Stephanie Tobola

Stephanie Tobola grew up in Temple Texas. In 2001 Stephanie was removed from an untenable living situation and placed into the care of her aunt and uncle. Having a safe place to grow allowed Stephanie to develop her interest in running, singing, and writing. Growing up Stephanie always enjoyed writing and even entertained the idea of heading to Nashville and becoming a singer/songwriter. Her love of writing took a back seat to responsibility as she entered college and found her way into adulthood.

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In college Stephanie met her now husband, Nick Tobola. Nick is a proud member of the United States Air Force. They married in 2012 and welcomed their first child in 2016 while stationed at Little Rock AFB. Two years later, in 2018, while stationed at Hill AFB they welcomed their second child.

 

For the past twelve years Stephanie has juggled military life, raising her children, her professional life as first as a teacher and now as medical coder, all while continuing to care for her family back home in Texas. In 2022 Stephanie and her family moved the Nellis AFB where they currently reside. While settling into life in Las Vegas Stephanie took the fresh start as an opportunity to focus on herself more. Still juggling family, a career, and the challenges of military life, Stephanie began writing again.

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The inspiration for Stephanie’s debut book Ketchup Sandwiches is pulled from her life experiences growing up in home where the parent child role was reversed more times than not. Stephanie wrote Ketchup Sandwiches to shine a light on the insidious nature of childhood physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect. In Ketchup Sandwiches Stephanie takes the reader on a first-person ride through pivotal moments of her life from twelve years old through nineteen to show how she was able to heal with the help of family, therapy, and faith.