Three Inventions for the Blind that Changed My Life #SocialMediaMonday

Image contains: Abbie, smiling.

Since May is National Inventor’s Month, on this last day of the month, I’m sharing a post in which this blogger reflects on three inventions that made a difference in her life. These have definitely changed my life as well.

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After I went blind some 20 years ago, I needed tools to adjust to my new life. I knew that as a blind person I wasn’t going to be very successful without some kind of accommodation or modification to the way I was living and moving in the world…

Read the rest on Empish Thomas’s blog.

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By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.

 

New! The Red Dress

Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books

Image contains: young, dark-haired woman in red dress holding flowers

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

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Thought-Provoking Poems #Reblog #Friday Fun Reads

Image contains: Abbie, smiling.

To end National Poetry Month, here’s another blast from the past, a review of a delightful poetry collection I read last year. Enjoy!

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I like the way the author has arranged this collection. Starting with poems about relationships that tell a story of love, loss, and new beginnings, she moves on to poems about her blindness and injustice, then finally to a section she calls “Miscellaneous,” including poems on other topics. Being a widow, I could identify with many of the relationship poems, although they have more to do with loss due to separation or divorce instead of death. These poems will help you see things in a way you may never have seen them before.

Read more.

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By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.

New! The Red Dress

Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books

Image contains: young, dark-haired woman in red dress holding flowers

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

***

Books  

My Amazon Author Page

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Memoir Delivers Powerful Life Messages #Friday Fun Reads

Stand Up or Sit Out: Memories and Musings of a Blind Wrestler, Runner and All-around Regular Guy

by Anthony R. Candela

Copyright 2020

What Amazon Says

In this memoir, Anthony Candela, a self-described “all-around regular guy,” traverses a lifetime of challenges. Some of these are accidents of birth, like his poor eyesight and slow trek to blindness, and some are of his own making, like choosing to compete as a scholar-athlete. Infused with lots of New Yorkana, a touch of California, and a few related historical references, this memoir conveys that in any environment, life does not always follow a prescribed course. Moreover, as humans, all of us are imperfect. This includes people with disabilities who are often thought of as transcendent beings, but who should also be regarded as “all-around regular guys.” Just like the rest of the human race, they often strive imperfectly to get through life.

In his descriptions, the author hopes that readers will understand a little more about the nuts and bolts of running and wrestling, not to mention skiing and scuba diving. The ups and downs of coping with life and progressive loss of eyesight and, by extraction, disability in general will be clearer. Readers will come away with a fuller appreciation of the ways people deal with challenges. In the end, we all have a choice whether to stand up or sit out.

The story related in these pages will occasionally give you cause to chuckle or even shed tears of sadness or joy. Above all else, it will enlighten you about why things happen the way they do. Ultimately, this memoir increases our understanding of what it means to be truly human. Perhaps after reading it, we will be kinder and gentler to each other. Most important, perhaps we will take it a little easier on ourselves.

 

My Thoughts

 

I took an interest in this book when the author was a guest speaker at a recent meeting of Behind Our Eyes, a group of disabled writers to which I belong. My late husband Bill was on the Colorado State School for the Deaf and Blind’s wrestling team in the 1950’s. So, naturally, I found Mr. Candela’s experiences with the sport fascinating. I also enjoyed reading about his adventures in running, cycling, and other sports as well as his academic and social life. I appreciated his insights on human relations and disabilities. Anyone who reads this book, able-bodied or not, will learn from his discoveries.

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By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.

New! The Red Dress

Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books

Front cover contains: young, dark-haired woman in red dress holding flowers

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

***

My Books

My Amazon Author Page

Facebook

Website  Image contains: Abbie, smiling.

A Heartfelt Review #Thursday Book Feature

Today, instead of reviewing someone else’s book, I’m presenting a review of my latest, The Red Dress, by someone else. My friend Ann Parsons is the author of The Demmies, a book I reviewed here when it came out a few years ago. Now, here’s Ann’s review of The Red Dress.

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It is with extreme pleasure that I am reviewing The Red Dress by Abbie Johnson Taylor! This book is classified as  “Human Relations” by NLS. (National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled) It is the story of a woman, her family and a red dress. The character development is stellar! The plot is intriguing, and the writing is Abbie’s usual simple and straight forward story telling.

I am truly delighted to report that this book is now available through NLS on BARD. (Braille and Audio Reading Download) As you might have guessed, this book is one that is close to my heart because I know Abbie. She belongs to my writing group. I watched this book come into being, and it was a wonderful process! I, and my fellow group members, were able to see writing as it is made, from inspiration through perspiration to the final product. It is my joy to recommend this book to you all, not only because it is an excellent read, but because it is the brain child of a good friend of mine. I hope you will all enjoy reading this book.

It is thought provoking because it explores the human character. How and why do we react in the ways that we do to events in our lives? What motivates us toward forgiveness and redemption? And finally, what makes a darned good read?

Now, if I were a sighted reviewer, I would probably go on for paragraphs about how marvelous it is that Abbie has written a book since she “had to overcome blindness”, blah, blah, blah. I’m not going to be so ignorant and disrespectful! I am merely going to say that Abbie is following in the footsteps of a million bards who are and were blind. She can write and write well, not in spite of her disability, but because she’s a good writer! I only mention this because if you find reviews of her previous work, you may find some who miss the whole point, concentrating on the author’s physical characteristics rather than on the writing itself. Don’t do that! Read this book because it is well written, not because the author has a visual impairment.

Congratulations to Abbie Johnson Taylor for getting her book onto BARD! Just in case anyone wants to read this in Braille, it is available from Bookshare as well.  If you should decide you actually want to buy the thing, go to: https://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com/ Isn’t it great to be able to support one of our own?

Ann P.

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Thanks to Ann for  such a glowing review. As always, thank you for reading.

 

New! The Red Dress

Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books

Front cover contains: young, dark-haired woman in red dress holding flowers

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

***

My Books

My Amazon Author Page

Facebook

WebsiteImage contains: Abbie, smiling.

 

Thought-Provoking Poems #Thursday Book Feature

In My Feelings: A Book of Poetry

by Butterfly Thomas

 

What Smashwords Says

 

Love and passion. Conflict and regret. Pride and defiance. Rage at equality denied. Compassion for friends and boundless love for one’s children. Some poems express anger at racial injustice and the exploitation of the disabled. Still others delight the reader with images of strength and beauty or their clever arrangement of words. Never pretentious or opaque, all of them will make you think.

 

My Thoughts

 

I like the way the author has arranged this collection. Starting with poems about relationships that tell a story of love, loss, and new beginnings, she moves on to poems about her blindness and injustice, then finally to a section she calls “Miscellaneous,” including poems on other topics. Being a widow, I could identify with many of the relationship poems, although they have more to do with loss due to separation or divorce instead of death. These poems will help you see things in a way you may never have seen them before.

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If you’re on Facebook, you’re invited to a promotional event called Mayday Magnificence, in which I’ll be participating May 1-3. Authors, myself included, and businesses will promote their work and maybe share a few laughs. Please click here to join the event. I hope to see you there.

By the way, My Ideal Partner and The Red Dress are now available on Smashwords as part of its sale to support those isolated by the coronavirus. This sale will run until the end of May. Please click here to visit my Smashwords author page and download these books. As always, thank you for reading.

 

New! The Red Dress

Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books

Front cover contains: young, dark-haired woman in red dress holding flowers

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

***

My Books

My Amazon Author Page

Facebook

WebsiteImage contains: Abbie, smiling.