Not a Story to Stir Lively Conversation

I was at St. Croix Sensory today, which is where I work part time as an assessor.  We get paid to smell stuff.  It's awesome.  I work with about 25-35 other assessors.  Only 5 - 10 of us are working at any given time, and we all work different shifts, so everyone gets to work together eventually.  My favorite part of this job is the socializing.  We share recipes, knitting patterns, information, family photos, births, illnesses, remedies, restaurant picks, and a thousand other things you didn't know you needed. 

I've been writing my book for about 7 years, so the ladies I work with at St. Croix have been asking me about my book for years.  I've let a few of them read the rough drafts for feedback and I've shared some of my story with them, but today when I brought in my first finished copy of the book and people started reading through the pages and passing it around, I realized it's not one of those light-hearted stories you chit chat about.  It's more like a bombshell of somber realities followed by tender moments and rays of hope.  It's not the kind of information that stirs lively conversation unless you're with me at one of my chemical dependency classes or internships. 

So, I don't want to leave anyone guessing on how to respond to me after reading my story.  My goal in writing this book was to be as transparent as possible in order to relate to people going through a rough time or struggling with something.  I would love feedback.  I would love to answer questions or talk about issues.  And I would love for you to share that book with anyone you think might want or need to read it.  On January 7th I'll celebrate 9 years of sobriety!  So, I am somewhat removed from the depth of emotions I felt early on. 

I'm working on putting together a website with a forum and information for all kinds of different issues, but especially addiction and depression.  I really appreciate all of you who have read the book and have shared the facebook post on your own page.  I will probably do more marketing and media related activities once the holidays are over.  For now, I'm going to take a break and get some of the homework done that I've been putting off in order to work on book editing.  ...unless, of course, you'd like to chat about something.  In that case, I'm available.