Martha Carucci
Martha Carucci will tell you she never saw herself as a writer.
“When I was a lobbyist and we would have to write testimony or something, I would always find someone who would help me do it,” Carucci said.
But Carucci, current executive director at the National Breast Center Foundation, is releasing her second book in four years in January.
“Sobrietease 2: Make it a Double” is the sequel to “Sobrietease,” following her journey through suburban life as a mom and recovering alcoholic. Both books are a compilation of blog posts from her blog of the same name, detailing difficult sober firsts like taking her children trick-or-treating.
“Sobrietease 2” picks up right where the first book left off and takes the reader through her new stage of gratitude of her journey.
“What I've learned and shared with people gets a little bit deeper, and I've understood my recovery more and my disease,” Carucci said. “And I've also been able to see the benefits of my life as a sober person, and there's so much gratitude for that.”
Her recovery was not something she always publicized. She wrote her blog anonymously for a year before her husband recommended she make her story public.
Sobrietease: Make It a Double comes out in January 2021.
“I talked to my husband, who is a retired Naval officer and I think a very private guy,” Carucci said. “I thought he was gonna say, ‘Hell no are you gonna share our personal story with the world.’ But he said, ‘You know what, Martha, if you feel really strongly about helping other people with alcoholism, why don't you forget the anonymity and just be open so that you can help people.’”
She knew she really wanted to be able to help other recovering alcoholics, so she made it known who she was and eventually decided to turn her blog into a book.
Since the publication of her first book, she has heard from people all over the world telling her how her book has helped them with their struggles with addiction.
“They just said, ‘What you said has given me courage or strength,’ or 'It's helped me understand my cousin or my dad or my sister's alcoholism,'” Carucci said. “And that really meant the world to me. I always said that if I could just help one person with my writing, it would be well worth it to me.”
And she is still helping people all the time, getting Facebook messages or just having someone walk up to her on the street and ask for her advice.
One memorable experience was when her two worlds of her book and her work at the National Breast Center Foundation collided: A woman reached out to her through Facebook letting her know that her breast cancer had metastasized and spread, and her doctor told her now was the time for her to “live it up.” The woman was at a crossroads of what living it up meant for her, if she wanted to party and drink or stay sober and in the moment.
“I just said, ‘First of all you're in my prayers, and second, I'm really grateful that you reached out to me, and live it up means something different to every person,’” Carucci said. Her advice really explains her outlook on her book as well. Carucci emphasizes her book is not about judgement of people who drink or to say alcohol consumption is bad.
“It's me just sharing my story because there are so many people out there who worry about their own drinking,” Carucci said. “So, my message ... kind of applies to whatever your cross to bear is.”
For updates about the book follow Sobrietease on Facebook and Instagram.
