I wrote this article for Reader’s Digest in August 2006. Here it is in PDF format:
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I've been in a writing frenzy of late. I have finally submitted my book about psychological heroes to my agent. It used to be named STILL STANDING, but that has changed to GOOD MORNING, MONSTER, (how one client's mother greeted her every morning.) I've changed the book to include my history as a psychologist and what I learned over the years.
Now I am working on another book about the Underground Railroad yet untitled. I grew up in Lewiston, New York which was the last stop on the underground railroad as it is on the border of Canada. I lived around the houses that had 3 fake basements where the slaves were hidden and my relatives were part of the underground railroad. All this local history fired my imagination as a child and I am writing like a wild woman now. Hope it works.
I'm pretty excited about the new book I'm writing. Just finished the 2nd draft. It is tentatively entitled STILL STANDING: PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILES IN HEROISM. I was a psychologist for 25 years before I was a writer. I am writing about patients I've had over the years who have been abused in one way or another but maintained their sanity. The book came about because I was fed up with how our society defines heroism. Heroes get a medal for short bursts of testosterone. They are measured in short term. I think it should be measured over time. What about patients who have mostly been prisoners of war in homes that have brainwashed and tortured them. They were tiny children who had to fight every day of their lives in cruel homes just to maintain their sanity. These people were brave for decades till they could get out. Then they had to learn how to live in the world. The book is a tribute to the patients I had in therapy who made it.
Ok so who is going to be in Florida in December or who do you know who will be there? I am going to be speaking at The bookstore, BOOKS AND BOOKS in Coral Gables. So whoever lives in Miami come on out on December 8th. Also I am in Palm Beach at the Society for the Four Arts on December 10th. See below. Both events are free!