millions of people are going through similar things. However issues around mental health still tend to be treated as something shrouded in shame or discussed in whispers. It's easier to have a broken bone--something tangible that can be "fixed"--than to have a mental illness, and easier to have a discussion about sex than it is to have one about mental health.

Life Inside My Mind is an anthology of true-life events from writers of this generation, for this generation. These essays tackle everything from neurodiversity to addiction to OCD to PTSD and much more. The goals of this book range from providing home to those who are feeling alone, awareness to those who are witnessing a friend or family member struggle, and to open the floodgates to conversation.

This is such an important, helpful, heart-full collection of thoughts by so many writers I deeply admire. The essay I contributed to this anthology deals with the hands-off manner in which I used to regard the topic of depression and suicide in my friends while I was in high school--one friend in particular--and how my view changed as I became an adult and lost my own brother to suicide.

Please consider picking up a copy. This would also be a great one to buy and donate to your local library or high school library.

Here are links to some of the places you can buy:
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound (which is a site where you can locate your nearest independent bookstore who is selling the book)

Thanks.

Also: I JUST GOT MARRIED!

My friend and co-author Brodi Ashton was the officiant, and she cried through the entire time we were reading our vows, which was so cute and sweet, and I love her so much! (and of course I ALSO LOVE MY HUSBAND!)