If you enjoy essays about life after loss, reinvention, aging, purpose, finding love later in life, and recently sobriety, join 2,600 + readers on my Substack, The Hungover Widow. I publish thoughtful, often humorous essays from a curmudgeonly point of view a couple times a month.
Independent Publisher Book Awards 2024 Gold Medal WInner
WELCOME
Hi, I’m Debbie Weiss—author of Available As Is, essayist, former attorney, and recovering overachiever. I write about what happens when the script falls apart.
When the dreams didn’t turn out as planned.
I lost my husband and high school sweetheart of 32 years in 2013 and set out to create a new life…with varying results. The good: getting my MFA at 56 and writing my book. The bad: Trying to date as a grown up.
So I’m talking about widowhood, dating at midlife, finding love when you’re pretty stuck in your ways, aging, regret and searching for fulfillment and joy. Recently, I’ve been writing about aging parents and sobriety, and finding them a bit interrelated.
My essays have been published in The New York Times’ Modern Love, HuffPost, Next Avenue, Woman’s Day, Reader’s Digest and other publications.
I hope you’ll explore the site, read a few essays, and join me on Substack.
Available As Is – Order Now
Winner of the 2024 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal and multiple national book awards, Available As Isis the story of how I rebuilt my life after losing my husband of 32 years to cancer.
Widowed at fifty and suddenly facing a future I never expected, I set out to learn how to live on my own, rediscover who I was outside of marriage, and eventually find love again.
Part memoir, part midlife adventure, Available As Is is a funny, honest, and hopeful story about grief, resilience, reinvention, and the surprising possibility of second chances.
If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to begin again after devastating loss, this book is for you.
2023 Readers’ Favorite Book Bronze medalist in grief/Hardship
2024 National Indie Excellence Award finalist in grief
