From the author of the critically acclaimed novels, Last Rights & Double Blind, (St. Martin's Press) comes a new story of crime, addictions, mental illness, love and family, set in the decaying urban center of an old manufacturing city. -"Dawson's vital characters and the ambience of his city and institutional scenes earn him respect as the author of both a superb mystery and a compelling novel." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY - "..a medical mindblower. Dawson proves a surehanded competitor of Robin Cook." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Slide in All Direction

Literature & Fiction

Dawson, David Laing

Genre Fiction

Bridgeross Communications

A psychological thriller. Is this hell, or just a psychiatric hospital? Dr. Robert Snow isn't sure. Waking from a drunken stupor in a small green room, the doctor finds he's on the other side of the diagnosis - in a place where life and mental health seem to be going pretty cheap these days. Murder and sexual abuse haunt the hospital, but Snow doesn't really care. He'd rather be dead anyway. When a charming, manic cowboy and a world-weary intellectual invade Snow's self-imposed isolation, they drag him out of his depression - and into the heart of Essondale's black mysteries...

Essondale

Four men, age 18 to 81, have murdered, and now share a room in the secure forensic psychiatry ward of a mental hospital. Who better to get inside their heads, and find both the tragedy and comedy of their lives than Canadian psychiatrist and novelist David Laing Dawson. Three of Dawson's previous novels, Last Rights, Double Blind, and Essondale have been published in seven European countries, the US and the UK. Dawson's novels have been described as a cross between Elmore Leonard and Seinfeld and as close to reality as it gets.

Don't Look Down

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Is it possible to defend yourself from a 'roid raged body builder with a 'roid raged Chihuaha? Have you ever been seen in your backyard trying to collect a pee sample from your dog with a bone china tea cup? Has a close relative ever waved a dead rat under your nose and asked you if it was fresh enough to eat? For nearly a decade Steve Pitt has been amusing his fellow writers with his off-beat postings on professional writer list-servs. His topics include everyday subjects like friends, family and his numerous side careers as militia soldier, movie extra, armored truck guard, resort cook, and stay-at-home dad. His fellow writers have compared Steve's humour to Bob Newhart, David Sedaris and Stephen Leacock. Many of these list-serv yarns have gone on to find publication in Canadian Living, Chatelaine, Toronto Life, Stitches, Canadian Health and the Globe and Mail. Here is what other writers are saying about Steve Pitt's writing: "These true life tales range from the gently picaresque to the wildly funny. Leacock Redux"William Deverell, award winning crime novelist, Pender Island BC "He's pee your pants funny. This book should come with a warning label or pack of adult diapers" Helena Katz, author/journalist, Fort Smith, NWT "He surfaces with novel insights and bust-a-gut laughs every time. Steve Pitt is an expert storyteller, both wickedly funny and deeply generous a master of observational humour with heart." Joanne Carnegie, Professional Writers Association of Canada, Monreal

My Life and Other Lies: Tales from the Writer's List

Humor & Entertainment

Steve Pitt

Humor

Susan Inman's memoir describes her family's nine year journey to help her younger daughter recover from a catastrophic schizoaffective disorder. "Highly recommended" by Dr. E. Fuller Torrey author of Surviving Schizophrenia and described by him as "...one of the best accounts I have read of serious mental illness as told by a mother." From the introduction, Michael Kirby, Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada and Ella Amir, the chair of the Caregiver's Advisory Committee state "Susan's heart wrenching account is an important reminder of the work we still have to do to ensure that people with mental illness and their families get the same treatment and respect that individuals with physical illnesses receive. It is also testimony to the devotion and dedication of families, which sadly often comes at the expense of their own well-being" Harvard psychiatrist, Dr. Stephanie Engel said "Susan Inman has written a much needed book about her experience as a mother coming to grips with her daughter's devastating mental illness. Other parents will recognize and take comfort from her courageous and persistent efforts to learn what is known about psychotic illnesses and their treatment, while holding tenaciously to her own personal knowledge of what it means to be a loving, humane and thoughtful parent. Believing in one's own instincts as a parent in the face of expertise, myths and prejudices is a monumental task, and Ms Inman does it with grace and conviction." Emergency room physician and international best selling author, Dr. Daniel Kalla said "After Her Brain Broke is a harrowing, heart wrenching, and ultimately triumphant story of one family's struggle with a child's mental illness. It's impossible not to be moved by Susan Inman's honest and touching account of her daughter's sudden descent into mental health turmoil and the family's long hard battle to overcome it. A must read for families coping with a mental illness, and a wonderful eye-opener for those of us lucky enough not to have been affected."

After Her Brain Broke: Helping My Daughter Recover Her Sanity

Inman, Susan

Biographies & Memoirs

Vancouver artist Sandra Yuen MacKay has an abnormality of the brain - a disease called schizophrenia. As she says, "my life is schizophrenic because I have schizophrenia. It will always be there". Much of her life has been a struggle to cope with the symptoms of her disease and the side effects of the medications required to keep those symptoms in check. Early in her life, Sandra started to exhibit the typical symptoms of this disease which came as a surprise to her unsuspecting family. Her book chronicles her struggles, hospitalizations, encounters with professionals, return to school, eventual marriage, and success as an artist, writer and advocate. "Remarkably compelling...the book takes on a life if its own...a gripping narrative" Library Journal "There are precious few people who have experienced psychosis and can convey it accurately, clearly,and concisely. Sandra MacKay's story is an important one for all of us in the mental health field --doctors, patients, and their families. It is imperative that we take in the lessons she is imparting to us all, on how to manage, and in many ways, triumph, over chronic mental illness." Julie Holland, MD author, Weekends at Bellevue: Nine Years on the Night Shift at the Psych ER., New York city

My Schizophrenic Life: The Road to Recovery from Mental Illness

Health, Fitness & Dieting

MacKay, Sandra Yuen

Mental Health

A refreshing look at the puzzling world faced by today's teens and their parents who are trying to guide them. Incorporating advances in neuroscience, psychiatrist David Dawson clearly describes how teen brains work and offers practical advice to baffled parents in a fun and relaxing style. At the same time, he helps parents have confidence in their innate good instincts and solid understanding of their own children. Also included are significant behavioral warning signs that may indicate the early stages of serious mental illnesses. Dawson has the rare ability to make complex and potentially dull reading entertaining and instructive. In addition to being a psychiatrist, he is also a successful mystery writer and film director. Those skills enhance this book and provide some down to earth help to parents.

The Adolescent Owner's Manual

Psychology & Counseling

Peek into the private lives of 18 professional writers from the North West Territories to Prince Edward Island in this anthology described by the New York Journal of Books as an "eclectic mix of memories of shared love, laughter, and hope (that) should appeal to a wide readership". Drive through the North West Territories with Helena Katz as she drives a herd of alpacas to their new home in her backyard. Join Trudy Kelly Forsythe at the Rolling Stones Big Bang Tour and Barbara Florio Graham in her encounter with actor Peter Falk (aka Columbo). Watch award winning cookbook author Julie Watson wrestle with a lobster on TV.  Cry with Barbara Bunce Desmeules Massobrio as she describes My Life Now and with Hilda Young as she comes to terms with her son's suicide while Irene Davis deals with a vanished voice and Fred Desjardins with growing older.The New York Journal of Books stated this volume "deserves to find a place in every public library collection.........The tone is personal and intimate in a way that effectively bonds author and reader together, so that reading this book becomes a life-enhancing experience."

Prose to Go: Tales from a Private List

Essays & Correspondence

A fascinating look into the world of schizo-affective disorder which, at times, is funny, heartbreaking, but above all uplifting. Dr. Carolyn Dobbins describes the onset and progression of this debilitating disease and gives readers hope. The book breaks through the stigma as mental illness affects us all. Included at the end are facts about serious mental illness, the 6 A's of self help and Dr Dobbins' message to her counseling colleagues who may be surprised, as all readers will be, by the ending. In an advance review, the National Alliance on Mental Illness said this book is told in an unorthodox but very effective manner." and that "people are more than their illness". Dr E Fuller Torrey, author of Surviving Schizophrenia, said "an inspiration for all who have ever experienced psychosis" Dr. Thomas G Burish, a professor of psychology and Provost of Notre Dame University said this book is "powerful and revealing, and provides a unique insight into chronic mental disease". He added that the book is "a probing, liberating story"

What a Life Can Be: One Therapist's Take on Schizo-Affective Disorder.

Dobbins PhD, Carolyn

When Quietness Came is the true story of a young woman studying neuroscience who, in her final undergraduate year, has a psychotic break, attempts suicide and ends up in hospital. Her struggles to get well and to pursue her PhD are described in this book. Her story is geared to people from a variety of backgrounds. As a neuroscientist, Erin reaches out to the medical community who need to hear this side of the patient. As a schizophrenic, she reaches out to others struggling with this disorder, hoping to draw alongside and offer empathy and hope. Finally, she wants the general public, family and friends of people with schizophrenia to be better able to understand and sympathize with those afflicted.

When Quietness Came: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey with Schizophrenia

Hawkes, Erin Lynne

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