All posts tagged: anxiety

Laura Lippman chats about her hallucinatory new novel, DREAM GIRL, about fear & isolation, how books formed her, backstory and creativity

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By Leslie Lindsay Such a masterful, slow burn of a literary thriller. Highly unique, deliciously dark and complex. WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS ALWAYS WITH A BOOK Laura Lippman & Leslie Lindsay A distinctive voice in crime fiction, Laura Lippman has been named one of the “essential” crime writers of the last 100 years. She’s a New York Times bestseller and has won more than 20 prizes for her work and been shortlisted for 30 more. ABOUT DREAM GIRL: Gerry Anderson is a big-time author, his book, DREAM GIRL catapulted him onto the bestseller lists and he hasn’t come down since…his sense of self is up there, too. But now, he’s been injured in a freak accident, laid up in his Baltimore penthouse, which, in essence, is pretty ironic and hilarious. Gerry doesn’t exactly want to be in Baltimore, he says he’s happiest in NYC, where he had been living. He has relocated to care for his ailing mother, who had issues with delusional dementia. Here is where this synopsis and review gets a bit tricky: are we …

Maya Shanbhag Lang talks about her sublime memoir, WHAT WE CARRY, how it’s really about negotiating adulthood, but also about traditional family roles, estrangement, how her daughter is such a gift, plus living with compassion.

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By Leslie Lindsay  If family shapes us, how can we break free from the myths and injustices? What if those stories were never true in the first place? ~MEMOIR MONDAY|ALWAYS WITH BOOK~ A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK PICK Featured on GOOD MORNING AMERICA Starred Review LIBRARY JOURNAL “What if we aren’t really mothers at all, but daughters, reaching back to be mothered?” This is a paraphrased section from Maya Lang’s exquisite memoir, WHAT WE CARRY (Dial Press, April 2020), which I absolutely loved. This story shimmers with precision and perception; it’s at once raw and graceful, a tender exploration of family and fraught mother-daughter relationships. Maya Shanbhag Lang grew up idolizing her ‘can do’ physician mother, who immigrated to the U.S. from India to complete her residency in psychiatry, while raising her children and keeping a traditional Indian home. Maya’s mother had always been caring and supportive, but then…something shifted, something Maya didn’t understand. Now, in Seattle, 3,000 miles from her mother, Maya is married and expecting her first baby. She’s alone in a new city and a husband who travels for work. And …

This book! Women everywhere must read Ada Calhoun’s WHY WE CAN’T SLEEP about the new midlife crisis of GenX women, plus how we’re a resilient bunch, reading list, and so much more

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By Leslie Lindsay  A searing exploration of stresses that keep GenX women up at night (literally and metaphorically), I raced through this book, which completely resonated. So, so grateful to have received an early copy of WHY WE CAN’T SLEEP: Women’s New Midlife Crisis (Grove Atlantic, 2020) by memoirist/journalist Ada Calhoun. I was feeling especially down the day it arrived–you know, that existential angst–and was immediately gleeful after reading the book’s description: we are a group of women with outward markers of success and personal fulfillment, but still feel lousy. Work and marriage, kids, houses, parents, all of that…we might look ‘successful’ and ‘happy,’ but underneath of that is well, a struggle. Money isn’t very flow-y, work isn’t as easy or satisfying. The marriage gets dull. The kids zap your energy. And what about all of that ‘aspirational labor?’ What then? WHY WE CAN’T SLEEP mostly focuses on women in GenerationX (GenX), that is, those born roughly between 1967-1980, with a median birth year of 1976. I’m sitting right there. And I feel this, deeply. Calhoun delves into a …

With stunning grace and precision, openness, and empathy, Sarah Fawn Montogomery talks about her outstanding memoir & her struggles with mental illness

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By Leslie Lindsay  Brilliant and incredible debut work of nonfiction, about the author’s life with myriad mental health diagnoses, QUITE MAD, should be required reading for all, but especially those who have been touched with mental illness, either in a personal or professional manner.  With searing intelligence, unflinching honesty, and a breadth of research, Sarah Fawn Montgomery has left me in complete awe. QUITE MAD (Mad Creek Books, 2018) is a gorgeous melding of literary journalism meets memoir and is focused mostly on women in the U.S. and their relationship with mental illness. But. Sarah Fawn Montgomery had a challenging family of origin, too. Much of this tumultuous upbringing is chronicled throughout the pages–delving into both of her parents’ backgrounds, their own anxiety, their desire to adopt a houseful of ‘special needs’ kids (abandoned at birth, drug-addicted babies, and those who otherwise weren’t cut out for foster care and their subsequent diagnoses). I read with interest, with disbelief, with shock. “A wrenching account of a difficult upbringing and a chaotic brain that will leave readers marveling at the author’s …

The Teacher is Talking: Special Back-to-School Series

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By Leslie Lindsay Has your summer flown by…or are you counting down the days till your wee ones head back? Perhaps you’re worried about a few things–maybe your child is starting a new school…or, she’s not very good at making first impressions, staying organized, or playing fair.  Now’s the perfect time to begin working with your child on some of those skills as you polish up the back-to-school shoes and shop for glue sticks.  Follow along as we discuss a different topic related to school readiness each week now through the August.  Topics include: Back to School Stress & Anxiety Easy Transitioning to a New Grade or School Social Skills & 1st  Impressions Organizational & Memory Strategies Self-Esteem & Positive Behavior Playing Fair & Respecting Others [if you have a child with apraxia, or another special need, please remember to follow along on http://www.speakingofapraxia on Mondays for apraxia-specific back-to-school tips beginning 8/5/13.  With a combination of these and the apraxia tips, your family will be ready for success!] Without further adieu…here’s a little refresher on back-to-school stress & …

Apraxia Monday: Preparing Yourself for School

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By Leslie Lindsay Sending your child back to school–or just sending her there for the first time–is nerve-wrecking.  Will she be okay?  Will she be able to verbalize her thoughts?  Answer the teacher?  Get her basic needs met?  Deep breath.  I know you have concerns.  I have been there myself.  The best thing you can do as a parent is present a happy, carefree approach to school. Kids pick up on stress and anxiety like ants on a crumb at a picnic…if they feel your anxiety, they will carry it away, too.  Now, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t worry, or you shouldn’t have questions…you do and that’s a good thing.  Writing down a list of your concerns can help, as does talking them over with your spouse/partner, your child’s teacher, a trusted friend, even your child’s SLP may have some insight.   Worry about the things you can control.  I have been known to worry about things waaay out of my control, like how is she going to get from the bus to her classroom?  But the thing …

Apraxia Monday: Halloween Prep

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By Leslie Lindsay It may very well be the 2nd most-preferred holiday by kids, coming in right below Christmas.  But for some, Halloween stirs up anxious feelings.  It may be due to sensory integration issues, social anxiety, childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), all three–or maybe something else. I know when my daughter, Kate was first diagnosed with apraxia, I was concerned.  I was worried she wouldn’t be able to ring the doorbells of friends and neighbors and say, “Trick-or-treat,” like all of the other kids.  Never mind the fact that she wouldn’t even be able to tell a joke!  I tried to keep my anxieties to myself, after all I know if I let my children see what I am anxious about, they will pick-up on it and in turn become anxious, too.  So, I put on a happy face and practiced with her. We worked on words and phrases that may come up in preparation for the annual rot-out-your-teeth holiday.  Words and phrases like: Candy Trick Treat Pumpkin Carve Candle Orange Thank you Costume …