Local residents featured in new book collaboration of women’s stories

Date: 11/16/2022

WILBRAHAM/MONSON – Wilbraham resident Kelly Pramberger and Monson resident Monique Vacon are featured in the new book “Imperfectly Perfect” which was released on Amazon on Oct. 27.

The book is a collection of 10 inspiring stories of self-love and self-discovery, written by women all across the world. “Imperfectly Perfect” aims to help readers see that they are not alone in their struggles and can overcome whatever life throws at them.

Pramberger’s chapter focuses on the adoption of her son from Guatemala.

In the chapter, she shares his adoption story, the emotions she felt along the way and how adoption was a formative part of her childhood.

“My two younger cousins were adopted from Guatemala and I talk about that in the chapter and how that prepared me for when my husband and I ultimately were looking to adopt. We settled on Guatemala as well,” said Pramberger.

Pramberger was the local publisher of the Macaroni Kid Springfield newsletter up until the coronavirus pandemic. When in-person events came to a halt, Pramberger decided to give up this role and begin blogging on her own.

She said that this led to her joining a Facebook group which, ultimately, led to her involvement with “Imperfectly Perfect.”

“I came across a Facebook Group last year all about self-love and self-discovery and I joined that. They had journal prompts and things to look inward and discover more about myself,” said Pramberger.
When the leader of the Facebook group said she was looking to put together a book collaboration, Pramberger decided to share her story.

“Each story is about their self-love and self-discovery journey, so a lot of it is structured where the women tell their story and then offer advice at the end,” said Pramberger.

Monique Vacon also has a chapter in the “Imperfectly Perfect” book, which she said Pramberger encouraged her to write.

“It was funny because, at first, Kelly said ‘I’m not going to do it, but you should.’ and so I said ‘Kelly! You need to do this with me.’ Kelly is an amazing writer, so we both said yes and I’m so glad that we did,” said Vacon.

Vacon’s chapter focuses on her past body image issues and her self-love journey.

“My entire life I was in the public eye. Whether that was with pageants, theater, or dance I was always looking for external validation, and entering the pageant world was a whole other beast. It was really when my body image and self-love issues came through,” she said.

In the chapter, Vacon reflects on how she got through these struggles and made self-care a priority.

“My chapter is really about how I went from having absolutely no self-love and no self-care to, really, considering myself the Self-Care Queen,” she said.

Vacon is a full-time grad student and counseling intern and owns a business called Soul

Transformation where she offers reiki sessions, guided meditations and intuitive card readings.
She said that she has always loved creative writing and used this love plus her skills in writing guided meditations to complete this chapter.

“It was probably one of my favorite classes and I did a ton of writing really throughout my entire college career. I never thought I would be a part of a book, so the universe presented me with this opportunity and, because I write my own guided meditations, I kind of used that creative writing skill set for this,” said Vacon.

Throughout the writing process, Pramberger and Vacon were a part of many collaborative Zoom calls for the authors to keep each other on track and motivated.

“We had a group that would meet to keep each other updated on our progress, to discuss ideas, to read over drafts and then plan for the book launch when everything was edited and put together,” said Pramberger. “We relied on Zoom calls and Facebook chats to support each other.”

Now that the book has been officially released in both paperback and e-book formats, Pramberger is setting her sights on her next project. She is already involved in another collaboration that has an expected release date of early 2023.

“I’ve already started to expand on the story that is in “Imperfectly Perfect” because there’s a lot more details and things that I’ve gone through that some friends have encouraged me to keep writing about,” said Pramberger.

Her ultimate goal is to write her own book about adoption or put together a collection of stories about adoption.

Vacon is also interested in continuing to write and share her story.

“I feel like I have so much more that I want to say and it probably will turn into a book at some point,” she said. “I think that you’ll definitely see some other published pieces from me in the near future, whether that’s children’s books or a little bit more of an elaborated version of my chapter.”
Vacon said that the most rewarding part of this journey has been hearing how powerful and therapeutic her story has been for other women.

“For me, the most rewarding thing is having women come forward and share their stories with me after reading mine. That’s been really empowering and really special. To be a part of something that’s a little bit bigger than yourself is always incredible,” she said.

Those interested in purchasing “Imperfectly Perfect” or staying up to date on Pramberger’s and Vacon’s journeys are encouraged to visit their websites at https://kellyjpramberger.wixsite.com/coffeeuntil/blog and https://soultransformationlove.com.