Originally from Pennsylvania, Mariann Groshans always wanted to move out west since she was a kid. With aspirations of becoming a writer, she put that dream on hold in order to support her kids.
Groshans married her high school sweetheart after graduation, but after they divorced she was raising her two kids as a single parent. In order to support them, she put four years into her apprenticeship and was in the union for 40 years as an electrician. It wasn’t until her son graduated high school that she and her second husband made the move out west.
Now that she’s retired and living in sunny Queen Creek, she’s picked up a pen and started writing. In October 2022 she self published her novel, “Between Two Truths,” a coming of age story.
The book can be purchased here on Amazon. Her fiction novel follows the character of Salvador.
“For over 40 years, Salvador has kept his secrets — his illegal entry into the US, a stash of stolen drug money, an identity taken from a dead infant. Revealing the truth would destroy both his career as an immigration advocate and his family. It could even send him to jail," said Groshans. "His ex-wife, Savannah, now married to the most powerful man in the US, has threatened to expose everything if he continues to fight the restrictive immigration laws her husband has proposed. Will Salvador sacrifice everything to give others what he has always desired for himself? Can he return to a country he barely remembers? Salvador is a spell-binding journey of a boy becoming a man. It's about family, our adaptability as people, and our fear of losing something that was never really ours to possess.”
With illegal immigration becoming a huge, modern day issue, she wrote this novel not as a way to attempt to solve it, but for people to pause, put themselves in others shoes and truly think about how they’d act.
“I call it 'Between Two Truths' because there are two truths to this story. The truth is we can’t open our borders. The other truth is if we were in the same position and couldn’t feed our families, we’d do the same thing,” said Groshans. “I was inspired to write it when my husband and I were driving along the Mexican border. This was years ago, but I looked over and I saw complete poverty. I thought about how difficult it must be to look across a small expanse of water and see what to them is just wealth. It’s right there, but you just can’t reach it. It has to be so mentally depressing and difficult.”
In general, writers are people who have grown up experiencing a lot of different things. When Groshans grew up she experienced a lot of poverty being one of four kids with a single parent.
“Life lessons are so important,” she said. “When you grow up like that you have to know there are better things around the corner if you just apply yourself.”
If there’s one thing Groshans wants readers to take away from her story it’s this universal understanding that we would do anything we can for our family and loved ones.
“Nothing is ever black and white and so many people are so ready to just slap a label on it and it’s not that easy,” she explained. “Life gives you circumstances you have to deal with and later on you’re sorry that you had to achieve it in the way you did. I don’t know the answer. The book is simply written to say we would all do for our families if we had to.”
Down the road Groshans would love to see her book become a movie, but for right now it’s her short-term goals that are most important to her. That goal being to continue to impact her readers and challenge them to think about what they would do had they been given different circumstances.
When reading about Salvador and everything he’s risked just to give his family a better life, she wants people to realize that we’re all human and we would probably do it, too.
“I don’t know what the answer is. Like I put in the front of my book, even smarter people than me can’t solve it, but this isn’t a book about illegal immigration. It’s about families and doing what you have to do for your family,” noted Groshans.
What’s next for the Queen Creek author? Readers can look forward to a new fantasy book that’s in the works. Although a lot of people have been asking for a sequel to “Between Two Truths,” as of right now, she’s not planning on writing one.
“They want to know what happened to Salvador, but I don’t think that’s the important issue with the book,” shared Groshans. “I know what happened to Salvador, but I ended it because I want you to come up with your own conclusion of what happened.”
Groshans has been in awe of how much positive feedback she has received since publishing her novel. Before retiring, she didn’t have the time and money to follow her passion of writing.
“Life gets in the way, but when I had the chance I just wanted to put everything I learned in life on paper, right or wrong,” said Groshans.
She just celebrated her 70th birthday, and there’s one last message she has for all her readers: “Know that it’s never too late to pursue your passions.”
For more information about Groshans, reach out to her at mosesgreatdog@gmail.com.
