The challenge for me was to make these issues and their treatment understandable for the layman, for a person who had no mental health or psychological education. I had to condense complex emotional and behavioral issues into language that anyone could understand.
Nina Bingham – 9 February 2019
The Back Flap
The Never Enough workbook is a new approach to recovery! More than just convenient and affordable, it’s the therapeutic answer for the busy self-helper. Never Enough: A Recovery Workbook will uncover the roots of addictive behaviors, obsessive thinking, and eating disorders. This work-at-your-own pace program provides state-of-the-art, research-proven methods of controlling worry, and correcting compulsive thinking.
This workbook will enable you to:
* Determine the root reasons for addictive behavior and obsessive worrying
* Develop more effective coping skills
* Accept loss and gain the strength to move beyond it
* Understand how to change ingrained patterns which have held you back.
Here’s a do-it-yourself recovery method that’s easy to use, yet delivers results that will blow your mind.
About the book
What is the book about?
This is a recovery workbook for anyone who is of the do-it-yourself persuasion. I believe seeking a mental health professional is required if you want to solve a mental health challenge. However, there is a lot you can do from home, on your own, to increase your understanding of the psychological reasons behind your behaviors. This workbook allows you to work at your own pace, from the comfort of home, on the mental blocks that have kept you from achieving your goals and dreams.
When did you start writing the book?
I wrote this book because my mental health counseling clients kept saying: “I wish there was a way for me to work between sessions on these issues.” I put together the most pressing problems, and the techniques and exercises necessary to resolve them in one workbook.
How long did it take you to write it?
It took about 6 months to formulate the chapter contents and another 3 months to write the self-intervention exercise and questions, a total of 9 months.
Where did you get the idea from?
When I searched Amazon for a do-it-yourself recovery workbook, I found many drug and alcohol recovery workbooks, but no workbook that could be used for other issues such as eating disorders and OCD. It seemed to me that if a workbook could combine proven strategies for relieving addiction, eating disorders and problems of compulsivity like OCD, it would sell, but I couldn’t find one, so I created one. Now there are many such workbooks.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
The challenge for me was to make these issues and their treatment understandable for the layman, for a person who had no mental health or psychological education. I had to condense complex emotional and behavioral issues into language that anyone could understand. I also had to present exercises and questions that were practical to everyday situations.
What came easily?
Because I had been in practice as a Life Coach for 17 years, I understood what issues my clients struggled with. I didn’t have to wonder which problems should be addressed; I was tackling issues of addiction, eating disorders and OCD with my clients daily.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
I enjoy reading non-fiction authors because they teach you about how they solved real-life problems. Autobiographies are my favorite because I enjoy getting a peek into how others have struggled, and how I might solve my own issues. Everyone has problems: rich or poor, educated or uneducated, we all struggle with similar challenges because humans have similar issues, desires and dislikes. My mental health hero and best-selling author of The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness is Dr. Elyn R. Saks. She wrote a quote that’s on the cover of my autobiography, Once The Storm Is Over: From Grieving To Healing After The Suicide of My Daughter. Her book literally saved my life, because I thought: if a woman who has Schizophrenia can live through hell and survive, so can I. Her autobiography gave me the strength to carry on. Her transparency inspired me to be a more courageous writer.
Do you have a target reader?
I have written a variety of books, so I don’t have a genre per se, although my readers are people looking for self-help, and to improve themselves.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
I tend to journal my thoughts as they occur to me, and later I go back and organize my thoughts into coherent form. My writing looks like cat scratch, like a hailstorm on paper that nobody can decode but me. Then I edit. I am amazed when writers tell me that they can create and do it legibly and coherently. The creative process doesn’t feel right to me unless I can create in an unrestrained, disorganized fashion, like how a painter begins with a blank canvass but slowly allows it to take shape. It may look like chaos at first, but the product will be beautiful.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
I have never created an outline, I’m too spontaneous for that, it would feel stifling to me. I do what works for me and I think artists should use the methods that are suitable to their own personality.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
After I’ve written the piece, I go back same day and look at it with fresh eyes. Revision is invaluable to the creative process, because each time you approach your work you should see it from a slightly different angle. With time comes perspective and maturity. Today I look back on my earliest writing and roll my eyes. At the time it seemed profound while now I can see obvious mistakes and imperfections. You’ll grow as a writer as you grow in life experiences. Giving your work “time to cool” is the most valuable piece of advice I can give another writer.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
I recently started writing with pleasant, soothing music playing in the background. But most of my writing was accomplished in the hush of silence.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
I have never submitted to an agent because self-representation has worked well for me. If you understand marketing, then you can represent your own writing. For those who have never worked in marketing or don’t enjoy selling themselves, its best to enjoin the help of a professional.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
Like most writers, I wanted to land a traditional book contract right away. But as the saying goes, you must pay your dues. So, I began by self-publishing, then moved on to an indie publisher. Today I have a more traditional publisher who distributes internationally. I learned that you cannot start at the top, and maybe that’s good. Self-publishing allows you to learn the publishing ropes so that you make your mistakes on a small scale rather than on a larger scale!
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
Always, always have your book covers professionally created. I’ve never created my own covers. The cover is the most important marketing tool you have, and it must be able to compete with other professionally-designed books. Your book cover is crucial to the book’s success-never skimp on this.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
Winging it will never work. Publishing a book is only the initial step. Marketing the book is the key to success, so of course you will need a well-researched and professionally executed marketing plan. If you’ve never worked in marketing and sales, hire someone to help you.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Don’t be embarrassed or feel less-than about self-publishing or taking an indie publisher. There are steps to success, and you are climbing that ladder. See yourself not as having failed at retaining a traditional publisher, but instead, see that you are attaining the next level of success that is right for you. “How do you eat an elephant?” -One bite at a time.
About You
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a tiny town in Sonoma Valley, California called Forestville, on the Russian River. Back then there was no crime, clean water, and plenty of sunshine. I was very fortunate to grow up in that setting.
Where do you live now?
I have lived in the Pacific Northwest for 30 years, but I am moving to New Mexico shortly to get back to the sunshine of my childhood.
What would you like readers to know about you?
Like most people, my life hasn’t been easy. My father was an abusive alcoholic, and my parents divorced. My first marriage ended in divorce, and I’ve struggled with family-inherited depression. In 2013, my teen daughter committed suicide when she secretly went off her anti-depressant. Although what I have been through is tragic, I’ve found that many people have lost a loved one to suicide, divorced, or had a dysfunctional childhood. Life is a school of hard knocks, and we are here to learn from our mistakes. So, let your writing be an outlet for the pent-up grief and frustration you feel; funnel it all into your writing. Be vulnerable and transparent, write with bravery. Let your audience in, and they will love you for it.
End of Interview: