My name’s Karen Tyrrell, passionate Australian author, mental health advocate, teacher, motivational speaker and workshop presenter.
I’ve recovered from parent-teacher abuse, bipolar disorder AND post traumatic stress disorder.
I wrote ME & HER: a Memoir of Madness … finalist in the Queensland mental health week achievement awards.
My tell-all story about me, an Australian Teacher harassed by parents at my school until I could take no more.
‘In May 2005, my mad half Her, was born.’
Police discover me hiding in a lonely motel, forcing me into the frightening world of the psychiatric system.
ME & HER is about my two personas.
ME ─ wife, mother, writer and teacher.
HER ─ manic, psychic, healer to the living, telepathic to the dead, AND I’m very psychotic.
WHY did I become so crazy?
HOW did I reclaim my life?
Click HERE to read #20 pages of ME & HER: a Memoir of Madness .
In 2013, I launched ME & HIM: A Guide to Recovery, a self-help mental health manual for everyone, sharing empowering resilience skills and perspectives from the carer’s point of view. Mental health CEOs, managers and leaders gave ME & HIM 5 STAR reviews.
Me and Him: A Guide to Recovery reveals the shock discoveries casting my first memoir Me and Her: A Memoir of Madness in a new light.
I highlight the crucial role of my husband, Steve played as carer in my recovery from parent harassment and subsequent mental illness.
In this self-help memoir, I share practical mental-wellness advice, demystifies meditation, addresses sleep problems and explains how to beat depression and anxiety.
Karen also discloses the dreaded secrets Steve finally revealed to her. ‘On that fateful blue-sky day, my life as I knew it fell apart…“You better rewrite that memoir of yours. What I’m going to tell you now will change everything.”
What secrets did Steve finally divulge six years on?
What impact did those revelations have on their marriage and Karen’s recovery?
Click HERE to read the opening page of Me and Him: A Guide to Recovery
Top 30 Tools for Wellness 
Please subscribe to my free ME & HER eNewsletter, with positive mental wellness strategies on how to Be Happy, Healthy and Mentally stronger.
Healthy mind … Happy day.
I share how to develop your own pro-active wellness plan.
Click HERE to download Free eBook *Top 30 Tools for Wellness*
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Mental Health fiction books for children and Young Adults
I’m currently working on three mental health books for children and young adults. These empowering fiction books will be published in 2013-14. They will include discussion questions and FREE activities for teachers and parents.
Please check my website for MORE updates and information.
I create writing and mental health articles for magazines. I talk on national and international radio, sharing HOPE and empowerment. I present the Life Writing program and Resilience Training workshop to hospitals, wellness centres and the workplace. I presents creative writing workshops to schools and writing workshops to libraries.
Please leave a comment here or on my contact page.
Hi, Karen. Your books sound really interesting. I write junior fiction, so far unpublished, but one of my manuscripts is with an Australian publisher. I wish you luck with your manuscripts.
You have a great webpage.
Trish.
Hi Patricia, Thanx for dropping by. Were you at CYA? Love your website too, especially the gorgeous photos. I wish you the Best of Luck with Publication.
All the best with your book! Exciting times for you.
Look forward to hearing about your progress
Thanx Wendy. Could be more exciting with a publishing contract. lol. Nice to meet you on twitter… Karen
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Hi Karen,
Just repsonded to your tweet. I just joined twitter last night in anticipation of the live chat with Spencer Quinn coming up in an hour and a half! I knew I’d have to cave in eventually, now I’ve done it! Your work sounds fascinating and it looks like you’re off to great things – bravo! I love reading YA and children’s books, but I’m primarily an illustrator venturing into the writing realm. My focus is on picture books. Right now I’m working on a picture book about our rescue dog Cosmo. I’m attending my first regional SCBWI meeting tomorrow and can’t wait. I hope we can be blog and twitter buds – cheers! Susan
Hi Susan, Nice to meet you. Did you Find me on the SCBWI Linked-in site? I wish you the very best with your kids picture book and hope we can keep in touch. Good luck with your SCBWI meeting tomorrow. Cheers, Karen
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Good luck. It all sounds very interesting.
Hi Cherley, What a lovely surprise to see you here! I really appreciate your interest. Many Thanks, Karen
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Good luck on your publishing endeavors! I’ll keeping checking back on your progress.
Thanks so much Vickie for showing your support first on Twitter and now here on my website. So very much appreciated:))
Karen, hi. So good to meet you. I’ve learned a new word; that is, “faction.” At first, I thougth it was a misspelling, but then I realized that you intended it to identify your blending of fact and fiction. Is Sayonara a true crime faction novel? It does sound interesting. I’d buy it to learn what happened to your FE student. I also like Me and Her. Sounds to me like you’ve carved a niche for your books; very exciting. I’ll stay in touch on CS, and I’ll find you on Twitter, too.
Hi Mary, Thanks so much for dropping over to my website. SAYONARA is a blend of memoir and fiction. Some chapters are pure memoir, others are either fiction or a blend, Faction. My twitter a/c is wwwkarentyrrell . Love to tweet with you too … See you over at CrimeSpace
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Hi Karen – Great connecting with you on twitter. Your books sound fascinating. I definitely want to know what happened in Sayonara. I’m really excited for your writing career. I wrote my first manuscript, SUNDOG ROCK, (a YA Magic Realism piece) while I was living in Sydney and working at the Sydney Opera House. I’ll bookmark your page!
Melle
Hi Melle, Thanks for connecting on twitter and then finding me here. So glad you’re intrigued my books intrigue you. Good luck with your YA ms and with de-cluttering your computers. ( Great website too)