GUEST POST: Finding Strength Through Writing

Chloe Hammond stops by the blog today to share with us why writing helps her with mental health!

Finding Strength Through Writing

I have had periods throughout my life when my anxiety levels have been high. It was a huge relief when I realised that these feelings of stress weren’t logical, and were just my body’s reaction to too much cortisol over too long a period. I realised I didn’t have to take my worries at these times seriously; I learnt how to challenge them and learnt how much daily gratitude and reframing all my thoughts into the positive helped my mood. For example I would concentrate on what I did want to achieve rather than what I wanted to avoid. I also found that herbal remedies like valerian and 5htp helped me sleep, so the cycle would be broken and I’d get back on my feet in no time. Very few people were aware I had a problem at all, and as I got better and better at recognising the warning signs, I was able to help myself sooner and I knew enough to ignore or challenge the negative thoughts. I bought a hypnotism CD and used the relaxation tracks on that to soothe and relax me any time I felt my stress levels rising. In my lines of work you have to accept that stress is par for the course.

Harry Potter #68

This is a meme hosted by me here at my blog :).The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/ films/ J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! I will be picking a topic within HP for us to focus on each week and then if anyone wants to take part feel free! All I ask is to link back here, to my blog :). There is now a full list of the topics to come in the Harry Potter section of my blog here.

CHAPTER + COVER REVEAL: Lies Like Love - Louisa Reid

The wonderful Jessica at Penguin has provided me with the first chapter of Louisa Reid's Novel Lies Like Love along with the stunning cover. I hope you enjoy! 

Lies Like Love - Louisa Reid 

LIES

'There were a few problems . . . bullying . . . a fire . . .'

LIKE

'I think she's verging on psychosis . . . now she's lashing out.'

LOVE

'She's got no one else to fight for her.'

Fifteen year-old Audrey just wants to be normal.

She's trying to fit in.

But what happens when the person closest to you suffocates you with their love?

What happens then?

Add to Goodreads || Preorder 

REVIEW: The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower 

Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is a freshman.

And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his year yet socially awkward,he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

REVIEW: Only Ever Yours - Louise O'Neill

Only Ever Yours - Louise O'Neill

In a world in which baby girls are no longer born naturally, women are bred in schools, trained in the arts of pleasing men until they are ready for the outside world. At graduation, the most highly rated girls become “companions”, permitted to live with their husbands and breed sons until they are no longer useful.

For the girls left behind, the future – as a concubine or a teacher – is grim.

Best friends Freida and Isabel are sure they’ll be chosen as companions – they are among the most highly rated girls in their year.

But as the intensity of final year takes hold, Isabel does the unthinkable and starts to put on weight. ..

And then, into this sealed female environment, the boys arrive, eager to choose a bride.

Freida must fight for her future – even if it means betraying the only friend, the only love, she has ever known…

*Received in exchange for an honest review*

*Thank you Quercus*

GIVEAWAY: Guess the Book Cover

Hi guys! How's Mental Health Awareness Month going for you all so far? I'm excited to share with you the second weekend of challenge based giveaways with you! Today's is a little different to last weeks. The aim is to guess the book and author from the section of cover that we give you. Each guess will earn you points in the Rafflecopter below. This competition is open internationally so all can enter!

Here are a few rules:

• No posting results in the comments. Please fill in the Rafflecopter for it to count.
• You have to name the book title and author! Only then is the entry is accepted.
• You have to guess all 10 correctly to win!
• The giveaway is open internationally
• I reserve the right to disqualify anyone that doesn't play by the rules!
• Please respond to the winning email within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.
• HINT: These books are mental health month related and can be found on my MHAM Goodreads shelf. 
• Have fun!

The Prizes

Smart by Kim Slater (UK)

Pantomime by Laura Lam (UK)

Amazon Ebook worth $3.99 (INT)

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Sarah Rayner on Mental Health and Writing

Sarah Rayner, author of One Moment, One Morning, has stopped by to answer a couple of questions for MHAM!

Is Another Night, Another Day drawn from personal experience?

I’m often asked if my novels reflect my own life and the honest answer is 'of course they do’. That doesn't mean my books are autobiographical: they're not. My husband, Tom, didn't die on the train like Karen’s husband in One Moment, One Morning and I've never been through IVF like Lou in The Two Week Wait.

Equally, my circumstances are not identical to those of Karen, Abby or Michael in this new novel, which focuses on three people, crying out for help, who meet in a psychiatric clinic. I’m not a widow, like Karen, (who appears in both this book and One Moment, One Morning), nor do I have a child with autism like Abby, or run a florist like Michael (both of whom are new characters). However, I do have first-hand experience of crippling anxiety, and it's this that motivated me to write the book, which also touches on depression, bi-polar illness, even suicide.