10% of book sale profits are donated to Project Safety Net which provides safe harbor for abuse victims and their pets. Funny, informative, poignant and real, I MARRIED A PARASITE, is a true story chronicling divorce, cancer, abuse, dog custody battles and a relationship with a narcissist. It is perhaps best described as "War of the Roses" meets "Bridget Jones' Diary" meets "The Money Pit". I knew something wasn't right about our relationship. I knew for a long time. It took years and oceans of tears but I finally figured out the math which revealed that Him + Him - Me = Our Marriage. It felt like I had taken a vow of indentured servitude. How had Prince Harming seduced me and kept me beholden to him for so long? I was gobsmacked that me, Ms. Independent, an oh-so-super-strong woman, was incapable of answering the question posed by my marriage counsellor: "Why have you stayed in an abusive marriage so long?" Dang. Good question! Me, never at a loss for words. A survior. A thriver. I had gruelled it out for five years under a tyrant for a thesis advisor to graduate with a PhD, battled breast cancer in my 30's (and won!), fought against fungus and all kinds of creepy-crawlies in an epic eight year historic home restoration. Yet, here I was - stumped by her question. Less than an hour later, we had figured it out. Ah-ha! I had married a narcissist. Who knew? Suddenly it all made sense. I could now put a label on all of those cause-for-pause behaviors I had been observing in him for a long time. In fact, it quickly became clear that he was textbook Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and the only thing unclear, besides the answer to the question of why I stayed, was how was I seduced in the first place and how in the hell do I get out?! This book includes practical tips that you can use, Top 10's on everything that I did and should have done with lessons learned on how to recognize and handle narcissists. Also included is a list of recommended books to read to help you t