Losing Dad
When Amanda's father develops paranoid schizophrenia at age fifty-three without any history of drugs and disappears, her family begins a desperate search to bring him home.
Learn MoreAmanda LaPera
Award-winning author, speaker, educator, and mental health advocate
Stories of Resilience and Hope
From memoir to fiction, exploring how people overcome adversity.
Choose Your Story
View All BooksMemoir and fiction united by hope, resilience, and the enduring strength of the human spirit.
Psychology Memoirs
Award-winning true stories that explore how mental illness and anosognosia impact a family. Discover how hope and love strengthen a family's resilience.
Explore MemoirsDesert of Dreams
A coming-of-age series set in the Mojave Desert where friendship, family, first love, and difficult choices shape the lives of an unforgettable group of friends.
Enter the SeriesDystopian
New worlds. Impossible choices. Stories of survival, hope, and humanity are on the horizon.
Coming SoonFeatured Titles
Begin with memoir or fiction, then continue exploring Amanda LaPera's full collection.
Finding Dad
Ten years after her father disappears, Amanda receives a call that changes everything and begins a search that will transform her understanding of family, love, and resilience.
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Sway with the Wind: A Prequel Novella
After a tragic accident claims her parents, Anne is sent to live with her grandfather on his remote desert ranch. Overcoming loss requires courage.
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Dare to Dream
Isolated in a small desert town, Kiara seeks love and acceptance in all the wrong places. Daring to dream of more begins with believing in herself.
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Meet Amanda
Amanda LaPera, an award-winning author, speaker, educator, and mental health advocate, writes memoir and fiction that explore trauma, resilience, hope, and the enduring strength of the human spirit. Drawing inspiration from lived experience and her childhood in the Mojave Desert, her stories invite readers into journeys of healing, courage, and connection.
Learn More About Amanda
