Maricela Estrada

Maricela Estrada earned an Associates of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies from Rio Hondo College in Whittier and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications for California State University, Fullerton. She is the author of Bipolar Girl: My Psychotic Self ,Beautiful Bipolar Bisexual, and David Likes to Play with Dolls. She is a Public Speaker dedicated in building public awareness and decreasing the stigma associated with mental illness. She has presented professional lectures for organizations such as the International Bipolar Foundation. She has been featured on television, radio, and newspaper. She received the 2015 National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Outstanding Peer Award. Bipolar Girl was nominated for Best Memoir for the 2010 Latino Book Awards for the New York Book Expo.She is committed to sending a message of hope for all those living with mental illnesses and their loved ones.

The author has launched a collection of journals (Gypsy Journals) named after her emotional support dog Gypsy Blue in 2022. These beautiful journals are designed for everybody. Her purpose is to inspire people find healing through writing just as she did.