

About Shelf Life
"Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world." ~Malala Yousafzi.
While getting new books into the hands of children, Mary hopes to foster a love for reading and support literacy in her local public school.
Shelf Life is more than an author platform for Mary. It’s a place for readers and writers to connect, get updates on publications, and receive notifications on future events, all while promoting literacy.
Shelf Life will engage readers with a diverse range of literary fiction, literary nonfiction, and historical fiction. As an author platform, I will recommend books on craft that have been valuable to me and share writing through a monthly newsletter. Through initiatives with Shelf Life, I will continue to support literacy by purchasing new books for children in a local Title 1 school and will encourage readers to do the same in their communities.
Book Event
Events & Community Engagement
TO BE ANNOUNCED!

Book Event
Trail To The Unknown Launch and Reading
Living World Denpasar
Bali, Indonesia
June 10, 2023
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Behind the Pages
Inspiration in Every Word Discovering the Book's Origins
Sum of Loss-A Memoir
Mary believes in God and wants to do good things so that goodness will follow her. She yearns to feel the love she sees in normal families. But with every loss, disappointment and abuse, she begins to understand more and believe less.
This coming-of-age story follows the friendship of two girls raised in Catholic, abusive/alcoholic homes. They dream up ways to survive the beatings and to guarantee eternal life in heaven, which promises to be better than what was endured on earth. It will make you laugh and cry, breaking your heart many times before it is restored.
Sum of Loss is a memoir, but my other inspirations come from memory and history, while others are simply generated from imagined experiences or conflicts.
When it came time to dress for our discharge, I retrieved the box from the adoptive parents and carefully placed her arms through the holes of the pink cotton dress. It was the dress intended to be the backup in the event she soiled the fancier one. The plain cotton would be a more comfortable choice for an infant, without the frills and lace, which would undoubtedly be more abrasive against her tender skin. The nuns at the home had packed me clean maternity jeans and an oversized t-shirt.
https://freeflashfiction.com/fiction/one-life/


