Michelle Packard is a mother to her four very human and totally fabulous kids. Her oldest, Ella is always in charge and leads the pack with creativity and curiosity, Daniel follows with loyalty and loves tenderly, Julia is a doll and always buzzing over something beautiful, and Jackson could hunt down the last sharpie on earth to create art on your bathroom wall. She has been married ten years and is quite taken with her guy.
Date night is her favorite and she dreams of weekend getaways with her man. She loves creating beauty through floral design, but apparently has no gift with living flowers (They end of upside down and pressed in books). She finds parties alluring. They beckon her to invite people over, spend way too much time preparing food for murder mystery dinners, and totally enjoy friends and family. Michelle holds a bachelors degree in Home and Family Science from Brigham Young University. She has spent a great deal of time working with children and young adults and finds her greatest joy is happy families.
What is your least favorite quality about yourself? I am terrible at organization. No joke. I can hold it together (sometimes) but I have dreams of organized shelves to replace my overly stuffed closets, a labeled pantry, and an office where I actually know where things are. I shall keep at it but there are no guarantees.
What is your favorite color? I love red and yellow. I just can’t choose between the two. They are always a constant in my life, my wardrobe, and my décor.
How long have you been writing? Aside from college English (which I don’t think counts) I have been writing for about a year. Though I have always kept a personal journal since I was a tween.
When did you first know you could be a writer? When I sent my first few chapters to my publisher and he told me it was good writing. Up until then I was pretty sure I would never be a writer.
Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it? This book taught me a lot about myself, what I believe, what I love, who I rely on, how truly lucky I am, and probably the hardest part was a very honest look at my own faults. Most importantly it taught me how to be a better mom and especially a better wife. I would often write a segment of the book and be faced with a similar circumstance in my life that would force me to make better choices (lest I be a hypocrite) than my natural instincts desired.
Who designed the cover? David Miles: Director of Digital Development at Familius. He did a fabulous job. The cover is one of my favorite parts of the book. I feel like it really grasps the concepts of Family Ever After.
Who is your publisher? Familius is my publisher and I think they are wonderful! Their platform is helping families be happy.
Do you have any advice for writers? Be willing to accept criticism and don’t take it personally even when it is personal. I have learned that in almost every situation the criticisms were founded and improved the quality of my book. There were a few times however when many people gave me advice on the same thing and none of the advice was the same. Those were the moments I went with my favorite because it was my book.
What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing? I have been able to stay at home with my children and still have a job that I love! It has also given me the opportunity to help many families be happier.
If you could leave your readers with one bit of wisdom, what would you want it to be? No matter what life we have or whom we have that life with, it is going to be hard. The only real difference between people who are happy with their life and people who are miserable are their attitudes. Happy people are not happy because their lives are easier than the rest of us. They are happy because they choose to be happy with the imperfection that is found in all of us.
Family Ever After: Simple Ways to Achieve Perfect Happiness in an Imperfect Family Women frustrated with their marriage and their family will find the help they need to achieve greater happiness and success in their family in the new book, Family Ever After: Simple Ways to Achieve Extraordinary Happiness with Your Ordinary Family by stay-at-home mom, blogger, and ordinary family leader Michelle H. Packard.
Family Ever After uses the fairytale concept that once you find your prince charming life is happily ever after. Michelle H. Packard knows this concept, while romantic, is not realistic, and she provides a practical, poignant, funny, and moving exploration of the simple ways you can help find greater happiness and satisfaction in your marriage and family.
Packard says, “While the idea of happy ever after is distorted, you can, in fact, achieve a Family Ever After.” Family Ever After brings time-tested and well-researched principles to family life to help you learn specific ways to improve your marriage and your family, whether that family is ordinary or extraordinary. Using real-world examples of best practices and helping woman readjust their media-driven perception of what happily ever after means, Family Ever After gives readers a pragmatic, helpful, and entertaining exploration of:
- How happiness in marriage and family life requires a more educated, real-world perspective
- How proper prioritization and defining what’s important in marriage and family is key to success;
- Why conflict is part of an ordinary family experience and how to peacefully resolve it;
- How to cultivate a sense of humor;
- How to develop a thoughtful and sincere habit of complimenting each member of your family;
- How to improve family relationships with extended family members; and
- Learning how to love a family member in the way they understand and accept that love
More than another how-to-have-a-perfect-family book, Family Ever After helps you gain the understanding and the practical skills of what makes ordinary families successful. Family Ever After is an essential and beautiful resource for all women who want to put more happiness in theirs and their family’s life.
Praise "Family Ever After is a must-read for every happily married Cinderella who wonders why she’s still holding the broom." --Rachelle J. Christensen, award-winning author of Wrong Number and Caller ID "Michelle is open enough to have given readers an intimate look into her life and those close to her, allowing us to learn from both painful and sweet experiences. Her self-reflective style and meaningful insights, if applied, would clearly make a profound impact in the lives of readers." --Shawn Edgington Ph.D.
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