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Betsy Graziani Fasbinder

Goodreads Author

Born

in Denver, CO, The United States

July 15

Website

http://www.betsygrazianifasbinder.com

Twitter

BetsyGFasbinder

Genre

Fiction, Memoir

Member Since

August 2008

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/betsygrazianifasbinder

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Betsy Graziani Fasbinder's newest book, Filling Her Shoes: A Memoir of an Inherited Family will launch May 2017. When she was about to become a mother for the first time, Betsy found that none of the stories about motherhood, even step-mothering seemed to describe her circumstances. They talked about pregnancy and baby names, or they spoke of getting along with "the ex". But she wasn't pregnant, and there was no "ex" to contend with. Betsy was becoming a mother by marrying a widower and adopting his young son. There was no child support or custody battle. Instead, her new joy in being a wife and mom was accompanied with the knowledge that her joy was possible only because of a tragic loss of a young mother, taken too soon. This is a simple, Betsy Graziani Fasbinder's newest book, Filling Her Shoes: A Memoir of an Inherited Family will launch May 2017. When she was about to become a mother for the first time, Betsy found that none of the stories about motherhood, even step-mothering seemed to describe her circumstances. They talked about pregnancy and baby names, or they spoke of getting along with "the ex". But she wasn't pregnant, and there was no "ex" to contend with. Betsy was becoming a mother by marrying a widower and adopting his young son. There was no child support or custody battle. Instead, her new joy in being a wife and mom was accompanied with the knowledge that her joy was possible only because of a tragic loss of a young mother, taken too soon. This is a simple, sweet-bitter story of how love and loss are not opposites, but cohabitants and how love is the richest of all inheritance.

Betsy's debut novel, Fire & Water, is a dark love story set in San Francisco. This is a story that redefines the word "family", explores the depth of friendship and the damage that secrets can cause. Fire & Water is a story that shows that love is always a matter of life and death.

Fire & Water is a silver medalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards and has received honorable mentions in the Los Angeles and New York Book Festivals.

For other works, Betsy has been awarded the Floyd Salas Award for Fiction, and has been honored with a Jack London award and two East of Eden awards for both fiction and memoir pieces. Four of her works have been produced as Readers’ Theater in the historic Miners' Foundry Theater in Nevada City, California.

Fasbinder is currently working on a collection of personal essays titled Filling Her Shoes: My Love Story of Inherited Motherhood and a new novel set in Northern California's Wine Country.

Betsy lives nestled in the soft hills of Marin County, California with her husband, in their intermittently empty nest. . Her salt and pepper golden doodle, Edgar is her faithful writing companion. ...more

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Betsy Graziani Fasbinder's Blog

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I’ve been thinking a lot about ratings lately. I’ve been a reader my whole life and with the advent of Amazon and Goodreads, I joined the throngs and have sometimes posted my opinion about books I’ve read. Mostly I’ve posted reviews for books I love, hoping that others will find them too, hoping that they’ll be thrilled I let them know about this particular find. Is there anything more fun than s

Combine Editions
Betsy Graziani Fasbinder’s books

Average rating: 4.2 · 402 ratings · 79 reviews · 4 distinct works

	Fire & Water 4.12 avg rating — 326 ratings — published 2013 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Filling Her Shoes: A Memoir of an Inherited Family 4.40 avg rating — 50 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	From Page to Stage: Inspiration, Tools, and Simple Public Speaking Tips for Writers 4.96 avg rating — 24 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fire & Water: A Suspense-filled Story of Art, Love, Passion, and Madness really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Betsy is Currently Reading

Betsy Fasbinder rated a book it was ok

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption

by Laura Hillenbrand

bookshelves: currently-reading, gave-up

read in November 2011

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Betsy Fasbinder said: " I tried. I really did try to love this book because I'd read so many wonderful reviews of it. But alas, I used my 100 page rule (that's the one where I give a book 100 pages before I quit, and in this case I read far more than 100 pages) and still, I ...more "

Oct 03, 2012 08:05AM · see review

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Betsy’s Recent Updates

Betsy Fasbinder is now friends with Penelope Curtis
Feb 18, 2025 04:55PM · like

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Quotes by Betsy Graziani Fasbinder (?)

“Authentic connection to listeners, to say nothing of a sense of humor, buys you huge leeway and eliminates the need for perfection. Knowing this is your safety net.”
― Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, From Page to Stage: Inspiration, Tools, and Public Speaking Tips for Writers

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“you connect vulnerably, intimately, and authentically to an audience, they’ll forgive you nearly any kind of natural mistake or mishap. Being flawed and human are strengths, not weaknesses. It is our unrealistic, often perfectionistic drives that make us think we must be flawless in front of an audience. If handled with humor and heart, our mistakes may not only be unimportant, they can serve to connect us more intimately with our listeners by showing our humanity and compassion.”
― Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, From Page to Stage: Inspiration, Tools, and Public Speaking Tips for Writers

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“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” —Eleanor Roosevelt, politician, activist, First Lady of the United States”
― Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, From Page to Stage: Inspiration, Tools, and Public Speaking Tips for Writers

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Betsy’s Quotes

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”
― Rumi

tags: friendship, love, peace, silence, soul, zen

9453 likes

“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?”
― Rumi

tags: inspirational

4274 likes

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