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<\/a>\u201cWhat led me to enroll in the conflict transformation program was the conviction that I needed to put myself where I would be around people with a constructive approach to conflict and a determination to deal with it honorably,\u201d writes Patricia Patton, an attorney who (then and now) represents children in cases of abuse or neglect in Washington County, Maryland.<\/p>\n\u201cI was headed for burnout. My problem-solving tricks were getting stale and my spirit was weary. And, yes, the program recharged my professional and spiritual batteries (without ever waxing religious), and gave me some very useful tools for coping with the challenges of my profession \u2013 not just the challenges inherent in dealing with specific conflicts, but the challenges of dealing with a steady diet of conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen too, I was reminded that my little child abuse and neglect bailiwick was not genocide, which some of my classmates had coped with first-hand and were prepared to take on upon graduation. In other words, I got refocused on my blessings. This is a focus worth preserving.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the past five years, Paddy has taken her verbal skills into a completely new arena: writing romance novels. \u201cWhat does this have to do with an open society, you ask? To the extent that romance novels focus on empowering women, and on individual choice and self-expression often against societal odds, they are revolutionary literature.\u201d<\/p>\n
She adds: \u201cFor my master\u2019s project, I was allowed to write a romance novel that analyzed the effectiveness of the legal system as a conflict management system. That manuscript has been reworked over time, and is now under consideration with a number of publishers. The working title is Legally Tender<\/em>. If that book makes it into print, I will dedicate it to the good folk at CJP.\u201d<\/p>\n [Editor: Gee, thanks! About those royalties, we always need more scholarship funds.<\/em> Paddy joked back: WILL forward some royalties upon making the bestseller lists.<\/em>]<\/p>\n Paddy\u2019s first published book, written under the pen-name Grace Burrowes, is scheduled to be sold on the internet and in bookstores on December 7, 2010. It is a historical novel set in England, titled The Heir<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"