Wilton Writer Shares Her Life Story

WILTON, Conn. – The commute to work is infinitely simpler for Wilton's Marcelle Soviero since she left the corporate world to put all her efforts into her new full-time career as writer and mother.  

Her commute is now mere steps from her home on Newtown Turnpike instead of the four-hour roundtrip into New York City. But she still gets up every day at about 4 a.m. to spend some quality uninterrupted time at her writing.

“I write religiously from 4 to 7, so even if the rest of the day is totally taken up, I’ve still gotten in my three hours, and that works out well,” said Soviero, 43.

Of course, her commute may be shorter, but that doesn’t mean her days are easier. She is mother to five children, three of her own and two of her husband’s kids, ages 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15.

“We really tried to make them a family from the very beginning, and I really think that Eric’s openness that my children are his and my openness that his children are mine really makes all the difference,” Soviero said. “I call them all my children. I never just say, 'This is my stepson’. I say, ‘This is Luke’ or ‘This is my son.’”

Recently, she released a book of essays about her experiences as a stepmother and mother, called “An Iridescent Life.” She put it together because she didn't know of any websites or books that had anything positive to say about being a stepparent. And that just wasn’t her experience.

“While it hasn’t really been pain-free, there are certainly differences from being the mother,” she said. But she wanted to share the notion that “blended” families don’t have to have the evil stepparent situation.

Although, she said perhaps the reason her experiences haven’t been awful is because the children grew up together. Her youngest was about a year old when she met her current husband, Eric.

Both her ex-husband and her husband’s ex-wife live in Wilton as well, which can lead to some complications, she said. But it’s best for the children, she said, so they make it work. “I don’t want to paint a picture that’s ridiculously fantastic, I mean it’s really tough being a mother and a stepmother. But we do OK.” 

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