Books
Acamea is the author of the memoir Daddy's Little Stranger and the personal development book, Single That.
Daddy's Little Stranger
Riddle Brook (2024)
A young Acamea was devastated by sudden disconnection from the man she knew as her father, and the rejection from her birth father that followed. This positioned her on a lonesome path disturbed by the chaos of mental illness, poverty, and violence.
Daddy’s Little Stranger delves into the captivating journey of a girl’s life, shaped by various forms of neglect. Acamea mourns the idea of a father as much as she does those she once knew—arming herself with resentment and emotional distance for protection.
Acamea tells her story set against the backdrop of Gary, Indiana—a city deemed “murder capital of the nation.” Here she wrestles with the complexities of human connection as she grows into a woman. This touching narrative reveals her road toward self-discovery. Feeling trapped between the worlds of love and obligation, she attempts to set herself free.
Praise for Daddy's Little Stranger
"Memoirs that chronicle the lasting impacts of neglect and the quest to fill the void left by an unstable parental attachment are familiar. Deadwiler's work, however, displays bravery, conviction, and arresting prose that uplifts the narrative and will have readers rooting for the author on every single page."
—The BookLife Prize
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"From the opening heartbreaking chapter to its final poignant pages, Acamea Deadwiler's Daddy's Little Stranger artfully demonstrates a simple but often overlooked fact: memoir never simply reproduces the past. Rather, it brings the past to life by exploring our relationship to memory itself. Her own earliest memories are marked by formative experiences with a troubled mother's "nervous breakdown," haunted by a parade of father figures, among them her absent biological father, Champ, who hovers like a specter throughout her life. Daddy's Little Stranger does not follow the familiar, triumphal storyline of overcoming difficult circumstances by refusing to be broken by them. Through masterful prose, keen observation, and vulnerable self-reflection, Deadwiler finds narrative balance, reconciling the pain of her childhood and offering the reader the greatest gift that art has to offer: wisdom."
—Jeremy Schraffenberger, Editor, North American Review
"Daddy's Little Stranger is a piercing and powerful exploration of an emotional landscape shaped by a father's absence. Acamea Deadwiler's page-turner memoir grapples with grit, growth, loss, and human imperfection. It's also a testament to the transformative potential of storytelling."
—Danielle Ofri, Editor, Bellevue Literary Review, and author of What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine
"Acamea Deadwiler's Daddy's Little Stranger is a powerful and deeply felt memoir of family, longing, estrangement, complicated love, and what ties us to ourselves. Deadwiler's writing is stunningly intimate, reflective, and honest—"I put my foot in the revolving door of father figures, stopped it from spinning." From childhood to adulthood, Daddy's Little Stranger searches for connection, replete with pink Reeboks and #GirlDad tags. Deadwiler's book curled up in my heart and soothed me in my own fatherless, daughterly ache, whispering "it's okay." I loved every tender moment of this memoir and I know you will too."
—Jane Wong, author of Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City
"In Daddy's Little Stranger, Acamea Deadwiler offers readers an honest, yet hopeful self-portrait of adolescent resilience, adaptation and courage. As she reconciles grief, loss and betrayal caused by physically and emotionally absent parents, Deadwiler's intimate narrative quietly reveals her self-preservation and determination. While skillfully presenting an adult consciousness, Deadwiler also remains graciously loyal to the voice of her younger self and the healing of her inner child. Daddy's Little Stranger is an inspirational testimony for all of us who want to believe that the traumas of our past do not dictate the daughters we become."
—Daria Peoples, author and illustrator of Hello, Mister Blue
Single That
(2019)
Discover the audacity to be comfortable and confident with every relationship status.
Single—that does not mean broken, lonely, or desperate. Even if for extended periods, being single doesn’t mean that you're bitter or hard to love. Reading Single That gives you an eye-opening, insider perspective on women and dating that will expose these and many other toxic myths.
Single That empowers you to refuse being defined by whether or not you have a significant other. Never again will you accept ideas meant to reduce your self-worth, because this practical guide eliminates them one-by-one. Whether dating, divorced, in a relationship, or learning how to be alone, you’ll receive fearless support in the belief that you’re enough.
We’re all much more than a relationship status. We’re certainly more than the negative assumptions that others choose to make. This book is a must-read for every past and present single woman, as well as every man who would like first-hand insight into what being a single woman really means.
Praise for Single That
"Journalist Deadwiler advocates for the rights of single women in this energetic work. By exposing the double standard of expectations for men and women when it comes to love and family, Deadwiler drives home the point that women can, in fact, be happy and single. She deconstructs expectations of traditional gender roles and heteronormative motives that lead to such myths as that single women are desperate, lonely, jealous, high maintenance, or hard to love. She also provides suggestions for changing the way people think about and behave around single individuals, such as avoiding assumptions about why someone is single and offering a nonjudgmental ear. Single readers will find wise advice and many great examples of how contentment can be a solo act in Deadwiler's empowering testament."
—Publishers Weekly