From Anxiety to Advocacy: How One Mom Found Strength in the Chaos with Author Williow Paige Clerici
Online For Authors PodcastShow Notes
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Willow Paige, author of the book Special Forces. Willow is an integrative health and leadership coach who draws on her multifaceted life experience—as a writer, speaker, mentor, military spouse, mother, and stepsister of a fallen firefighter—to guide others through their personal and professional transformations. A passionate advocate for holistic wellbeing, she combines her expertise in wellness with her gift for building meaningful connections to help clients navigate their journeys with clarity and purpose.
Known for her warm presence and deep empathy, Willow believes that every experience shapes our potential for growth. When she's not coaching or speaking, you'll find her working up a sweat, baking for loved ones, or sharing laughter with her children. Her approach to both life and leadership is grounded in authenticity, resilience, and the power of human connection.
In my book review, I stated Special Forces is a memoir by Willow Paige Clerici. I read this book in time for Fragile X Syndrome month, which happens in July.
Willow is the mother of two boys with Fragile X Syndrome, and this memoir lets the reader look at what it is like to raise special needs children, navigate divorce and remarriage, handle a blended family, and fight for your children and as well as your own needs.
As I read, I stood in awe of what Willow did for her boys and how hard she fought to make sure they got what they needed in school. She also helped me see that someone with a named special need doesn't necessarily fit a mold. Both of her sons, despite having the same syndrome, needed different interventions at school and in the community. There isn't a one-size-fits-all solution.
But Willow didn't only focus on her sons. She also let us in on her own challenges and journey towards finding mental and physical health. I loved how she figured out how to live her faith, give herself grace, and find joy even in the midst of issues. This is a wonderful memoir!
Subscribe to Online for Authors to learn about more great books! https://www.youtube.com/@onlineforauthors?sub_confirmation=1
You can follow Author Willow Paige IG: @willowpaige FB: Willow Clerici Linked In: Willow Clerici
Purchase Special Forces on Amazon: Paperback: https://amzn.to/4309fWK Ebook: https://amzn.to/48PL8xE
Teri M Brown, Author and Podcast Host: https://www.terimbrown.com FB: @TeriMBrownAuthor IG: @terimbrown_author X: @terimbrown1
Want to be a guest on Online for Authors? Send Teri M Brown a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/member/onlineforauthors
#willowpaige #specialforces #memoir #terimbrownauthor #authorpodcast #onlineforauthors #characterdriven #researchjunkie #awardwinningauthor #podcasthost #podcast #readerpodcast #bookpodcast #writerpodcast #author #books #goodreads #bookclub #fiction #writer #bookreview *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
More from Online For Authors Podcast
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Lizette S Tupas, author of the book Always on a Tuesday. Lizzete S. Tupas is an author and healthcare strategist whose work explores identity, resilience, and the hidden cost of competence. With more than two decades of experience in healthcare, she brings a unique perspective to the ways high-performing people navigate expectation, control, and the often-invisible work of holding everything together.
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is RA Consell, author of the book Stealing from Wizards: Arson. Ryan Consell is the author of the middlegrade fantasy series, Stealing from Wizards. Aside from writing, Ryan Consell is a teacher of science and mathematics, stage actor, armorer, and nerd culture activist. His work has been featured on io9, Kotaku, Boingboing, MTV Geek, ,adartlab.com and in Game Developer Magazine. He is an internationally acclaimed theorist on the science of fiction. He has consulted on such titles as The Science of Game ofThrones; spoken at events including DragonCon and Convergence, and partnered with the American Chemical Society. He employs his background in materials science and engineering to overthink fictional physics and to make science more accessible to the public. Ryan was born and raised near Toronto. He has lived and worked in Tokyo and Vancouver, but currently calls Ontario home.
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Del Howison, author of the book The Survival of Margaret Thomas. Del Howison is an author, journalist, and SAG actor. He is a Bram Stoker Award-winning editor of the anthology series Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre by the World’s Greatest Horror Writers. He has written articles for Fear.net, Gauntlet Magazine, and Writers Digest among others. Del’s short story Cul-de-Sac appeared in Weird Tales Magazine #369. His western short story The Lost Herd was turned into the premiere (and highest rated) episode, The Sacrifice, for the series Fear Itself. His dark western novel The Survival of Margaret Thomas was shortlisted for the Peacemaker Award given out by The Western Fictioneers. He has been shortlisted for over half a dozen awards including the Shirley Jackson Award and the Black Quill. Del’s retrospective short story compilation of dark tales, What Fresh Hell Is This?, was released in March of 2025 and listed by Australia’s Aurelias Magazine as one of the best books of the year. He was the cofounder and owner (with his wife, Sue) of Dark Delicacies, a book and gift store known as “The Home of Horror,” located in Burbank, California. For that 31-year effort they were awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Horror Writer’s Association. The store won the “Il Posto Nero” award from Italy and has been inducted into the Rondo Hatton Hall of Fame.
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Theresa E Evans, author of the book Choosing to Die. Theresa Evans nursing career spanned fifteen years with a focus in Critical Care. She opened Stone Path Studio in 2007 where she taught therapeutic yoga and somatic movement. In 2014 she joined forces with Essential Somatics, LLC and began a 5 year journey of domestic and international travel teaching and developing program content for Clinical Somatic Trainings. In 2020 her mother died with MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying.) Choosing to Die is her first novel and was born out of the experience of supporting her mother through that process. Currently she lives in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin with her husband Pete. Her focus now is on advocating for choice through Assisted Death.
My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Lynne Marshall, author of the book The Extraordinary Dreams of Cynthia Peabody and Cynthia Peabody's Big Fat Fake Funeral. USA Today Bestselling author Lynne Marshall has penned thirty-seven books. She has written Medical Romance for Mills & Boon, contemporary romance for Harlequin Special Edition and digitally with TULE. Publishing independently, she writes Women's Fiction where she explores the mysteries of life through endearing characters in unexplainable situations. Or, as she likes to call it, fiction for women of a certain age plus everyone who loves their nana.