Yep, I wrote a book.
Not a book about suicide...or grieving...
or anything you'd think I'd write about.

It's a children's chapter book.
A magical tale about
holding onto one's dreams.
Which is hard, right?
How often did your childhood-self
hear some rendition of:
"Who do YOU think you are???
You can't do THAT!"

My childhood repeatedly taught me:
"You're a SLOW reader; you can't spell.
You're dyslexic!
Dyslexics are NOT writers."

Nonetheless, I've always written
...privately & dyslexicly.
After my husband's suicide,
I was writing about my soul's
OMG-Grief-Is-Us curriculum.
Until the phone rang...and it wasn't good.

A friend's 20-something child,
who struggled to heal mental illness,
had become suicidal. Upon hanging up the phone,
that still small voice whispered: "start younger."

From that day forward,
my keyboard was kidnapped by a muse on a mission.
Obligatory cooperation followed.
Why?
Awestruck curiosity consumed me.

When my muse-possessed-keyboard
finally typed: 'The End', dyslexic-me smiled.
I sooooo wish little-girl-me had read this story.
I would have lived a more 'authentically Marlie' life.

More importantly,
if my husband had read Sparkle Always,
perhaps--just perhaps--he would have learned
how to dismiss the destructiveVoice of Doubt.

We all have that voice--and it's soooo dangerous.

Sparkle Always isn't a best seller
...truth-be-told, it's never been marketed.

I didn't have the stamina or the confidence
to pursue fancy, grown-up publishing options.
Instead, honoring the book's teachings,
I hired a young, aspiring, editor-wanna-be genus.

Like all things in life,
you can buy Sparkle Always via Amazon.

‍