By David Joel Miller.

How things have changed over the last few years.

When I first started writing the counselorssoapbox.com blog I had no idea where it might take me. In early 2011 I heard about blogs and had to ask one of my colleagues what a blog was. That first year just learning how to post and how to insert a picture in my posts was a major task. At that time, I was still trying to master making a call on my flip phone.

My goal in creating counselorssoapbox.com was to share the things I had learned and was learning about mental health, substance use disorders, co-occurring disorders, and having a happy life. In writing the blog, I rediscovered one of my purposes in life. One strength assessment said my primary strength was being an information excavator. I feel most fulfilled when I am learning new things and when I can share what I’ve learned with others.

Over the last 6+ years, the blog has grown from an occasional post to almost 1300 separate posts. Readership grew from one or two readers a day until recently approximately 1000 people per day have been coming to the counselorssoapbox.com site. This month the blog reached another milestone, over 1 million post views.

Thank you, so much, to everyone who reads or subscribes to this blog.

During these years I’ve worked on becoming a better writer. At first, my goal was to write acceptable blog posts and then to perfect those posts to the kind of information people might come back to read on a regular basis. Some of those early posts continue to be read years later.

Along the way, I’ve worked on writing longer nonfiction works. My first completed book is now available for sale in both a Kindle and a paperback edition.

During this journey of learning new things, learning to write effectively, and to share that information, I’ve concluded that some stories I need to tell are so personal and confidential, I can’t tell them without violating clients trust. Because of this, I’ve been working on ways to create fictional stories to illustrate these problems and their solutions.

My first novel, Casino Robbery, featuring a protagonist who is suffering from PTSD was written last year during NaNoWriMo and was one of the winners. When I wrote it, the narrative was a complete work of fiction. Unfortunately, some of the things I wrote about have since come to pass. Casino Robbery is due to be released before the end of 2017.

Below is the announcement for my first book Bumps on the Road of life. There’s also a link to my Amazon author page. New books will appear on my Amazon author page as they become available. I’ve decided that I should share some of my journey in learning how to express myself through writing with others. From time to time I will include some posts on counselorssoapbox.com about the things I’ve learned about writing and the areas I continue to struggle with.

If you have questions or comments about mental health, substance use disorder, having a happy life, or about my journey of learning to become a more effective writer, please leave a comment or use the contact me form. I won’t pretend that I have all the answers in any of these areas. What it will promise you is that I will continue to seek the answers and to share with you what I find.

Bumps on the Road of life is now available in Kindle format for preorder. It will be released on 11/13/17. The paperback version is ready now.

Bumps on the Road of Life.

Your cruising along the road of life and then wham, something knocks you in the ditch.

Sometimes you get your life going again quickly. Over time you may stay off track and in

the ditch for a considerable time. If you have gone through a divorce, break up, or lost a job you may have found your life off track. Professionals call those problems caused by life-altering events “Adjustment Disorders.” Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of Adjustment Disorders, how they get people off track, and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Bumps on the Road of Life

Amazon Author Page – David Joel Miller

More to come as other books are completed.

Thanks to all my readers for all your support.