Casey, Karen

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Casey, Karen

PERSONAL: Married; husband's name Joe. Education: University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Home—Minneapolis, MN; and Naples, FL. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Conari Press, P.O. Box 612, York Beach, ME 03910-0612. E-mail—karen@womens-spirituality.com.

CAREER: Taught at University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN; author of self-help books.

WRITINGS:

Each Day a New Beginning, Hazelden Press (Center City, MN), 1982.

(With Martha Vanceburg) The Promise of a New Day, Hazelden Press (Center City, MN), 1983, published as The Promise of a New Day: A Book of Daily Meditations, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 1996.

The Love Book, illustrations by David Spohn, Hazelden Press (Center City, MN), 1985.

(Compiler) If Only I Could Quit: Becoming a Nonsmoker, Harper/Hazelden (New York, NY), 1987, published as If Only I Could Quit: Recovering from Nicotine Addiction, Hazelden (New York, NY), 1996.

A Woman's Spirit, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 1994.

Daily Meditations for Practicing the Course, Hazelden Press (Center City, MN), 1995.

A Life of My Own: Meditations on Hope and Acceptance, Hazelden Press (Center City, MN), 1995.

In God's Care: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery, Hazelden Press (Center City, MN), 1996.

Keepers of the Wisdom: Reflections from Lives Lived Well, Hazelden Press (Center City, MN), 1996.

Girls Only!: Daily Thoughts for Young Girls, Holy Cow! Press (Duluth, MN), 1999.

Girl to Girl: Finding Our Voices, Hazelden Information and Educational Services (Center City, MN), 2000.

The Miracle of Sponsorship: Recovery Stories of Hope and Renewal, Hazelden Information and Educational Services (Center City, MN), 2000.

Each Day a New Beginning: A Meditation Book and Journal for Daily Reflection, Hazelden Press (Center City, MN), 2001.

Timeless Wisdom: A Collection of Karen Casey's Best Meditations, Hazelden Information and Educational Services (Center City, MN), 2001.

Fearless Relationships: Simple Rules for Lifelong Contentment, Hazelden Press (Center City, MN), 2003.

The Little Red Book for Women, Hazelden Press (Center City, MN), 2004.

Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow: Twelve Simple Principles, Conari Press (York Beach, ME), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: The author of numerous bestselling self-help books, Karen Casey has written inspirational guides drawing on the twelve steps of recovery programs and the principles of the Course on Miracles.

A number of her books are addressed primarily to female audiences, including her first book, Each Day a New Beginning, which is directed at women in recovery. In Girls Only!: Daily Thoughts for Young Girls "Casey called upon memories of her own painful childhood as an aid in constructing a year's worth of meditations for girls," in the words of School Library Journal contributor Cindy Darling Codell. Casey deals with issues large and small, from coping with a bad-hair day to surviving dysfunctional families and searching for God. She also provides numerous quotations from women who overcame hardship to find their way in the world. Similarly, Girl to Girl: Finding Our Voices provides inspirational quotes in a daily-meditation format, but also adds short tales about girls who overcame hardship to achieve their goals.

Other books by Casey are aimed at a wider audience. Titles such as The Promise of a New Day, Keepers of the Wisdom: Reflections from Lives Lived Well, and Fearless Relationships: Simple Rules for Lifelong Contentment provide advice and meditation exercises for anyone seeking a deeper spirituality or a more meaningful existence. Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow: Twelve Simple Principles expounds on one of the primary principles of Alcoholics Anonymous: "Let Go and Let God." "Casey firmly believes that the work of someone's life belongs only to that person and to God, and that we should thus each tend only our own garden," explained a Publishers Weekly reviewer. For Casey, spirituality is individual and personal, and thus nonjudgmental. Rather than look outward to condemn others and find rules and regulations for life, one should calm one's own ego, learn from personal experiences, and "make friends" with your own emotions, even anger and fear, in order to find your own path. Library Journal contributor Deborah Bigelow commends the book as being "easy to digest" and appealing to "someone needing a psychological boost."

As in Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow, much of Casey's writing draws on her own faith and her experiences in drawing on a higher power to overcome addictions. The principles of Alcoholics Anonymous animate many of her meditations, but there is no attempt to impose a particular program or a particular interpretation of God on her readers. Instead, Casey seeks to inspire both those in recovery and the general reader with a hopeful outlook that embraces the possibility of achieving inward peace and a posi-tive self-image. Each Day a New Beginning has sold over three million copies, and millions of readers continue to draw inspiration from her subsequent books and her frequent public appearances.