Books published by Bedazzled Ink Publishing Company

Pop quiz: Is Bugs Bunny bipolar? Was Winston Churchill? How about Margot Kidder, Henry VIII, and Frank Sinatra?*What about you?If you''re one of the roughly 4 percent of the population with diagnosed bipolar disorder-or the even smaller percentage with bipolar II-join the club.Bipolar disorder is mental illness. It''s manic depression. It''s serious. If you''ve just been diagnosed, however, take heart: You haven''t joined a secret society. We manic-depressives are everywhere, and you already know some of us. You''re not alone.Bipolarized II (written by a practicing BP II) can help you make sense of a serious but misunderstood mental illness-the only one with an up side. With luck, it may make you laugh, too. If you''re looking for gloom and doom, don''t look here. But if you''re up for an irreverent guide to a quirky condition, this is the place.Take heart: You''re not crazy. You''re only bipolar.* Why not, no, yes, probably not, and yes.

Cate stepped out of the gym to the parking lot and moaned. Her back tire sat flat against the ground. "Oh, sheets!" She tossed her gym bag across the asphalt. "Now what?" A tear welled in her eye. It was times like this that she missed her dad more than usual."Looks like you''ve got a bit of a problem. Let me give you a hand."Cate turned to find Dylan-of-the-gym right behind her. He''d crept upon her without making a sound. Oh God, did he see me having my tantrum? She tried to be nonchalant as she walked across the lot to retrieve her bag.He squatted next to the tire. "There''s a nail in the sidewall. You got a spare?""Yes, but I have no idea how to change a tire.""Don''t you worry. The cavalry has arrived." Edward Olson presents himself as the all-American guy. His stunning looks, captivating blue eyes, and charisma make it easy to meet women. But Edward has a dark secret-behind his charming smile, a vicious serial killer lies in wait.Edward is driven to kill by an entity he calls The Darkness. Believing this creature is the evil that possesses him, he struggles to rid himself of the creature he thinks has stolen his soul.Nurse Cate Derry, Edward''s na├»ve girlfriend, is the newest member of the hospital''s critical care unit with secrets of her own. Her rocky relationship with Edward and her connection to a detective on the case plunge all three into a downward spiral to a world where no one is safe.The Darkness is a harrowing journey into the depths of evil and the battle to overcome it.

Tilda's initiation is barely over and she's already taking her first powermaging lessons and learning the legends of Issraya. She secretly practices making illuminorbs in her room until she drains her energy to a level she knows Silviu will notice. She sneaks to the Ringroom to get a power boost. To her horror, she discovers the silviron in the Ringstone had been tainted in the battle with Luisa and the conduit to the Power is fading. Tilda's waning Merjanian portion of the Power reveals there's more silviron in the mines of Pergatt.Despite Silviu's orders to remain at Issraya, Tilda travels to Pergatt with Mage Duska in the hope of discovering the precious starmetal. Under the pretense of learning about the history of powermages and their regions, she joins a team of young gem miners in the hope they will lead her to the silviron.In the mines, she stumbles upon evidence of the cursed stone from the most evil legend in the history of the mages.  Now she hopes she has enough knowledge and skill to defeat its dark magic.

Kate, a devoted wife and mother, has lived her whole life under the mythic bluff called Maiden Leap in a scenic river town. Her contented life is turned inside out when her former high school girlfriend Lucy returns to town as a graduate of a gay conversion therapy program. Now Kate must cope with her guilt and anger over how she and Lucy parted.As Kate struggles to balance her marriage to her reliable husband and her friendship with mercurial Lucy, their old flame is rekindled and a town secret is uncovered. Kate must learn how to navigate a new world of possibilities, confront her moral conundrums, and solve the age-old mystery surrounding Maiden Leap.

Based on more than three decades as a volunteer in the world of animal welfare and founder of one of the earliest high-volume, low-cost neuter spay facilities in the nation, Delluomo puts into words her passion for the plight of unwanted animals, and her frustration with the fact that euthanasia has been the standard approach to the century-old tragedy of pet overpopulation in America. Upon her decision to tackle pet overpopulation and euthanasia, Delluomo describes her surprise and dismay that local veterinarians, and the Oklahoma State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, who she believed would be allies, would indeed become bitter enemies of a project designed to save animal lives. Along the way, Delluomo questions the mentality of a fragmented humane movement which embraces no-kill shelters while arguing that breeding laws are a waste of time. By an unexpected investigation and ruling of the Federal Trade Commission against Oklahoma veterinarians, which Delluomo refers to as "divine intervention," the neuter/spay clinic is able to survive the harassment of the veterinarians and the OSBVME. However, in a surprise ending, once again the Board and its corrupt investigator, with multiple conflicts of interest, go after Lawton citizens and the Animal Birth Control Clinic in a report of the investigation of the city-operated animal shelter rather than those he was enlisted to investigate. Delluomo describes the periods of burn-out and feelings of failure that are an integral part of lending one''s life to the cause of animal welfare.

Bullying is no good,” Roy stated with conviction, as a classroom full of fourth-graders stared at him in rapt attention. “Other kids can be mean. They make fun of you for anything that is different. They call you names and make you feel bad about yourself. And that’s no good. They tell you things that aren’t true, but it still hurts.” They told him he was stupid. They told him he was worthless. They were wrong.Roy Irwin was institutionalized as a child and bullied throughout his young life because of learning disabilities and a speech impediment. Most people thought that he would never amount to anything. But Roy proved his critics wrong when he learned to read at the age of fifty. A decade later, Lauren Filarsky got to know Roy Irwin when he fulfilled a life dream by learning to train horses in the round pen on her parents’ ranch. Roy used his accomplishments to inspire hundreds of students to never give up on their dreams. He became an inspirational speaker in the local schools, explaining bullying to kids and helping them deal with bullies. These are Lauren’s memories of her friendship with this remarkable man.

Tilda has been angry with the Power and its mages ever since Pa died. Why didn't the mages use the Power to save him?Determined to find out, she sails to Ring Isle with her Uncle Vanya, steward to the mage Silviu of Ambak. But finding answers isn't easy, especially when a rogue mage attempts to steal all the Power of the five rings for himself and leaves the remaining four mages trying to cope with the aftermath of the attack.When Tilda tries to return a snake torc to Silviu, she is accidentally pulled through a Power-fueled portal and finds herself in Ambak. There, she realizes she's the only one who can find the hidden ring of Ambak to restore the balance of Power to all the mages. As she tackles this challenging quest, Tilda discovers more about herself than she could ever imagine.

With the help of sixty-year-old black jazz man Lucius, Mary Kaye O'Donnell, an eighteen-year-old Irish-American woman and aspiring jazz singer in Chicago, finds her way toward dealing with an unwanted pregnancy and the death of Sister Michaeline, her voice coach, jazz mentor, and only guide through the bedlam of her childhood.Mary Kaye's neighbor, Judge Engelmann, introduced her to the work of James Baldwin and the nuns exposed her to the burgeoning civil rights movement, but Lucius is the first black person Mary Kaye comes to really know. They bond over Sister Michaeline's untimely death. Over time, Lucius helps Mary Kaye launch her career as a singer in his jazz band. He also gives her Sister Michaeline's diary from her early cloistered years, saying it was the nun's wish. In reading the diary and in conversations with Lucius and Judge Engelmann, Mary Kaye discovers disillusioning aspects and secrets of her beloved mentor.This is Mary Kaye's coming-of-age story as she weighs her options based on the diary, her faith, and her music, set against the background of illegal abortion and child abandonment in the 1963 Chicago world of civil rights and interracial jazz. It is entirely a work of fiction, but in today's political climate one could imagine something similar becoming real.

A sequel to Shell Game, Darren--socially awkward, exiled noblewoman turned pirate queen--and Lynn sorta kinda Darren's slave girl, sorta kinda Darren's life coach, and altogether the bossiest backseat helmsman that ever set foot on a pirate ship are at it . . . again.Darren receives a message delivered by her dying brother pleading for her to warn their father about a traitor. Meaning Darren has to return home to Torasan Isle, and to the father who keeps sending assassins after her. Lynn thinks it's crazy, insane, and obviously certain death for Darren, and is not overly happy about the idea. As usual, Lynn is right and chaos ensues.

LodeStar is a collection of poems that seeks to juxtapose the light and dark moments of life. Patricia Taylor Wells explores the longing of a broken heart as well as the magical power of infatuation. She addresses the complexities of faith, hope, and loss alongside the simplicity of creation. Like a light guiding us out of darkness, there is no better lodestar than a poem.

Dear Sophie is the continuing memoir of The Jagged Years of Ruthie J. as Ruth fights to get enrolled into medical school. She finally succeeds by being one of a few students to be accepted at a new type of medical school at the University of Calgary. Being admitted turns out to be the easy part as she continues to face sexual harassment and discrimination during her schooling. Told in letters to her niece Sophie, Ruth weaves a feminist story of perseverance and determination for equality.Several male doctors did their best to get Ruth kicked out of the program, but she persevered. She finished her residency and opened her own medical practice despite being blocked at almost every step and clashing with the established medical community.Ruth's story covers almost half a century up the present, all the while using her experiences, especially in the medical community as a means to show Sophie how to live a happy, feminist life.

Iola Boggs escapes a small-minded village and is proud that she becomes a non-combat pilot during World War II. Iola meets Jim Lewis, who never served in the war but contributed in his own way to the war effort. They marry in post-war Philadelphia and raise a family against the backdrop of the paranoid era of Joseph McCarthy. Their differences plus a need for fulfillment propels them away from each other. Illicit liaisons and grief bring them life-changing insights. Part historical, part family saga, Iola's story is of resilience, diversity, and self-discovery.

After Emily Harris'' recent divorce, she returns to her hometown, where she renews her relationship with her exotic grandmother Eleanor, against the wishes of her mother Elaine, with whom she has her own fraught relationship. Eleanor, arch and secretive, has a passion she wishes to imbue in Emily — but Eleanor dies before the mystery is revealed in full. She leaves Emily an important clue: a small hand-loomed tapestry, possibly made by an ancestor. In an act of abandon that shocks even herself, Emily seduces her childhood neighbor and nemesis, Carwyn. Fleeing to the Welsh Marches to sort out her motivations, she discovers a branch of the family kept secret by her grandmother. With the aid of her newfound relatives, she searches for the keys to solving the mystery of the tapestry.

When sixty-three-year-old Alma, a failure at all she undertakes, decides to run away from her controlling and impatient husband, the result, like most of her efforts, is a disaster. She ends up in rehab in Glen Willow Gardens nursing home among the other "inmates" who mostly suffer from some form of dementia.As Alma recovers from both an accident and a subsequent stroke, her kindness and humor lead her to enjoy unfamiliar successes in caring for herself and others. She also finds friendship with a lonely gardener and with the man who was responsible for her accident. When it is time to choose her path into the future, she leaves Glen Willow Gardens a stronger, more independent woman