All Relationships End I stumbled into the appointment with my doctor this morning for a follow-up to my annual checkup. Sleep deprived from several nights of self-inflicted heartache and grief, I listened in a fog as she told me all my lab results were perfect. How could that be? I wondered. “You get an A plus plus,” she said as I struggled to figure out what to ask in that precious limited doctor patient time. “But, my weight. I think I’m about ten pounds more than I should be… w...Read More

Shame vs. Guilt I just finished reading The Gifts of Imperfection: Your Guide to a Wholehearted Life by Brené Brown and highly recommend it. It was quite eye opening and at times, a painful experience. She’s so damn honest and spot-on as she points out all the things we do to sabotage our own happiness. For example, she believes almost all of us use something to numb our feelings regularly. It could be alcohol, drugs, food, sex, busyness… the list is endless. You get it. It’s kind of ha...Read More

Podcasts and Vices The bright, funny Ally Bishop, author/editor extraordinaire and Booktrope family member, interviewed me on her Upgrade Your Story podcast! It was so much fun. And it may be the closest I'll ever get to that sit down with Oprah I’ve always dreamed of. I hope you’ll listen. I’ve been making my way through all her episodes, learning a great deal from them about writing, editing, publishing, and promoting books. Click here to listen to the podcast. If you’re like m...Read More

Infidelity Happens Is This All There Is? is about Beth, a woman who’s unhappy in her marriage to Rick and is tempted to have an affair with Dave, a young admirer. She’s also overwhelmed by mothering and work and longs for an escape. While I did not want to glorify infidelity, I did want to show the realities of it. I’ve seen it time and time again with people in my life. My hope was that by showing how it can happen, even to good people, I could possibly contribute to prevention/un...Read More

Delicious Kisses Yup, that's the yummy first kiss between Tris and Four in the movie Divergent. I thoroughly enjoyed it on the big screen, despite the slight awkwardness of having my 13 year old son right next to me! Do you remember your first kiss? Was it good? More importantly, when was your last kiss and how was that? I’m not talking about a peck on the cheek or even the lips. I’m talking about a long, passionate, juicy kiss with someone you’re hot for. For me, it was last night. ...Read More

Do We Need God? Thought I’d go ahead and open a nice can of worms today. But this discussion is about happiness, right? So how can we avoid talking about God/Religion/Spirituality? Do you go to church? Do you have a spiritual practice? What does it provide for you? Are you a happy atheist? I believe there is something more than what we see with our eyes. But I’m not confident that I understand what it is or how it works. I think it loves all of us equally. I think we have free will so...Read More

Advice To My 20 Year Younger Self As the blog tour for Is This All There Is? winds down, I have so many people to thank (Samantha March for her outstanding blog tour organizing/promoting skills & kindness, all the bloggers who hosted me, friends who read and commented on tour stops). Is This All There Is? Blog Tour Page   Today was a very busy and exhausting day. I facilitated a leadership training program for a group of professionals I hold in the highest esteem for the work the...Read More

Patricia Mann on Oprah Do you have a bucket list? I found an old one that said I would be on the Oprah show before I die. But I found it in 2010, when Oprah announced that her show was ending. Read the story of how I actually made it happen on the fabulous Julie Valerie's blog: Oprah on My Bucket List by Patricia Mann and see the video of me on the Oprah show: Patricia Mann on the Oprah Winfrey Show Thanks!...Read More