So, this update is horrendously overdue.
It’s been a long time since I’ve tended my blogger, but,
so much has been going on behind the scenes!
A (long) while back we were visited by my friend, Alec
Frazier. Remember him? The Autistic Super Hero, whose ambition knows no bounds…
I’m not joking, Alec is a mover and a shaker who grabbed life by the horns and
is currently leading it all over the District
of Columbia
Alec has been an advocate for People with Disabilities since
he was eight years old. He runs his own disability advocacy firm, AutisticReality. Alec’s work at Autistic Reality includes public speaking, lobbying, peer
advocacy, and publicity, as well as many other forms of advocacy that enhance
the representation of the disability community. He is the copyrighted author of
two books, Without Fear: The First Autistic Superhero and Veni! Vidi! Autism!. He
is the Managing Editor of Stories About Us, an anthology of works by disabled
authors, and a pop culture critic for Flickering Myth, Starburst Magazine, and
The Deadbeat Critics.
I mention Alec, because he is the impetus for the rest of
this update where I tell you that my monstrously long Twilight Fan Fiction,
Impact, has received the backing to be published in its entirety as The Roll
Models Saga.
In February of 2018, Alec approached me about a special
writing project he was involved with—Stories About Us a national initiative to publish new fiction from specific
communities—focusing first on creative writers from the Disability Population,
in an effort to enrich and connect closer with the entertainment industry. This
new publishing imprint was begun by an advertising executive, Jd Michaels, who
began working with the Disability community through EIN/SOF Communication's
Lights! Camera! Access! events.
As some of you may know, I was raised by a parent who had
a disability, have been a disability ally, working in direct care my entire
career and identify as a member of the disability population, myself.
I had the immense pleasure of sharing my home with my mom
during the final years of her life. As is common with any health condition,
there were good days and there were bad days. On the good days, we had
adventures—the movies, the mall, girlie things like doing our nails or hanging
out with her lifelong hair dresser! On the not-so-good days, we watched lots of
movies and Mom’s frustration was that there were very few characters who like
her, lived with a disability. Since we couldn’t find a lot of disability
representation on TV, we created our own adventures—putting thoughts to paper
and sharing them with our fandom friends—one chapter at a time.
The Roll Models Saga was born!
With chapter postings came reviews. It was exciting to
read incidents where Impact opened readers’ eyes—we sat and read them together,
you know. We were delighted to connect with readers who made their homes more
Visitable during a remodel, or whose social behavior changed because they
became a little more aware of the people around them.
It was rewarding to share information with others who, as
a result, acquired funding for durable medical equipment, or personal attendant
services, or home modifications—the very foundation for the creation of this
blogger. We initiated change, in small ways, with this lil story of ours.
Fast track to today—Mom is, sadly, no longer with us and
after a ten year long wait, the first volume of The Roll Models Saga is going
through final edits. My team, The Roll Models, is working hard to make
everything just right so our readers can have the most incredible experience.
The kind of experience I had when I touched our book for
the first time—the tangible reward of having this masterpiece in my hands—it is
amazing. It’s gorgeous! You won’t want to put it down. I’ve had a proof copy in
my hands for a few weeks and I can’t stop touching it. It feels so good!
You’ll see.
It’s been so incredible working with Alec and Jd (who
left a long-established advertising career to devote his attention and talents
to this wonderful project.) I feel so fortunate, that these incredible,
generous people at Stories About Us are so committed to putting this book in
your hands.
I hope you’ll join us Valentine’s Day weekend for a
release day party with lots of fun prizes, including a signed, original proof copy of the book with all the line edits high-lighted—only two of these exist! We have a ton of other awesome goodies, too.
I can’t wait for you to get to know Steven and Abby in a
way you couldn’t before, as we start from the beginning of Steven’s journey, on
that fateful day when everything he knows is Shattered.
