WRITER
I got another rejection letter today, this one from Woodbine House, a publisher devoted to stories about special needs. Back in August, after learning they were accepting submissions, I sent a book proposal and several chapters. I expected to hear from them any day. What I didn't expect was the editor actually wrote a letter ...
So I received another rejection email. What was wrong with my story written specifically for a magazine addressing disabilites? It was about Jessica's sensory deprivation disorder! Come on now!
So I went to the Florida Writers Association conference last weekend. I met lots of other writers, rubbed shoulders with publishers and agents and generally kept hearing people talk about books they published. Except almost everyone had paid a publisher to publish or had their book on Amazon. This wasn't exactly what I expected... I ...
"I’ll be leaving you behind."The words I typed out were supposed to be the beginning of another post for my blog. I was thinking about Jessica and all the stories I wanted to tell. Maybe offer a peek into what it was like to welcome all the new babies born into our family, then watch ...
Even though Jessica lives in the group home, she comes home on the weekends, usually for two nights, sometimes one. Last Saturday, after I picked her up at the group home, she got in the car and as usual, asked, "Can we go shopping?" But something about the way she looked gave me a bad feeling. ...
Is that how I felt thirty-one years ago, when we sat in that cold room, meeting with the specialists and listening as they gave us their “final ruling” on Jessica? Maybe. As I wrote my memoir and recalled what happened over the years, I realized the things I’ve never forgotten are the emotions I experienced.… Continue reading Smacked in the face?
0My grandson Ari So I am doing one of my favorite things in the world besides writing.... holding one of the grandkids! And in less than two weeks, I am headed to the Florida Writer Conference in Orlando. I am excited to be doing this. I have my friend Mimi to thank for convincing me to ...
When the kids were little, we'd get questions about what was wrong with Jessica from Sarah and Alia's friends. Maybe a lot of them didn't have interactions with a mentally handicapped kid. At first glance, Jessica didn't appear to have anything wrong with her. In fact,she was really cute. So were the other two. But ...
Rene, Jessica's support coordinator was talking to me as I held the phone against my ear listening to his reassurances. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. The crying was about to begin for the fifth time that day. "I just want her to be okay and when I took her to my new ...
