Acclaimed Author, Christina H. Wilson, Receives IndieReader Award

Christina H. Wilson’s powerful memoir, Believe: A Memoir in Stories, has been honored with the IndieReader Award in the Non-fiction Inspirational category. This esteemed recognition celebrates the book’s profound impact on readers and its enduring resonance within the literary community. Her book is a profound meditation on overcoming grief and rediscovering life after tragedy. Through honest stories and reflections, she explores resilience, love, hope, self-discovery, and the power of belief. Christina’s dedication to sharing her story and supporting others ensures her legacy as a voice of hope and inspiration for years to come.

As a child, Christina dealt with frequent illnesses and found solace in fairy tales. At twenty-five, she met Jeffery, a Wall Street magnate. The two fell in love, started a family together, and planned to live out their fairytale together. Their idyllic life was shattered after Jeffrey suffers a fatal car accident, leaving Christina alone to pick up the pieces. Naturally, she found solace in storytelling, which served as both a means to keep Jeffery’s memory alive and a channel for Christina to process her grief.

 The memoir began as a personal project for Christina, created to preserve memories for her sons after their father's passing. Yet, her story evolved into a powerful narrative that combines her personal and professional experiences to inspire readers. Wilson's memoir stresses embracing all experiences—good and bad—as vital for self-discovery. She underscores the importance of unconditional love, family, and the belief that everything happens for a reason. Her message is clear: life should be fully experienced without regret, judgment, or expectation.  Christina’s narrative offers comfort and encouragement to others facing adversity, making the memoir a source of inspiration.

In addition to Believe: A Memoir in Stories, Wilson continues to uplift and inspire others as a co-host on the Sisterhood Through Grief podcast. The podcast reaches a global audience and has amassed over 10,000 downloads. Through the Sisterhood Through Grief podcast, Christina extends her support beyond the pages of her book, creating a community for women navigating the challenges of grief. The podcast offers resources, advice, and encouragement, reinforcing the themes that define her memoir and her mission to inspire others. Christina is also the author of the children's book Letters to Heaven, aimed at helping children process grief. Christina’s memoir, her role as a podcast  co-host, and her continued advocacy for resilience and hope have solidified her reputation as an acclaimed author and leader.

Believe: A Memoir in Stories holds a remarkable 4.73 rating on Goodreads and a 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon. The book has been praised by BookLife, a division of Publishers Weekly, for its heartfelt storytelling and universal themes. The audiobook, produced by Deyan Audio and narrated by Jenn Liu, was honored as the Audiobook Reviewers 2025 Best Memoir. Since its debut, Believe: A Memoir in Stories continues to receive recognition and acclaim, affirming Christina H. Wilson’s influence in the literary world. The IndieReader Award and ongoing praise from readers and critics highlight the memoir’s lasting impact. Christina’s dedication to sharing her story and supporting others ensures her legacy as a voice of hope and inspiration for years to come. Believe: A Memoir in Stories is available now at major retailers, including Amazon, Audible, Wordeee.com, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million. For more information, visit christinahwilson.com.

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Grab a copy of Believe: A Memoir In Stories on Amazon!

Book Review: Learning to Kiss by Eve E. Megargel

The Triumphant Journey of a Nonverbal Autistic Child into an Adult With An Ability To Communicate That Knows No Bounds

Eve Megargel is a true hero. She is the author of the new memoir Learning to Kiss (Infinity, May 17, 2016) and the mother of a 25 year old man, Billy, who is nonverbal, has severe autism and suffers from a litany of medical issues. Learning to Kiss is a raw and honest account of Eve’s life with Billy as they struggle to identify successful modes of communication he can use in everyday life. 

Eve is dedicated to helping transform the image of people who have autism and nonverbal or limited verbal abilities. Her memoir is a testament to the fact that even if a person cannot communicate with spoken language, they still have the ability to share and learn and live a productive, happy life.

Eve and her husband, Matt, were told to institutionalize Billy when he was two. They refused and began a program, Voicecolors, that has helped him and other autistic individuals with limited verbal skills learn to express themselves and achieve meaningful social connections. When we consider those with limited speech as thinking, complex individuals, they can contribute to society in astonishing ways.

Billy first started to express himself through paintings and has grown into an amazing artist, talented gymnast, and yogi. Today, Billy’s work is in a number of galleries and installed at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Lurie Center for Autism. Billy uses an electronic device to “speak.” He also uses other means of non-verbal communication that allow him to fully participate in his life.

One of the biggest issues autistic individuals and their parents or caregivers face is communicating with medical staff. Beginning in his teens, Billy often visited hospitals for testing and medical procedures. There, the staff prohibited Billy’s parents from accompanying him beyond the waiting room, despite their insistence. As a result, Billy became angry and ripped the IV out of his arm. He refused to cooperate simply because he didn’t understand what was going on and was not provided with a way to communicate that was right for him. Often, those who are nonverbal, or have low verbal ability are never given a chance to make their own decisions about healthcare, or anything else. Driven by these experiences, even among compassionate medical professionals, Eve created a questionnaire to be given to autistic patients during hospital admission, which has improved communication between medical staff and autistic patients.

April is Autism Awareness Month and this year’s campaign is not only dedicated to awareness, but also to encourage the general public to accept and recognize the potential, instead of the deficits, of those on the spectrum.

About the Author

Eve Megargel is an author, educator, filmmaker, and pioneer in advocating that all individuals on the autism spectrum are independent communicators who are capable of self-expression and social relationships. Eve consults, collaborates, and engages on key autism issues and initiatives with several organizations, including Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston’s Jewish Family and Children’s Services. She is a member of the MGH Family Advisory Council and the Lurie Center Leadership Council. Eve received her master’s degree in Theology from Harvard University, and her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She lives with her husband Matt and son Billy in Weston, Massachusetts.

VoiceColors Communication Resource Model

The Voice Colors® educational mission is to provide people on the autism spectrum opportunities to learn, develop and cultivate independent self expression grounded in social relationships. As a communication resource model, Voice Colors® provides parents, educators and service providers comprehensive information about how to establish, develop and refine communication systems or methods of instruction that will enhance the individual’s present and future social interactions and thus life experiences.

Purchase Learning to Kiss at buybooksontheweb.com. 

Visit Eve at evemegargel.com, and check out VoiceColors on Twitter, Vimeo, and Facebook.

Our Thoughts
I was interested in this book from the get-go since we have a non-verbal child with autism; we've faced many of the same struggles as Billy although our son is not on the severe end of the spectrum.

Learning to Kiss is a collection of memories; both struggles and triumphs as Billy and his family navigate the uncharted world of autism and the complex medical issues that can come with it.  Not surprisingly, the modern medical field is still currently not well equipped to treat individuals with autism - not just because the medical issues can be so misunderstood, but because hospital staff often simply do not know how to handle the situation or communicate with the patient.  Many individuals like Billy have routines they must follow in order to get the task (whatever it may be) accomplished.  Hospitals have policies and don't always allow patients to break those policies depending on their individual needs. And then to add the non-verbal element on top of it all - without their communication systems, they have NO voice, a struggle we personally know all too well. 

People (sadly, some therapists and doctors included!) assume that because one cannot communicate verbally or with sign language, that one has nothing TO communicate, which is the biggest mistake of all! One of the memories that particularly stuck out at me was from the chapter "Wake Up Call" where the coordinator for special education says "Bill needs to learn to comply." and Eve answers it with "No, Billy needs to learn to communicate."  This, right here, has been an integral part of our struggle.  It was only finally understood when I fought for, and received, the label of Autism when he was 4; he was then given therapy services that would not have been offered until he was much older. He also has Down Syndrome, and I was told by the school they do not offer speech therapy services for Down Syndrome unless the child is not speaking by age 6 - 7, which frustrated me beyond belief!  I can only hope that their experience with our son has changed their mindset about childhood communication.

Back to the medical part - while our son does have health issues, thankfully they are manageable at home with strict diet and TNI (Targeted Nutrition Intervention) and he is under the care of a wonderful osteopath.  If we were to have a hospital visit, there is NO WAY we could let the medical staff separate us from our son because he doesn't yet have a reliable means of communication.  How could he possibly answer any questions or tell them anything?  If they ask what's wrong or what hurts, he cannot answer yet. With motor apraxia, he may not be able to perform any tasks they ask him to do.  Like Billy, our son is completely non-verbal, and with motor apraxia he is also mostly unable to sign.  We have been working with a speech device; it is still a work in progress and will be for quite some time yet - but he can sure say a whole lot more on his speech device than the few words he can sign.  Eve has created a questionnaire to be given to autistic individuals (and their caregivers) at hospitals so the medical staff can understand their specific needs.  I don't know if this questionnaire is widely available at hospitals & clinics across the US, but it SHOULD be!  We as patients and caregivers of patients, need to start asking for this questionnaire to get the ball rolling.

Eve also touches on that there are no "Autism specialists".  The medical conditions that can arise with autism can be so complex and so unique at the same time.  Doctors have yet to understand what behaviors are driven by what, and whether they are connected to a correctable medical issue or not. 

Learning to Kiss is a riveting read; a window into the both complex and vibrant life of Billy and well worth the read. 

 

Book Review: Living in the Flow: Practicing Vibrational Alignment

This book is an interesting one that is, in some ways, hard to categorize. It's part journal, part self-help book, part meditation guide. The author, Ruth Cherry, PhD, takes readers on her personal journey toward healing through her diary entries. Later, she discusses aligning with Life/Source and shares exercises to help one accomplish that. 

Cherry's diary mostly chronicles her health struggles and her desire to walk again. She also discusses people and events that have come along to teach her lessons, as well as her work with clients and a meditation group. 

While she seems to clearly have an audience in mind (people in mid-life), I think that there is a lot readers could take from this, no matter what stage they're in. She is frank in her struggles, and I found it fascinating and comforting to see her gradual improvement and backsliding in her journey toward walking normally and getting in the flow in all areas of life. Rarely have I seen people writing this type of material show such vulnerability and frankness. She doubts, she gets angry, she makes progress and then regresses. I think it will give hope to people who are on the path toward aligning with Source/Abundance/Whatever the goal. There will not always be smooth sailing, but this book shows that there can still be a good outcome. 

As for the sections on meditation, spirituality, and other topics, I found those interesting as well. I didn't try the meditations (for me, I feel I am in a place where I still prefer to have a voice guiding me through them), but I am sure I will be before long. The meditations are simple for the most part, and wouldn't require a lot of memorization. I'd recommend this one for people who are on their own journey toward connecting with Source.