Although Desert Lily is my first novel, earlier writings have been published in newspapers, magazines, and online. An excerpt from Desert Lily won a Soul-Making Literary First Prize from the San Francisco Bay Area National League of American Pen Women. My writing has also been awarded prizes from Writer's Digest, New Millennium Writings, The Writer Magazine, and others. Before that, I taught mathematics and chemistry for thirty-three years, and had a textbook published by Allyn and Bacon.

I am the father of three children from my first marriage and the step-father of two in my new marriage. Currently, my wife and I live in Michigan where we enjoy our blended family of five children and two grandchildren.

My experience with mental illness was primarily as the husband of a patient. Still, I've had my bouts with mild depression and grief trauma, for which I sought professional care and counseling. My understanding of mental illness grew out of my encounter with clinical depression and symptoms of obsessive compulsion when my first wife was diagnosed early in our marriage in 1966. After repeated failures with medications and various therapies of that era, my wife joined a self help group called Recovery, Inc.

It was with Recovery techniques that she gained control over her illness. She then gratefully repaid Recovery by devoting fifteen years to the organization as a group leader, serving five years as Area Leader for the Mid-Southeast Michigan Region.

After seeing the value of the Recovery method for my wife, I joined Relatives, Inc. a Recovery offshoot that applied the lessons of the patient group to relatives of patients. I soon became a Relatives leader and then served as a vice-president of the organization.

Desert Lily is based on my experience, and both self help groups play an important role in the novel. Readers can contact Recovery at http://www.recovery-inc.com/index.html and The Relatives Project at http://www.lowinstitute.org/Relatives.html.

 Other mental health links:

ANXIETY PANIC ATTACK RESOURCE SITE
Help to those who suffer from anxiety attacks and panic attacks by offering information on symptoms, medications, treatments, and support. http://www.anxietypanic.com

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE FOUNDATION SITE
Help to those who suffer from obsessive compulsive symptoms by offering information on symptoms, medications, treatments, and support.

http://ocfoundation.org/

Reading List at http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocd-oc-spectrum-disorders-book-list.html