Linda Vigen Phillips' passion is creating realistic fiction that offers hope to teens and their families who face mental or physical health challenges. Her debut book, Crazy, depicts the struggles of a teenage girl in the 1960' s coming to terms with her mother's bipolar disorder. It earned such accolades in 2015 as lndieFab Book of the Year Finalist, short-list for SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, and Honor book for Paterson Prize for Books.

Like Crazy, Behind These Hands is a Young Adult verse novel. When her brothers are diagnosed with Batten Disease, a rare neurodegenerative disorder that will bring early death, piano-prodigy Clair must decide how to deal with the ticking clock, her own dreams, and the need for a celebration of life.

Linda enjoys advocating for better mental health through her involvement with National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI}, conducting writing workshops, and spending time with her grandkids. She lives in Charlotte, NC where she and her husband love to sit on the screened porch to watch the grass grow. Visit Linda online at https://www.lindavigenphillips.com/.