Saturday 1 March 2014

A Life Without Walls

My name is Mariah A. Rackliff. Although I have been writing since I was thirteen years old, A Room Without Walls is my first published work. At the age of thirteen I began to write as a way to cope with feelings of extreme hyperactivity, extreme sadness, and a constant flight of ideas.

I wrote many poems from this time until I was in my early twenties. At that time I stopped writing so much because I became so addicted to alcohol and the idea that it was the only way I was able to cope.

After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature, I began working as a special educational technician. During the summers I worked as an Employment Specialist for a local agency helping children with mental health diagnoses.

During this time, I worked on receiving my second Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science. Six years later I began working as a Children’s In-Home Program Manager, and a Residential Supervisor. After this time, I decided to make another change and apply for a Master’s Program in English Literature/Creative Writing. I am currently three quarters of the way through the Master’s Program and am looking forward to graduating.

I began writing A Room Without Walls over two years ago when I finally got sober, after binge drinking every weekend for nearly 25 years. It was a long, often traumatic writing experience; however, now that it is finished and I’ve published it, it has been extremely healing. The memoir details my life from childhood until the present time. The narrative is stream-of-consciousness and poetry. I begin each chapter with a poem that is related to the upcoming chapter.

A Room Without Walls contains adult content and possibly triggers for those that suffer from PTSD, bipolar disorder, and addiction. At times the memoir is graphic, vulgar, and raw. Please read with caution if any of these topics may offend or trigger you. It is my hope that the memoir will reach an audience of people with similar diagnoses and those that have lived through parallel experiences.

I hope that by reading the memoir people with these experiences will find reassurance that they are not alone, encouragement, and inspiration to tell their own stories.

A Room Without Walls is available in print and electronic (Kindle) editions:

You can contact Mariah at her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/author.mariah.m.rackliff.

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