Blog Tour: Saving Each Other by Stacy Mitchell

Buy the Book

May is Family Support Month and I think that I have the perfect book for you to read: Saving Each Other.  Recently published, Saving Each Other is a must-read for the summer. This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, and Saving Each Other should definitely be in your beach bag or travel bag. 

About the Book: 
Two hearts, two souls. Devastated by loss, united through destiny. 

The rules: Communicate only through text messages and never reveal our real names or other personal details. 

My name is Ean Montgomery. After the drunk driving accident that killed my wife, son, and unborn daughter, I was forced to see a grief counselor. In an unconventional move, she gave me a private cell phone and the first initial of the name of a woman who had been widowed by the same accident. I had no intention of ever texting her but with all hope and the will to live gone, I found myself quickly slipping down the rabbit hole. Desperate, lonely, and unbelievably sad, I reached out to her and she became my everything. 

Buy the Book

My name is Dani Adams. I was married to my college sweetheart, the love of my life. Together we were raising our four-year-old daughter and running a successful business. Then the accident happened and life as I knew it ended in the blink of an eye. I didn’t want to answer his text but I was barely hanging on by a thread and he was in tremendous pain, so I replied. And once again, my world was forever changed. 

Over the course of a year, through texting alone, we bond. Friendship blossoms into something deeper. We were never supposed to meet, but fate had other plans, and in this world of loss and despair, something amazing began to grow… But can the passion we’ve found sustain itself with the deep, soul-twisting pain that never seems to fade? 

Excerpt from from Saving Each Other

The place D and I have been forced to go for counseling is called “OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center” and is about a half an hour away from my home. My mom insisted on driving me. And while she hasn’t read anything about the accident, she spent the entire ride, before my first session, alternating between trying to force me to read the articles flooding the Internet and trying to persuade me to attend the court proceedings. I’m not going to read what some scumbag has to say about my family and I’ve made everyone promise they won’t either. I’m also definitelynot going to the trial. The minute I see the man who murdered my family, I’ll lose my shit and that wouldn’t be good for anyone,especially me.

“OUR HOUSE” usually holds group sessions, but because our sessions are court-mandated and high profile, D and I were able to meet separately with our counselor, Elizabeth Macintyre, on a one-to-one basis.

Since we’re both barely hanging on by a thread, Beth did something very extreme and veryrisky. She came up with the idea that connecting us with one another could help us get through the grieving process. Her thinking was that since we’re both going through the same thing, we could potentially help each other. She explained to us—that to her—this was worth the potential loss of her license.

She gave us each a new cell phone that contained only each other’s new phone numbers along with the first letter of our first names. She wanted us to have a dedicated line to one another and her only stipulations were that we only communicate through text message and never reveal our real names or other personal details. This I agreed to because I had absolutely no intention of evercontacting her.

Except today. Today I have to. So I turn on my phone and type:

D, this is E.

I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. I don’t see how it’s going to change anything but I can’t stand this anymore. I’m at my breaking point. I’m in constant pain. It feels like a huge band is crushing my chest and getting tighter every day.All I do is cry!Everybody’s been trying really hard to help get me through this, I know that. I just don’t have it in me to give a shit.

I lost it with my mom yesterday. Said things no son should ever say to his mother. All she did was ask me to move in with her, and I lost it. It got so bad that she ran out of the house crying with a very mad Riley on her heels. Sure she’s asked me before, but that’s no excuse. My dad laid into me, took Po, and left. I’m now truly alone; being sucked into an inescapable vortex of grief.I’m so lost.

They haven’t been by yet today and I hope they don’t come by at all; this way I can die in peace. I’m falling down the rabbit hole very quickly and that’s why I needto contact D, the only other person who could possibly understand what I’m going through.

So I continue.

I wasn’t planning on contacting you, but here I am. I’m sure you feel the same way since you haven’t reached out to me and I don’t blame you if you don’t respond. It’s been almost a month since my world ended, and let’s just say, unfortunately, suicide isn’t an option. Even though I really wish it were.

I push aside my tears but not my pain; it refuses to leave. I take a deep breath and keep typing.

I’m dying. With each second that passes, I keep dying more and more. I never leave my house, I just sit near the door waiting for their return. So yeah, I’m contacting you. Are you going through the same thing? Why did this have to happen? How am I ever supposed to move on or whatever the hell that even means.

Through my agony I type the plea that just might save my life.

I know I said I don’t blame you if you don’t respond, but at the same time, I really need you to text me back. I’m scared, sad, lonely, and extremely desperate.

About the Author:

Stacy Mitchell was born and raised in Los Angeles, and lived in the South Bay for 20 years before moving to the Conejo Valley. She lives with her husband of 29 years and is the mom of two grown sons. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading, hiking in the Santa Monica mountains or enjoying a glass of cabernet.

Connect with Stacy: 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savingeachother/ 
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sixmitchells/saving-each-other/ 

Fifteen Random Facts About Stacy:

I’m not a picky eater…most of the time. I hate coconut but I love macaroons. I hate salmon but love lox. And, unlike Ean, mushrooms are one of my favorite foods. I prefer candy over chocolate, cake over pie and frozen yogurt over ice cream. I hate water, unless I’m really thirsty, and hate sweet drinks. Especially when it has fake sugar in it…shudder.

I am completely ambidextrous but was only able to carry my kids with my right arm.

I can read a full-length hardcover novel in five hours, but if you hand me the same book in paperback, it takes me five days.

I couldn’t watch the new Will and Grace until I saw all eight seasons of the old one. So I’ve been on a five-month binge. Same goes with books. If I see a book that looks interesting, and it’s part of a series, I always have to start at the beginning—even if it’s a standalone. 

I absolutely hate biographical movies. I loved the Titanic until the boat hit the iceberg. It ruined the whole story. What’s the point in seeing one if you know how it ends?

I hate walking on sidewalk, love walking on dirt. I can hike for three miles and love every minute of it, but if you put me on the street, I’m complaining after only three blocks. And don’t get me started on running! I don’t see the allure, after three yards I’m in a snit.

I believe in ghosts and want to develop my sixth sense so I can talk to them. BN Toler’s Where One Goes, is one of my all-time favorite books. 

Karma is my religion. How people treat you is their karma. How you react is yours. Going back to BN Toler, I like To Have It All, as much, if not more than Where One Goes. 

My favorite room in my house is my bedroom. If I could live there 24/7, I would.

I run fast and far from a spider and a bee, but can hold a snake or a mouse with no problem. 

I'm a night person, I'd rather stay up late and sleep in the day. The only way I like to see the sunrise is if I've been up all night. But when I do have to wake up early, it usually takes me a good hour to find myself. My friends call it aimless wandering or the Stacy shuffle.

I’m a city girl through and through. I couldn’t live anywhere that shuts down early. I usually don’t eat dinner until 9:00pm.

Markets soothe me; I never bring a list. It’s much more fun to just wander up and down each aisle. Whenever I go to the market to get a couple of things, it ends up being more and I always end up going from a hand held basket to a cart.

I’m incredibly spontaneous. I hate scheduling things, and when I do, I usually don’t make it. I was also born two-weeks late and have never changed. My friends call it Stacy time and usually pad our meeting time.

My favorite type of restaurant is a hole in the wall. I love traveling, and when I do, those types of restaurants are usually what I search for. There’s nothing worse that eating at a chain restaurant when an amazing family owned restaurant is just around the corner. That’s why I include real restaurants in my books.