Fragments News and Interviews

Happy New Year! It was busy for me in the run up to Christmas celebrations, with lots of vegan baking and cooking, visits with friends and family, and of course the tiredness that sets in after that before New Year!

In my last post I mentioned that I had a little more news about Fragments. It’s now available internationally on Kobo, and this year I intend on publishing the ebook on Apple iBooks and Google Play. If you’d rather get the book through channels other than Amazon, then Kobo is similar to Kindle in that you can download the Kobo reader onto computers, phones, and tablets. Unfortunately, for the foreseeable future, the paperback is only available through Amazon. Their print-on-demand service has been brilliant so far.

Last year I also had an interview on the Deaf Unity website about the book and my writing, and then I wrote an article for The Limping Chicken which goes a little more in-depth about the book and the indie publishing process. I used to be the editor for Deaf Unity’s articles and interviews section, and the website is a great source of news about international deaf issues. The Limping Chicken is also a great source of information and articles about the deaf world, and living as a deaf person.

From the Deaf Unity interview:

‘Being deaf has shaped the direction of my writing by providing me with a different perspective on life. Like many deaf and disabled writers, I am more aware of inequalities and barriers within society. This has informed what I write about, such as access and communication, human rights, activism, and identity, but it also gives me a more visual perspective. For example, I find that when I’m writing fiction, I often rely on visual description as opposed to sound descriptions. Even though I know how to describe sounds, and know what many things sound like, I just tend to find visual description more compelling. I am also a lot more interested in alternative perspectives and philosophies in life, rather than the status-quo.’

And The Limping Chicken article:

‘I started writing Fragments through a period of upheaval and uncertainty in my own life. At the time, I was also struggling a little with my novel, and looking for inspiration for a non-fiction book. With my novel stalling, my sister suggested I write a book of personal essays instead. My long-term blogging, journal writing, and journalism mean that essays are a form of writing that feels natural to me.

I also read philosophical books, social activism books, essay books, self-help, and psychological books, such as those written by Brené Brown (Daring Greatly), Matt Haig (Notes on a Nervous Planet), and Roxane Gay (Bad Feminist).

My blogging often fits into philosophical lifestyle writing and social activism, and I am passionate about writing content that informs, inspires, and makes people think. It took a while, two years to be exact, with a lot of stops and starts along the way, especially since writing so openly and honestly about some of my own experiences was so intense, but it was curiously healing too, to give so much of myself to the process.’

I also have an upcoming interview with David Ellis of Too Full To Write, so more information on that soon. Wishing you all a creative and peaceful 2019.

‘I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you’ll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you’ll make something that didn’t exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.’ – Neil Gaiman’s 2008 New Year’s Wish.