STEPPING STONES Set For June 16 Release

Stepping Stones: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Transformation by Marilea C. Rabasa will be released this June. Stepping Stones (She Writes Press) will be published in trade paper (ISBN: 978-1-63152-898-9, $16.95) and eBook (E-ISBN: 978-1-63152-899-6, $9.95) editions and available where fine books are sold on June 16, 2020.

Award-winning writer Marilea C. Rabasa delivers a candid, unflinchingly real memoir in Stepping Stones: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Transformation. An extraordinary story that chronicles life, loss, heartbreak, hope, and healing, Stepping Stones is heart-wrenchingly honest, powerful, and bold. At once a painful story of descent into addiction, Stepping Stones is also the story of how an unbreakable spirit triumphs over brokenness.

About Stepping Stones: Addiction is a stealth predator. Unrecognized, it will grow and flourish. Unchecked, it destroys.

Marilea Rabasa grew up in post-WWII Massachusetts in a family that lived comfortably and offered her every advantage. But there were closely-guarded family secrets. Alcoholism reached back through several generations--and it was not openly discussed. Shame and stigma perpetuated the silence. Marilea became part of this ongoing tragedy. Stepping Stones is her story.

Rabasa's fascinating memoir opens with the death of her mother-a woman who, though not an alcoholic, was plagued by an inability to cope with the dysfunction in her life. A woman whose choices unwittingly set her daughter up for a multitude of problems.

Stepping Stones chronicles Rabasa's life - from an unhappy childhood, to her life overseas in the diplomatic service, to now, living on an island in Puget Sound. What happens in the intervening years is a compelling tale of adventure, motherhood, addiction, and heartbreaking loss. But throughout Rabasa's story is the ever-present shadow of addiction, with its many forms and faces, stalking her like an obsessed lover, bringing similar rewards. Stepping Stones, Rabasa's bold, compassionate, and captivating memoir, probes-and answers-the question: what, if anything, will free her of the masks she has worn all her life?

Much more than a memoir of addiction, Stepping Stones is a story about hope, recovery, and strength. Beautifully written and unapologetically honest, Stepping Stones is divided into three parts-Sleepwalking, Muddling through the Middle, and Waking Up. Crafted in short, powerful vignettes, Stepping Stones is a masterful memoir that parallels two distinct journeys-Rabasa's captivating outward journey, and her sacred inner journey to finding grace, healing, and peace. A memoir of triumph and transformation, Stepping Stones is a deeply personal and deeply moving story of one woman's courageous struggle to put the pieces together and find her own road to happiness.

Marilea C. Rabasa is a retired high school teacher who moved west from Virginia eleven years ago. Before that, she traveled around the world with her former husband in the Foreign Service. She has been published in a variety of publications. Writing as Maggie C. Romero, Rabasa won the International Book Award, was named a finalist in both the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards and the USA Best Book Awards, and earned an honorable mention in The Great Southwest Book Festival, for her 2014 release, A Mother's Story: Angie Doesn't Live Here Anymore. She lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a number of years and now resides in Camano Island, Washington. Visit her online at: www.recoveryofthespirit.com

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