Staff report
When Stacey Roberts released his first book Trailer Trash With A Girl’s Name, readers were amazed with his humor-filled tales of his five-year adventure traveling the country in a beat-up Winnebago with his free-spirited mother, entitled older brother and criminal stepfather.
Now, Roberts is back with more tales of his unconventional childhood, Trailer Trash With A Girl’s Name: Father Figures.
Stacey Roberts’ family eventually settled in Florida, where he attended Florida State University and the University of Miami. To his mother’s consternation, he pursued a major in English literature instead of finance.
He rebelled further by receiving his master’s degree in early-modern European history from the University of Cincinnati. He can now both impress and frustrate the room with obscure references to Roman emperors and English monarchs.
Roberts founded his own computer consulting firm in 1994. He lives in Northern Kentucky with his wife, Nikki, and their Goldendoodle, Augustus.
In this installment, Roberts explores the relationships between parent and child. Although Roberts again relies upon humor to tell his story, readers do get a glimpse of the pain and discomfort he endured because of loss and in his determination to break away from his family to pursue a new life.
“I always knew I would write a sequel to the first book of essays,” explained Roberts. “Readers wanted to hear more. They somehow understood and sympathized what I went through because we all have certain family experiences that we think will break us. They make us stronger and when these stories are told with humor, the laughter makes everything easier to bear.”
Roberts found this book to be more challenging than the first book of essays because he labored over how he portrayed the people in the stories. He looked to humorists such as David Sedaris, Dave Barry and others to see how they handled writing about real people in their lives.
Stacey Roberts
“It was a hard process, but as many people learn, and I did as well, we are the sum of the good times and bad, and humor and tragedy often mix,” he observed. “Storytelling is a great way to remember people. I have seen such dramatic changes in my own family change since I wrote the first book. I am newly married; my daughters are grown and at school—so many changes that make you appreciate who is in your life.”
Trailer Trash With A Girl’s Name: Father Figures has taught the author that family is important, but family does not have to be the one that a person is born into.
“My father left home when I was five, and an undercurrent of my life has been a quest to find father figures,” he noted. “I was lucky to find more than one, and they have made my life better. More importantly, they made me a better father. Being a parent, being a good friend, being a good spouse are the holiest of callings.”
Trailer Trash with a Girl’s Name: Father Figures is available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon. Roberts will be appearing at book signings at bookstores and libraries throughout the country as well.
