Six Interviews with Masterful Authors in Honor of Mental Health Month…

And the Power of Storytelling to Heal

A masterful book can transport you into a different world, open your eyes to new possibilities, and get you thinking outside your normal thought patterns. So can a podcast that drops you into an intimate conversation as if you’re eavesdropping on dear family and friends. Imagine being a book lover and a mental health advocate and having the opportunity to get at the heart and in the mind of a skillful, well-known author. Imagine having the chance to ask all your pressing questions that arose as you devoured her/his book one-on-one and often face-to-face via Zoom or before Covid, in person?

That’s exactly what I got to do when I interviewed six masterful writers for Dear Family, the Podcast. Their prose, their scenes, their descriptions, their dialogue, and their genuine insight is literary magic. Personal stories bring us into a world where we not only see but feel what it’s like to be schizophrenic, bipolar, paranoid, suicidal, or highly anxious. We not only see but feel what it’s like to be the mother, the father, the daughter, the son, the brother, the sister, the husband, or the wife on the other side of the terrifying mental illness that deeply affects the entire family.

Tortured, beautiful, lyrical words expose…