Sparent is a series of personal essays recounting the heartbreak and joy you have experienced within your blended family. Why was this an important book for you to write? 

I am passionate about protecting the blended family as, through my experience, I have learned how important it is to keep blended families whole. My blended family was created via a second marriage after divorce. I experienced, first-hand, the effects of the divorce trauma that my stepchildren and husband carried into our blended family. I started journaliing for my own mental health as I pledged to do whatever I could to keep our blended family together and break that cycle of divorce. My hope is that my experiences help those blended families folllowing in our footsteps. This is a family-type with very few helpful resources – I hope that my book provides a beacon to hope and success for those navigating these challenging waters. 

I appreciated the candid nature with which you share your story. What was the most difficult thing for you to write about?

I’m not a huge fan of disclosing my failures, but those are the most important stories I can tell. I thought that being a stepmother would be simple. It was a disaster – the first real failure I’d had in my life. Of course that is not something I want the world to know but I understand how important it is to hear. Women are often tasked with putting on a perfect appearance. It is terrifying to tell the world that I wasn’t perfect, that many of my family’s struggles pointed back to me, and that I often felt like giving up but I know these stories are the ones that will be most helpful to others.

How did you decide what to include in your memoir? 

Sparent is the first book in a series that will follow my family for several years. It was born from those first journal entries I made when I needed an outlet for my frustrations and feelings of inadequacy. I’ve included every journal entry from the year 2019, though I seriously considered removing some of the more difficult ones. There have been some tweaks to add more details but Sparent is really a direct look into my life.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from Sparent? 

That depends on the reader. For blended families, I hope they see themselves in my words and find solutions to any difficulties they are having. For those in tradtional families, I hope they gain appreciation for the challenges of the blended family and become more willing to chat about those challenges with those they might know experiencing them. It is so important that we all stick together and serve as a source of comfort as we all want the same thing: a happy family.

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