Thank you to everyone named on my acknowledgment page!

In addition to the folks I thanked on my post http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/first-book-turned-seven-in-october/, I wish to thank everyone else who has kept Love Made of Heart alive and well!

I celebrate the memorable characters who have taught me how to talk to my mother, how to see life through new eyes, how to forgive one’s self.

author Teresa LeYung Ryan celebrates the characters in Love Made of Heart

I celebrate everyone who advocates compassion for mental illness.

• Love Made of Heart inspires adult-children of mentally-ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas that their parents suffer.

I celebrate National Alliance on Mental Illness www.nami.org From its inception in 1979, NAMI has been dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness.

I celebrate Carmen Lee & everyone at Stamp Out Stigma.  www.stampoutstigma.org Stamp Out Stigma is a consumer driven advocacy and educational outreach program designed to make positive changes in the public perception of mental illness and inform the community about the personal, social, economic and political challenges faced by people living with mental illness. Founded by Carmen Lee.

I celebrate Glenn Close and everyone at Bring Change 2 Mind bringchange2mind.org The idea of a national anti-stigma campaign was born of a partnership between Glenn Close and Fountain House, where Glenn volunteered in order to learn about mental illness, which both her sister and nephew suffer from.Glenn Close’s documentary film “Pax” will be featured at the 2nd Annual Lady Filmmakers Film Festival! Oct 8-10, 2010 Click Here http://ladyfilmmakers.com/Home_Page_MV6D.php for more information.  At the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, CA

Love Made of Heart inspires adult-children of mentally-ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas that their parents suffer.

Publisher’s Note: Kensington Publishing Corp, NY

“The Chinese word for ‘love’ is made up of many brush strokes. In the center of the word ‘love’ is the word ‘heart.’ Love is made of heart…”

Twenty-seven-year-old Ruby Lin has what many women envy: a beautiful apartment in one of San Francisco’s best neighborhoods, a busy social life, and a coveted position as manager of special events for the tony St. Mark’s Hotel. But it’s Ruby’s personal life that’s become unmanageable ever since the day her mother’s emotional breakdown forced Ruby to hospitalize her, shaming the family. Now, Ruby is caught in the crossroads between two vastly different cultures-one in which she is the American girl, raised on kitschy television shows and black-and-white movies, and one in which she is known only as Daughter, the eldest, fulfiller of responsibilities.

In putting together the pieces of her mother’s life, Ruby finds herself exploring the wounds of her own past. Starting with a forbidden locked tin box and the yellowing photograph inside, Ruby embarks on a startling journey of self-discovery that takes her through a family history rife with violence, betrayal and loss that reaches back through generations, from China to America, and finally to the secret pain of a mother’s sacrifice. Like the Chinese calligraphy that adorns her walls, Ruby comes to see that “life is not a straight road,” but a language drawn with many brush strokes, where every misunderstanding must yield to the simple message of the heart.

Filled with warmth and wisdom, this luminous debut novel heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction as it explores the complex bonds between mothers and daughters, the choices that divide us, and the love that brings us home.

From http://www.mhprofessional.com/templates/chases/special-months.php

October is:

•    Antidepressant Death Awareness Month
•    Depression Education and Awareness Month
•    Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung Ryan, author of Love Made of Heart; writing-career coach, founder of GraceArt Publishing