Dr. Marni HIll Foderaro’s 2020 Best Books award winning spiritual fiction “God Came To My Garage Sale” and her prominently endorsed 5-book series “True Deceit False Love” can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Balboa Press/Hay House Publishing and wherever books are sold.
Hello author Marni, welcome to the RV Book Fair! What’s your favorite word and why?
My favorite word is “LOVE.” I believe that LOVE is the highest vibration. All of us have challenges in our lives, but if we handle these challenges while looking through the lens of LOVE, then we can overcome anything.
What’s the last book you read?
As the author of the 2020 Best Books award winning spiritual fiction “God Came To My Garage Sale,” which was prominently endorsed by James Redfield, the bestselling author of “The Celestine Prophecy,” I enjoy reading about spirituality. However, since writing and publishing my prominently endorsed 5-book series “True Deceit False Love” which addresses surviving and thriving after experiencing Domestic Violence, Narcissistic Abuse, Parental Alienation and Intergenerational Family Trauma, I have been very interested in how professionals suggest to handle abusive and/or unhealthy relationships and situations. With that being said, the last book I read was Dr. Sherrie Campbell’s self-help book “Adult Survivors of Toxic Family Members: Tools to maintain boundaries, deal with criticism and heal from shame after ties have been cut.”
What’s the book that changed your life?
There have been so many books that have made a significant impact on my life. The Bible is one of those books that continues to enlighten me. I would have to say, though, that early on I was drawn to the writings of Anne Morrow Lindbergh because of her “Relatable Voice” Her inspirational and bestselling book “Gift From The Sea” is one of my all-time favorites; her essay-style chapters highlighted various shells on the beach which inspired her to reflect on life, love, marriage, peace, solitude, contentment and caring for the soul. I regularly re-read this book and each time garner more insight into life.
What is your favorite thing about being a writer?
I am so thrilled to be an author as I truly appreciate the written word. I enjoy the entire process and that you can write down your thoughts, and afterwords you have a second chance at expressing yourself, the freedom to edit and make adjustments to clarify and add more detail to your message. Author Stephen King in his book “On Writing” states: “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” I also enjoy the quote by Nnedi Okorafor in “The Book of Phoenix”: “ I love books. I adore everything about them. I love the feel of the pages on my fingertips. They are light enough to carry, yet so heavy with worlds and ideas. I love the sound of the pages flicking against my fingers. Print against fingerprints. Books make people quiet, yet they are so loud.” One of my favorite musical performers is my friend Livingston Taylor (yes, legendary folk singer James Taylor’s brother and yes, for those that follow me, I have sung the duet “Loving Arms” with Livingston Taylor on stage 11 times over a 35 year period) and his original song “Railroad Bill” ends with the writer of the song taking charge of the character’s pen (literally and figuratively) and rewriting the ending of the song. Liv’s last line is: “Dear God, I love to write…” I love that Liv loves to write because I love to read Liv’s song writing. Throughout my own writing journey, I have personally found that words have the power to hurt, but words also have the power to heal.
If you could tell your young writing self anything, what would it be?
I would encourage my young writing self to keep a journal, and tell her that writing can refine your thinking and be very therapeutic, especially when you need to work out the thoughts that ruminate in your head.
What inspired you to start writing?
I didn’t set out to be an author, even though my late mother, Elizabeth Ann Waldenmaier Hansen, was a genius writer and her voluminous vocabulary and positive influence had a significant impact on me as she encouraged “the scholar sun to shine” on my reading and writing. Of course I was required to write and publish a thesis for my masters degree and a dissertation for my doctorate degree. However, my actual writing career began in midlife, just as I was retiring from a successful and rewarding 35-year career as a high school special education teacher, with 12 of those years as a university adjunct graduate school professor. After experiencing numerous spiritual encounters at an ordinary garage sale I was compelled to put pen to paper to share my experiences. You see, I escaped an unhealthy 27-year marriage and as a result suffered significant unexpected and traumatic losses: my “American Dream” and most everything that provided me with safety and security, my home (which I was told was paid off for a decade, but was actually in foreclosure), my assets, my money, my support system (friends, family and neighbors who bought into a false narrative and aligned with my abuser), and I even lost my adult children to Parental Alienation. My choice to file for divorce and make this significant life change had many repercussions which resulted in my having to downsize… which led to having a life-changing garage sale… which led to experiencing spiritual miracles….which then led to writing my first book! This journey led me to self-reflect and do the inner work to understand my core wounds, family of origin traumas and role in relationship dynamics. This journey led me to leaving negativity and releasing unhealthy people and situations from my life, setting healthy boundaries, embracing positivity and connecting with honest and compassionate people, reclaiming my life, practicing self-love and self-care, following my passions, finding true companionship and living safely with peace and happiness. This journey led me to expressing my thoughts through the written word, resulting in me being an author.
Do you hear from your readers much? What do they say?
It has been amazingly validating to hear from the readers of my books. Readers of “God Came To My Garage Sale” tell me how relatable my book is, especially when they learn that everything I wrote about was inspired by true experiences; many have gone on to tell me that they have also encountered STEs-Spiritually Transformative Experiences or NDEs-Near Death Experiences, but never felt comfortable enough to talk about them and reading my book gave them the courage to share their testimony. Readers of my 5-book series “True Deceit False Love” appreciate having informative tools and a creative outlet to dealing with relationship trauma situations. I hear from many wonderful Targeted Parents, loving dads and moms, who have lost their young and/or adult children to the unfortunate dynamic of Parental Alienation (which researchers state is a form of Child Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence), who tell me that more awareness is needed on this topic and they appreciate the efforts I am making to help bring forward that much-needed awareness and understanding on how to cope after a parent basically experiencing the death of a living child or children. Having these candid conversations (with the written and spoken word) can help others because the voices of survivors matter and provide hope.
What does literary success look like to you?
I believe that literary success looks different for each individual. As an author, I am not about book sales and know that choosing to be an author is not typically a money-making endeavor; it is a passion. Very few authors make it big with a top publisher or blockbuster bestseller. I believe literary success can be defined by achieving your personal writing goals. There is great satisfaction from seeing your writing published, and even more satisfaction knowing that your work has made a positive impact on others. I am honored that my award winning spiritual fiction “God Came To My Garage Sale” is a popular book club pick and has been chosen for numerous book clubs around the world!
Where do you dream traveling to and why?
I have always been fascinated with world travel, ever since I lived in Athens Greece as a child, so I try to make my traveling dreams a reality. I am very fortunate to spend my days and travel with my loving life partner Rick, who also enjoys experiencing other foreign lands, cultures and people. We have spent a month in India, a month in Thailand and a month in Israel. We have visited numerous places in the United States, Mexico and Europe…even Iceland, most recently with a Book Signing tour which included a river cruise in the Pacific Northwest and visits to several National Parks.
Aside from writing, what do you enjoy doing on your spare time?
After retiring from my career in education, I moved from a lifetime in the Chicago suburbs to the Caribbean, where Rick and I have lived for over three years. I am immersed in nature and appreciate the beauty of the tropics and the culture of island living; I enjoy hiking in the rainforest, tending to my organic garden, taking art classes at the local museum, finding sea glass at the beach and snorkeling in the ocean.
Website: https://www.GodCameToMyGarageSale.com