One afternoon recently, after being out for several hours, I drove up to find several packages on my front porch. One of them was the final proof of my new book, Conversations with the Water: A Memoir of Cultivating Hope. I had so many things going on that I honestly forgot it was coming and opened it without even getting into the house (despite the unhappiness of my barking dogs on the other side of the door). There was a little concern about the cover and I had to know for sure that it was okay. And it was.

What’s amazing about the process is that this is my eighth book in eleven years and it isn’t something that becomes commonplace in my life. This book felt especially surreal because just seven months ago I started to write it and I never could have predicted the path it would take, the intertwining of water, surfing, and the transition of my journey away from speaking about suicide loss.

Walk with me (or surf with me) through this book and see that life can still be meaningful and hopeful after the loss of a loved one.

Conversations with the Water: A Memoir of Cultivating Hope is available on Amazon, and at www.inspirebymichelle.com.

Michelle Linn-Gust, Ph.D., President of the American Association of Suicidology, has spent the past nineteen years educating people worldwide about coping with loss and change following the suicide of her younger sister. Her eighth book, Conversations with the Water: A Memoir of Cultivating Hope, chronicles her grief journey as she moves forward beyond the suicide and loss field. Her first book, based on Denise’s suicide, Do They Have Bad Days in Heaven? Surviving the Suicide Loss of a Si..., inspired siblings around the world in their survival after a loved one’s suicide. Learn more about Michelle at www.inspirebymichelle.com.