D. Steven Russell No Time for Commas

No Time for Commas is an alcoholic story for the vigilant reader. Forged in simplicity and fired with metaphor, it examines both the nature and the heart of addiction. It is nostalgic and personal, yet reflective, glued with shared human feelings and timeless principles. It is, plainly stated, about living life fully and finally loving the thumbprints one was given.Sober or drunk, all alcoholics and addicts have trouble with perception and reality. But, alcoholics don't wake up one morning as a child and suddenly know that they are alcoholic; they are busy being children, and — like other children — are innocent until they are one day, unfairly, yet inevitably, stained by life. Alcoholics don't show up in high school and calculate a life of addiction and failure; they are busy learning about love, needing acceptance and masking a fear of humanness.As addiction ages, fueled with immaturity, the childlike sip of a first drink and the buzz of a young party have faded. The alcoholic mind is now rage, isolation, darkness and hopelessness - or perhaps, deluded hope. There is no comma to this drink. The alcoholic also knows he's hiding shame with a growing mask, and drinks more to know of it. More drinks, more shame. More shame, more mask. With God, or without Him, this man is alone. But then, for some reason...he stops.This is not a "how-to" book, though "how-to" can be found in it. This is not a book about darkness, though darkness has a deep purpose in...