Hope Andersen Offers Life-Lessons and Tools for Your Toolkit in “How to Remodel a Life”

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In this episode 238, guest memoirist Rachael Brooks leads the interview with Hope Andersen, author of “How to Remodel a Life: A Guide to Living Well with Alcoholism and Bipolar Disorder,” a memoir and self-help guide for those struggling with addiction and mental health issues.

Using a house remodel as a metaphor, Hope provides the necessary tools and life lessons to uplift spirits while speaking candidly about her own life.

Michael D. Lemonick, author of The Perpetual Now, had this to say about the book, “If you are going to rehab a house that has fallen into disrepair, you obviously need the proper tools. If you’re going to repair a life overshadowed by addiction and mental illness, you need tools too – but you can’t exactly run down to the local hardware store to find them. What you can do, however, is read this intimate, powerful and uplifting book. Hope Andersen has transformed her own, very challenging life into what she calls ‘an oasis of serenity’ and she’s used the lessons she has learned to create not just one, but a series of toolkits that could do the same for you. It’s a remarkable achievement.”

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About the Author:

Hope Andersen is a best-selling, award winning author of two novels (The Book Sisters; When the Moon Winks); a chapbook of poetry (Taking in Air); and a memoir/self-help book (How to Remodel a Life: a guide to living well with alcoholism and bipolar disorder). Her poetry has appeared in magazines and reviews in the US and abroad. In 2019, she was asked to share her poetry at the Ledbury Poetry Festival in England. Hope has appeared on podcasts in the US, Scotland and Canada. She has also made guest appearances on television and radio shows. She is an assistant editor for The Awakenings Review in Chicago and writes a column for Lakeside Living magazine in Mooresville, North Carolina. A native New Englander, she lives in North Carolina with her husband of 30 years. They have three grown children, two dogs, and a cat.

Additional Titles

The Book Sisters

The six Book sisters grow up in America between the 1960s and the present day. In this literary novel, the author explores how each girl is shaped by the events unfolding around her and takes on a particular role in society. Kirkus Reviews calls the novel “…a succinct chronicle of American womanhood in the second half of the 20th century. A beautifully composed novel of individuality within sisterhood.”

Taking in Air

The poems in this collection are rooted in a reverence for Nature and in meditation and prayer. Covering the span of the poet’s life, they demonstrate her spiritual transformation. Poet Anthony S. Abbott says of this collection “…the sense of mystery is everywhere in these poems… We read the poems wondering if perhaps we too might not undergo that change which allows us to discover our own deeper selves.”

About Guest Host Rachael Brooks

Rachael Brooks is a first-time author of Beads: A Memoir about Falling Apart and Putting Yourself Back Together Again, who currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband and two children. Rachael is a sexual assault survivor and has had an active role in the Survivor Speaker’s Bureau at a local non-profit organization since 2013, of which she also sits on the Board of Directors. Immediately impacted by the #MeToo movement in 2017, Rachael set out on her own personal mission to make her story known.

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