FOR RELEASE FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:

March 2010 Kae Tienstra, Cross River Publishing

Consultants, Inc. 610-395-6298

BECOMING NORMAL
An Ever-Changing Perspective
by Mark Edick

“Comfortable, yet compelling…. Don’t let this book pass you by: it might
just transform your life!”
--Jack G. Jesse, Ph.D., LMSW, CAAC, Substance Abuse
Division Director, Barry/Eaton District Health Department

“What is normal?”

That is the question that has plagued author Mark Edick, who is in long-term recovery,
all his life. It’s also the topic of his forthcoming memoir, Becoming Normal: An Ever-
Changing Perspective (Central Recovery Press / March 1, 2010 / Trade paperback $14.95
/ Distributed to the trade by Health Communications, Inc.).

Becoming Normal is the poignant and moving account of one man’s journey through
recovery and his discovery of the evolving meaning of normal. It includes wisdom
gleaned from his relationship with his twelve-step fellowship sponsor and other lessons
learned along the way.

“To be normal means to fit in, that is what I thought,” says Mr. Edick. “To fit in means I
will be more loved, cared for, and needed. I longed for these things. I yearned for these
things. I had spent my whole life seeking real love, true caring, a sense of being needed.
And I had—so far—come up short.”

Once it was normal for Mark Edick to drink alcohol and take other drugs. Now it is
normal for him not to drink alcohol or take other drugs. His down-to-earth approach
and his examination of self-defeating thought processes offers an alternative to others
who struggle with the stigma of addiction.

In Becoming Normal, the concept of “normal” is not simply a comparison between

extremes. Mr. Edick takes this topic very personally, and he shows how he evolved in
recovery to understand and accept “normal” as it applied to his changing relationship
with alcohol and other drugs. As readers follow Mr. Edick’s “journey to normal,” they
begin to appreciate their own understanding of the topic. Soon it becomes clear that
whether or not a person struggles with the problems living in active addiction brings, the
quest to determine “what is normal” is common to everyone.

Over—
Becoming Normal: An Ever-Changing Perspective is a marvelous study of self. But more
importantly, it casts light on the reality in which we view ourselves and in which society
sees us. While this is one man’s illuminating story, it is also the story of millions of us.

###

About the author

Mark Edick is a first-time author. Edick has been in recovery for over seven years. He is
a retired autoworker from Lansing, Michigan and has an Associate of Arts in Human
Services from Lansing Community College. Edick is currently pursuing a degree in
Creative Writing.

Note to Media: To request review copies or to schedule an interview with Mark Edick,
please contact Kae Tienstra, 610-395-6298 or kae@ktpublicrelations.com.

Becoming Normal: An Ever-Changing Perspective

by Mark Edick
Central Recovery Press
Distributed to the trade by Health Communications, Inc. (HCI)
March 31, 2010
Trade Paper / $14.95
ISBN-10: 0-981-8482-1-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-981-8482-1-1
224 pages