ONLINE: Vivian Probst

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TJ Lambert/Stages Photography

Author Vivian Probst

media release: Join award-winning author and linguist Vivian Probst January 19 for a virtual event at the DeForest Library, 6:30 p.m. as she presents her latest novel, Dissolving Her Despair, Book One of her five-book series, The Woman Who Forgot Who She Was. 

She will also reveal its companion book, written in the new, gender-inclusive language, WEnglish, 

Vivian Probst, vivacious storyteller and author of several books, is putting the spotlight on an extraordinary mystery in her latest book –Dissolving Her Despair--that focuses on a brilliantly successful bank president who can manage other people’s finances but not her own.  Deeply in debt, she faces public humiliation if her secret is discovered.

These stories began when Probst could not overcome a need to spend more than she earned, which was plenty. Writing her new book transformed Probst’s financial life through lessons she gained from her main character, Avery Victoria Spencer. Probst learns that sometimes moving forward is impossible because we’ve left parts of ourselves behind. 

Lessons from a Fictional Bank President

In the new book Avery Victoria Spencer is the first female president in a Waukesha, Wisconsin bank. A financial wizard with other people’s money, she lives a luxurious but lonely life, expertly hiding her uncontrollable need to spend far more money than she earns. Now deeply in debt, with both bankruptcy and public disgrace on the horizon, she doesn’t know why she can’t stop her self-destructive behavior. Only a miracle can save her.

Avery has truly forgotten who she is after suffering a severe trauma twenty years earlier. The arrival of a mysterious man sparks dreams that begin to give her clues to her past. Only as she accepts these pieces of a vital and surprising truth can she piece her life back together.  

There’s a parallel of sorts between the fictional character and the author’s life in that she has faced challenges that have led to many meaningful results by writing, “In every life issue I have faced, I have received a remarkable story,” she says. “These gems have supported my triumph over incredible obstacles.”

Participants at the library event will hear more about how Probst mined stories from her own life to create this alluring new book.  Join the Zoom meeting and discussion by registering at: https://www.deforestlibrary.org/

Besides being an exciting, can’t-put-down story, and unlike any book in the marketplace, the author’s story has a companion book written in its own language, WEnglish, complete with its own Glossary.

WEnglish™ –A Model for Change

WEnglish is a new way to read and write English that champions the right for women to have their own words beyond male connotations. vivianprobst.com/WEnglish

WEnglish is not at all complicated,” Probst says. “The Glossary provides a list of words that are not used and words that replace these. Occasionally a word spelling needs to change, but not often.”

As a visionary and champion of language skills, Probst says she wants to inspire people to write and speak English without unnecessary gender influence.

She says many words and phrases have male gender-based connotations and permeate nearly every aspect of our society. “These words are so entrenched in the English language that we don’t think twice about using them –until now,” she adds.

English contains over 10,000 masculine words. Probst notes there are virtually no words for women that don’t include masculine words. 

“For example,” she says, “Words like ‘woman’, ‘women’, and ‘female’ are so folded into our vocabulary that we don’t realize how unconsciously and subliminally we are affected or how deeply these words fixate us into male gender bias—not to mention words like mention, amen, manage and thousands of others. If we use words that are not gender inclusive, we’re disinviting women from an equal status in language. It is the deepest form of inequality.”

Probst believes that reading her new book series in WEnglish is a game changer because it cancels out gender bias so readers can enjoy what she calls “WEquality™” with words.

“English is now the world’s most common language, Probst says, “I believe all of us need to have respectful communication with each other. Words make a difference –it’s a perfect time to create a gender-inclusive form of English.”

Book One of ‘The Woman Who Forgot Who She Was’ is scheduled to launch on Amazon Kindle on February 7. It will be available in English with a free download of its WEnglish version, titled “Tha Womun Who Forgot Who Shi Was”. Printed copies will be available through Amazon shortly after.