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Thursday, October 23, 2014

WOW!Women on Writing Book Blog Tour Review & Giveaway for Kathleen Pooler's Memoir


Ever Faithful To His Lead: My Journey Away From Emotional Abuse is a memoir, a true life tears-to-triumph story of self-defeating detours and dreams lost and found.

A young woman who loses sight of the faith she has been brought up with attempts to find her way in the world, rejecting her stable roots in lieu of finding adventure and romance. Despite periods of spiritual renewal in which she receives a prophecy, she slides back, taking several self-defeating detours that take her through a series of heartbreaking events. 

When Kathy's second husband, Dan's verbal abuse escalates, Kathy finally realizes she must move on before she and her children become a statistic. 

How does a young woman who came from a stable, loving family make so many wise choices when it came to career, but so many wrong choices when it came to love, so that she ended up sacrificing career and having to flee in broad daylight with her children from an abusive marriage? What is getting in her way and why does she keep taking so many self-defeating detours? 

The story opens up the day Kathy feels physically threatened for the first time in her three-year marriage to her second husband. This sends her on a journey to make sense of her life and discern what part she has played in the vulnerable circumstance she finds herself in.

She must make a decision--face her self-defeating patterns that have led to this situation and move on or repeat her mistakes. Her life and the lives of her two children are dependent upon the choices she makes and the chances she takes from this point forward.

Paperback: 242 pages
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Open Books Press (July 28, 2014)
ISBN-10: 0985936797
ISBN-13: 978-0985936792
ASIN: B00M17OXYO

Twitter hashtag: #EFaithPooler

Ever Faithful To His Lead: My Journey Away from Emotional Abuse is available as an e-book and paperback at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, andIndieBound.

Book Giveaway Contest:
To win a copy of Ever Faithful To His Lead: My Journey to Memoir, please enter using the Rafflecopter form at the bottom of this post. The giveaway contest closes  October 28th at 12:00 AM EST. We will announce the winner the same day in the Rafflecopter widget. Good luck!

About the Author: 

Kathleen Pooler is an author and a retired Family Nurse Practitioner whose memoir,Ever Faithful to His Lead: My Journey Away From Emotional Abuse, published on July 28, 2014, and work-in-progress sequel, Hope Matters: A Memoir of Faithare about how the power of hope through her faith in God helped her to transform, heal and transcend life’s obstacles and disappointments: domestic abuse, divorce, single parenting, loving and letting go of an alcoholic son, cancer and heart failure to live a life of joy and contentment. She believes that hope matters and that we are all strengthened and enlightened when we share our stories.

She lives with her husband Wayne in eastern New York.

She blogs weekly at her Memoir Writer’s Journey blog:http://krpooler.com 

Twitter @kathypooler

LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kathleen-pooler/16/a95/20a

Google+:http://plus.google.com/109860737182349547026/posts

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4812560-kathleen-pooler

Facebook (personal page):http://www.facebook.com/kathleen.pooler

Facebook author page:http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKathleenPooler

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/krpooler/

One of her stories “The Stone on the Shore” is published in the anthology: The Woman I’ve Become: 37 Women Share Their Journeys From Toxic Relationships to Self-Empowerment by Pat LaPointe, 2012.

Another story, “Choices and Chances,” is published in the My Gutsy Story Anthology by Sonia Marsh, September, 2013.

Review by Crystal J. Casavant-Otto:




Wow did this memoir hit home! Kathleen Pooler's memoir about emotional abuse in her marriage is certainly an important theme, but for me the question about her choices in life is what really struck a chord. How does someone with such a "normal"upbringing make so many mistakes? Why do any of us make poor choices? This is what really drew me to Ever Faithful to His Lead. I felt immediately kindred to Kathleen because of mistakes I made in my life, and her gorgeous writing style made this book impossible to put down.

After my first divorce, I remember referring to my marriage as a "practice marriage" because somehow that made me feel better about how we had failed. Neither my husband or myself had come from families where divorce was a suitable solution to marital problems. When Kathleen describes feeling like a failure wanting nothing more than a loving and stable family like the one she grew up in I found myself nodding my head. Those of us who came from happy little loving families want to find a spouse like our parents had. Somehow we hadn't hit the mark the first time and even feeling like a failure, we still held out hope that next time we would get things right.

Kathleen is someone you would consider successful and independent. Yet she is waiting for her price (and hey...aren't we all?). Unfortunately Kathleen kept finding the idiot in tinfoil instead of the price charming she deserved. Was it because she secretly desired to live on the wild side? I remember someone telling me "you like to have a little chaos in your life, don't you?" and I didn't know what they meant at the time, but looking back I had chosen the bad boy (once again) instead of seeing that price charming was right in front of me. Kathleen rebelled and made poor decisions but they seem to be limited to certain areas of her life. She wasn't a disaster spinning out of control, for the most part she was the obedient daughter her parents expected. Somehow she settled and her second marriage failed as well.

I'm so glad to say the story doesn't end there. Kathleen finds her voice and finds the confidence she needs to make better choices...but I won't spoil the ending for you. Needless to say, Ever Faithful to His Lead speaks to me as a woman, mother, wife, and christian. This is a fabulously written memoir that is inspirational. It's a fabulous book to read and share with friends.



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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Living Well with Bipolar Disorder by Tara Meissner and Book Giveaway

Tara Meissner stops by to chat as part of her WOW! Women on Writing Book Blog Tour. Tara shares her thoughts on "Bipolar and Living Well" and offers readers an opportunity to win a copy of her memoir through a giveaway. Don't miss your chance to hear from Tara and take home a copy of Stress Fracture: a Memoir of Psychosis.


Living Well with Bipolar Disorder by Tara Meissner

People have asked me to write about my daily struggles for living with bipolar disorder. Really, honestly, there are not daily struggles.
Even before I was on an effective treatment program, there were not daily struggles. I think that is part of what is misunderstood about bipolar disorder. Yes there are high moods, mania, and low moods, depression.
However, there is a lot of time spent in a normal mood, not elevated or depressed. I think that is why it is easy to deny the disease exists at all.

For me, living well, means doing what I can to avoid break-through symptoms of the disorder. I know my triggers, which include taking on too many projects, not getting enough alone time, not getting enough sleep, drinking alcohol, too much caffeine, and the weather. While, I cannot control the weather, most of the rest of the list can be controlled. Of course, sometimes it is unavoidable to over schedule.
I also have the real benefit of a support system, mainly family and friends. These champions of my health provide comfort, understanding, encouragement, and acceptance of who I am.

Another tangible thing is health insurance and access to quality medical care and prescriptions. The story, presented in "Stress Fracture: A Memoir of Psychosis" ends in 2011. However, the disease persists and will never be cured, only managed. Sadly, too many people do not have access to health care. Since treatment is able to help up to 90 percent of bipolar patients live mostly symptom free, I believe each person should have access to that care. The cost of untreated mental illness is far greater than the cost of a health-care system that allows each person to achieve full health. (Okay, stepping off the soapbox.)

It is possible to live well, only by accepting the limitations of the disease and the need for treatment. It is easy to get tricked by those prolonged periods of stable mood and think the manic or depressed modes were a fluke and will not return. However, the symptoms of the disease can erupt at any time disturbing normal life. This carries consequences that impact far beyond the person afflicted.

I no longer try to do it all. My family is my first priority and I am able to fit my career second. Now that my youngest is in school full-time and my oldest is driving, I am able to work about thirty hours a week, ten of those are at the library and the balance is from home. At home, I have the luxury of following my passion, which is writing. I make time for for what I most enjoy vocationally, which is the key to living well.
When I sign my books, I write "Live Well" above my name. That is really my message with the book and it is for everyone, regardless of their health diagnosis or lack of ailments. Living well is an approach to life. Spend time with yourself, know what brings you joy, and make those things a priority.



Book Summary:

Stress Fracture: A Memoir of Psychosis is a moving and honest psychology memoir about the things that break us and how we heal. It offers a raw view a 33-year-old wife and mother swallowed by psychosis. The psychotic episode includes meeting Jesus Christ, dancing with Ellen DeGeneres, and narrowly escaping eternity in the underworld.
Casually called a nervous breakdown, psychosis is an entrapment outside of self where hallucinations and delusions anchor. Family, doctors, and fellow patients witnessed a nonverbal, confused, distraught shell of a woman. In the security of a psychiatric care center, the week-long psychosis broke and spit out a bipolar patient in the cushioned place of middle class medicine.
Outpatient recovery consumed the better part of a year with psychiatric treatment and spiritual contemplation. Left scarred and damaged, health returned allowing her to tentatively embrace a grace and peace earned through acceptance of bipolar disorder.

Paperback: 224Pages
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Tara Meissner (June 23, 2014)
ASIN: B00L8G6C66


Twitter hashtag: #SFracMeissner

Stress Fracture: A Memoir of Psychosis is available as an e-book and paperback at Amazon. And locally at LaDeDa Books and Beans where there will be a book signing and meet and greet with Tara on October 25th - check the facebook event for more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/472511202890883/



About the Author: Tara Meissner is a former journalist and a lifelong creative writer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree and works part-time at her local library. Tara lives in Wisconsin with her husband, Mike, and their three sons. She writes longhand in composition notebooks. Stress Fracture: A Memoir of Psychosis is her first book. th grew up writing short stories and bad poetry before escaping the cold winters of Wyoming and settling in the Sonoran Desert. She lives in Tempe, Arizona with her husband and two children, Abigail (11) and Gabriel (6). She still loves to write, but fortunately gave up on poetry.

Blog: http://wordscrazywords.blogspot.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8339482.Tara_Meissner

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authortarameissner

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TaraMeissner

----------Remaining Blog Tour Dates



Wednesday, October 15 @ CMash Reads
Join author Tara Meisner as she discusses "Creating Time to Create" with a visit to CMash Reads. Read Tara's thoughts and find out more about her recently released memoir Stress Fracture: a Memoir of Psychosis.
http://cmashlovestoread.com/



GIVEAWAY DETAILS!
Win a copy of Tara Meissner's Memoir: Stress Fracture, A Memoir of Psychosis - a winner will be drawn at noon on Friday, October 17th. Good Luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Product Review for Insta Natural Argan Oil Hair Mask



Product Review for

Argan Oil Hair Mask - Intensive Leave In Hair Conditioner That Will Turn Dry, Damaged Hair Into Luxurious, Silky Strands - With Organic Argan Oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, & Vitamin B5 - Deep Treatment Cream Increases Volume, Softness and Shine - Guaranteed to work for your body!


My Review: After using the Insta Natural Superior Hydration Argan Oil Hair Mask, my hair felt softer, smoother, and healthier. At first I wasn't sure I would enjoy putting a mask on my hair (I had never done anything like this before), but I enjoyed spending a little time pampering myself and the results were well worth the few minutes time I invested. This is a great product to help increase volume in limp hair and it gives your hair a lovely youthful shine!

Amazon Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MNK9R5Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Product Description:
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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.