I have a strong conviction that we should all have a place at this table of life. One of the ways to help that be a reality is through reading. If we read about people who are different from us, there’s a chance we can come to understand them and appreciate them for who they are.
The other side of that coin is reading about people who are just like us, and through their stories, identify with their struggles and come to know we’re not alone after all. People who identify as “disabled” need those stories as much as any of us, and those stories should be as honest as possible.
My grandmother was one of the disabled people in my life, and I drew a lot on her experience while writing this book. I watched her lose her eyesight, fall into depression and despair because she couldn’t read or sew—her two favorite pastimes. Then slowly she rebuilt her life. In the end, she returned to the strong woman she’d always been, and she adapted to a different way of living. I think memories of her journey from sighted to blind might have contributed to the creation of Shattered.
Also available for purchase here:
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I’m now at the housecleaning stage of my launch: Sending books to winners of signed paperbacks and eBooks. I’m doing blog tours, sleeping off the effects of publishing, and reading more books. I’m a greedy reader, so when writing and publishing take most of my time, I get a little cranky. I thought I’d share a few of my reads from my Goodreads Challenge of 40 books this year which I completed last month. I think I have to up my challenge next time around.
- Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
- Dead Wrong by Vannetta Chapman
- Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger
- The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
- Reaching for Family by Jemi Fraser
- The Seventh Tapestry by Beth Camp
- Finding Tessa by Jaime Lynn Hendricks
- The Wife Upstairs by
- Against All Odds by Jacqui Murray
Quote of the Week: “I cannot change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” Jimmy Dean
Stephanie@Fairday's Blog says
I love that your grandmother helped inspire your latest book. Special on multiple levels. 🙂
Sounds like you have been getting a lot of reading done! Yay!
tara tyler says
writers share experiences and give readers new perspectives without laboring or lecturing to make a point. I love reading different types of stories to see how others think and handle situations, because that’s how we leave our legacy and make connections
thoughtful post! hope all is well with you and your launch was a great success!
Alexa says
Congratulations on the book launch!!!! I love that cover too!
I really liked how you captured the experience of reading in the intro to the post: it really is about both sides, seeing your own experiences AND getting to see those that are totally different from yours
Alexa
https://alexa-thusfar.blogspot.com/
Patricia Josephine says
Congrats on your release.
Jeff says
Congratulations on your new book. I look forward to reading it and hope you have good time reading books without other pressures.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Thanks, Jeff. I have a pile of books waiting…some that you’ve recommended, so I look forward to reading and enjoying them.
Jemi Fraser says
Just finished Shattered last night and it is fabulous! I think you’ve done a terrific job of showing the stages of grief and the stages of recovery for Libby. Loved the characters – and the twists!
There’s nothing quite like a kid finding a book that represents ‘them’ for the first time. Representation is so important!
So glad you enjoyed Reaching For Family!
C. Lee McKenzie says
You keep writing, Jemi. I really do enjoy your stories, and I love that they are all themed. Bloo Moose is where I’d like to live now.
Sandra Cox says
I’m glad your grandmother came through her blindness to the other side. That would be so very challenging.
C. Lee McKenzie says
She lived until she was 98–20 years as a blind person.
Liz A. says
We definitely need books from different viewpoints. Everyone likes to see their lives reflected in fiction.
Take a good long rest. I’m sure it’s been a lot getting this book out and into the world.
C. Lee McKenzie says
It should become easier, but somehow each one is different and I have to adjust. Hey! There’s my premise. Thanks Liz.
Thomas Anderson says
Hi Cheryl-Lee!
I remember the Partnership for a Drug-Free America PSA campaign that launched in 1987 and used the tagline, “Parents who use drugs have children who use drugs.” I believe it’s the same with reading. “Parents who read have children who read.” As you remind us in your first paragraph, reading is key to understanding, accepting and embracing people who are different. It can also be a source of strength, help and support for persons with disabilities to read empowering stories written by or about others who face the same challenges.
Reading about your grandmother has inspired me as much as she inspired you and helped construe your Shattered heroine. The quote of the month by Jimmy Dean relates to how your grandmother, your character and others have turned adversity into triumph. “It’s not what happens to you. It’s what you do about it that makes all the difference.” – (NLP wisdom)
Enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend Cheryl-Lee!
Thomas Anderson says
Hi Cheryl-Lee!
I remember the Partnership for a Drug-Free America PSA campaign that launched in 1987 and used the tagline, “Parents who use drugs have children who use drugs.” I believe it’s the same with reading. “Parents who read have children who read.” As you remind us in your first paragraph, reading is key to understanding, accepting and embracing people who are different. It can also be a source of strength, help and support for persons with disabilities to read empowering stories written by or about others who face the same challenges.
Reading about your grandmother has inspired me as much as she inspired you and helped construe your Shattered heroine. The quote of the month by Jimmy Dean relates to how your grandmother, your character and others have turned adversity into triumph. “It’s not what happens to you. It’s what you do about it that makes all the difference.” – (NLP wisdom)
Enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend Cheryl-Lee!
C. Lee McKenzie says
Sorry about the WordPress bad behavior, Shady. It’s a quirky program, and it tries my patience all the time.
You’re so right about parents being the models for how their children will turn out. We need good parents to make good kids–kind ones who read and spread good the behavior they’ve been taught.
Elephants Child says
I hear you on the greedy reading front. And resent (bitterly) anything which takes reading time from me.
I am also really, really looking forward to gobbling Shattered.
C. Lee McKenzie says
We talk about books the way most people talk about food! I love that.
Elephants Child says
Books are as essential to me as food is. And often taste better.
Yvonne (@Fiction_Books) says
My mother became disabled when I was in my early teens, although she had been victim to an undiagnosed illness for several years before that. Unfortunately Multiple Sclerosis took both her mind and body from her and left my father caring for her for over 30 years of his life.
I guess, looking back, I am not too proud of the way I reacted to the entire situation, however I simply couldn’t deal with it, so getting married and having to move away as my husband was in the Armed Forces, was a blessing for me, if the cowards way out!!
Neither of them are with us now, so there is no point in living with regrets!
Good Luck with ‘Shattered’ and catching up on some of your missed reading 🙂
C. Lee McKenzie says
We all do things in our lives that we regret. As a young person, you wanted to escape the misery your parents were experiencing. How sad for your mother, but how really sad for you father. Thirty years as a caregiver.
Thanks re: Shattered. It’s getting some good reviews, so fingers crossed.
Elizabeth Seckman says
My grandmother was always a very active woman. In her later years, osteoporosis was limiting her mobility to the point of depression. It was her recognition of her blessings that brought her up out of her chair and back to living. Like she said, there were people confined to wheelchairs who bitched less than her. We can learn so much from people who have the strength to adapt and keep moving along no matter what life throws at them.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Cheers to your grandmother. We all need attitudes like hers. When I think back to my own grandmother, my admiration for her continually grows. I’m beginning to understand what she did and how she thought now that I’m up there in years.
Hilary Melton-Butcher says
Hi Lee – interesting to read where you got some inspiration for your recent book – ‘Shattered’ published … and which is being read by many of us – I loved it … I’d never been involved with much disability or hospitalisations … until my mother was badly stroked in the end years of her life … and then I was fortunate as she adapted to her situation, as I then needed to and was able to be there for her. Congratulations and all the best as you move forward with marketing it – cheers Hilary
C. Lee McKenzie says
We all have to adapt as we age, don’t we. I suppose adapting is really all about learning as we live. The sudden changes are the hardest, like strokes or accidents. Ah, life. A beautiful and sometimes difficult challenge.
Thank you again for all your support with this launch. You’ve been superbe.
Alex J. Cavanaugh says
One adapts or one stops living, which sounds far worse.
C. Lee McKenzie says
My feelings exactly!