Mothering Addiction: When Your Child’s an Addict, No One Brings You a Casserole

A query letter is a single page (and no more!) cover letter presenting a writer and their book to an agent. Constance and I are just about ready to press send on our first one. Below is the first of three required questions. We’d love some feedback.

What is your book about ?
Part girlfriend’s-guide, part wise companion, Mothering Addiction: When Your Child’s an Addict, No One Brings You a Casserole  illuminates the invisible casualties of addiction: the mothers. They’ve scrambled for tutors and sought out child psychiatrists, shoring up their struggling student long before the first bong hit.

Their story is my story. We’ve kissed boo boos, band-aided skinned knees and confronted bullies, these mothers and I. But we were powerless over this insatiable intruder. As my son sank deeper into a black hole, I retreated into shame and secrecy, hiding my truth in closed-door therapy sessions.

I found solace when, one by one, women like me stepped from the shadows, acknowledging their own private pain. Forming an underground support group, codename, The Book Club, we mothered addiction, together.

This hybrid memoir braids expert advice with the collective stories of The Book Club, inviting the reader into a rare sisterhood of informed support. With humor and humility, these women strengthen their bonds, as they navigate the knife-edged paradox of loving while letting go.

Virginia Collegiate Recovery Conference

The first Virginia Collegiate Recovery Conference was held in March 2014 at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, VA.  VCU launched a student-run recovery program, Rams in Recovery, in the fall of 2013.  The University of Virginia started a similar program back in 2006.

Students and administrators from other colleges and universities across the Commonwealth are working hard to establish their own supportive and confidential recovery programs. The conference was an amazing opportunity to connect young people in recovery and exchange ideas about how to create safe environments for these young people on their own campuses.

The event was supported by grants from The JHW Foundation (see January 16, 2013 post)  and The Chris Atwood Foundation.  A tremendous grassroots effort by two budding foundations!

Heaven’s Door

Millions of baby boomers are navigating the murky waters of health care on behalf of our aging parents. Knocking on Heaven’s Door, by Katy Butler, is a gripping account of the author’s journey alongside her mother and father during their final years. Woven into this daughter’s love story is critical information on the medical approach to dying in today’s world.

Get a copy and a yellow highlighter. It’ll be worth every reading minute.