Inspiring. Empowering. A resounding memoir of reinvention. When a hard fall from a tall horse landed Mary T. Wagner-then a freelance writer and a soccer mom with four young children-in a body cast for three months with a broken back, she didn't take it as a sign to ease back on the throttle. Instead, she changed careers, went to law school, took a job as a criminal prosecutor, and bought her first pair of spike heels. And THEN she started writing again.
More than a dozen national and regional writing awards later, Wagner has compiled this "best of" collection of her inspiring and empowering essays from her first three books, and added a few more for good measure. Wagner's earlier books, "Running with Stilettos," "Heck on Heels" and "Fabulous in Flats," earned recognition for humor, inspiration and memoir, and their kudos included both an Indie Excellence Award and a silver IPPY. Two were finalists in ForeWord Review's Book of the Year Awards. Her legal experience has been similarly eclectic, ranging from handling speeding tickets to arguing cases before the Wisconsin Supreme Court...sometimes in the same week!
In essays ranging widely from "Turbo Dating-the Year in Review" to "Riding Pillion," "The Limoncello Diaries" and "Angels in the Snow," Wagner's signature writing style combines humor, insight, and grace under pressure. Whether reflecting on subjects as diverse as motherhood, the view from the back of a Harley, the impending loss of a parent or the therapeutic effects of a post-divorce bonfire, Wagner's inspiring and empowering essays resonate with universal experiences of love, life and reinvention. A must-read for any woman who's asked herself "is there at least one more dream I can reach for?"... and then answered "YES!!"
About the Author:
Mary T. Wagner is a former newspaper and magazine journalist who changed careers at the age of forty by going to law school and becoming a criminal prosecutor. However, she never could step away from the written word entirely, and inevitably the joy of writing drew her back to the keyboard.
A Chicago native, this mother of four and recent new grandmother now lives in "coastal Wisconsin," where she draws much inspiration for writing from the nearby forests and shores of Lake Michigan. Wagner's ongoing legal experience has ranged from handling speeding tickets to arguing and winning several cases before the Wisconsin Supreme Court...sometimes in the same week!
When the Shoe Fits... is an inspiring "best of" essay collection drawn from Wagner's first three award-winning books-Running with Stilettos, Heck on Heels, and Fabulous in Flats. This trio has garnered numerous national and regional awards, including a Gold E-Lit Book Award, an Indie Excellence Award, and "Published Book of the Year" by the Florida Writers Association.
Wagner's life experiences includes the defining watershed of motherhood, and stints as a Girl Scout troop leader, truck stop waitress, office temp, judicial clerk, and radio talk show host. She counts both wearing spike heels and learning to use a cordless drill and chainsaw among her "late blooming" discoveries, and would be hard pressed to surrender either her favorite stilettos or her power tools.
