Even killers die!
A woman in a psychiatric hospital finds herself on the wrong side of the law when another patient is found murdered. Proving her innocence might have to wait though as she comes face to face with an old adversary.
I'm so pleased to be taking part in the blog tour for Fractured by Billy McLaughlin today. I really enjoyed Billy's previous novel, The Daughter when I read it last year and I'm looking forward to reading Fractured in the future. Billy has very kindly written a very special guest post for me to share with you today about mental health conditions - a subject that's very close to my heart.
Today, on the eve of my new release ‘Fractured’ I wanted to talk about something that has quite a strong thread in the book. It’s also something that 1 in 4 people in the UK are dealing with.
I didn’t have to look very far when researching this book. We all know several people who either live with a mental health condition or at least work in that area. It shocked me to learn how far we’ve still to go in reaching a place of understanding and compassion. I don’t think anyone is to blame. It’s an illness that was previously hidden away, brushed under the carpet, locked away in asylums so that people didn’t have to face the dark side of our minds. Progress is being made all the time. Not quickly enough.
What has caught me off guard time and again is when people talk about mental health survivors, or indeed those no longer with us is how quickly everything else is diminished. A character in my book talks about how giving someone a mental health diagnosis is almost an excuse for everyone around them to forget that person is still a full three-dimensional human being. They still have families. They’re still sons, daughters, parents, friends and partners. They often have careers, social lives, interests. Hell, many people I know who have mental health issues have the wickedest sense of humours I’ve ever known. That’s right. Even in the throes of illness, they are still often funny, witty, supportive and kind.
Having survived a parent who died by suicide it’s become more and more important to me throughout the years that she is remembered as a person. I still enjoy remembering her amazing way of recounting her childhood stories in a way that had us enthralled. I still recall how she laughed. How she loved to sing and dance. Especially how she made people laugh. Not to be mawkish though because I can also remember well the dark days and the deterioration of all those things as the mental health condition took its toll. And it inevitably does in the way that any illness does.
The sooner we stop shying away from it though, opening up and talking about it and accepting people for who they are, the closer we get to giving people a safe place to come to when they’re in the grip of their illness. That’s all most people want, some understanding and compassion and to know someone is there for them without judgement. After all, why should anybody be judged for being ill? That’s not a society I want to live in.
Thank you so much for this sensitive and important post, Billy. I lost my brother, Simon to suicide in August 2013 when he was only 37 and your words really resonated with me. He was so much more than his cause of death. We still have a long way to go when it comes to providing people with mental health conditions with the support they deserve; I truly believe that talking about mental illnesses openly and without judgement is absolutely vital.
Fractured will be published on 31st August 2018 and can be purchased here. Don't miss the other stops on the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
His novelette 'Invisible' first arrived in March 2016 to rave reviews and was then followed by stand-alone novella 'The Dead of Winter' and the award-winning 'Krampus', a novelette released to raise money for an illness called NKH.
Boasting nearly 20,000 downloads in 2 years, McLaughlin unleashes his seventh release 'Fractured' on 31st August. The story reveals the fate of a character who previously graced the pages of his work, whilst spinning an entirely new twisted tale about two traumatized women who seek vengeance.
To see more information on future releases, please see www.facebook.com/billymclaughlinbooks or contact him on billymclaughlinbooks@gmail.com. Billy can be followed on Twitter as @bilbob20
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