| What becomes of the brokenhearted? |
| Some of them turn to author M.J. Acharya for help. |
| Her e-Book, “The Breakup Workbook: A Common Sense Guide to Getting Over Your Ex,” which has sold in 14 different countries, is a step-bystep journal designed to help brokenhearted people get over their lost love through commonsense exercises, lots of reflection and even a little home remodeling. Acharya, 29, explains in the book that sometimes, rearranging a room helps to take the familiarity out of things. “If everything in your apartment, condo, or home reminds you of your boyfriend, then the best thing for you to do is to change that,” the book says. That could mean moving around some furniture, buying a set of new sheets for the bed or painting even one wall in a room. The Royal Oak resident admits she has had her share of bad relationships and even worse dates. “I had gone out with this one guy from college, and he takes me to lunch,” Acharya says. “The waitress is cute, so when he pays the bill, he writes his phone number and e-mail address on the credit card receipt and also writes ‘Call me.’ ” She shakes her head. “I sat in the car fuming the whole way home.” Acharya emphasizes throughout the book that she is not a professional therapist, just a woman who understands what her readers are going through. The self-styled “Breakup Expert” wants to help women realize there is a silver lining. “ ‘The Breakup Workbook’ tries to get a person to realize that it takes two people to be in a relationship, to recognize red flags she might have missed before the breakup, and most importantly, that the breakup is not entirely her fault,” Acharya says, adding it “allows a person to look at the relationship from a different perspective, so the woman can stop idealizing the relationship — and the man — and see the relationship for what it truly was.” Don’t get the idea that she is bitter toward men, though. She knows her Mr. Right is out there somewhere. “When I meet the man who will accept me for my faults and assets, he is the one,” she says. Acharya’s assets read like a guy’s wish list: She graduated from Michigan State in 2000 with a degree in advertising. She was in the Miss Michigan pageant in 2000, and also was a bikini model. Acharya shrugs at the suggestion that she should be married now. |
| “I just haven’t met the one yet,” she says. “It will happen when it will happen.” Although the book is geared toward women, Acharya hopes to come out with a guys’ version soon. For right now, most men read the current version and apply it to themselves. “There’s one exercise that says to have a sleepover with the girls, but for the guys, they would maybe have a football party,” Acharya says. She hopes to get more orders from the site, then get the book published. “I am establishing a platform for perfecting my book,” Acharya says. “And then, I will aggressively pursue publishers.” Since it is an e-Book, the chapters and exercises are ever evolving as new ideas come up. “I get all my ideas from myself and my friends,” Acharya says. So far, Acharya has not had any complaints or requests for refunds on her book, which has sold 600 copies so far. There also is a helpful forum on the site, where people have the chance to vent and get unbiased opinions about what to do. Acharya hopes readers come away with a few things from her book. “The key to getting over someone is accepting the fact that it’s over,” she says. “Also, having the ability to understand your partner has faults, and knowing that you deserve someone who’s your ‘partner in crime,’ best friend and lover without the insecurities.” |
To know more For more information on M.J. Acharya’s e-book “The Breakup Workbook: A Common Sense Guide to Getting Over Your Ex,” go to her Web site www. brokenheartedgirl.com. |
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