New Memoir, MARTHA RUTH, PREACHER'S DAUGHTER is Released

The individual story of every person is as unique as a snowflake or a fingerprint. There are no two alike. In her new book, 'Martha Ruth, Preacher's Daughter: Her Journey Through Religion, Sex and Love,' Marti Eicholz opens up the metaphorical pages of her own story-unfolding the private and personal parts and pieces of her life that led to the person she is today-offering a pragmatic view of the societal, familial and religious influences that she overcame in order to achieve her career goals, feel whole, fall in love and embrace her own true self.

Eicholz's memoir spans the first three decades of her life. She provides a glimpse into the beginnings of her grandparents and parents, and details a sometimes chaotic and confusing childhood that was spent moving around Indiana as her father preached and ministered in various communities during the post-depression 1940s and beyond. As she came of age and moved into adulthood, Eicholz (often without encouragement or guidance) followed her own path, despite the restrictions and expectations that were imposed on her as a member of a conservative fundamentalist preacher's family. She looks back at that journey with unwavering clarity and a sense of self-acceptance that may well be the very thing that allowed her to move on and eventually live the authentic life she always imagined for herself.

By the age of eight, Eicholz knew she wanted to be a teacher and so began her life long pursuit of her dream to be an educator. It is this primary focus that carries her through difficult times and helps her develop a deeper understanding of herself and humanity. Sharing her own personal experiences, her upbringing, her family dynamics, and her own inner feelings and thoughts, Eicholz succeeds in exposing a glaringly obvious commonality known as the human condition. "I believe sharing stories reveals our common humanity," says Eicholz, "our strengths, our limitations, our goodness, our not so good side, our adversities, our triumphs and all the unknowns that come to light."

Eicholz is unsentimental but not bitter, and does not suffer the language as she describes how, in her family, the expression of love and affection and individuality was trumped, it seems, by religious doctrine and the community's code of behavior-none of which made sense to Eicholz's inquisitive, hungry intellect. She wanted more for herself than simply the trappings of conformity at the expense of knowledge, profound inner fulfillment and transcendent love. Her story is poignant and her rise up from under the oppression of her upbringing is palpable, particularly as she describes how she finally recognized, nurtured and embraced real love and sexual intimacy. She recognizes, without judgment, the collective impact and significance of all her experiences, which together created the unique pattern in the fabric of her own compelling story.

"Never underestimate the importance of one's early years," says Eicholz. "These first looks, tastes, smells, touches, sounds-all of my first experiences-helped shaped my view of what living and life was all about. Reading my story may jog your own memory of similar events, both good and bad. If so, know you are not alone."

'Martha Ruth, Preacher's Daughter: Her Journey Through Religion, Sex and Love' is published in eBook and paperback format by eBookIt.com and is now available at popular online retailers including Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and Apple's iBookstore. An audiobook edition is currently in production with an anticipated release in Spring 2016.

Review copies of 'Martha Ruth, Preacher's Daughter: Her Journey Through Religion, Sex and Love' are available to media contacts upon request. Marti Eicholz is available for interviews.

CONTACT:
Marti Eicholz
meicholz (at) earthlink (dot) net
858-558-5951

About the Author
Marti Eicholz is a retired educator from Indiana. She has just finished tracing her extraordinary life through small town Indiana, churches, families and taboos. This is a thirty plus year story of a child born into a conservative fundamentalist family. Marti lives with her husband, Robert, in North County San Diego.

About eBookIt.com
Since 2010, eBookIt.com (based in Sudbury, Massachusetts) has helped thousands of authors and publishers get their books converted to ebook format, and distributed to all the major ebook retailers, including Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Apple iBookstore, Kobo, Sony Readerstore, Ingram Digital, and Google eBookstore.

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