TORONTO - At the moment, Toronto chanteuse Amy Sky is simultaneously preparing her first CD of all-new material in a decade as well as a memoir about her struggles with a mood disorder.

It's a stressful time, in other words, and one that's actually giving her the opportunity to try out the very mental-health procedures that she's recommending for readers.

"It is overwhelming," Sky said in a telephone interview from Toronto this week.

"And it's funny, when you have an overwhelming time in your life, that's when you really need good mood management tools, so it's like, I'm putting everything I'm advocating to the test.

"And part of the thing is you can't be a perfectionist, you have to have realistic expectations, and you have to have a great deal of kindness for yourself. And that's what I'm practising, I'm practising being nice to myself."

Sky originally took her hiatus from recording new music because she wanted to spend more time with her kids. Now that her two children are pretty much grown up (her youngest is 17), she felt ready to return to music.

Her last record of new material was 2001's "Phenomenal Woman." In the meantime, she released a Christmas CD ("Lights of December") and a greatest hits collection, while keeping busy with production work and, of course, songwriting (Sky has penned tunes for Anne Murray, Reba McEntire, Diana Ross and Olivia Newton-John).

Her new CD will be called "Alive and Awake" and her memoir will have the same title. Sky is aiming to have the disc ready for release by the end of the year.

"This album reminds me more of my early records," said Sky, who was scheduled to perform alongside her husband Marc Jordan at the Beaches International Jazz Festival in Toronto on Saturday.

"It's a little more rootsy than the recent stuff I've been doing."

Sky intends for her memoir, meanwhile, to not only chronicle the three-time Juno Award nominee's life but also to help anyone struggling with mental health.

Sky, whose hits include "Love, Pain and the Whole Damn Thing" and "Til You Love Somebody," dedicates her time to numerous charities, including several mental-health organizations.

"It's going to be about what I have done to become mentally healthy," Sky said. "I'm going to explain how I experienced and suffered from mood disorders and what I did to recover. I'm not an expert but I'm an advocate that people need to take charge of their own health and I'm going to share my resources and what I did.

"And mostly the big message is there's absolutely no shame in having a mood disorder. The only shame is if you don't get help. And it's really tough to do on your own.

"It's important to go to a professional and it's important not to be any more embarrassed about it than if you sprained your ankle."