One thing I love to do is support bloggers when they write books. It’s a tough transition to go from blogger to book writer so I applaud those who take the risk and put themselves out there. So when I saw that some of my favorite bloggers contributed to an awesome anthology, I reached out and asked if I feature them. Yep, it was ME who reached out. Normally authors reach out to bloggers but I loved it so much I wanted to make sure their voices were heard.
The anthology is called My Other Ex: Women’s True Stories of Losing and Leaving Friends. It’s the book about how in life we sometimes have to choose to put ourselves first and end what could be an unhealthy friendship. At the heart of each essay is the recognition from each writer that she has lost something very real and very personal, a connection that will never be forgotten. You will hurt at their pain and smile at their triumphs. It’s definitely a book to pull at your heart strings.
I interviewed four of the contributors and played a little game with them. Hell, I still have to see the humor in things, even in serious matter! The four bloggers were Suzanne Barston from Fearless Formula Feeder, Angela Amman, Shannan Ball Younger from Mom Factually, Kristin Vanderhey Shaw from Two Cannoli and Meredith Napolitano from From Meredith to Mommy.
Hi ladies! How about you tell me how you got involved in the My Other Ex project?
MEREDITH: I heard about My Other Ex when the editors shared the idea for the project in one of my blogging groups. I knew I had stories to share, and I knew it would be a good process for me to write them down.
SHANNAN: I first found out about The HerStories Project after editor Stephanie Sprenger and I connected by writing for the same website and were both in Listen to Your Mother casts in 2013, her in Denver and me in Chicago.
What’s the one sentence you’d love your ex friend to say to you if you saw her/him on the street and she/he stopped you?
ANGELA: “I understand.”
KRISTIN: “I’m sorry that I stopped responding to you and ended our friendship so abruptly. I know it hurt you.”
What was the hardest thing about writing your story?
SUZANNE: The pain it brought up. I had sort of been in denial about the demise of our close bond, brushing it off by pretending it was about distance or business or whatever. But as I wrote, I realized just how real this division was.
MEREDITH: The hardest thing was remembering the story when I’ve spent a good portion of my adult life closing off that part of my memory. In addition, I had to wonder if these women would ever read it and I wanted to make sure I wrote a fair account of the situation, just in case I was ever confronted about it (Spoiler alert: I was).
OK, now I have to lighten the mood a bit, tell me the first thing that pops into your head when I say this word. And of course, we want to know why the heck it popped into your head!
- Word: PIG
SUZANNE: Needles. When I was little I went to a sleepaway farm camp and one of my duties was to help give shots to sick pigs.
- Word: VODKA
KRISTIN: Pumpkin martini. Yesterday, my friend Erin posted a list of all of the available pumpkin products available, and the pumpkin vodka caught my eye to make martinis at my annual pumpkin carving party.
- Word: LAUGH
SHANNAN: Loud. This popped to mind because I met someone at Starbucks today for the first time, and I laughed at one point and was embarrassed by just how loud my laugh was. Oops.
- Word: DINNER
ANGELA: Again? Lately, dinnertime in our house is an exercise in my most delicate negotiation techniques. I’m fairly certain I’m losing.
- Word: BELIEVE
MEREDITH: Journey. Don’t judge me.
Thank you so much ladies – you rock! And thank you to Jessica Smock and Stephanie Sprenger for daring to put this anthology together. It’s the risk takers that get the world talking. Hope you’ll all check it out. To find out more, go to their website or purchase on Amazon HERE.
