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Cover of My Life Is In A Storage Unit by Stacy McDaniels

A debut novel

My Life Is In A Storage Unit

A Novel of Starting Over When Starting Over Wasn't the Plan

Sometimes losing everything is the beginning.

Stacy McDaniels

About the book

One text. One decision. One moment that changes everything.

Ava McClain had the title, the income, and years of proof that doing everything right actually works. Then a text on her anniversary cruise ended all three at once.

What's left: a marriage that still shows up, two businesses held together by nerve and Wi-Fi, and a storage unit full of everything she used to be. Ava does the math anyway. That's what she does when she's scared. She feels every bit of it. She builds her way out.

My Life Is In A Storage Unit is a novel about the space between who you were and who you're becoming, and the mess, humor, and stubborn hope that lives there. For anyone who's ever had to start over without a plan for starting over.

Discipline in private. Purpose in public. Legacy forever.

Choose your edition

Buy the Book

The Kindle ebook is available now on Amazon. The paperback and hardcover are expected in about two weeks.

Kindle Ebook

$4.99

ISBN 9798996644919

Paperback

$15.99

ISBN 9798996644902

Hardcover

$26.99

ISBN 9798996644933

Watch

The Story in Motion

A first look at Ava McClain's story, set to Rise Anyway by Marvelous Starr.

A second look at the novel, carried by the same music and the same stubborn hope.

Music: Rise Anyway by Marvelous Starr.

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From the author

Signed by Stacy

Personally signed by the author. Shipping details are coming soon. Expected to ship within 2 to 3 weeks after ordering opens.

Inside the novel

Meet the Characters

Ava McClain, a woman in a tan blazer seated at a desk, looking directly ahead
AM

Ava McClain

Fifty-four. Laid off by text on her anniversary cruise. Direct, wry, and specific. When she's scared, she does the math. Then she builds.

Marcus McClain talking at a table beside Ava, an open Bible in front of them
MM

Marcus McClain

Long-haul trucker, wine connoisseur, sneaker and cowboy boot collector. Quiet strength. Can't remember the name of Ava's business, but believes in her louder than anyone.

Read an excerpt

Prologue: Before the Storage Unit

Listen in Ava's voice

Text size

She did the math at 2 AM. Not because she couldn't sleep — she couldn't sleep — but because math was the only thing that felt like control when everything else had stopped making sense. She did it the way she'd always done it when things got hard. Not crying. Not spiraling. Just numbers. Just the specific arithmetic of a life that needed to be recalculated.

Severance. Bills. Business income. Months.

Watch Me Rise album artwork by Marvelous Starr

Marvelous Starr

The Sound of the Story

Marvelous Starr is Stacy's music. Her song Rise Anyway opens and closes the book trailers, and her album Watch Me Rise carries the same spirit as the novel: faith, grit, and rising anyway.

Watch Me Rise was written as the companion soundtrack to Ava McClain's turning point.

Watch Me Rise

Marvelous Starr

Available on all streaming platforms.

Stacy McDaniels, smiling with arms crossed in a black Rise Anyway polo

The author

Meet Stacy McDaniels

Stacy McDaniels is a Durham, North Carolina author, entrepreneur, and musician. After more than three decades in telecommunications and more than one layoff, she built her own businesses from the ground up. My Life Is In A Storage Unit is her debut novel, drawn from real life and told as fiction. She also records music as Marvelous Starr.

A little more about me

Why did you write this book?

Because I lived it. I know what it feels like to do everything right and still get that phone call or that text. I wanted to write the book I needed when it happened to me.

What does the storage unit mean to you?

It is where your old life waits while you build the new one. Everyone who has ever started over has a storage unit, even if theirs is not made of metal.

How much of Ava is you?

Her circumstances are mine, told as fiction. Her voice is the voice I had to grow into: direct, a little wry, and unwilling to quit.

What do you hope readers take away?

That starting over is not the end of the story. Sometimes losing everything is the beginning.

Come say hello

Events and Appearances

Events are being planned now. Join the list below and you will hear about book clubs, signings, and launch celebrations first.

View Release Timeline

Podcasts and interviews

Invite Stacy

Stacy loves a good conversation. She is available for podcasts, interviews, book clubs, and panels, in person or by video.

Conversation starters

  • Getting laid off by text, and what she did next
  • Starting over at fifty-four without a plan
  • Building businesses after three decades in telecommunications
  • Turning real life into fiction
  • Faith, grit, and making music as Marvelous Starr
Email to book Stacy

Please include your show or organization, proposed dates, and the focus of the conversation. Replies usually come within two to three business days.

For media

Press Kit

Everything you need to cover the book in one place. The text below is cleared for reprint, and the images are print ready.

Book description

Ava McClain had the title, the income, and years of proof that doing everything right actually works. Then a text on her anniversary cruise ended all three at once.

My Life Is In A Storage Unit is a novel about the space between who you were and who you're becoming, and the mess, humor, and stubborn hope that lives there. For anyone who's ever had to start over without a plan for starting over.

Author biography

Stacy McDaniels is a Durham, North Carolina author, entrepreneur, and musician. After more than three decades in telecommunications and more than one layoff, she built her own businesses from the ground up. My Life Is In A Storage Unit is her debut novel, drawn from real life and told as fiction. She also records music as Marvelous Starr.

Book details

Title
My Life Is In A Storage Unit
Subtitle
A Novel of Starting Over When Starting Over Wasn't the Plan
Author
Stacy McDaniels
Publisher
SLM Legacy Press, an imprint of SLM Legacy Group LLC
Category
Upmarket women's fiction
ISBN, paperback
9798996644902
ISBN, ebook
9798996644919
ISBN, hardcover
9798996644933

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