“I moved from journaling about my feelings and experiences as a stepmother to writing chapters on it. Whenever I would hear a girlfriend or a stranger talk about their step parenting experiences I would remember them and write them down. It became apparent to me that our (stepmothers) view was rarely unfolded and understood, so I took it upon myself to do so in story form.”
Anjalon is not the first in her family with the desire to write. Her mother, Janice Williams, writes poetry which has been published in the World’s Who’s Who of Women.
Anjalon is a 1996 and 2000 Western Michigan University graduate. She works as a school social worker and is always looking for creative ways to help others such as through her writing. Although her initial goal was to write stories about problem-solving and coping skills for children who struggle with anger, anxiety, and fear she has found an open door in adult fiction. She hopes to catch the eye of a traditional publishing company to pick up her novel on the increasingly popular but rarely exposed topic of stepmotherhood.
Anjalon continues to write both adult and children books in her leisure. She resides with her husband, Anthony, and their three children in West Michigan.
As a mother and a stepmother, Anjalon Edwards found writing to be therapeutic and relaxing. She began her interest in writing in 2005 after curiously taking a writing aptitude test which led her to complete a course with the Institute of Children’s Literature.
Currently, Anjalon is working on her sequel to Reality Check by conducting interviews of other stepmothers and gathering accounts of their most rewarding, challenging, and most memorable moments as stepmothers. The follow up non-fiction version of this book is due out Fall 2010!
Anjalon Edwards was invited to speak at Grand Valley State University on the topic of Stepparenting/Blended Families. Please contact her if interested in booking her for an interview. (anjalonedwards@yahoo.com) In Reality Check: Stepmother Chronicles, Anjalon introduces us to the typical day to day life of a stepmom:
Carmen Fuller is getting fed up with the baby mama drama, her medaling in-laws and her guilt-driven husband. Balancing her personal life and her job as a caseworker at the county’s Friend of the Court system is challenging. Stress levels run high for this thirty-two year old mother of two. Carmen keeps her family on a need-to-know status leaving her girlfriends- Tonya and Simone, who are dealing with their own family drama - as her only support. As she struggles with the feelings she is experiencing as a stepmother to nine-year old Junior, she discovers that she is not alone.
Her situation intensifies when she suspects her husband, Tyrell, of unfaithfulness. Although she felt the separation from her husband far before her suspicions of infidelity, Carmen’s dream family life is at-risk of crumbling apart. But she refuses to hand over her husband and family on a silver platter to anyone else. Meanwhile, her home and work life overlap when she receives “hate mail” from someone who obviously wants her husband. She keeps the letters a secret from her husband, but uses other tactics to feel him out. As she figures things out, she makes some astonishing discoveries about Junior that have been happening all along.
Tyrell shares with a marriage counselor that his feelings towards his wife changed when he noticed that she didn’t like his son anymore. Carmen is offended and shocked by his bogus accusations. After all of the drama she puts up with, this was the sorry excuse her husband had for treating her the way he did. While eluding their family members and Tyrell’s baby mama, the couple struggles with moving forward. As Carmen works on herself, she decides to choose her battles and accept things for what they are. She digs deep for some real soul searching to improve her roles as a wife, a mother, and a stepmother.
