Blog (13 wpm)
…turning thoughts into print 13 words per minute
April Events, New Review and Podcast
Happy (almost) May! This year is flying by! In the next few days, I hope to add some video details from the Author of the Month event and pictures from the LA Times Festival of Books! Both events were fantastic! More later. . . For now, I wanted to share a new review that came out from The Chrysalis BREW Project. https://bit.ly/3wcANeP I was also a guest on Set Lusting Bruce: The Bruce...
An exciting April—events and podcasts
Happy Spring! I have been waiting for April for a long time. I have been chosen as the Author of the Month at San Diego Central Library! The event is free! Register here. I will also be at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California, April 20-21, 2024! I’ll be there along with many other Acorn—my publisher—authors! Admission to the country’s largest festival...
Listen to this amazing discussion with Sarah about MUL and living with disability!!!
This podcast just came out today! https://www.introducingmepodcast.com/e/jennifer-disabilities-aren-t-disappointments/
What’s New?
LOTS! The following are some of the cool things I have done/accomplished in 2024 so far! First, I read an excerpt of My Unexpected Life at the San Diego Public Library's 2024 Local Author Showcase! Here's the video. O One week later, My Unexπected Life received a Gold...
Now and then
When I became a Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA), ambassador in 2020, I was in the middle of writing my memoir My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis. Although I knew my book about living with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA), would one day be published, I wondered what I had to contribute to the group. At the FARA event in Anaheim, I enjoyed meeting people with FA who could...
What makes me uncomfortable…
I don't always find talking about myself comfortable. That's a little weird coming from a person who wrote a memoir that included some embarrassing moments. My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis has been out in the world for three months as of this post. And I am still getting used to promoting myself. While I have tried to keep up on social media, I haven't been as aggressive...
To Cure or Not To Cure
Many people think, as a person with a disability, the thing I want the most is a cure. For a long time, I saw “the cure” as something I clearly needed. At 17, in 1990, newly diagnosed with Friedreich’s ataxia, a rare, progressive neuro-muscular disease, I would’ve pleaded for anything to “fix” me. Life as a wheelchair user scared me and made me think the life I had planned, moving out of...
Triggers and treats
Okay, this post is about three days too late for that title. . but it works. I returned from my 18-day trip to Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, exhausted. But also proud. Though the main purpose of the trip was to sell My Unexpected Life, which I did, I also met new friends and saw old friends—some of whom I have not seen since the 90s! Mostly in the Midwest, I got to reminisce about...
Extra! Extra! Read the transcript of Virtual Launch
I have been attempting to condense the video so I can upload it but it's not working now. Can you tell I am a Gen Xer that struggles with technology? Here is the Facebook link at least. But below is also the transcript in case you're interested!. But sales have been going well I think. Thank you everyone for helping me! I am proud to announce that I am now an Amazon bestseller! Here's the...
My first podcast!
Check out my first podcast, discussing My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis https://www.disabilityrap.org/disability-rap-2023-09-04/
Models of disability
No, I'm not referring to lanky men or women sitting in their wheelchairs looking alluring in an advertisement for Tammy Hillfiger’s adaptive, clothing line. I am referring to three basic ways to look at disability. The medical model, the charity model, and the social model. First, let's look at the medical model. This is probably the most typical way people grew up learning about disability....
Can I NOT write about disability?
Apparently not since I just typed the word. Plus today is the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. (ADA)--something definitely recognizable. But I do want to stray a little from my usual topic. Like millions of others this past weekend oh, I went to the movies. I decided to take a break from the endless emails. I seem to be sending out looking for opportunities to publicize my...
