A couple weeks ago I was attending the Agent & Editors conference in Austin.  The speaker on Saturday evening was this author.  I was tired after a full day and thinking of skipping this last event but they said there would be cake – so of course I went.  There was cake (and it was good even if the slices were tiny!) but more importantly there was Melissa Radke, talking to the audience like we were old friends.  She pulled me into her world and suddenly I was not tired.

Melissa told us about her life and then opened her voice to song – music that made the hair on my arms stand up – it was that strong.  I had no idea who Melissa was (I know sometimes I can live under a rock) but when I got home I started to find out and I was blown away.  At 50 I decided my life needed a change and I scared the sh*t out of myself and jumped out of the comfortable box I lived in.  This woman figured it out way before me at the age of 41!  I wish I had been that brave!

This book is a journey and I literally laughed and cried along with the author.  I wanted to hug her at times and at others toast her with a tequila shot (or a big slice of cake).  This is one of those books that I will give my friends who read, but not the ones who don’t because it is too good to just sit on a shelf.  It needs to be read and shared.  Thank you Melissa, for Eating Cake, Being Brave and sharing your story.

If you live close to Austin, Melissa will be speaking and signing her book on Saturday, July 21 at BookPeople.  Check out the details HERE!

SUMMARY

My name is Melissa Radke, and there is a very real chance you have no idea who I am or why I wrote a book. But admit it, you’re curious!

Even though millions of people seem to like watching my videos bemoaning the trials of parenting, marriage, French braiding, faith, and living life as an anti-aging female, you may still be wondering who let me write a book.

I mean, books are written by people who have been interviewed by Gayle King and say things like, “You see, Gayle, I was having a root canal and I literally died in the chair. I saw heaven. Also, when I came back to earth I could speak Mandarin.”

Yeah, that didn’t happen to me. No Mandarin. Though I have been known to break out in song! (My voice was once described as a “ray of light in a dark world” . . . but I think my dad was being a little dramatic.) Although if Gayle King were to ever ask me I would tell her: “I wrote this book between taking my kids to the local pool and picking out flip-flops at Old Navy, and the only metaphysical moment I experienced came right after I looked directly into one of those mirrors with 10x magnification.”

I wrote this book because when I turned 41 I made a decision to be brave. To live brave -bolder and freer. You see, I thought our lives were supposed to change when we turned 40…but mine didn’t. Yet every piece of it changed when I turned 41; when I set out to prove that it wasn’t too late for me, that careless words wouldn’t stunt me and rejection would not stop me. And maybe, just maybe, it will take you reading about the journey I took to finding my sense of self-worth in order for you to rightfully believe in yours. This book is about how all the years of my life led up to the one that changed it. So, cut a big slice and raise a fork…

Here’s to bravery.
Here’s to courage.
Here’s to cake.
(And not the crappy kind, like carrot.)