Kenrick Welsh attempted suicide twice as a young man. Street drugs and liquor provided some of the relief he craved from his depression, but the “cure” he found soon transformed into a new inner monster: alcoholism. His deep personal shame regarding his alternative sexuality provided additional difficulty for him to feel “comfortable in his own skin,” and he is only one of many. Told from the perspective of several years of sobriety, The Secret Journal offers readers an insider’s view of the powerful mental and emotional challenges often connected to drug and alcohol abuse and why so many succumb to this ruthless disease. Yet freedom has been achieved by Kenrick and many others through the Alcoholics Anonymous Twelve Steps, despite many obstacles posed by society as it is and in the mind of the sufferer. Tragic and comical, infuriating yet inspiring, Mr. Welsh’s journey is an engaging portrait of modern America and of the human spirit attempting to deal with life on life’s terms. Book one is just the beginning of an epic saga, spanning several years and encompassing a “cast” of dozens.