GIVEAWAYS
(2) $10 Amazon Gift Cards
(1) $5 Amazon Gift Card
(2) e-book copies of “THE GOOD MOMMIES’ GUIDE…”
 
ULTIMATE PRIZE GIVEAWAY #1:
$50 Amazon gift card
To have your name entered into the drawing, purchase “THE GOOD MOMMIES’ GUIDE…” “DAYDREAM’S DAUGHTER, NIGHTMARE’S FRIEND” or “IF ONLY THERE WAS MUSIC” between 2/14/16 - 2/29/16 and send a copy of the purchase receipt to nonniejules@gmail.com and also leave a comment along the tour. 
One entry for each book purchased (e-book or paperback).
 
ULTIMATE PRIZE GIVEAWAY #2:
$20 Amazon gift card
Read and post a review of “THE GOOD MOMMIES’ GUIDE…” “DAYDREAM’S DAUGHTER, NIGHTMARE’S FRIEND” or “IF ONLY THERE WAS MUSIC” between 2/16/16 – 3/15/16 and send the link of your review to nonniejules@gmail.com, to have your name entered into the drawing. 
One entry for each book read and reviewed. 
 
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Q:  Nonnie, you write powerfully about matters of the heart. What propels you to write?

A:  Thank you, Gwen. Most often, my inspiration for writing comes from the world at large. I write about the state of our children, the state of our lives, our communities, the state of our hearts. What’s going on in the world at any given moment could be the subject of my next written piece of work, whether in book form or on one of my blogs: www.nonniewrites.wordpress.com & www.askthegoodmommy.wordpress.com
 
Q:  Who is your greatest teacher?

A:  You might think this funny, but the world (and life) has been my greatest teacher, of all things, good and bad.
 
Q:  In what way does the world and life provide inspiration?

A:  Anything that we need to know, the world will teach us, whether we want the lesson or not. As a child and parent advocate, I always advise parents to teach their own kids and teach them well, before the world steps in to do it for them, and those lessons may not be the kinds they had planned for their kids. You have to pay attention to all that’s going on around you. You have to be interested in more than what’s going on in just your own neighborhood, in your own close-knit community. You have to be in tune with the world at large, and when you are, the lessons, again, whether good or bad, are the lessons that were meant just for you. I believe that.
 
Q:  What prompted you to begin writing?

A:  I remember being in 3rd grade, and at that time, I was reading on a 12th grade level. After having read out loud to the class one day, my teacher grabbed my hand, took me across the hall to another teacher and said: “You have to hear her read this!” And so I read. What my teacher couldn’t wait to flaunt in the face of this other teacher, was that the piece I had read, (which was obviously extremely impressive in her mind), was a piece that I had written on my own. (Please, I’m old, don’t ask me what it was about). From as early as third grade, I can remember always being the one whose writing was used as the example for other kids. By the time I made it to 6th grade, I was a public speaker and made my first appearance on a television talk show; the discussions usually surrounded things I had written. I began writing poetry in 3rd grade so that’s my first love.

Q:  Nonnie, you seem to have a lot of energy.  What calms you and brings you peace?

A:  Gwen, each night before I turn in for bed, I walk from room to room, watching my daughters sleeping (the pets sleeping), even my husband, who probably waited up for me as long as he could, and I stand in each doorway and thank God for each of them. Knowing that they are all right there, safe and sound, and we’re all together brings me immense peace…and I’m calm. Typically, anytime the three of them are away from home or me, I’m uneasy. 

Thanks so much for the interview, Gwen. 

Thank you, Nonnie, for the visit. I'll be following you daily on your tour. Readers, if you'd like to follow as well, please visit Nonnie's Blog Tour Page. 

Contact information for Nonnie Jules:
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/nonniejules
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/BooksByNonnie
Blogs:  www.nonniewrites.wordpress.com , www.BooksByNonnie.wordpress.com & www.AskTheGoodMommy.wordpress.com

     It is my pleasure to welcome author and colleague Sherilyn Powers to this site. Her tireless efforts, to help others find health and happiness, have endeared me to her work. Today she addresses the often hidden sorrow of alcoholism. Even if this disease has not touched you personally, I suspect you might know someone who bears its burden. Sherilyn's article offers 
clarity and HOPE.   
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Is alcoholism just psychological or could there be a biochemical reason for it?

Dr. Abram Hoffer, PhD, MD, FRCP(C), Co-Founder Orthomolecular Medicine, wrote about alcoholism being caused by a sugar allergy, and found in his tests that alcoholics who went "on the wagon" and eliminated sugar from their diets, were able to keep from drinking alcohol more so than alcoholics who ate sugar. Unfortunately, that's about as far as that went probably because it was a theory that wasn't going to benefit the psychiatrists and wasn't going to benefit the growing pharmaceutical companies.

Now once again we have doctors arguing one side or the other with the nay-sayers trying to drown out any thought that this just might help alcoholics because there is no proof. Does eliminating sugar from the alcoholic's diet make it easier for them to quit drinking, are most of them hypoglycemic and gluten sensitive, and that's what triggers the craving for alcohol, will diet alone cure 100% of all alcoholics?

And my question is...  WHO CARES? 

Here is another tool that, although it may not help 100% of the people, may be able to help many.  Why does something natural and non-pharmaceutical have to be proven to help every single person before it is accepted as worth trying? Why is it quack medicine? Oh, because it isn't PROVEN to work. Do all pharmaceutical drugs work in all cases? What about the fact that it is PROVEN that anti-depressants only have an 18% efficacy?  Yet THEY are accepted by the medical community and handed out like candy.

It can't hurt an alcoholic who wants to recover to eat healthier, try and help their poor liver that's been so abused by alcohol toxins by removing things that stress it, and try cutting out things that might make their alcohol cravings worse. Why do some in the medical community shun treatments that might help, and certainly can't hurt? Unlike the myriad of pharmaceuticals they push on their patients that may or may not cure one thing and is proven it can cause fifty others!

Well, there is no scientific evidence it works, the nay-sayers affirm. It's more likely it's a placebo effect.  Guess what? If I was in severe, debilitating pain for no known medical reason, and a placebo made it so that I could actually get out of bed in the morning and function where I hadn't in years... I say give me the placebo and keep your mouth shut about it! I have quality of life. So who is the fool?

People have the right to know that these types of options are available for them to try, without the stigma of it being a fool's errand. Try it and it may - in addition to meetings and counselling and whatever other treatments are suggested - actually help. Unlike the 3 minute commercials for drugs, that have 2.5 minutes of side effects, it really can't hurt to try and eat healthier.

https://www.liverdoctor.com/about-dr-sandra-cabot/; http://drlwilson.com/Articles/alcoholism.htm; http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_niacin.html; http://www.searpubl.ca/Remembering_Abram_Hoffer.pdf; http://divinewiz.com/tag/abram-hoffer/; http://www.thecleanslate.org/myths/addiction-as-an-allergy-loss-of-control/; https://www.liverdoctor.com/alcoholism-hypoglycaemia-gluten-intolerance/