Amanda LaPera is a passionate advocate for individuals and families dealing with severe mental illness, due in part to her own family's experience. For ten years, she served on the Board of Directors for the National Alliance for Mental Illness, Orange County Affiliate (NAMI-OC). When she is not teaching English in California, she enjoys spending time with her loved ones and furry friends. 

Her other creative works, including short stories and poetry, which often address mental illness, have been published in a variety of anthologies and websites. Her oil and acrylic paintings are usually of landscapes.

In addition to reading, writing, and painting, she finds joy in music and nature, which she learned from her dad.

She is available for both in-person and virtual speaking engagements. For more information, contact her directly through social media or through her publisher: info@adamopress.com.

In fiction, her newest project is a coming-of-age, literary novel: Desert of Dreams. Check out her social media for updates on this book series. 

In nonfiction, the 10th Anniversary Edition of her book LOSING DAD, Paranoid Schizophrenia: A Family's Search for Hope, Silver Award-winner in Psychology in the Benjamin Franklin Awards, was chosen by Publishers Weekly BookLife as an Editors Pick!

The intriguing sequel, Finding Dad, Paranoid Schizophrenia: An End to the Search (Adamo Press) is scheduled for publication in fall 2024.