Small But Mighty

I am the mother of two children and nana to two grandchildren. We are a small but mighty tribe who can fight as well as we love, but in the end, we show up. Never did I understand that more than yesterday---launch day for my new book, The Secret Sand Circle. Let me set the stage.

My grandson and granddaughter have been a part of my book launches since they were toddlers. Now at ages 21 and 19 respectively, they have their own lives and schedules that keep them busy and often out of town. I had no expectation that they would be involved in The Secret Sand Circle Launch. Yet yesterday my granddaughter called to check on how I was doing and she was front and center watching the livestream of the event last night. By the time the launch wrapped, she had already sent a text telling me that I’d done a great job.

My grandson happened to be in town this week. Still as a grown man, I didn’t imagine he would have the time, or desire to attend the launch. Last week I mentioned he would be welcome and before the words left my mouth, he was asking about proper “book launch” attire. Last night, he was the first one in the door, almost an hour early so he could help if I needed it. And I did. And he did.

My son, James was present at my very first launch but has lived out of town ever since. Even so he has always checked on the progress of my launches and offered advice from his perspective as the marketing/branding person for NY Times Bestselling Authors and the creator of Best Thriller Books Reviewers.

With this book, he raised his support to a new level by creating a haunting video trailer for The Secret Sand Circle (https://youtu.be/joIuHL4feQg ). Then yesterday, on launch day, he promoted my book across his social media platforms, with more than 11,000 followers. All day complete strangers from across the United States were sending me messages of congratulations and wishing me well with my book. I felt like I was Jodi Picoult!

My daughter, Lisa, has been a driving force at every one of my book launches---collaborating on the planning, advising on details and serving as the emcee for the launch presentations. Yet with The Secret Sand Circle, that tradition changed. Her successful event business has had her on a two continent, multi-city event project for the last two months. Finding dates when she was in town and I could schedule the launch just didn’t jive. Neither one of us felt good about it, but we agreed that we had to do what we had to do.

On my way to the launch, I called my daughter. I wasn’t sure if she was still in her event, but I wanted to touch base. I wanted to tell her that I was wearing the new dress she had gifted me and that I would miss her. My call went to voice mail, so I spoke my words and hoped she would hear my love when she listened to the message.

When I arrived at The Twentieth Century Club for the launch, the food/banquet manager welcomed me by pointing out a vase of gorgeous flowers that had been delivered for me. The card read, “Welcome to the World, Secret Sand Circle.” No name was included.

In the rush of getting everything set up and ready, I put aside my curiosity about the identity of the sender, knowing at some point, the person would reveal themself.

Finally, at the appointed time, I took my seat among the presentation panel of six mental health experts for our discussion. The topic was The Secret Sand Circle Community Benefit Initiative that will raise money to help provide Peer-to-Peer Counseling for Mental Health clinicians and first responders. Taking a look around at the audience, I noticed a late comer entering the room. I felt a sort of brain freeze as I struggled to process how that person looked so much like my daughter—-who I knew was in Boston running an event.

Then she smiled---that 1000 megawatt smile that warms the heart of everyone who sees it. And I knew that, despite her business commitments, and regardless of the challenges of scheduling last minute air travel these days, my daughter had found a way to be at the launch….as she had for every other one.

And the flowers? They were sent by my daughter BEFORE she made her last-minute decision to get on a plane and uber to the book launch.

Like I said, we are a small but mighty tribe who can fight as well as we love, but in the end, we show up.

#GreatfulThankfulBlessed #TheSecretSandCircle #HeartandSoulWriter #Family

To order The Secret Sand Circle

Meet the Characters of The Secret Sand Circle Week Three/Pt.3

Today you are meeting Dr. Bennett Redmond.

Dr. Redmond is the Director of the graduate psychology program at the University at Buffalo, where Jo Harkins is working on her degree.

Jo quickly becomes a disciple of Dr. Redmond initially, for the ways he challenges and cajoles her through some of her most difficult courses. Eventually, for his mentorship, which helps shape the focus of her practice into a specialty of trauma and abuse counseling.

When Jo completes her residency, she throws herself into developing her own practice. The work becomes all-consuming, leaving little room for anything or anyone else. Bennett continues in academia. Their paths run parallel but apart—each fulfilled, each moving forward.

Years later, a mutual friend invites them both to a holiday gathering. The reunion feels effortless—an easy return to a rhythm they hadn’t realized they’d missed. What begins as a conversation about research and career paths turns into something warmer, steadier.

Over time, the bond between mentor and student shifts into one of friendship, and then something more---grounding each other in ways that feel natural and necessary.

But balance is a delicate thing. And sometimes, even the most well-intentioned relationship can lead two people places that neither of them expected.

To purchase launch tickets or preorder a signed copy of The Secret SandCircle: https://www.christinaabt.com/secret-sand-circle.../preorder

#TheSecretSandCircle #HeartandSoulWriter #FictionThatHeals #DrBennettRedmond


Meet The Characters of The Secret Sand Circle Week Three/Pt.2

Today you are meeting the last of five patients that Psychologist, Dr. Jo Harkins, is writing about in her book: 56-year-old, Constance MacGregor.

Constance is a corporate wife and mother of three grown sons, struggling to navigate the dual challenges of menopause and an empty nest life. She turns to Jo for help, troubled by a deep sense of disorientation—unsettled in both body and mind, and uncertain about what life could possibly offer next.

Together, the women forge an unexpected bond in discovering medical conditions that validate Constance’s physical and emotional struggles, giving her new purpose. And over time, transcends their roles of counselor and patient,---forever changing Jo’s life.

To purchase launch tickets or preorder a signed copy of The Secret SandCircle: https://www.christinaabt.com/secret-sand-circle.../preorder

#TheSecretSandCircle #HeartandSoulWriter #FictionThatHeals


Meet the Characters of The Secret Sand Circle Week Three/Pt.1

This week you are meeting the last two of five patients who Psychologist, Dr. Jo Harkins, is writing about in her book.

Today's character is Dr. Kit Parker, a 42-year-old, highly-respected ER physician specializing in cardiac and thoracic surgery.

Kit and Jo meet at a seminar on the long-term health consequences of childhood abuse. As their relationship develops, their professional roles shift to counselor and patient as Kit discloses the abuse and trauma that has affected generations of his Native American family, through to himself.

Jo focuses on the man’s Native culture to help heal his mind, in the process realizing the emotional burnout and mental exhaustion borne by those who heal for a living---including her 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.

For tickets to The Secret Sand Circle Book Launch, or to pre-order a signed copy of The Secret Sand Circle: https://www.christinaabt.com/secret-sand-circle.../preorder

#TheSecretSandCircle #HeartandSoulWriter #FictionThatHeals #Kit

Meet the Characters of The Secret Sand Circle Week Two/Pt.3

Meet the Characters of The Secret Sand Circle: Week Two Pt.3
This week you are meeting three of the five patients Psychologist, Dr. Jo Harkins, is writing about in her book. Today's character is twenty-four year old Aiysha Jackson.

Aiysha shows up unexpectedly at Jo’s door on a Saturday explaining that a friend assured her, “….it would be cool if I swung by to grab a few minutes.” Tears forming in the woman’s eyes encourage Jo to welcome her into The Garden counseling space in what becomes the first of their regular Saturday patient sessions.

The willowy Black woman with intricately beaded braids, striking jade green eyes and high-fashion clothing appears like a hybrid of a celebrity and a runway model. Yet as Jo soon discovers, beneath Aiysha’s sophisticated appearance is a frightened child hiding within the deepest recesses of her body and mind. A child entrapped in a life where her beauty has invited unwanted touch and exploitation.

And now, as an adult where she struggles to navigate the landmines of her modeling, make-up artist and fashion photographer career, where her value is based on the way she looks, far more than her 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.

For tickets to The Secret Sand Circle Book Launch, or to pre-order a signed copy of The Secret Sand Circle: https://www.christinaabt.com
#HeartandSoulWriter
#FictionThatHeals
#Aiysha

Meet the Characters of The Secret Sand Circle Week Two/Pt.2

Meet the Characters of The Secret Sand Circle: Week Two Pt.2
This week you are meeting three of the five patients Dr. Jo Harkins is writing about in her book.
Today: Sixteen year old Solana

Solana is a Cuban teenager who has been caught up in a human trafficking ring, operating out of Buffalo. Growing up in deplorable and impoverished circumstances, she is easy prey for the smooth-talking trafficking recruiters and their promises of a better life in America. Yet where she ends up is trapped in a dilapidated apartment building on Buffalo’s lower west side, working in the dark and threatening shadows of sex trading.

Jo becomes involved with Solana after reading about the arrest of the trafficking organizers. Outraged, she contacts Buffalo’s Social Services Department and offers counseling help. A team leader on the case asks her to work with Solana, describing her as, “…the youngest and most impacted…” of all those trafficked.

Between their language barrier and the Cuban girl’s complete disorientation, Jo struggles to find ways to reach Solana and assure her that she is now safe. Yet the world of fear and mistrust into which the teen has been thrust takes hold of her young mind, causing her to spiral into painful isolation, And pulling Jo into the shadows with her.

For tickets to The Secret Sand Circle Book Launch, or to pre-order a signed copy of The Secret Sand Circle click here

#TheSecretSandCircle #HeartandSoulWriter #FictionThatHeals #Solana

Meet The Characters of The Secret Sand Circle Week Two/Pt.1

Meet the Characters of The Secret Sand Circle: Week Two Pt.1

This week and next you will meet the five patients that psychologist Dr. Jo Harkins is writing about in her book.

We begin with eight-year-old, Tristan Cruz

Tristan is an only child whose black/brown hair, soulful eyes and compact build mirror his mother’s appearance. When the woman initially reached out to Jo for counseling help, she confessed that her son had started behaving inappropriately at school and home---and she had no idea why.

This was not the first time Jo had listened to a parent share such a confession. Further, experience had taught her that such sudden shifts in a child’s behavior were often rooted in abusive treatment at home and/or at school

Before Tristan’s appointment, Jo looked up the meaning of the boy's name, hoping to gain a sense of this child she was about to meet. What she found offered a compelling lens through which to understand his behavior.

Yet what no name could reveal was that, in time, Tristan would become a guiding light for Jo, in her own life.

For tickets to The Secret Sand Circle Book Launch, or to pre-order a signed copy of The Secret Sand Circle CLICK HERE

#TheSecretSandCircle #HeartandSoulWriter #FictionThatHeals #Tristan

Meet The Characters of The Secret Sand Circle Week One/Pt.3

Meet the Characters of The Secret Sand Circle: Week One Pt. 3

Dr. Jo” Harkins — accomplished psychologist specializing in cases of abuse. Creator of The Secret Sand Circle Therapy Tool.

*********************************
As the central character of The Secret Sand Circle, Jo's storyline runs through all twenty-seven chapters of the book and the Epilogue.

Yet, it's the way her story unfolds that sets this novel apart from others you have read.

***********************************************************************
The first twenty chapters of The Secret Sand Circle are divided into two timelines of Jo’s life: “Now” and “Then.”

Each “Now” section is a single page in length. Collectively, they span a twenty-four–hour period in Jo’s life. At the top of each page there is an advancing timestamp, marking the exact hour and minute of the day, grounding the reader in real time.

Throughout these brief chapters it is revealed that Jo is staying at a retreat center, working on a book about five patients who deeply shaped her career. However, as time passes and she continues her work, a growing unease begins to whisper that this is far from a peaceful writing retreat—both in her surroundings and within her self.

***********************************************************************
In the “Then” sections of the first twenty chapters, readers are drawn into the lives and counseling journeys of the patients Jo is writing about.

Though these individuals differ in age, gender, and cultural backgrounds, they are connected by the abuses that have seared their minds and scarred their souls and bodies—and by Jo’s compassionate, empathetic efforts to reach into their pain and help them heal.

***********************************************************************
By chapters twenty-one through twenty-five, the “Now” sections have swelled to five pages in length. Jo’s time at the retreat center becomes more about herself than her book, blurring the storylines between the healer and those needing to be healed.

Meanwhile, the “Then” sections continue to follow the five patients as they reach pivotal, often painful turning points in their therapeutic relationships with Jo.

***********************************************************************
By the final two chapters of the book, only the “Now” sections remain. Within them, Jo is forced to face the reality that, by giving herself so completely to the healing of others—listening to their pain, absorbing their trauma, and carrying their stories—she has reached a breaking point.

It is within that reckoning that Jo discovers the only space where she can safely survive—The Secret Sand Circle.


***********************************************************************

Book Launch: The Secret Sand Circle
November 14th, 6–8 PM
The Twentieth Century Club
To purchase launch tix / preorder signed copies CLICK HERE

#TheSecretSandCircle #HeartandSoulWriter #FictionThatHeals

 

.


Meet the Characters of The Secret Sand Circle Week One/Pt.2

Meet The Characters of The Secret Sand Circle: Week One Pt.2: Dr. Juliette Olivia “Jo” Harkins

As the book's main character, Jo is a compassionate and visionary psychologist and creator of The Secret Sand Circle Therapy Tool. While dedicated to her counseling career and her patients, Jo's personal life is centered on her home and her passion for gardening.

She first experienced the wonder of growing plants and flowers while working alongside her grandmum in her gardens. It was there she realized the emotional benefits of blending seeds with soil in bringing Mother Nature's beauty to life.Those gardening lessons led Jo to incorporate the wonders of nature into her patient work, filling her counseling space with blooming plants and incorporating a greenhouse addition to the space.

It is in that greenhouse that Jo creates a unique therapy tool she names The Secret Sand Circle---changing the lives of her patients, and unexpectedly, her self as well.

Do you love plants and gardening? How does working with seeds and soil impact your wellbeing?

For info on the Nov.14th 6-8pm Secret Sand Circle Launch at The Twentieth Century Club, or to
prepurchase a signed copies CLICK HERE

#TheSecretSandCircle #HeartandSoulWriter #FictionThatHeals

Meet the Characters of The Secret Sand Circle Week One/Pt.1

Introducing: Dr. Juliette Olivia “Jo” Harkins: visionary psychologist and creator of The Secret Sand Circle Therapy Tool.

Jo is an accomplished psychologist who pushes beyond the traditional boundaries of therapy, blending method with her intuitive, empathic insight.

She counsels patients in a comfortably furnished treatment space filled with blooming plants that she changes with the seasons. It is, by her design, a comforting atmosphere that supports patients as they face what they fear most: their own memories.

Jo extends her compassionate counseling through the use of unique practices and treatment tools she has conceived, including one learned from her grandmum.

The intuitive Irishwoman advised her granddaughter at a young age that “...every name tells a story.” She then shared the meaning of Jo’s first and middle names:
Juliette: a caring, intuitive soul
Olivia: a healer striving to make a difference.
Those meanings led the determined young girl to declare she would no longer be known by her given names. Instead, she combined their initials and rechristened herself “Jo.”

Years later, in launching her psychology counseling career, Jo incorporates her grandmum’s “every name tells a story” belief into her practice. She quickly learns that the meaning behind a person’s name can indeed reveal hidden truths about their character, their destiny and the secret memories they carry within them selves.

Jo’s belief is tested when, after ten years in practice, she decides to write a book about five patients who profoundly shaped her career—including the meanings of their given names. Yet with each story she writes, the edges of Jo's own identity begin to blur.

Do you know the meaning of your given first name? Here are links to two websites where you can find out---if you dare!

For tickets to The Secret Sand Circle Book Launch, or to pre-order a signed copy of The Secret Sand Circle CLICK HERE


https://www.behindthename.com/
https://biblepulze.com/biblical-meaning-of-names/
#TheSecretSandCircle #HeartandSoulWriter #FictionThatHeals

Twenty Five Years Later...I Still Want to Talk

     Twenty-five years ago this May, I wrote a column and sent it to The Buffalo News.  It was actually a letter I had written to my mother two months after she passed. I titled it, “Just Wanted to Talk.” The News published it on Mother’s Day---my first “motherless” Mother’s Day.

     That letter went on to be published in a book titled, Heartwarmers, which became an Amazon Best Seller. I have gifted it to family and friends who have lost a loved one and wish they could still talk with them as well.

     Now, a quarter-of-a-century later, I still want to talk to my mother, but the passage of time and my advancing years have redirected the topics I wish we could discuss. So, I thought it appropriate to write another letter to my mother—-25-years after her passing—-and all I wish we could talk about today.

Dear Mom,
     Twenty-five years---a quarter of a century. Amazing how time has flown by and life has changed. I am now older than you were when you passed. Your grandchildren are middle-aged. Your great-grandchildren are young adults. Wish you were here with us all. You would be proud.

I now stand as our family’s elder, a reality that is ridiculously funny-- and daunting. It’s lonely not having you and your sisters and brothers around to share both memories and advice. At the same time, I “talk” to all of you in the mornings when I wake up and ask for blessings. (To be clear, I do so in full faith that you hear each and every word and will honor my requests!)

      Yet, just because you’re gone does not mean you are forgotten. I keep my favorite photos of you in special spaces in my home. There is the one of you and your twin sister, looking prim and proper in your high school grad photo with dark sweaters and white pearls. Then there’s the one of you posed in a pair of white shorts and a cinched-in shirt for a “pin-up” pic, looking nothing like a farm girl from Java, NY.  There is also the one of you and me towards the end of your life that is so poignant.

     I also find myself reminding my kids and telling my grandkids stories about you. Mostly they are the ones that have become family legends—riding your bike to work while wearing a pencil skirt and heels, calling The Buffalo Bills “…a bunch of donkeys” whenever they lost, your favored “Not too shabby” phrase about anything you liked, and cheating at Scrabble by turning over a letter and claiming it as a “blank.”


      I also never fail to remind them all of your professional successes in working your way up in Buffalo’s banking industry to become the first woman executive in charge of property management---with only a high school diploma.


      But mostly, Mom, I just wanted to talk and tell you that with the perspective of time and age, I’ve gained the wisdom to understand the challenges you faced, to see the difficulties you endured, and to realize how little your own upbringing and life experiences prepared you for motherhood. From within that wisdom, I now understand that you did the very best you could.


     My children have shown me the grace of forgiveness for my mothering shortcomings and faults, and I am deeply grateful that they continue to accept and love me as I am. That’s why today, on my 25th Mother’s Day without you, I just wanted to talk and tell you the same.
Love,
Christy

 To read the original Just Wanted to Talk click here

It's Never Too Late

I attended Mt.St.Mary's Academy. It is an all-girls Catholic high school that provided me with much more than a book-based education. During my four years there, I learned how to be me, without worry of how others or society view or judge me.

One of my most life-affirming experiences at the Mount was as a member of the school's glee club. The reason? Well, first, I love to sing. Second, the conductor of the club was, Robert F. Schulz.

At the time, I didn't know anything about Mr. Schulz, other than he was a gently-demanding conductor who brought music from our voices that none of us knew we could achieve.

What I learned many years later was that Robert Schulz founded The Buffalo Choral Arts Society served as a guest pianist and conductor with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. WOW!

When I discovered Mr. Schulz's repute, I further understood the concert he organized for our glee club during my senior year. He taught us to sing the Messiah. Not just the Hallelujah Chorus. Additional selections as well. Then he joined our voices with the Canisius College Men's Chorus---on the stage of Kleinhans Music Hall---accompanied by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra!

Calling an experience "life-changing" often sounds trite. Yet in this case, performing that night surrounded by those incredibly talented musicians and singers, in one of America's great concert halls was truly life-changing for me. And ever since, I have dreamed of doing it again.

Today I'm taking the first step towards that dream. Actually, it's more of a huge leap--- in the form of an audition for a Buffalo choral group. I am nervous...a bit scared....but fully determined to do my best and try.

And as I do, I will hold tight to Mr. Schulz's strong belief that a group of young high school girls were talented enough to perform on a stage anywhere, alongside anyone---even now, so many years later.