After Party: Finding the Path to Sobriety

Drew Charles

May 2021 · Morgan James Publishing

About this ebook

A memoir of a husband and father’s recovery from alcohol and drugs reveals how being alcohol-free has made his life richer.  Many people struggle with substance abuse in the shadows feeling ashamed, alone, and inadequate. You are not alone. Many of us keep up appearances while at the same time kicking ourselves every time we stumble into bed drunk out of our minds. Many of us say, “never again,” only to drink again at 5:00pm. You are not alone. There is a way out of this. After Party is the story of how one person, Drew Charles, dug his way out of the spiral of drug and alcohol excess. While doing so, he discovered that sobriety is not the impossibly boring state of living so many of us fear but is filled with joy and excitement in ways we can’t predict when we are stuck in the loop of drinking and drug taking. After Party is the honest account of Drew’s first year of sobriety, how he did it, and more importantly, why he did it. Drew’s hope is that anyone who battles with alcohol and drugs, or just feels curious about sobriety, can take solace in knowing that life not only exists beyond alcohol, but that it sings with a clarity and depth of emotion many of us would never have thought possible.

About the author

Drew Charles is a reformed party animal musician turned author from Melbourne, Australia. He has published a number of poems and short prose pieces and has appeared on podcasts for One Year No Beer and Over the Influence about his story of getting sober. He has a PhD in Literature and is currently writing the follow up to After Party.