COLORS OF LOSS AND HEALING

COLORS OF LOSS AND HEALING by Deborah Derman. Rodale just acquired rights in North America and will be publishing in the Fall. Originally self-published, the book has sold over 2,500 copies and reached the top Amazon rankings.

Deborah Derman Ph.D., a grief counselor for over 20 years, has elevated the coloring book craze in her self-published COLORS OF LOSS AND HEALING: An Adult Coloring Book for Getting Through Tough Times. Featured on the New York Times Well blog, the book launched to the top of the Amazon rankings and has sold about 2500 copies on Amazon in the last six weeks. That’s not counting the hundreds that Deborah has personally sent to people who have reached out to her from around the world.

There is perhaps no better person than Deborah to develop this book. Tragedy has followed her almost her entire life. At age 27 the boyfriend she had broken up with committed suicide shortly afterward. A decade later, when she was a wife and mother, her parents’ small plane crashed right in front of her as she was waiting at the airport, killing all 4 passengers. And then several years later, her husband died suddenly of a heart attack, leaving her a widow at age 39 with two young children and pregnant with a third. Some years after that, she learned she had a rare form of breast cancer. Through each of these events she doubted she could get through it. But she did.

Healing from grief, whether it be the personal loss of a loved one or large-scale tragedies like what we’ve been witnessing around the world, is obviously not a one-step process. But Debby has specifically designed this book for adults experiencing a significant loss in their lives. Thirty-five carefully-chosen words are embedded in each lavishly illustrated right-side page, along with a blank journaling page on the left. Deborah has seen the effectiveness of this book in her own practice and beyond. People are forging their own paths to healing. The book is being carried in pharmacies, flower shops, doctor’s offices, hospitals, and elsewhere. She’s got more books planned—for those struggling with addiction and for those overcoming cancer; for those who have lost a beloved pet. Deborah and her illustrator, Lisa Powell Braun, are people that you will want on your list.