A Woman in the Wild is my newest novel. It’s a revealing and memorable portrait of a woman boldly facing her demons in pursuit of a meaningful life.
A psychologist in crisis leaves her established practice in the city for an open-ended retreat in the mountains at the Institute for Healing and Transformation. Feeling lost, betrayed, and stricken by guilt not to have saved her daughter from sexual abuse, she hopes to find a new path to ease her pain and uncertainties.
Soon after her arrival, a “wild” man who roamed the forest with a bear is brought to the institute. When the man is given to her care, she performs a suspenseful balancing as she seeks to heal him as well as herself.
Hiking and meditating each day, she initiates an inner journey that shakes her free from the familiar. As the months pass, she engages her guilt and sorrow, confronts her failures, weighs the limits of therapy and self-forgiveness, and seeks to unleash the healing powers of the unconscious and of love.
Readers will find this an absorbing and dramatic novel of abuse, resilience, and the quest for transformation.
Praise for A Woman in the Wild:
“Rich in insight, A Woman in the Wild is an engrossing story of desire, healing, and the limits of human knowledge. With mindful reflections upon the wilderness in the world and in our hearts, this tale of a psychologist in crisis is immediately and deeply captivating. A marvelous read.”
– Ethan Gallogly, author of The Trail: A Novel
“Set upon the turning wheel of the seasons and amidst the intricate wonders of the wild, A Woman in The Wild shows how inspiring and healing the natural world can be. The retreat center where the main characters meet offers no prescription for healing other than a safe place to be and the nourishment of rest and reflection. I especially enjoyed the immense range and complexity of the characters’ inner lives as they actively engage the sensate world of the surrounding wilderness. As a psychologist myself, I was not only delighted and surprised with what Thea, the main character, discovers on her quest, I remain deeply inspired by the resounding truth of it!”
– Susan Scott, author of Healing with Nature
“A wonderfully original novel. The characters are unusual and engaging, especially the marvelously imagined wild man and the ever-hovering bear concealed in the wilderness. The precision and beauty of the language, together with the measured pace of the narration, allow the time and process required for inner development as well as for conversations and reflections on guilt, the making of amends, healing, loss, and death.”
– Inez Martinez, author of To Know the Moon and former General Editor of the Jungian Journal for Scholarly Studies
Other recent books of mine include the following:
The Secret Life of Money leads readers on a fascinating journey to uncover the sources of our monetary desires. By understanding why money has the power to obsess us, we gain the power to end destructive patterns and discover riches of the soul. Midas who can turn all to gold, fishermen who will not share their catch, Dorothy and her companions on the golden road to the Emerald City, Scrooge who cannot give, the hunter who shares not only food but also debt, money that falls from the skies, buried treasures that can be spiritual wealth or be stolen, how debt can be like inheritance, the symbolism of the bulls and bears of Wall Street, the all-seeing eye on the back of the dollar bill—all these and many other stories and myths from around the world are given delightful retellings and searching analyses in the The Secret Life of Money. As Publishers Weekly stated in its review, “Indebted in equal measures to Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and sundry classic tales (e.g., The Wizard of Oz) . . . the book should enlighten those who tend to view money only in the most literal terms.”
A video of my presentation to the Myth Salon titled “The Secret Life of Money: Myths, Archetypes, Folk Tales and More” can be viewed on YouTube.
I was fortunate to have San Francisco attorney MJ Bogatin collaborate in the revisions necessary for the 6th edition of Legal Guide for the Visual Artist. The book provides an in-depth view of the legal issues facing the visual artist today and gives practical legal guidance. Among the many new topics covered are the CASE Act under which the Copyright Office will have a Copyright Claims Board to hear copyright cases involving less than $30,000 in claims, new state law tests to determine who is an employee, a new chapter on artists’ business entities and services, public art commissions, online galleries and other digital developments, infringement and the concept of “transformative use,” the demise of the California Art Resale Proceeds Act, income tax and estate tax updates, a new chapter on merchandise licensing, and much more. Included are basic strategies for negotiation, many sample legal forms and contracts, and guidance on finding artists’ organizations and Volunteer Lawyer for the Arts groups. Alma Robinson, Executive Director for the California Lawyers for the Arts, says this “readable guide is filled with practical legal advice for visual artists, as well as negotiating strategies and discussions of ethical issues.”