Welcome to Susan Parker's Online Book Launch!

Friday, October 9, 2009, midnight to midnight

Buy Walking in the Deep End, the new memoir by author Susan Parker,

on October 9, 2009 from Amazon

and enter to win prizes and donate a portion of the proceeds to charity.

Just click on any of the order buttons below to complete the transaction. After you purchase Walking in the Deep End you will enter into a drawing to win one of five autographed copies of the book as well as one of three writing journals.

The author will also be talking to readers via Skype susan.schmitz61, Facebook and Twitter.

Drowning in generations of narrow dogma — embracing the surface of self

Eleven year-old Susan Parker must keep vigil during a family tragedy that plunges her tomboy innocence into the murk of family dysfunction—Evangelicals, her only lifeguards. Tender to the bone, Walking in the Deep End is an earnest and engaging memoir, written with honesty, spunk, and humor. Although suicide, bulimia, religious hypocrisy, and romantic heartbreak rip through her life like overpowering currents, Susan finds courage and hope, drawing you into her compelling and, at times, uncanny experience of authentic spirituality.

When Susan Parker felt like a poster child for dealing with America’s social issues: depression, bulimia, family genetics that seemed set for self-destruct, an evangelical religion instead of therapy, and same-sex attraction, she stood on the brink of hopelessness.
When you try your best to fit the mold your family, church, and community want, expect, and demand, and you just can’t…what will you discover in the core of your being that will save you? What Susan found will help us all.
When compelling characters in her life try to deal with catastrophe as best they can, and their efforts are disastrously inadequate, triumph might be the last thing anyone could hope for, and for Susan it very nearly was…. Join Susan as she finally comes to understand the nature of personal miracles.

Win prizes when you buy

Purchase Walking in the Deep End on Friday, October 9th and
have an opportunity to win prizes!

A Portion of the proceeds from book sales will be donated to your choice of any of the following charities:

Girls, Inc.
SAVE Suicide Prevention
The Montrose Counseling Center
The Trevor Project
AIDS Taskforce of Cleveland
The National Eating Disorder Association

Susan Parker is a consultant, motivational speaker, and author of Walking in the Deep End, numerous short stories, articles and white papers. After spending her formative years as a Catholic and most of her life in no less than six Evangelical denominations, her experiences reveal a pursuit of faith as sincere as any soul’s on the planet. She is committed to helping others connect to their authentic selves and to the promotion of understanding between religious, cultural, racial, sexual-orientation and gender equality groups through the power of humor, honest dialogue, artistic expression and meaningful interchange.

She has served as the Director of Job Training & Placement for a nationally recognized non-profit organization, and possesses over fifteen years experience as a consultant focused on recruitment, workplace effectiveness, and diversity.

Susan is fluent in Spanish, after having studied in Spain; she is experienced in working within diverse cultures and has worked in various locations around the world.

Susan loves leading workshops, appearing on Internet and public radio, and speaking in front of both large and small groups.

Listen to interview with Susan Parker

What others are saying about Walking in the Deep End

From Kirkus Discoveries
Genuinely uplifting and inspiring.

From BookReview.com
Completely real, authentic, and sincere. It’s a cathartic experience for the reader.

From Candace Chellew-Hodge, author of Bulletproof Faith
Parker’s honest style and rich experiences remind me of the work of Anne Lamott and Augusten Burroughs as she unveils family secrets, skewers religious hypocrisy, and faces the truth about herself in a way that held me spellbound.

Purchase Walking in the Deep End on Friday, October 9th and and have an opporunity to win any of the following through a random drawing:

Win one of five autographed copies of Walking in the Deep End

Win one of three leather-bound writing journals