Vivian Fransen is a writer, a thinker, and a human shock absorber. Little did she know when she worked as an intern in a crisis intervention center during her senior year at college that all those skills--defining the problem, ensuring personal safety, providing support, examining alternatives, making plans, and committing to positive action--would come in handy years later when her own marriage was in trouble. Despite her personal struggles, she finds her fine-tuned capacity for empathy, acceptance, and positive regard toward others remains strong. Vivian's writing experience spans over 30 years working with a wide range of organizations. She has served as a communications officer, a director of development, a hospital grants administrator, a university development officer, a hospice care administrator, a family planning counselor, and a houseparent in a residential treatment center for troubled girls. She has published dozens of feature stories for New Jersey newspapers and magazines. She currently makes a living as a self-employed writer, editor, and proofreader. She earned a master's degree in public administration and a bachelor's degree in sociology. She shares her passion for memoirs and provides information about relevant resources at her website: straightspousememoir.com. She welcomes opportunities to speak to community groups, marriage counselors and clergy, and human sexuality educators and their students, as well as other readers and book clubs with an interest in memoirs--especially memoirs about marriage and transformation following a disruption.