The SPARKlers had a bittersweet and beautiful collaboration that holds a special place for president, Fabi Preslar, and the ones for whom it was created: the family, friends, and Business Sorority sisters of Lisa Anne (Mel) Miller. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which ties into the timely release of this book.
Fabi and her team put countless hours and weeks into creating this beautiful book. She and her team at SPARK Publications were able to magnify the incredible, genuine, and amazing person Mel Miller was. I can’t thank them enough for creating this book. My family and I will cherish it forever.
-Alex Miller, son of Mel Miller
Mel Millers’s virtual celebration of life event inspired Mel’s sister-friend, LeeAnn Shattuck, to take on the loving project of collecting many of the lessons and stories from Mel’s family and friends. As the idea spread among the others, more people stepped up to give their talents and time. Sherre DeMao swooped in to organize and edit the stories, parts, and pieces that LeeAnn had compiled. Fabi Preslar, founder and owner of SPARK Publications, saw LeeAnn’s intent on Facebook. She declared that if materials were gathered, then she would help create and publish a memorable and impactful book. Why would Fabi take on such a project? Fabi and Mel had a long lunch date planned and unfortunately needed to keep pushing back that lunch date, as they were both going through treatments for breast cancer at the time. So for Fabi, this is a way to honor that moment to last forever. Along with LeeAnn’s curated materials, Sherre’s skillful editing and SPARK Publications’ services were gifted to honor Mel, inspired by Mel’s motto of “give first.”
Ebony Stubbs and Cass Bradley donated stunning photos of Mel. Jenni Miehle shared her eagle eye proofreading, and numerous friends and family contributed the secrets to living a badass life that are shared in the book. With these pieces, the SPARKlers channeled Mel’s vibrant, bold, colorful personality, collaborating with Mel’s son Alex and daughter-in-law Emily to produce this honor for our beloved Mel.
It will make you gasp, laugh, and cry from gratitude that she graced our lives in her short time. Its spicy and raw language-packed lessons are authentic to the personality of Mel because as Mel said, “you need to own your awesomeness.”