Coming Clean

The writer and actress explore her childhood and youth, which was largely defined by her father's struggle with hoarding.

"I was a walking bankroll, wearing $150,000 worth of jewelry and carrying as much as $40,000 cash in my pockets. Yet my friends asked: "how are you doing?" I'd sometimes reply, "miserable. I hate every second of my life, and I do not know why." Jorge ValdesAll his dreams for wealth and power came true. Then the nightmare began.As a young man in his twenties with an insatiable thirst for money and power, Jorge Valdes worked his way up inside Colombia's powerful Medellin drug cartel. His key position as head of U.S. Operations brought him into direct contact with presidents, generals, Hollywood celebrities, hired killers and kidnappers. This Cuban immigrant, raised in poverty, was living the high life in more ways than one. His deeds took him from the lap of luxury to the depths of prison and back again.Then an incredible thing happened: Jorge Valdes encountered a person much more powerful than the strongest drug lord, someone who offered something more satisfying than women, drugs, money, prestige and power.Reading more like a fast paced novel of intrigue than a traditional biography, coming clean: the true story of a cocaine drug lord and his unexpected encounter offers an insider's view of the drug industry and the greed that drives it. Told that he would never be anything but a twice convicted drug dealer; today, dr. Jorge l. Valdes, who holds a master degree from Wheaton college and a PhD. In new testament studies from Loyola University in Chicago, is a renowned national speaker who brings a message of hope, forgiveness and the power to change. He has been featured in numerous magazine covers and appeared in many national and international television and radio programs.

Chart-topping comedian Rodney Carrington offers up his first book helping of the Texas-sized, down-home humor that has sold out his comedy tour across the nation.

Rob wants to be a DJ, but when a girl overdoses during his first gig and his brother is implicated, Rob realizes he could lose everything.

Christianity Today Book Award Winner; ECPA Award Finalist Boldly honest, powerfully told, deeply moving - this is a story about finding yourself. Seth Haines' memoir holds up a mirror to all of our stories to show the peace that is possible when we release our addictions and receive the healing presence of God. Seth Haines was in the hospital with his wife, planning funeral songs for their not-yet two-year-old, when he made a very conscious decision: this was the last day he wanted to feel. That evening, he asked his sister to smuggle in a bottle of gin and gave in to addiction. But whether or not you've ever had a drop to drink in your life, this book is for all who have sought ways to stop their pain. Like Seth, we're all seeking balms for the anxiety of what sometimes seems to be an absent, unresponsive God - whether it's through people-pleasing, social media likes, shopping, the internet, food, career highs, or even good works and elite theology. Too often we attempt to escape our anxiety through addiction - any old addiction. But it often leaves us feeling even more empty than before. In Coming Clean, Seth Haines writes a raw account of his first 90 days of sobriety, illuminating how to face the pain we'd rather avoid, and even more importantly, how an abiding God meets us in that pain. Seth shows us that true wholeness is found in facing our pain and anxieties with the tenacity and tenderness of Jesus, and only through Christ’s passion can we truly come clean.

Untold stories of people with substance addictions who have recovered without formal treatment Despite the widely accepted view that formal treatment and twelve-step groups are essential for overcoming dependencies on alcohol and drugs, each year large numbers of former addicts quietly recover on their own, without any formal treatment or participation in self-help groups at all. Coming Clean explores the untold stories of untreated addicts who have recovered from a lifestyle of excessive and compulsive substance use without professional assistance. Based on 46 in-depth interviews with formerly addicted individuals, this controversial volume examines their reasons for avoiding treatment, the strategies they employed to break away from their dependencies, the circumstances that facilitated untreated recovery, and the implications of recovery without treatment for treatment professionals as well as for prevention and drug policy. Because of the pervasive belief that addiction is a disease requiring formal intervention, few training programs for physicians, social workers, psychologists, and other health professionals explore the phenomenon of natural recovery from addiction. Coming Clean offers insights for treatment professionals of how recovery without treatment can work and how candidates for this approach can be identified. A detailed appendix outlines specific strategies which will be of interest to addicted individuals themselves who wish to attempt the process of recovery without treatment.

'Raw, unflinching, incredibly brave' - BBC Woman's Hour 'Visceral and gripping' – Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun My name is Liz, and I am the partner of an alcoholic. Coming Clean is a searingly honest memoir of loving an alcoholic – both through the heaviest drinking years and into recovery. When Liz Fraser's partner fell into a catastrophic vortex of depression and alcoholism, Liz found herself in a relentless hailstorm of lies, loneliness and fear, looking after their young child on her own, heartbroken, mentally shattered and with no idea what was happening or what to do. As she and her family moved between Cambridge, Venice and Oxford, she kept the often shocking truth entirely to herself for a long time, trying in vain to help her partner find a path to sobriety, until she herself finally broke from the trauma and started to speak out – only to find she was one of hundreds experiencing similar things, also living in silence and fear. Part diary, part travel journal and part love letter, Coming Clean is the true story of addiction of many kinds, mental collapse and heartbreak. Above all, it offers a voice of deep human compassion, strength and hope for recovery. I hope that in sharing this story it might change the way addiction is talked about and understood from both sides, encourage open, trusting and supportive dialogue between addicts and those their addiction affects, and provide some solace and help for those who need it – as I did.

Chris was once one of Australia’s most wanted men following his escape from Queensland’s notorious Boggo Road maximum security prison in 1988. After 20 years of crime, drugs & prisons, Chris has spent the last 20 years working in the area of social welfare assisting others to turn their lives around. Chris now runs his own business delivering motivational and life-skills training programs. This book is a must read for anyone who has made big mistakes in their lives and feels that they can never put things right. From 20 years of crime, drugs and prisons to 20 years of social welfare work assisting others to overcome their barriers in life.

At 14, Leonard Ottone became a ward of the state. At 28 he learned how to read and write from fellow inmates at Pentridge Prison. During years of therapy he gained insight into his addictions and criminal behaviour. And now he is coming clean to readers of this raw and brutal account of redemption

The steamy conclusion of C. L. Parker’s Monkey Business Trio They have been rivals who fought until the bitter end and lovers who know every sensual inch of each other’s bodies. Now sports agents Cassidy Whalen and Shaw Matthews are about to become the one thing they never expected to be: parents. But this new dynamic to their relationship threatens to fizzle the sizzling desire that once held them in thrall to each other. If salvation is only a forbidden fantasy away, then Shaw and the woman he loves must embark on the adventure of their lives. Cassidy is aching to reignite their connection. In steamy assignations in strange places, she and Shaw live out their most intimate desires—and reveal their deepest secrets. But as Shaw works overtime to sign a superstar athlete, a corporate reshuffling could be a game-changer. Can Cassidy and Shaw save their relationship and have it all—a career, family, and passion that never quits? Coming Clean is intended for mature audiences. Praise for Coming Clean “Parker’s witty, insightful, and inventive Monkey Business Trio finale (after Getting Rough) packs an emotional punch as a couple in present-day San Diego grapple with being true to themselves and demystifying family legacies. . . . Spunky and charismatic characters and riveting banter make this hard-fought-for romance irresistible.”—Publishers Weekly “[In] the final installment of the Monkey Business trio . . . Parker puts obstacles in [the couple’s] way that propel the story into a compelling read.”—RT Book Reviews “Coming Clean provides a realistic, sometimes heartbreaking glimpse at the simultaneous frailty and strength in a relationship.”—Heroes and Heartbreakers “I cried, laughed, was hot and bothered, and I loved every bit of this installment. I couldn’t ask for a better ending to this trilogy.”—Under the Covers Book Blog “The ending was perfect!”—Fiction Fan Girls