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Military OneSource: Suicide Awareness

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USO Indo-Pacific and USO Europe | Middle East | Africa will host our monthly Overseas Virtual Book Club discussing "Nine Perfect Strangers" by Liane Moriarty on August 8th at 2000 JST on Zoom

Stay up to date with the Overseas Virtual Book Club by joining our Facebook Group: USO Overseas Virtual Book Club

Register here:

https://register.uso.org/4111BMB7/4a3I8XJUXX

#usoovbc #usoreading #bookclub

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Do you enjoy USO Overseas Virtual Book Club? Let us know what you think: Post Event Survey

We appreciate your feedback as we strive to continue to support our service members, their families, and the community!

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Since we're spread out across the world, please share your location (without sharing your exact address) on the padlet map! ** Feel free to share a quick bio in the thread, and/or directly on the padlet map (link below). -- What's your name? How do you identify (pronouns)? Where do you live?

USO OVBC Intros

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What are you currently reading?

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Any book recommendations to share with us?

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1-800-662-HELP (4357) SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

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Frequently Asked Questions - What is SAMHSA’s National Helpline?

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If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org

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The resources and information on this page are designed to help states, territories, tribes, mental health and substance use disorder professionals, and others looking for information on understanding the background, history, funding opportunities, and implementation resources for strengthening suicide prevention and mental health crisis services.

Need Support Now?
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

In 2020, Congress designated the new 988 dialing code to be operated through the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. SAMHSA sees 988 as a first step towards a transformed crisis care system in America.

The 988 Partner Toolkit is intended to facilitate partner efforts for collaborative and aligned 988 communication planning.

In 2020, the U.S. had one death by suicide every 11 minutes. Suicide is a leading cause of death for people aged 10-34 years.

There is hope. Providing 24/7, free and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress works. The Lifeline helps thousands of people overcome crisis situations every day.

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The resources and information on this page are designed to help states, territories, tribes, mental health and substance use disorder professionals, and others looking for information on understanding the background, history, funding opportunities, and implementation resources for strengthening suicide prevention and mental health crisis services.

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1-800-273-TALK(8255) - The National Prevention Toolkit

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"Lifeline assists people in immediate crisis with a skilled, trained crisis worker who will listen to the problems they are experiencing and will connect them to local mental health services. All calls are confidential and free."

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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK(8255) - The National Prevention Toolkit

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"Lifeline assists people in immediate crisis with a skilled, trained crisis worker who will listen to the problems they are experiencing and will connect them to local mental health services. All calls are confidential and free."

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 1-800-442-HOPE(4673) - The National Prevention Toolkit

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National Hopeline Network:  Suicide & Crisis Hotline

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National Hopeline Network:  Suicide & Crisis Hotline

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National Hopeline Network, Suicide & Crisis Hotline 1-800-442-HOPE(4673) - The National Prevention Toolkit

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A program of the Kristin Brooks Hope Center, Hopeline provides support with trained counselors through this national hotline to prevent suicide.

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Instagram

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Facebook

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The Moriarty Author Sisters: Liane, Jaci and Nicola Moriarty

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Liane was born in Sydney, Australia in the spring of 1966. It was a beautiful day, according to her mother, who has an excellent memory for weather. A few hours after Liane was born she smiled directly at her father through the nursery glass window, which is remarkable, seeing as most babies can't even focus their eyes at that age.

Her first word was 'glug'. This was faithfully recorded in the baby book kept by her mother. As the eldest of six children, Liane was the only one to get a baby book so she likes to refer to it often.

She can't remember the first story she ever wrote, but she does remember her first publishing deal. Her father 'commissioned' her to write a novel for him and offered an advance of $1. She had no agent, so accepted his first offer and wrote a three volume epic called 'The Mystery of Dead Man's Island.' Only volume 2 remains in print.

After leaving school, Liane worked in advertising and marketing and did a business degree. She got excellent marks at university until her last semester, when she did a subject which 'brought together' everything she had learned in her degree thus far. She only just passed. (No-one mentioned you were meant to retain that stuff.)

She became quite corporate for a while and wore big-shouldered suits and fretted about the size of her office. She eventually left her position as marketing manager to run her own (not especially successful) business called The Little Ad Agency. After that she worked as a (more successful, thankfully) freelance advertising copywriter, writing everything from websites and TV commercial to the back of the Sultana Bran box.

In her spare time, she wrote short stories and many first chapters of novels that didn't go any further. The problem was that she didn't actually believe that real people had novels published. Then one day she found out that they did, when her younger sister Jaclyn Moriarty called to say that her first brilliant YA novel was about to be published.

In a fever of sibling rivalry, Liane rushed to the computer and wrote a children's book which went on to be enthusiastically rejected by every publisher in Australia.

She calmed down and enrolled in a Masters degree at Macquarie University in Sydney. As part of that degree, she wrote her first novel, Three Wishes. It went on to be published around the world. Since then she has written eight more novels: The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist's Love Story, The Husband's Secret, Big Little Lies, Truly Madly Guilty, Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall, as well as the Nicola Berry series for children. She is forever grateful to her sister Jaci for being published first.

In August 2013 Liane's fifth novel The Husband's Secret was released in the US and within two weeks had climbed the charts to become a #1 New York Times Bestseller. Much champagne was drunk.

It remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over a year and was recently selected by the UK's famous Richard and Judy Book Club as one of their top reads of the last ten years.

Liane's next novel, Big Little Lies debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list, making Liane the first Australian author to debut in the top spot in the US.

Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon snapped up the film and television rights. Liane was so dazzled by their combined star power she became briefly disoriented but recovered in time to accept their offer. The HBO limited series of Big Little Lies was a critically acclaimed smash hit which went on to win multiple Emmys. Liane managed to make it up on stage at the Emmys without tripping, which she considers one of her life's major achievements.

Nine Perfect Strangers was also adapted into an incredible limited television series, this time by Hulu. It featured another incredible star-studded cast including Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy, and aired in 2021. Her most recent novel, Apples Never Fall, is currently being adapted into a limited series at Peacock.

Liane's sister Jaclyn continues to write wonderful, award-winning books for children, teenagers and adults. Her youngest sister Nicola Moriarty is also now an author of gripping, impossible-to-put-down domestic thrillers. Her other sisters have no interest in writing and they really love it when people say, "Are you one of the authors?"

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Liane was born in Sydney, Australia in the spring of 1966. It was a beautiful day, according to her mother, who has an excellent memory for weather. A few hours after Liane was born she smiled directly at her father through the nursery glass window, which is remarkable, seeing as most babies can't even focus their eyes at that age.

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What Liane says

After Big Little Lies came out I kept making the same joke about setting my next book on a tropical island, and needing to do a lot of research to get it right. After a while, I thought, 'Actually why not?'

I began writing a story about two lottery winners honeymooning at a luxury island resort but I was interrupted by an event at a backyard barbeque, which was the spark of inspiration for an entirely new idea. I put my tropical island aside and wrote Truly Madly Guilty.

I was holidaying after the book tour for Truly Madly Guilty, when I stumbled upon a novel called Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey. Published in 1947, it's a murder mystery about an author who visits a boarding school for gymnasts. I adored this book and especially relished learning the school's rules and procedures. I decided I wanted to write a book like that. I wanted to write about what time breakfast was served.

I remembered a long ago weekend away at a health resort with a friend. There were lots of rules about no alcohol and coffee. (We broke the rules.) My island resort became a health resort, called 'Tranquillum House.'

I created a character, inspired by 'Miss Pym' called Frances Welty, who is a formerly best-selling romance novelist. I rescued my lottery winners, put them in a Lamborghini and sent them off to Tranquillum House with Frances together with six other guests. I also created a crazy, charismatic Russian woman called Masha, as the resort director. I loved writing Nine Perfect Strangers so much and now I can't wait to see Nicole Kidman play Masha and Melissa McCarthy play Frances in the TV adaptation of the book, out this year! I think it's going to be really special.

PS. I still haven't given up entirely on my tropical island resort story. Maybe one day when we're all allowed to travel again.

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After Big Little Lies came out I kept making the same joke about setting my next book on a tropical island, and needing to do a lot of research to get it right. After a while, I thought, 'Actually why not?'

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Many years ago, when Liane was working in an office, she stayed back after work each night to write a story for her younger sister’s tenth birthday. Naturally enough, her sister Nicola was the leading character.

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Many years ago, when Liane was working in an office, she stayed back after work each night to write a story for her younger sister's tenth birthday. Naturally enough, her sister Nicola was the leading character.

The story was an intergalactic adventure and it began with a visitor from outer space interrupting a boring lesson and choosing Nicola for an important mission. (When Liane was at school she always fantasized about something amazing happening that would allow her to escape.) It also included a character called Sean, based on Liane and Nicola's brother. Years later, when Liane should have been writing her third novel for adults, she was speaking to her sister Nicola (now a grown-up) on the phone. Nicola said, "You should pull out that story you wrote for me when I was ten. I loved that story." So that's exactly what Liane did. She found the story and rewrote it completely. (Her writing had improved in the last fifteen years). She made it longer and added more characters. It became the first book in the "Space Brigade' series.

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Many years ago, when Liane was working in an office, she stayed back after work each night to write a story for her younger sister's tenth birthday. Naturally enough, her sister Nicola was the leading character. The story was an intergalactic adventure and it began with a visitor from outer space interrupting a boring lesson and choosing Nicola for an important mission.

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Nine Perfect Strangers Limited Series Trailer | Rotten Tomatoes TV

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Inside The Series: Nine Perfect Strangers | Hulu

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Meet The Strangers | Inside The Series: Nine Perfect Strangers Episode 3 | Hulu

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A Message from Masha | Nine Perfect Strangers | Hulu #shorts

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What was your initial reaction after finishing the book?

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What was your initial reaction after finishing the book?

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With which person of the spa did you connect most? Why?

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With which person of the spa did you connect most? Why?

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To which of the spa guests did you least relate? Why?

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To which of the spa guests did you least relate? Why?

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What did you think about Masha’s character development? Was it plausible?

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What did you think about Masha’s character development? Was it plausible?

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What would you do if you found yourself in the shoes of the spa guests when locked in the room?

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What would you do if you found yourself in the shoes of the spa guests when locked in the room?

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How would you respond after being released from the room?

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How would you respond after being released from the room?

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Did some of the scenes make you laugh? Which ones? Why?

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Did some of the scenes make you laugh? Which ones? Why?

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In the book, there are quite a few commentaries about women and their self-loathing, especially directed toward their bodies: “Women and their bodies! The most abusive and toxic relationships. Masha had seen women pinch at the flesh of their stomachs with such brutal self-loathing they left bruises. Meanwhile their husbands fondly patted their own much larger stomachs with rueful pride.” Do you think this is true? Why is it that men and women have such different relationships with their bodies?

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In the book, there are quite a few commentaries about women and their self-loathing, especially directed toward their bodies: “Women and their bodies! The most abusive and toxic relationships. Masha had seen women pinch at the flesh of their stomachs with such brutal self-loathing they left bruises. Meanwhile their husbands fondly patted their own much larger stomachs with rueful pride.” Do you think this is true? Why is it that men and women have such different relationships with their bodies?

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The novel sometimes portrays men as imperious, as when Frances remembered her first boyfriend and how she apologized for having small breasts, and he accepted her apology. Frances’s mother was a feminist, so “she couldn’t blame her upbringing for her pathetic behavior.” What do you think happened there? Why do you think women apologize so much?

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The novel sometimes portrays men as imperious, as when Frances remembered her first boyfriend and how she apologized for having small breasts, and he accepted her apology. Frances’s mother was a feminist, so “she couldn’t blame her upbringing for her pathetic behavior.” What do you think happened there? Why do you think women apologize so much?

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Do you think it is important that Masha is a foreigner and that perhaps being new to the society allows her to view its norms in a way that someone growing up there might not be able to do? Think about our status as members of the military community. Are we like Marsha? Are we able to look at aforeign society from the outside looking in?

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Do you think it is important that Masha is a foreigner and that perhaps being new to the society allows her to view its norms in a way that someone growing up there might not be able to do? Think about our status as members of the military community. Are we like Marsha? Are we able to look at aforeign society from the outside looking in?

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What did you think of Zach’s suicide? Do you think it was because of his asthma medication? Was Heather wrong not to tell Napoleon about the possible link to his medication after she discovered it?

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What did you think of Zach’s suicide? Do you think it was because of his asthma medication? Was Heather wrong not to tell Napoleon about the possible link to his medication after she discovered it?

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In chapter 26, Napoleon thinks,”He’d been too you and happy to know that love wasn’t enough; too young to know all the ways that life could break you.” Do you agree with him? Do you think this is a question of age, or do you think one needs a true tragedy in their life before they can feel this way?

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In chapter 26, Napoleon thinks,”He’d been too you and happy to know that love wasn’t enough; too young to know all the ways that life could break you.” Do you agree with him? Do you think this is a question of age, or do you think one needs a true tragedy in their life before they can feel this way?

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In chapter 6 its says, “Frances had struggled to explain that strangers were by definition interesting. It was their strangeness. The not-knowing. Once you knew everything there was to know about someone, you were generally ready to divorce them.” Do you think Frances felt remorse about her two divorces? Lateron, Tony says about his wife and divorce: 

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In chapter 6 its says, “Frances had struggled to explain that strangers were by definition interesting. It was their strangeness. The not-knowing. Once you knew everything there was to know about someone, you were generally ready to divorce them.” Do you think Frances felt remorse about her two divorces? Lateron, Tony says about his wife and divorce: 

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“Wasn’t it possible they both took each other for granted? Wasn’t it possible that taking each other for granted was one of the benefits of marriage?” What point do you think the author is trying to make about marriage? Do you believe marriages can last? Do you think Napoleon and Heather’s marriage will last?

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Frances says in chapter 8, “No, no, I’m not a woman of age and circumstance! I am me! You’re not seeing me!” Do you think the author is trying to make a point about women in middle age and invisibility? Do you think these nine characters are really looking for transformation? What does transformation mean to you? Do you think it is possible?

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Frances says in chapter 8, “No, no, I’m not a woman of age and circumstance! I am me! You’re not seeing me!” Do you think the author is trying to make a point about women in middle age and invisibility? Do you think these nine characters are really looking for transformation? What does transformation mean to you? Do you think it is possible?

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What do you think of Carmel’s character? Did you like her more or less at the end of the novel? Why?

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What do you think of Carmel’s character? Did you like her more or less at the end of the novel? Why?

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Were there any characters you believed you had figured out only to discover they were more complicated than you had initially thought?

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Were there any characters you believed you had figured out only to discover they were more complicated than you had initially thought?

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Masha thinks to herself in chapter 13,” The biggest compliment you could give a successful woman was to describe her as ‘humble.’” Do you agree? Do you think society finds successful women threatening, but successful men attractive?

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Masha thinks to herself in chapter 13,” The biggest compliment you could give a successful woman was to describe her as ‘humble.’” Do you agree? Do you think society finds successful women threatening, but successful men attractive?

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What do you think about the end of the book and Masha? Were you surprised to find out that she had children of her own? Do you think your opinion of her would be the same if she was a man who had left her family?

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What do you think about the end of the book and Masha? Were you surprised to find out that she had children of her own? Do you think your opinion of her would be the same if she was a man who had left her family?

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Lars and Masha are the only characters who seem to have professional ambition. But with Lars, we see that he is driven by revenge against his father. What do you think motivates Masha?

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Lars and Masha are the only characters who seem to have professional ambition. But with Lars, we see that he is driven by revenge against his father. What do you think motivates Masha?

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Do you think the author is trying to make a point by having Masha, arguably the most intimidating and strongest (and weakest) character, be a woman? In chapter 76, her ex-husband thinks of her as “awoman with the strength to move mountains….a woman as weak as a child.” What do you think he meant here? What do you make of her? Does the end of the novel make you view her differently?

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Do you think the author is trying to make a point by having Masha, arguably the most intimidating and strongest (and weakest) character, be a woman? In chapter 76, her ex-husband thinks of her as “awoman with the strength to move mountains….a woman as weak as a child.” What do you think he meant here? What do you make of her? Does the end of the novel make you view her differently?

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Healing and transformation; suicide; relationships; use of drugs; these are some of the topics we find in this novel. Which characters portrays or introduces which topic? Are there any others you discovered and like to discuss?

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Healing and transformation; suicide; relationships; use of drugs; these are some of the topics we find in this novel. Which characters portrays or introduces which topic? Are there any others you discovered and like to discuss?

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Was everyone transformed through their stay at Tranquillum House?

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Was everyone transformed through their stay at Tranquillum House?

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If you had the opportunity, would you visit a psychedelic wellness retreat? Why or why not?

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If you had the opportunity, would you visit a psychedelic wellness retreat? Why or why not?

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Did you suspect the various reasons for each of the "Nine Perfect Strangers" staying at Tranquillum?

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Did you suspect the various reasons for each of the "Nine Perfect Strangers" staying at Tranquillum?

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Who was your favorite character? Who was your least favorite character?

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Who was your favorite character? Who was your least favorite character?

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Which couple relationship development did you like the best?

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Which couple relationship development did you like the best?

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Have you ever had a near death experience?

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Have you ever had a near death experience?

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If you attempted to reach out to a loved one beyond the grave, who would it be and what would you say to them?

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If you attempted to reach out to a loved one beyond the grave, who would it be and what would you say to them?

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What differences did you notice between the series and the book? Did it make the series better or worse in your opinion?

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What differences did you notice between the series and the book? Did it make the series better or worse in your opinion?

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Did you enjoy the Hulu Series? Would you have preferred a movie adaptation?

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Did you enjoy the Hulu Series? Would you have preferred a movie adaptation?