Today is release day! Just So You Know, my memoir about coming to terms with … well, life, is out today.

I’ve been wanting to share this story since Jessica was about three years old, but I never felt like I got it right until now.

This is a happy story, although no one ever believes me when I say that. They think happiness is about piling up money in the bank, or finding your one true soul mate, or redeeming your life from sin, or praying hard enough/resonating at the right frequency with the universe and thereby earning a miracle. They think happiness is about avoiding bad things, or putting them behind you as soon as possible. They think happiness is bright and shiny, like a new toy.

But there is no money here, or at least not mine, and no soul mate, or at least not now, and no redemption, there having been no sin. There are many bad things, and they never go away, and no one ever puts them behind anyone.

There is no miracle either, whether accomplished by prayer or vibration. Or maybe there are a lot of miracles; I’m not really the person who would know.

What I do know is that I would never have chosen this journey. But having undertaken it, I would never give it up.

This is the story of a girl and her mother, learning how to live.

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You can buy the book at these retailers.

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Naked Writing will return with a new installment next Tuesday!

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Jennifer Lawler has been a writer-editor for more than twenty-five years and has published more than forty novels and nonfiction books. She is the founder of the online education company Club Ed LLC.