My sister Susan passed on Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace to a friend who is a therapist by training. She (I’ll call her Jane) loved the book but also commented on the dead-on accuracy of Pamela’s sociopath character in her pursuit of the Pierson family.

Jane also imparted a chilling observation - therapists don’t actually see the Pamela’s of this world as they don’t ever believe there anything about them that might be problematic. Who they do see as patients are the persons dealing with the constant fallout from a Pamela. Just as in the book, a Pamela is never at fault, is often a master manipulator, and will not stop until she wears down the opposition. Jane has the clients to prove it.

Like many authors, I wrote what I knew. Readers have come along for the journey for which I am grateful. Some of the details are not pretty, particularly the Pierson family’s battles with alcoholism and drug abuse - the toughest part of the novel for Jane to read. But to hear from a trained professional that the characters, their flaws, and their struggles came alive for her is a great compliment. Honestly you never know who will be reading your book or what you’ll learn from a reader.

Recently I found a blog post regarding “The Saving Grace of Sobriety” that I’d written in April. The upshot was the alcoholism portrayed in Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace was nothing out of the ordinary and the Pierson’s apparently, didn’t suffer enough.

The novel was inspired by a true story which included Kay and Paul’s alcoholism not to mention the four generations that scar the family’s past and present. If four generations of broken lives isn’t enough suffering, what is? We’ve buried one sibling and our parents would tell you there is no anguish comparable to the grief of losing a child.

We’re in the midst of an intervention with another blood relative and again, unless you’ve lived it, most people have no idea of the trauma involved in attempting to save a loved one from themselves because we know we might fail. Unless the person has hit bottom enough times and decides their life is worth living, beyond an intervention there is not much else we can do. We can’t stop that family member from ultimate destruction if that’s the path they choose.

So reading that our family history of alcoholism is too ordinary is almost laughable. No one ever looks at drug treatment and says, “Now there’s something I haven’t tried”. The road leading to a drug treatment program more often than not is one of the few remaining options families or in worse scenarios; the state has at its disposal.

The opinions of this particular blogger are, like anything, as relevant as their experience. Another person (in this case a book reviewer) found the alcoholism addiction sub-plot too gruesome and depressing.  Opinion at opposite ends of the spectrum but one thing I can tell you - no one comes away from the experience unchanged.

Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace has gotten another great review - this time from the Book Club Queen. Unlike most review sites, Book Club Queen also provides author interviews, discussion questions, book recommendations, and of course, information on how you can start your own book club.

What’s also unique about Book Club Queen is the focus on family and that sometimes rocky relationship with those we love in both the author interview questions and discussion questions. At the center of the novel is the relationship of the Pierson family and the deep bonds that bind us as family, and how far one is willing to go to protect those we love.

Last week I received an invitation to speak at the annual Champions of Literacy luncheon hosted by the Literary Instruction For Texas (LIFT) organization. While I won’t be able to attend, as an author literacy is extremely important to me.

For most Americans, it’s hard to fathom there are people born and raised in the U.S. who either can’t read very well, or at all. Illiteracy impacts everything they do. Some statistics:

The average age of a LIFT student is 37.

Between 2004 and 2007, the number of adult learners participating in LIFT programs increased by 292%, from 2,103 to 6,141.

Texas holds the distinction of being the number one state in the nation with the highest number of high school dropouts.

But Texas is far from alone. Across the U.S. 42 million Americans cannot read at all, and another 50 million recognize so few printed words they are limited to a fourth grade reading level.
43% of those whose literacy skills are the lowest live in poverty. And the numbers are growing at an alarming rate.

Over the next several months I intend to do as much as I can to promote the problem of illiteracy in the U.S. while providing resources targeted towards helping people learn to read. There used to be an ad slogan, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” It still is.  

When Doreen Quinn Giuliano’s son, John Giuca, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for Brooklyn’s 2003 “grid kid” slaying, she was absolutely sure he’d been wrongly convicted. To prove it she went under cover as “Dee” befriending one of the jurors, Jason Allo. Allo bragged publicly about serving as a juror on the high-profile case, while confiding to “Dee” he never should have been on the jury.

The story, Mother Justice by Christopher Ketcham in the January 2009 Vanity Fair  details Giuliano seeking out Allo as Dee then documenting on tape his admission, one she recorded more than once. It was a desperate move, but one that may have succeeded. The tale deftly illustrates how far someone will go to protect, and in this case prove the innocence of, loved ones a central theme to Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace. Anyone can be pushed to undertake acts they most likely would never consider, even more so when family is involved. Mother Justice, indeed.

A new lens on Squidoo has a great idea to help you keep New Year’s Resolutions for 2009 - put them in writing. There’s information on journals to buy, journals to destruct (getting rid of all that creative frustration), journals for kids, books on types of journaling, and other ideas.

My favorite idea is to keep a New Year’s Gratitude Journal. So each day or every week, instead of focusing on the negative and what’s going wrong; put that energy into writing down what you’re grateful for or what went right, even when you have to look hard for the positive aspects.

The Pierson’s in Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace first and foremost grateful for family, even when the odds are stacked against them. In the larger scheme of things, they are certainly grateful for a successful business and financial security.  

In my own life, I’m grateful for family as well, even when they drive me crazy. There is also my gratitude for the time (such a gift!) to write and time to promote those endeavors.

Writing down New Year’s Resolutions are akin to telling everyone you’ve ever known that this year you’re losing 10 pounds, quitting smoking, being nicer, working harder - whatever. Going public by writing out those resolutions or telling people has a better chance of succeeding simply because you’ve shared that commitment and there’s follow-up involved, making backing out or giving up more difficult. Keeping track of all that you have to be grateful for forces you to find the good among the mundane and not-so-good, again in a very public way.

What are the Pierson’s thankful for this Thanksgiving? In Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace two key scenes take place over the Thanksgiving weekend. One concerns the difficulty many families experience in bringing everyone together long enough for a family photograph, and the other focuses on mounting concerns that all is not what it seems. 

Even with Pamela causing mischief at seemingly every turn, the Pierson’s are thankful for two things - family and sobriety.

There’s no doubt family and the drama that is often part of “family” can make the sanest individual nuts. But it’s the common blood that binds us and makes us understand our willingness to fight to protect loved ones from harm. We may not always like one another, but there is an undeniable connection in family that blood does indeed run thick. But family is also something to be thankful for.  

Kay and Paul’s struggles with alcohol are a key subplot of the novel, but so is the quest for sobriety. The devastation of drug abuse shows no prejudice, regardless of sex, age, income, education, class, race, or religion. In 2003, the last year for which figures were available, 21.6 million U.S. adults abused alcohol or were alcohol dependent. Those are staggering numbers and just one of the reasons the Pierson’s, like other Americans, are thankful for the gift of sobriety.

October is Clergy or Ministry Appreciation Month. In Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace, Tim Scott is a Lutheran pastor. I can tell you from personal experience that ministry is a tough business. The hours are long (many pastors work six days a week with only one day off), the pay is not great, and you’re often dealing with the entire human emotional spectrum.

In the novel, as in real life, Tim presides over Paul and Pamela’s lavish wedding, baptizes their child, and offers a pastor’s perspective when things get difficult. Between all that are regular parish meetings, weekly sermons, and counseling sessions for those who ask.

Being a pastor is a very busy life, and one hopes, a fulfilling one. But it is also a great deal of work. This October, if you know a pastor, let them know how much you appreciate them.

There’s another new review for Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace. It’s predominantly positive, which is always nice. Once of the things you learn about reviews as an author besides which reviewers genuinely relate to your work, is what annoys a reviewer about the story.

In this case, the reviewer apparently didn’t care for the alcoholism sub-plot which, which just as it did in real life, affects the lives of the Pierson family. The reviewer writes that family’s history of abuse is graphically illustrated and used these words to describe it: dysfunction, denial, codependence, and enabling.

I won’t deny the description. Dependency is never pretty, yet the strong reaction still surprised me. Even in these more “enlightened times” alcohol abuse or any kind of chemical abuse still makes us uncomfortable. We talk about it more than we used to, but the topic still makes us squirm because we’re all too aware of the dysfunction, denial, codependence, and enabling behaviors it forces us and our families to admit to. And, quite frankly, we’d rather not admit to any of it.

The cold, hard truth is that alcohol dependency and abuse taints the lives of millions of Americans. Nearly 14 million Americans - 1 in every 13 adults - abuse alcohol or are alcoholic. Drunk driving causes approximately 16,000 deaths per year, which accounts for only 25% of alcohol-related deaths. And each year, alcohol is implicated in the deaths of some 85,000 Americans, making it the nation’s third leading cause of death after smoking and obesity.

Such statistics and the dysfunction that goes along with it were some of the reasons for the novel. In having survived the ravages of alcoholism, I believed it was my obligation to detail what happened to generations of my family so that others might recognize themselves or someone they know, and change course before it truly is too late. After absorbing the review, I realized the sub-plot had made this reviewer very uncomfortable. Perhaps that isn’t such a bad thing.

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is this week (September 27 through October 4). Observed since 1982, this annual American Library Association event reminds Americans not to take this democratic freedom for granted.

BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion, even if that view might be considered unorthodox or unpopular. The BBW stressed the importance of ensuring those unorthodox or unpopular views are available to everyone who wishes to read them. The ALA notes that intellectual freedom can only exist where these two essential conditions are met.

BBW is sponsored not only by the ALA, but by organizations committed to the freedom to read, the freedom to express oneself, freedom of the press, and the freedom to learn. Organizations include: the American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers, Foundation for Free Expression, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Association of American Publishers, and the National Association of College Stores.

Read a banned book and celebrate the freedoms to read, learn, and express.