As Light Fixtures progresses, Aurora sleeps less and less. Yet, when her friend, the mystical Mr. Hematite, once again comments that she indeed looks fatigued, she insists irritably: “I don’t feel tired!”

But that’s the way it is with mania, the fast side of teen bipolar disorder. Sleep is the last thing a young adult with the mood disorder wants. During bipolar mania, you think and move with speed, you feel creative and it feels normal to you.

Of course, Aurora has no idea she’s not in a balanced state. To her, everybody else moves at a turtle’s pace while she’s simply moving at a cheetah’s, and she is unaware that this is an expression of classic bipolar mania.

Needless to say, the mania from her teen bipolar disorder will eventually extract its toll. And it won’t be long.

When Aurora first encounters Mr. Dragonfly — so named “Mr.” by her for his elegant maneuvers — at Grandmother’s fishing pond in the early part of the book, she feels there’s something about him that seems so familiar. Maybe it was his fast actions, for she knows how it is to think fast, move fast, and even talk fast, while the world around her seems to do things at a much slower and, yes, boring speed.

Unaware at this time that she is in the beginning stages of teen bipolar disorder, she has no name for this speediness inside her. She simply figures she and Mr. Dragonfly, both full of life, are two beings that act the same quick way.

Of course, being adroit and energetic is a natural for Mr. Dragonfly. It is not a part of an imbalance or mental illness. But for Aurora, the human being, when mental high-speediness overrides the body’s natural flow, it becomes an imbalance that will not only overwhelm those around her, but also herself, causing her to stumble big-time.

This speediness, known as bipolar mania, is one of the signs of teen bipolar mood disorder. And though teen bipolar mania can be invigorating at first, its big charge cannot last indefinitely. Unlike Mr. Dragonfly, who’s built to survive at dazzling speeds with no bipolar mania, we indeed are not.

Welcome! As the author of the YA book, I appreciate your stopping by. Be sure to check out all of lightfixturesthebook.com. If you’re just finding out about Light Fixtures, or you’ve already read it, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the Comments section. I’ll be signing in often to blog and answer your questions, such as …

Why did you write a story about a teen’s onset of bipolar in 1963?
Bipolar is more commonly recognized today, but in 1963, when the mood disorder was called manic depression, it wasn’t. I wanted to write not only about the onset of bipolar in Aurora’s life and her special guides, but also about the culture and ways of that time.

Why did you make the setting in NW Louisiana?
My early years were formed there and I knew I always wanted to use it as a background for a novel. Like any part of the U.S., it has its own distinct (and for me, beloved) personality and language.

The dialect is Southern American English, yet it is almost…old fashioned?
That was the speech of my grandparents, whom I use to pattern Aurora’s grandparents’ language. They were educated, but they still carried the distinctive, countryside language of their ancestors and the region. For example, “He didn’t go to do it” would now mean “He didn’t mean to do it.”

What about the mystical guide in the woods, Mr. Hematite and his assistant Mr. Dragonfly?
They are two central characters who are Aurora’s guides to understanding who she really is. They are crucial to her physical, mental and spiritual awareness of life and her being bipolar. They are indeed mystical and they’re pretty cool; I certainly grew to love them. Yes, authors do such!