Joe Kraynak

New Bipolar Blog on Psych Central - Bipolar Beat

Anyone who knows me well is aware that my family has been living with bipolar disorder for nearly a decade. My wife, Cecie, was first diagnosed in 1999 and has had quite a journey trying to discover the right combination of doctor, therapist, and medications to stabilize her moods.

When I first heard the term “bipolar disorder,” I did what I normally do when I’m totally ignorant of something I need to know about - I headed to the bookstore, purchased every book I could find on the subject, and spent every spare moment reading them. I learned a great deal, but none of the books provided me with everything I needed to know about bipolar disorder and what I could do to help.

I thought I could write something better, so in 2005, I pitched the idea of doing Bipolar Disorder For Dummies to an acquisitions editor I knew at John Wiley & Sons, Mikal Belicove. He proceeded to search for and find a suitable co-author for me - someone infinitely more qualified than I was to hand out advice about bipolar - Dr. Candida Fink MD (FinkShrink.com). She had plenty of experiencing diagnosing and treating bipolar disorder in her patients and had already co-authored a book on bipolar disorder in children and teens called The Ups and Downs of Raising a Bipolar Child. She also grew up with bipolar disorder in her family and has a great sense of humor.

A couple years after Bipolar Disorder For Dummies arrived in bookstores, we decided to do our own blog to promote the book. On June 18, 2007, we launched our Bipolar Blog. Now, as anyone in the publishing biz knows, waiting two years to start promoting your book is kind of dumb, but we had a “better late than never” philosophy and figured that our new blog would help us deliver fresh information to the bipolar community and give us a head start should we ever have the opportunity to do a 2nd edition of the book (or some other project).

Recently, John M. Grohol, Psy.D., CEO & Publisher of PsychCentral.com, “discovered” our blog, liked it, and appreciated the way we handled the topic of bipolar disorder in Bipolar Disorder For Dummies. He was in the process of recruiting qualified professionals to blog on specific mental health related topics on his Web site and offered us the opportunity to create and host Psych Central’s bipolar blog. We accepted the offer and have chosen to call our new blog Bipolar Beat. Here, we will be posting articles and insights on topics of interest to those in the bipolar community – people with bipolar disorder and their loved ones, physicians, psychiatrists, therapists, and anyone else who’s interested in learning more about bipolar disorder.

While readers of Bipolar Disorder For Dummies and visitors to our blog are no doubt on their own bipolar journeys, Candida and I have had our own journey of discovery related to both bipolar disorder and blogging. We invite you to explore what we’ve discovered by visiting Bipolar Beat and Bipolar Blog and to share what you discovered with us and with the community we are working to build.

Foreclosure Help

Ralph R. Roberts’ foreclosure self-defense team has recently unveiled its new Foreclosure Self-Defense Blog. Homeowners can visit the blog to obtain news, information, and guidance on how to deal successfully with a looming foreclosure and take practical steps to improve the outcome.

Real estate investors may also find the information useful. As we explain in Flipping Houses For Dummies and Foreclosure Investing For Dummies, investors can and should act with integrity and treat homeowners fairly in foreclosure. As an investor, you can become part of the solution rather than part of the problem, by offering distressed homeowners a graceful exit from what could otherwise be a devastating loss. Before you can assist homeowners through the foreclosure process, however, you need to become an expert on it yourself. Reading the posts on the Foreclosure Self-Defense Blog can help bring you up to speed.

Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies

My latest book, co-authored with foreclosure self-defense experts Ralph R. Roberts, Lois Maljak, and Paul Doroh offers distressed homeowners tips, tricks, and techniques for saving their homes from foreclosure or getting out from under a home they cannot afford.

The release of this book couldn’t be more timely. Experts predict that foreclosures from the recent mortgage meltdown are due to peak in March of 2008.

What makes this book most unique, I believe, is that two of my co-authors have actually faced foreclosure themselves. They know just how embarassing and devastating foreclosure can be, which enables them to treat homeowners facing the loss of a home with compassion. All three of my co-authors specialize in foreclosure. They meet with distressed homeowners regularly, present them with their options, and assist them in making the right choices for their situation.

Before taking on this project, I assumed you had two choices when your bank served you with a foreclosure notice: pay up or move out. I was surprised to discover that homeowners have at least a dozen options. The trick is to find out about your options as quickly as possible and take action. As soon as you start missing payments, the foreclosure clock starts ticking.

In Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies, we cover the following options:

• File for bankruptcy
• Reinstate the mortgage (by catching up on missed payments)
• Negotiate a forbearance
• Refinance your way out of trouble
• Sell to an investor and buy it back
• Negotiate a short sale (convince the lender to accept less than you owe)
• Redeem your home after the auction (buy it back from the high bidder)
• Sell the home yourself (to reclaim more of your equity)
• Walk away… without having to throw good money after bad
• Offer a deed in lieu of foreclosure
• Stall… through the courts and other delays

If you or someone you know is facing foreclosure, this no-nonsense guide helps size up all the options and increases the chances of saving the home. You’ll see how to delay foreclosure, form a plan of attack, negotiate solutions with your lender, and restore your financial health. Discover field-tested strategies for dodging the foreclosure trap or getting out from under a house you really can’t afford.

About the Authors

Ralph R. Roberts is an award-winning Realtor® and one of the nation’s leading real estate and mortgage fraud forensics experts. He and his team of foreclosure specialists, including co-authors Lois Maljak (a foreclosure survivor) and Paul Doroh, have assisted thousands of distressed homeowners deal with the realities of foreclosure. I, Joe Kraynak, played a supporting role, ensuring that everything my co-authors wrote was clear and at least mildly entertaining.

Order Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies on Amazon

Future Home of Joe Kraynak

Congratulations!

You found me. I’m Joe Kraynak, author and co-author of numerous books, including Flipping Houses For Dummies, Bipolar Disorder For Dummies, Food Allergies For Dummies, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Slam Poetry, and Master Visually: Creating Web Pages. Click here for a complete list of my latest titles.

This site is under construction, as I am working on several new titles, but check back occasionally. Once I decide what I want to do here, I’ll start doing it.