“An intense, complex and disturbing story, bravely and beautifully told. I read Drunk Mom with my jaw on the floor, which doesn’t happen to me that often.” —Lena Dunham Three years after giving up drinking, Jowita Bydlowska found herself throwing back a glass of champagne like it was ginger ale. It was a special occasion: a party celebrating the birth of her first child. It also marked Bydlowska’s immediate, full-blown return to crippling alcoholism. In the gritty and sometimes grimly comic tradition of the bestselling memoirs Lit by Mary Karr and Smashed by Koren Zailckas, Drunk Mom is Bydlowska’s account of the ways substance abuse took control of her life—the binges and blackouts, the humiliations, the extraordinary risk-taking—as well as her fight toward recovery as a young mother. This courageous memoir brilliantly shines a light on the twisted logic of an addicted mind and the powerful, transformative love of one’s child. Ultimately it gives hope, especially to those struggling in the same way.

Who would have thought that the Prince of Darkness would become one of the most popular TV dads in history? Now, the same unbounded energy of "The Osbournes" is captured in this companion book, revealing the hilarious, shocking, heartwarming, and always entertaining moments of America's unlikeliest TV celebrities. Full-color photos throughout.

After suddenly being diagnosed with a rare form of aggressive cancer, I immediately started spiraling downward. Denial Loneliness Fear Depression Anger Self-destructive behaviors My life was a disaster. I was a mess. I was doing just about everything I was instructed not to. All sense of responsibility flew out the window right along with my sense of morals. Further and further I slid into the deepest, darkest part of my life. I had come to terms with the fact that my life was over. I was going to die. Until I was rescued from not only cancer-but from myself.

What would happen if today's chat rooms used a completely different technology, a technology only now available? How might it change the lives of those around you? How might you be changed? This LDS novel takles the lives of four individuals as they struggle with their lonely challenges and ultimately overcome them with the help of each other and the unlikely intervention of a newly implemented technological advance in communications software. By the Light of Dawn will have you alternately laughing, crying, and on the edge of your seat as Stephanie, Jim, Bryce, and Chris attempt to face their biggest deamons alone only to find that they can only conquer with each other's help. The only problem. They live in three different states, have never met, and one of them has a secret that could prove to be the final link to their salvation and they don't even know it.

Brides of the Kindred Box Set: Volume 4 Contains Devoured, Enhanced, and Cursed all in one Volume Devoured: A girl on the run from her past A warrior trying to forestall the future Can Tess help Garron contain the ravenous beast that lurks within him? If not, she will surely be…Devoured Enhanced: A frightened girl. running from her dreams of a dark warrior… A warrior without emotions, determined not to feel. But when their encounter forces him to face the darkness of his past will he go mad… Or finally learn to love? You’ll have to read Enhanced to find out. Cursed: A fierce warrior, forced to feel the agony of others A girl with a past full of pain caused by his kind When the two of them go undercover on a dangerous mission will they bond? Or are they Cursed to be apart forever?

A frightened girl. running from her dreams of a dark warrior… A warrior without emotions, determined not to feel. But when their encounter forces him to face the darkness of his past will he go mad… Or finally learn to love? Mei-Li Hastings is in trouble. She’s Dream Sharing with a Kindred warrior. Normally that’s a regular part of being claimed by one of the tall, handsome aliens who came to Earth looking for brides. But in Mei-Li’s case, nothing is normal. The dreams she’s having show a huge, frightening male with a red laser for an eye and a metal arm. The man who’s coming to claim her is a Dark Kindred—one of the emotionless denizens of Zeaga Four where love is unknown and feelings are outlawed. Six has risen steadily in the ranks of the Collective since his inclusion into the Dark Kindred at age fourteen. Now, to his dismay, he is suddenly having dreams he cannot ignore—dreams of a girl with dark eyes and silky black hair who fears him desperately. Despite the fact that he is supposed to feel nothing, Six finds himself drawn to the girl. And when he is ordered by his superior to claim her, he comes in search of his future bride. Now they are locked in a struggle of light versus dark...cold versus warmth. For when Mei-Li is near him, Six’s frozen heart begins to thaw. Though the Dark Kindred warrior is determined not to commit “Feel-crime” he cannot contain the emotions growing within him for the petite girl he snatched from Earth. But with the newfound feelings of love and desire, come some much darker feelings. In order to love Mei-Li, Six will have to face the darkness within and a tragic past he has locked away for years. Will he survive the memories that surface…or will they drive him mad? You’ll have to read Enhanced to find out. You’ll have to read Enhanced to find out.

Virginia’s mom finally leaves Opelousas, Louisiana—in an ambulance, dead from an overdose—the day before the girl turns eighteen. Her mother never told her who her father is, though she regularly blamed him for all that had gone wrong in her life. “Your real father was nothing but a no-account druggie, wife-slugging, whore-mongering, sonuvabitching jailbird.” But Virginia has a stuffed dog he gave her, and she knows there must be more to the story. With few clues about his identity, Virginia sets out to find her father. She meets Daniel, a stepbrother she didn’t know about, who has his own share of problems. He’s living in his mom’s garage after a month in rehab following the Persian Gulf War. Oxy and vodka help dull the pain of his PTSD. Haunted by the image of the pregnant Iraqi woman who died on his watch, he is sure his inability to save her and the fetus caused his wife’s miscarriage. Daniel agrees to help Virginia find her dead father’s family in the hope that orchestrating a reunion will absolve him of his sins in Fallujah. As the pair navigates the landmines of multiple family secrets, they realize they share more than they knew. Chasing after dysfunctional relatives and their own ghosts, it’s not long before things blow up in their faces. In this exploration of Latinos living on the outskirts of society, Martinez crafts scenes of war, grief and loss that will remain with readers long after the last page is turned.

As a former foster child, I know how it feels to be alone, to feel lost, to feel hopeless, and to feel helpless. I also know you can make a difference in the life of a foster child. Ive been there. While my story is not unique, I want to share it in order to help the caring people of America walk in the shoes of a child who experiences physical, mental, and emotional abuse; is removed from everything she knows; is provided a roof over her head by the State and strangers; and then is thrust into adulthood totally unprepared but later succeeds. I want them to see, touch, and feel what the abused/foster child suffers and why they are who they are. I want them to see the major gaps in the childs life skills and social abilities and why they exist. We must walk in the childs shoes in order to understand them. Only then will we be able to truly fill the enormous amount of needs they have and feel confident in adopting, fostering, and working with foster children. We must fully understand the heart and life of a foster child before we can effectively foster, adopt, or work with this vulnerable population of extraordinary children. I invite you to walk with me, and learn how it truly feels to grow up as nobodys child. A little girl destined to failure, confined by abuse, and traumatized by foster care is inspired by faith to succeed.

Your Struggle With Food, Weight, or Substances Is Not Your Fault, It's A Normal Response To Surviving An Abnormal Childhood. Even though Mary was in long-term recovery with food, severe obesity, drugs, and alcohol and had what most people would consider a successful life— behind closed doors, she still struggled and wondered… * Why she had so few close friends and had difficulty finding a fulfilling, romantic relationship. * Why she still struggled with food, sleep, and caffeine. * Why she couldn't find the flow and passion she longed for in her career. * Why, even though she was in long-term recovery with food and substances and had maintained a 160lb weight loss for several decades, she felt the need to hide these parts of her past from others. Finally, in mid-life, she discovered the root cause driving these, and her past struggles with food, obesity, and substances was a condition known as Complex PTSD (CPTSD), a more severe form of PTSD that developed from her being raised in a chaotic alcoholic home. This discovery sent Mary on a five-year journey where she researched leading experts in the trauma and recovery fields who authored books about complex PTSD and the adverse childhood experiences study (ACE Study.) In order to find the most effective treatments for healing trauma, she studied the work of thought leaders in the fields of CPTSD, neuroscience, and developmental psychology and through books about addiction, childhood trauma in adults, emotional trauma, addiction to food, and addiction recovery. Join Mary as she experiences one mind-blowing revelation after another as she learns that CPTSD was operating behind the scenes sabotaging her weight, recovery, relationships, career, and health—and learn what she did to heal. Witness Mary go from believing she was weak, a failure, hopeless, and unworthy due to her struggle with food, weight, substances, and relationships to finally ending these battles by healing the trauma driving them. Discover how she found compassion for what happened to her, released the shame over how she coped, and learned to accept herself just as she is. Learn how healing trauma opened the door for her to forge healthy relationships and finally find her purpose in helping fellow survivors heal and thrive. In This Blending of Memoir, Science-Based Research & Compassionate CPTSD Workbook, You'll Learn: You're not alone; you're not bad or defective; it's not your fault, your symptoms are normal, and you can heal. Access the step-by-step CPTSD workbook & Recovery Guide that Mary used to end her struggle with alcohol, drugs, and food, including what she's done to maintain a 160lb weight loss for over two decades. * Stay on track with your recovery with the included CPTSD workbook. * Gain clarity and heal through worksheets, quizzes & questionnaires. * Gain access to a 36-item menu of evidence-based trauma healing therapies and addiction recovery resources proven to facilitate optimal trauma healing and recovery from difficulty with relationships, alcohol, drugs, food, weight, or other behavioral addictions. To Get Started Ending Your Struggle With Food, Weight, Substances or Relationships Buy Now!

DIVBased on the author’s compelling true story of being freed from years of sexual abuse by her brother and forgiving him, Scars Don’/div