If you are worried that you may have warning signs or symptoms that might prove to be a mental health problem, please consider reaching out and talking to someone and getting help.
If you are thinking of running away or if you have left home and don’t know how to go back, there are resources that can help you and even assist in finding a safe place for you to go.
He re are some re source s in the Unite d State s that could be a life line whe n you ne e d one :
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): A national grassroots organization providing resources for teenagers and adults affected by mental illness. www.nami.org ? Information Helpline: 1-800-950-NAMI.
National Runaway Switchboard : A toll-free number to call if you’re thinking of running away from home, have run away and want to go back home, or have a friend you want to help. www.1800runaway.org ? 24-hour Crisis Line: 1-800-RUNAWAY.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Free and confidential support for anyone facing a suicidal
or
emotional
crisis.
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org ? 24-hour Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Safe Place: A national youth outreach program for teenagers and runaways who need a safe place to go. nationalsafeplace.org ? If you are in trouble or need help, text SAFE and the location where you are (street address/city/state) to 69866.
The Trevor Project: A national crisis-intervention and suicideprevention organization for LGBTQ youth. www.thetrevorproject.org ?
Trevor Lifeline: 1-866-488-7386.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am in awe of my editor, Julie Strauss-Gabel. I truly can’t fathom how she is able to see the story I am trying to tell and know exactly how to coax it out of me before I’m even able to articulate it myself. With every round of revision, Julie puts me through the paces and inspires me to dig deeper and fine-tune and be clearer —and through all this hard work she helps me transform my ideas into something to be proud of. My writing is far better thanks to her extraordinary talent, and I know for a fact that this book was able to emerge into what it was meant to be thanks to her passion, attention, and skill. I wouldn’t be the writer I am today without her.
Throughout the doubts and struggles and ensuing madness that was the writing of this book, I have been grateful to have my fantastic, dedicated literary agent, Michael Bourret, at my side. He is the calming magic to my anxious frenzy, and has talked me through so many dramatic moments that I’m pretty sure I’ve lost count. I am so lucky to have him in my corner and grateful for his energy, honesty, and wisdom. This is only our second book together, and I hope it’s just the beginning.
From what I said above, you may have guessed that this book was not easy for me to write. I look back and it seems like I was working on it—or trying to—constantly, in multiple locations, throughout the past two years. This book was written and revised in numerous significant places that all seem connected to the story in personal ways maybe only I can see: The very first words of the very first draft were written at Yaddo (thank you, Yaddo staff and my fellow Yaddo-mates, especially in West House, where we sometimes shared a muse). A significant part of the first draft was written at the MacDowell Colony, in Omicron (thank you, MacDowell staff and my fellow colonists).
This book was continued in secret writing bunkers at undisclosed locations and revised and revised and revised back in New York City, and could not have been finished without the space I found at the Writers Room, Think Coffee, the Housing Works Used Bookstore and Café, and other writing cafés scattered throughout the Village. Thank you to each of these places for putting up with me and letting me sit for hours upon hours at your tables.