Sammie Marsalli Author Bio:
As an author I am certainly not an expert or an authority on Alzheimer’s. I am definitely not a professional author and didn´t pretend to write an authoritative masterpiece. I never pretended to be either one of those things. I am simply an ordinary “John Doe” caregiver, husband sharing my experiences living and caring for my wife with Alzheimer’s. We have been married 43 years, 3 kids now grown up, a great dog most of those years, a typical family on our own trying to hold on to my wife and avoid her shutdown. I began to realize there are probably other “amateur” folks like me on their own trying to take care of a loved one with this disease and possibly could benefit from my shared personal experiences. Soon this diary turned into this book.
This book started out as a daily diary of how my wife´s behavior was dramatically changing and how I was affected and began to relate to her differently. Writing helped me ventilate my deepest emotions and reactions in private as they were too personal to express to others. Somehow writing “alleviated” my continuous sorrow but also indirectly helped me make personal decisions and changes in how to interact with her behavioral changes. Taking notes almost daily seemed to be my personal escape.
Preventing Her Shutdown is my desperate effort to keep my wife with Alzheimer’s “connected”. In Real Time there are very personal unloaded feelings, emotions and reactions expressed, never confided to anyone while slowly losing my wife.
There are no two profile behavioral changes alike with Alzheimer´s. I describe these dramatic changes with my wife who is in the beginning of the advanced stages. My reactions have always been intuitive in my desperate attempts to keep her “connected” with me, family and her surroundings. Real time experiences and actions “racing against the Alzheimer’s clock” to keep her communicating and interacting every day, even though she no longer speaks are detailed in my never-ending battle to prevent her shutdown.
What inspires you to write?
This book started out as a daily diary of how my wife´s behavior was dramatically changing and how I was affected and began to relate to her differently. Writing helped me ventilate my deepest emotions and reactions in private as they were too personal to express to others. Taking notes almost daily seemed to be my personal escape and prevented my from suffocating from my emotional pain. Writing about the events of the day and expressing my emotions on paper not only helped me ventilate but helped me sort out how I was going to act differently the next day. Writing helped me make new decisions about what to do differently tomorrow and analyze what I was doing wrong. My daily notes turned into months and years and then I decided this could possibly be a book to help others in this same situation.
Tell us about your writing process.
I was jotting down notes daily as events happened in real time. Consequently what is described is not necessarily in sequence or chronological as what is expressed and felt "in real time" when changes in behavior happen at any given moment, never shared with others so as not to become a burden of worries and concerns interrupting ongoing lives. Also, sharing with others only generates empathy and pity, maybe even boredom and I don't want any part of it. Hearing "poor thing" when referring to my wife doesn't help my morale at all. I can't do this journey feeling sorry for myself. Writing this book is helping me get through this.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Who are your favorite authors?
Nancy L. Mace, 36 Hour Day
Jean Carper, 100 Simple Things You Can Do To Prevent Alzheimer´s
What genres do you write?
Non fiction, Memoirs, Biographies
How did you choose the genre(s) you write?
This was my first attempt to write which was from personal living experiences so I really didn´t have to choose a genre.
What three things are on your writing desk at any given moment?
My second diary of my ongoing attempt to keep my wife from falling into oblivion with her disease. I am constantly noting my emotions and events even though they are sad, for some reason I just don´t want to forget them so I am continuously writing. I have nothing else on my desk as this is my only obsession.
What hobbies do you have when you need a break from writing?
Listening to music, long walks, reading and listening to news events.
What formats are your books in?
eBook, Print
Website(s)
Link to Author Page on
Author’s Social Media Links
Goodreads
All information is provided by the author and is presented as it was submitted so you the reader get to hear the author’s own “voice” in their interview.
