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Disabled Author Naomi Ortiz Shares Self-Care Tips for Activists and Writers

Book cover for Sustaining Spirit, featuring a painting by the author of a woman of color wearing a purple shirt holding a red flower.

By Natalie Watkins

A few years ago, author and activist Naomi Ortiz found herself wondering why there were so few elders engaged in social justice work. After some digging around, she discovered that many encountered “hard barriers,” and that the model of self-sacrifice for a collective cause was not mentally sustainable longterm. As a result, Ortiz researched self-help strategies — reading a wealth of literature in the field of self-care and self-help. Alas, she discovered that Continue reading “Disabled Author Naomi Ortiz Shares Self-Care Tips for Activists and Writers”

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Synonym Strategies and Accessible Digital Tools for Writers

And up-close shot of a hand writing in a notebook.

By Natalie Watkins

Perhaps you’re having a pretty decent writing day. You have hit your stride and your characters are animating and practically jumping off the page. The dialogue is catchy and incisive. All is well in your fiction writer’s world. Then, you pause at the end of your latest chapter. Deciding to do a little revising, you discover a problem. You have overused the same word so many times it is as tired as an old gym sock. Or maybe, your characters and settings lack a little flare. Do not despair! Like anyone who is honing a craft, it is a matter of accessing the right resources. Continue reading “Synonym Strategies and Accessible Digital Tools for Writers”

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3 Query Letter Tips for Writers with Disabilities

By Natalie Watkins

Hands typing on a Macbook

Finally! After investing blood, sweat and a sea of tears, you have completed your manuscript. You spent untold hours painstakingly editing and proofreading it, and it feels as if your brain will simply ooze out of your ear in a gelatinous mass if you give it even one more cursory look.

What is the next step on your path to publication? Continue reading “3 Query Letter Tips for Writers with Disabilities”

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My Son Has an Invisible Disability. On Mother’s Day, I Celebrate Seeing Him.

By Stephanie Duesing

Mom and son, 18-year-old, purple-haired Sebastian and Stephanie Duesing smile at the camera together.

I didn’t know my son Sebastian until he was 15. That was the year we had our first real Mother’s Day celebration. We lived in the same house together for 15 years, so don’t misunderstand. I gave birth to him. I changed his diapers and taught him to ride a bicycle.

I was a stay-at-home mom, and he was my only child, but I didn’t know him. We spent hours together every day playing and doing crafts together. He painted the most extraordinary pictures, even as a toddler. His existence filled my imagination from the moment that I looked at the faint blue positive mark on the pregnancy test, but I still didn’t know him until he was a sophomore in high school. Continue reading “My Son Has an Invisible Disability. On Mother’s Day, I Celebrate Seeing Him.”

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How I Found My Voice and Learned to Thrive

By Mannette Morgan, Author of Finding Your Voice: A Path to Recovery for Survivors of Abuse

As a little girl, I knew I wanted to be a writer “when I grew up.” The problem was, I couldn’t read or write. I realized at a young age that I didn’t learn like everyone else. I felt stupid, different, and disconnected from others. I struggled to read, write, and spell for the entirety of my childhood. Continue reading “How I Found My Voice and Learned to Thrive”