By Tiffany Merlo Phelps
mail@floridanewsline.com
Author Martha Womack, who goes by the pen name of Martha Louise, loved playing school and writing as a child. All things paper made her very happy. “I remember washing dishes and fantasizing about writing stories. I wrote a young teen romance in high school and poetry in college,” said Womack. “Writing has always been a part of my life.” The Arkansas native also enjoyed studying behavior, learning quite a bit from being one of 10 children in her family. All these interests led Womack to earn a bachelor’s, master’s, and a specialist certification in psychology. Womack spent 20 years as a school psychologist, mostly at schools in Julington Creek and Ponte Vedra Beach. Womack loved her career (especially testing), but she never stopped writing both personally and professionally. Her very first manuscript, “Adeline in a Gymnastics Jam”, was written after her youngest daughter, enrolled in the sport, went looking for a book about gymnastics and could not find one. So, Womack wrote one. “The main character in the story exemplifies kindness, compassion and empathy, virtues increasingly needed in our world, and this book is not just about gymnastics,” said Womack, who has three adult daughters. “It’s about learning life lessons, working hard and persevering. And it is about exclusion.” Womack now takes her message to classrooms, a message that supersedes the sport. The pre-teen book was not published until 2021 because a personal tragedy caused Womack to first publish a book that she wrote after “Adeline in a Gymnastics Jam.” Her memoir “Married to Merlot” was published in 2019 to tell the story of how her husband, a Vietnam vet, tormented by his time in the war as a medic, became an alcoholic and ultimately took his own life in 2007. Womack found that writing about the experience was cathartic for both her and her daughters. Interestingly, some of the poetry that Womack wrote in her 20s perfectly matched the book — poems she only rediscovered after the book was written. The poems appropriately introduce each chapter of the book.
Q: Share why you felt that it was important to write “Married to Merlot.”
A: There comes a time when we really need to face certain tragedies. It was difficult because people didn’t talk about suicide. People did not know what to say to us. We do not need to act like it never happened. I wrote the book to help others not feel alone. You may never get over it, but you can get through it, and you can live a better life.
Q: After your family’s tragic loss, what did you learn about yourself?
A: I learned that I had been dwelling on the past, worrying about the future, and resisting life. I am now able to accept the arrival of events and incidents that are potentially stressful rather than resist their very existence, and I can “make the most of it” (my mother’s motto) in any given situation. I occasionally fall back into old habits, and, when I do, I remind myself to be wholly present in the current space of time. I found my resilience, and, for the first time, I fully embraced life.
Q: You mentioned that all the proceeds from that memoir will be donated to a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Van Buren, Arkansas. Why this post?
A: This post, Robert Jack VFW Post 1322, hopes to expand its facilities and attract younger servicemen and servicewomen. The post has a recovery focus with the hope of decreasing the suicide rate in that population. They offer community to service men and women who have served in foreign wars and the global war on terror.
Q: What did you like about being a school psychologist?
A: I loved having an impact on students and parents. And they had an impact on me as well. One of my strengths when talking to parents was that I felt a great sense of empathy, and I was able to connect with the struggle that they might be going through. The children with emotional handicaps really pulled at my heartstrings, and I had a special place in my heart for those who were distraught.
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: I like to walk four miles three to four times a week as well as do weight training. I do a lot of reading for a Facebook group called “We love memoirs.” I like to read the stories about adversity the best.
Photo courtesy Martha Womack
Martha Womack
