Hi, Dotsie,
Thank you SO much for that beautiful support. And I appreciate your bringing out how important that idea of journey is: of moving from shame to that place of being able to speak out.

Now, looking back and taking stock, I can see how empowering that's been. Yes, I do receive many emails from other women thanking me, in effect, for telling their stories, too. I am always touched and moved by women sharing their stories with me.

That's one thing I do love about memoir: how it brings people together. You know, even if our stories are different, we can all relate on some level.

In other words, even if your background is different from mine, still, many of the underlying feelings are the same. And that's the connection, I think. In this way, even if I'm writing about incest or sexual addiction, I'm also writing about loneliness, alienation, body image, loss, relationships with men (and other women).

So what's important to me is to connect with other women in terms of these more universal human emotions.

And I can see why the book "Manic" would be invaluable to you. I haven't yet read it but look forward to doing so. Thank you for letting us know about it.