Alessa has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, along with a veritable alphabet soup of other mental health disorders — which she chooses to live with, rather than suffer from. She likes to think of herself as a “limited edition”, rather than a batshit crazy person that most would choose not to deal with.

She has been a sober member of the proverbial “Anonymous” for more than four years, and continues to struggle with disillusionment in the program while desperately clinging to that most elusive of four letter words for newcomers — hope. She freely gives her phone number away, and rarely receives a call.

Alessa lives in Tucson, Arizona with her ever-patient husband, Mitchell, and their Coonhound rescue pup, Tocho. Tocho deals with his own anxiety issues by chewing up boxes of Kleenex, blankets, neoprene sleeves, and CPAP equipment.

In addition to being a mother, wife, daughter, sister, auntie, and friend, Alessa is also a forty-something-year-old student — studying Environmental Science and Creative Non-Fiction Writing at the University of Arizona, and hopes to someday make a compelling case for change.

She enjoys hiking through the Sonoran Desert in the cool, early hours of morning — and always protects Tocho from benign wildlife and mysterious plants, which he still finds inexplicably frightening and new.

If you like puzzles, Alessa Felicità is a pen name translated from the author’s real name — same meaning, different languages. Kudos to anyone who can decipher what she considers to be a clever lil’ nom de plume.