Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Adult children and their parents, specifically adult women and their mothers, people interested in tearooms and in drinking tea.

Q: What is the book about?
A: This is a collection of essays revealing the issues of the mother-daughter connection in adulthood. Over cups of tea in a variety of tearooms in Iowa this mother and daughter share their feelings about aging, role changes, work, and self-esteem. We live in a fast-paced world where little time is made for the relationships we value. Together this mother and daughter make time for tea and conversation and in the process reveal the story of their unique beginnings. Ultimately they learn about themselves and each other one tearoom at a time.

Q: Why are you the best people to write this book?
A: My mother and I have a compelling story to tell. I was a foster child who moved into the my foster parent’s home during my turbulent adolescence. Since our beginnings, and over the past 30 years, we have learned how to unite, love, and define the true meaning of family and what is required to make blended families work.

The themes discussed in Under the Tea Leaves resonate for older women who long to have time and relationship with their adult children in our busy culture where distance is a fact of life. The book also reaches younger women who are struggling to understand their adult parents, particularly their mothers.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Our readers have expressed their enjoyment of the book as a way to sample the tearoom experience and gain understanding through the universal themes expressed in the essays. People have also mentioned feeling inspired to make more of an effort to find quality time for those relationships that matter most to them and even go on a tearoom journey of their own.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Our web site is www.underthetealeaves.com. We are available for book discussion groups via conference call or if available in person. We encourage book group discussions of the themes of our book and have presentations available regarding specific topics of Under the Tea Leaves.