So, The D.B. List will be releasing on June 13, 2017 (EEP) and I’ve really had it on my heart lately to donate some of the monies I earn from this book to organizations who either advocate, help fund patient funds, or build awareness for mental illness.
The D.B. List for me is the hardest book to date that I’ve written. It touches on a lot of hard subjects (suicide, mental illness, rape…) but it hit even closer to home because I have a child and parent who suffer from mental illness. And I wanted to give them a voice. This book follows my main character, Ellie, who is in a mental institute, trying to sort through everything in her life. Her counselor wants her to feel safe to talk about things, and asks her to make some lists. One with all the bad things/people in her life that she feel led up to the moment that landed her in the institute (which she calls The Douche Bag List or D.B. for short), and one with good memories/thoughts/people in it. As the reader we get to follow Ellie’s journey (both the ups and the downs) and see everything she went through and is still going through.
One of the hardest things while I was writing this book though, was when I got a call one night that my sister-in-law’s 15 year old sister, Paige, who we’d known since she was a baby had committed suicide. I just remember the shock of it. Paige was such a beautiful, kind girl, someone we saw at family gatherings, who hung out with my daughter and niece during Thanksgiving and birthday get-togethers. During that time, I had to set this book aside for several weeks because of how close to home everything hit. A couple of years prior, this had almost been one of my own children, and had we not noticed the signs and gotten her into the doctors and then into counseling/psychotherapy, it could’ve been us.
So for me, this book is the voice of the people around me or no longer with us. And because I truly want to continue to advocate for mental illness and suicide awareness, I’m going to put my money where my mouth is. I will donate 50% of all my royalties earned for The D.B. List to two organizations:
Firstly 25% will be donated to the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan: be nice program.
What is be nice?
“be nice. is a mental health education, bully and suicide prevention initiative that creates a positive cultural change through simple daily actions. The program is designed for schools, communities, and businesses utilizing a self-starting curriculum with initial training by the MHF staff. Its tools are simple. The be nice. Action Plan is the “stop, drop, and roll” of mental health education that teaches people to notice, invite, challenge, and empower themselves and others. How you treat someone can have a direct effect on how they think, act, and feel – their mental health. The be nice. education program creates awareness and ultimately saves lives.”
be nice: https://www.benice.org/be-nice
Also 25% will be donated to Pine Rest Foundation Patient Assistance Fund. Pine Rest helps to counsel teens and adults both inpatient and outpatient. They have a Patient Assistance Fund set up to try and help people who do not have insurance or are low income/no income still be able to get treatment at either a reduced cost or for free. They use 100% of donations to reduce the costs for families/individuals facing financial hardships: https://www.pinerest.org/foundation/overview/who-we-help/patient-assistance-fund/
To those of you out there struggling right now, know there are people that care about you and love you. Please don’t be afraid to ask for help.
I hear you. And I love you…
Blurb:
Seventeen-year-old Ellie Gebhardt has spent the last three years of high school in psychotherapy, trying to fix a very broken her. And her shrink (or therapist as she likes to be called) seems to think that in order to totally heal, she needs to recognize all the good and bad things that have led her to this point. As if a trip down memory lane will suddenly make her better.
She’s given a “homework” assignment to create two lists. One with nothing but happy memories and thoughts on it (otherwise known as the ‘happy rainbow farting unicorns list’). And the other with everything negative that Ellie thinks contributed to “the” day she could no longer cope.
So begins Ellie’s Douche Bag list (or D.B. List for short). And once she gets started, it’s hard to stop remembering all the jerks, the petty crap, the times she’d been bullied or the main focus of the rumor mill.
So when nice guy, Ky Laramie, walks into her life, Ellie instantly puts her shields up. But as she gets to know him and his family, she wonders if she can dare to put herself out there again. Because as everyone knows, once a candle is lit, the wind can always blow it out. And Ellie couldn’t handle it if Ky ends up atop of the D.B. List.
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