About

Betsy Graziani Fasbinder

My Story

I used to think I had a case of professional Attention Deficit Disorder. Why? Because I have never been a person who chose one single professional path or even just one field of endeavor. Instead, I’ve had overlapping occupations in a wide array of fields. I like staying engaged, responding to unexpected opportunities, and doing lots of things at one time. Fortunately, each of my professional endeavors has been a learning experience and I’ve had fabulous opportunities with employers and clients, often over decades of time. I am a teacher, organizational consultant, corporate trainer, licensed psychotherapist, writing and speaking coach, and through it all, a writer.

I know, it sounds like a lot. But like lots of people who strive to not only pay the bills but to do so in creative and meaningful ways—all while balancing the needs of family—the path is not always a straight line or a tidy resume with a nice, linear timeline.  Not for me, anyway.

These days I’m focused on writing and coaching. My debut novel, Fire & Water, was published in 2013 by She Writes Press. Fire & Water was honored with the silver medal in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards and has received Honorable Mentions in the Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco Book Festivals.

I’ve been fortunate to have fiction and memoir pieces included in anthologies… Blended: Writers on the Stepfamily Experience and Shades of Blue. I was also a contributor to Power of Memoir by Linda Joy Myers.

Memoir and fiction I’ve written have been honored with The Floyd Salas Award for Fiction, The Jack London Award, and two East of Eden awards for short memoir. Four of my stories were produced as Reader’s Theater, directed by Tim O’Connor at the historic Miners’ Foundry Theater in Nevada City, California.

I count myself rich with writerly love in my life, most especially from my writing critique group. We call ourselves Bella Quattro (Beautiful Four) and have been together for nearly 20 years. I’m convinced I’d have written almost nothing without their support. Thank you Amy, Linda Joy, and Kristi!

I live with my husband in our recently emptied nest in the hills of Marin County, California, near beloved family and dear friends. The time once spent monitoring homework and restocking the ever-empty milk and cereal supply is now available for writing studio time.