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Kristan Braziel is a freelance copywriter, blogger, and author of You Should Write a Book! True Tales of An Unstable Life. The book, Braziel’s debut novel, is a humorous memoir that takes the reader through a series of calamities that began in the 1970’s, and continue today.
In the book, she shares her most vulnerable attempts at “normal” relationships and parenting, all of which, the reader soon realizes, are tinged with borderline personality disorder, making for disturbingly funny storytelling.
In her online blog, Bring Mommy A Martini, aimed at guiding people through what she calls, “the messy parts of life,” Braziel shares more of her own missteps and hilarious perspective on daily life as a human being.
Braziel lives north of Austin, Texas, with her husband, two sons, and two Lab-mix rescues. When she’s not writing or reading, you’ll probably find her and her partner, Lilly the Therapy Dog, volunteering at local schools, or – more likely – canoodling a Mexican martini.
Reviewed by Rosie Malezer for Readers' Favorite
You Should Write a Book! True Tales of An Unstable Life is a collection of anecdotes written by Kristan Braziel. Although life is meant to be easy, this memoir shows that some lives are a little bit more difficult than others, with a falling antique ceramic vase having better chances of remaining intact. A victim of bullying in her youth, accident-prone Kristan was forever in the wars, whether tripping over random items at the letter box while checking for the day’s mail, finding herself hog-tied by two dog leads while out for a jog with the pets (after they had spotted a squirrel), or just tripping over her own two feet ... because they are there. Going all the way back to her childhood, Kristan recounts how she had been extremely resentful and upset by the fact that her parents would not give her a twin sister. Growing up, she never gave up on that dream. It is possible that she still hasn’t given up on it. Kristan also had a habit of adopting stray cats, sometimes getting many bundles of joy overnight from the one kitty. With her father having such a soft heart that he paid for one of them to have knee replacement surgery, it was no surprise that Kristan would grow up with a soft spot for animals. After all of the crazy mishaps which occurred in Kristan Braziel’s ‘unstable’ life, she was advised to write a book.
I am so very glad that Kristen Braziel took her friend’s advice and wrote this book. I would also have been interested if she had conveyed her stories in drawn art form, after reading about her competition entries. Some of the tales in You Should Write a Book! True Tales of an Unstable Life just about threw me into the path of an asthma attack with a dose of side-stitches from laughing so hard. The added touch of old photographs (accompanied by description) doubled the hilarity factor. The style of humor used throughout is quite dry, and when the author tells you to stop reading and search Google for a lamp she once saw, of course you do it. Needless to say, my knowledge about lamps from the 1970s is now greater than it was before I started reading. I could not get enough of Kristen Braziel’s hilarious true-life anecdotes. Laughter will forever be the greatest medicine, and this particular dose will keep those tears and snorts coming for a long time to come. I recommend this book to anybody who enjoys reading, watching, or listening to funny tales of things that have gone wrong in the past, which eventually will lead you to ‘laugh about this someday.’
