Bruin calls the blog her "Mormon cigarette."
"It's a safe place to go and get a healthy break from life," she says. "I love the Mormon people. I just love the variety and we're kind of insane, even though we think we're perfect, me included."
Bruin, who has written numerous books and articles over the last 20 years, says she loves humor writing the most, but she is currently having success with a book that deals with a more serious subject.
"At the risk of sounding bipolar, I've jumped from humor to the heaviest subject of all," said Bruin.
She is referring to a book she co-authored with Fay Klingler titled Shattered: Six Steps from Betrayal to Recovery.
It is a self-help book for people overcoming emotional abuse and betrayal.
Bruin and Klingler were drawn to the subject because both had experienced betrayal, though they decided not to tell their personal stories in the book.
"We didn't want it to be a 'me' book," said Bruin. "One thing that prevents people from recovery is that they just stay paralyzed, so we didn't want to focus on what happened and stay there. The book begins at a point of recovery."
The book is for people who have been betrayed in any
relationship, whether the relationship is a marriage, a business partnership or a friendship.
"Just anytime you've walked down a path where you are under the impression that the relationship is one thing and then discover it's something else," she said.
It was July 2004, a few months after the two began writing the book, that the Lori Hacking case broke. Eventually, investigators located Lori's remains at the Salt Lake County Landfill and Mark admitted to her murder.
The two authors decided to send the book to Thelma Soares, Lori's mother.
"I e-mailed her and said, 'There are some things in here that may be helpful to you in possibly understanding the behaviors of Mark,' " said Bruin. "She took the book and embraced it and actually wrote the forward for it."
Bruin's work on the subject has led her to found the National Coalition for Emotional Abuse Awareness. She serves as the coalition's Executive Director.
In addition to her work for the NCFEAA, Bruin works full time, promotes her book through travel and early morning talk shows, writes a blog, is mother to seven children, teaches a creative nonfiction class and has many other writing projects in the works. She is under contract for a book called Exceptional Stepfathers which is due out next year.
So when does she find time to write?
"I actually write all the time. It just weaves throughout my day," said Bruin. "I multi-task. I think about writing while I do other stuff. If I waited for three to six hours a day, it would never happen."
Whether her topic is serious or she's taking good-humored jabs at the Mormon culture she lives in, Bruin's personality shines through in her writing.
"I'm all about helping people see the better side, the brighter side, the embracing side," she said. "Soak it up."
