On My Hands and Knees Begging For Help:)

I know that donating to a project or cause that you have no guarantee will be a success can be intimidating. Maybe you think your pledge won’t make a difference. Maybe you are leery of giving money to a stranger. No matter what the reason, I hope you will reconsider.

I assure you that every dollar earned will be going to this book project. My fans want it so much that it is crucial for me to get it done. That being said, there is no way I would ever back out of my end of the deal.

Kick Starter is a crowd funding website that aims to help connect people with creative projects with possible investors. A person has a limited amount of time to reach their goal. If their goal is not met, no money exchanges hands. That’s right, your money never leaves your wallet.

Second, if you decide to pledge, you will receive prizes for your generosity. Therefore, it’s kind of like purchasing something. Once the goal date has passed, all the people who supported the project will receive their items.

I plan to send people who pledge emails updating them on the progress on the production of the audio book. I am producing my books through a company called ACX. The narrator I have chosen is Melissa Strom. She is a well respected and very talented actress. She has agreed to stay on for the entire series which is anticipated to be four novels.

Again, I know it seems risky. Just know that I will never receive any of your financial banking information. All transactions are completed through Amazon Payments. This is a secure way to ensure your financial protection.

The reason it is so important to me to have my books done in audio is because… well, I myself am blind. I know what it’s like to look for a novel on Audible and have it not be there. That is one of the most frustrating things a book lover can go through. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, fans have written to me wanting to know when the series will be available in audio.

The only reason I haven’t done it by myself is because I haven’t had the money. My first book only just came out in August and the second will be out in December. Therefore, right now my funds are limited. I would never ask strangers for funds if it wasn’t completely necessary. This is the only way I can carry out this portion of my dream in a somewhat timely fashion.

I am a single mommy to two great little girls. I want them to be proud of their mom. Most of all, I want to build a career that will give them a better life. Yes, money can’t by happiness, but it is a big part of life.

I don’t want to depend on Disability income anymore. I want the pride of standing on my own two feet knowing that I’ve worked my buns off to get there. When I received my first royalty check of fifty dollars, you would have thought that I had been given a mountain of diamonds and gold ripe for the picking. I cried, knowing that this was my first real pay check. I earned it all by myself and not because of something that was beyond my control.

The town I live in is a difficult one for finding regular employment, especially when you have a disability. I have tried on numerous occasions to get a job. On all of those occasions I was turned down. They of course couldn’t tell me the real reason, but I knew what it was. They were intimidated by my blindness. They didn’t think I could handle the job, though I was more than qualified. I was never given the proper chance that I deserved and wanted so desperately.

You see, I have never been someone that enjoys getting something for nothing. That’s why it took me so long to decide on creating a Kick Starter project. I finally decided that it wouldn’t hurt to try. If someone didn’t want to pledge, they didn’t have to. If they did, then awesome.

I didn’t want to wonder for the rest of my life if it would have worked. It’s the what if’s that keep you up at night and kicking yourself in the end.

The great thing about a Kick Starter project is that you can back out at any time if you change your mind. The minimum pledge is one dollar, so breaking the bank is not a problem. You will have comfort in knowing that you helped in making someone’s dream come true. Someday when I’m as famous as James Patterson or any of the other great authors out there, you can say you helped me get to where I am.

I don’t plan to take your money and run. As I’ve said, you will get some really cool prizes for each of your donations. I will send you update emails and I’d like to keep in touch with you long after the project is completed. I want you to know that your contribution means a lot to me and I will never forget it or you. I will also be happy to respond to emails anytime, even if the project is done and the productions complete. After all, if it wasn’t for all of you, it wouldn’t be possible.

I only have until November first to reach my goal. That is less than two weeks away. So I am before you on my hands and knees begging for your support. Pretty please consider helping me achieve my dream. It would mean a lot and I’d be eternally grateful.

As Promised... Post on Craig Campbell

Hey guys!

I just wanted to let you know that I just published the post about Craig Campbell like I promised. You can find it over at Nicole Rae's Blog
The night totally rocked and I'll never forget it. Thanks to Craig, Peanut and I had a blast. I will never forget the hillarious experience of getting his autograph.

I hope you like the post and will share it with your friends. If you would like to show further support, please hop on over to my author page on Amazon and Facebook and press the like button. Everytime someone does, it shares the page with all of their friends. It can start a chain reaction and I would really really appreciate it.

Amazon Author Page

Author Facebook Page

Thank you so much:) I am grateful in advance:)
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Craig Campbell Rocks The Show

Going to a concert when you are blind isn’t as bad as one might think. I recently took my oldest daughter Princess to a Craig Campbell concert. He is an amazing country singer that really knows how to entertain.

Firstly, it is a music concert so of course the blind would benefit. They have extra good hearing and can appreciate the quality of sound coming from the massive speakers.

Secondly, even though some entertainers do dance and run around the stage, seeing the activity isn’t necessary for enjoying the show. Most singers also banter in between songs and whether you are blind or sighted that can be really fun.

In Craig’s case, he has an awesome sense of humor and kept the crowd laughing in between the several songs that he played for us.

Another great thing about going to a live show is that you get to sometimes hear music that hasn’t yet been released. It’s kind of a sneak peak into the future. In this case, the new songs that Craig performed for us were amazing. He has a wicked good voice and a dead sexy speaking voice.

Because it was a show at a fair, Craig stayed behind afterward to sign autographs. I don’t just mean a few either. He stayed until every last person got something signed and took a picture with him that wanted one. How exhausting. I don’t know how he does it. He performs for a couple of hours standing pretty much the entire time and then stands for another couple of hours doing a meet and greet. What a devoted performer!

I had a very memorable experience when it got to be my turn with the country star. I will never forget it and my friends and family are still laughing about it and the concert was a few weeks ago. I will be posting the full story on Nicole Rae’s Blog and you will be able to find it HERE

Yes, I know it’s kind of a teaser, but hey, that’s what I live for. If you take the plunge and hop over there sign up to be a follower and then you will be notified when the hilarious Craig Campbell experience is posted for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks for reading and remember… “When life’s got you down, keep your head up… you can’t see the ground anyway.”

Blind Black Friday

Black Friday can be a treacherous shopping day no matter who you are. Its main objective... get everything on your list at rock bottom prices and of course survive the crazy at all cost. People rush, trample, scream, fight and generally forget all the manners and good grace they were ever taught during their entire lifetime.

So, do you have a mental image in your head yet? Perhaps a memory floating through your mind? Do you ever recall after the shopping day was finally done saying to yourself, “I’m never doing that again”? If you said yes to any of these then great! We are on the same page.

I tell myself every year I’m never ever under any circumstance going to do that again. Then, the following year roles around much too quickly and I find myself waiting in the long lines like everyone else. I know ridiculous but unfortunately they had me at “savings”.

Still have that mental nightmare in your head? Well now I’d like you to attempt to imagine the experience all over again but as a blind person. Ha Ha, got a headache yet?

Of course I should start off by saying I’ve never done Black Friday by myself. I honestly don’t think that prospect would ever occur to me. The night before, I gather my list and wait for my ride (who ever it may be that year) and sike myself up for the coming day’s events. I am going to share with you to help you discover the monumentous horrors… oops I meant joys of my Black Friday experiences.

Most of the time as I’ve mentioned in a prior post, people tend to give me a wide birth. I can’t explain it I think they think blindness is contagious. Sometimes I like to purposefully cough in their direction for good measure. Is that rude? Anyway as I was saying. If I start out at a store where you have to wait outside in a “line” it sucks just like for everyone else. It’s of course always freezing outside and the “line” tends to do a wrap around the entire store half the parking lot and a million blocks later you find the end where I tend to get the pleasure of standing. You know how some people camp out in line so they can be the lucky winner of a scarf for getting there first? Well, I’ve never been that person. I’ll just buy my own scarf thank you very much. Although, one year at Target I got to move to the front of the line because they didn’t want me to get trampled. Sure I can take care of myself but it was sure considerate of them to think of me (sarcasm). Personally, I think they just didn’t want the bad publicity in the paper. The headline would read: Blind Girl Smashed At Black Friday.

When stores allow you to be in the store from the beginning that is also interesting. When my companion for the day tries to walk down and aisle they sometimes leave me with the cart at the end so they can move through quicker. Sounds fine right? You would think so but nope. That’s always about the time someone else wants something from a shelf that I am of course blocking. They for whatever reason say nothing. They just stand there expecting me to use the force and know they are there. Sure I feel them staring but that’s a regular occurrence for me so it doesn’t normally occur to me someone might need to get by me until it’s much too late. Oh and besides, what am I supposed to do every time I feel eyes on me be like, “hello? I feel the eyes on me… am I in the way?” Um… probably not.

Another problem that tens to happen is when I’m rushing through the store by sighted guide I sort of get run in to a whole lot of people, shelves, displays, signs and the list goes on and on. In all fairness it’s not their fault. They are in a hurry. They want to get in and get out as quick and painless as possible. It just so happens that in the process of this my lack of pain tolerance is forgotten. I’ve never gotten seriously injured so really it can be categorized under “no blood, no foul”. When I run into a person there is usually one of two reactions. First, they and or I say excuse me and we then go about our business. Second and much more common the other person gets some what annoyed. The worst part is sometimes they stay annoyed even when they find out I can’t see them. Apparently those people are related to the staring people and think I have the Jedi mind tricks and extra human abilities.

While all this is going on my heart is racing and not with anticipation. I’m personally not a huge fan of shoulder to shoulder traffic where I can smell ten different kinds of bad breath and body odor at one time in the artificially confined space. It’s very overwhelming for me to have a million different people and conversations happening around me all at once and they become jumbled into one giant loud humming noise. On Black Friday there is definitely no avoiding the crowds. The things I do for my baby girls… hopefully some day they will appreciate my self sacrifice.

Once we have all our items and go to stand in line I’m totally relieved and over the stress (at least a little) because the excitement of getting my girls things they wanted for Christmas is powerful for me. I don’t have the money to go spending crazy on them all year so Christmas is my one big hoopla for the year.

The worst part of standing in the line is when my companion gets distracted in conversation or by browsing the impulse items that the store’s strategically place through out the line. I’ve actually had someone run into my back with their cart to get the point across that the line was moving. Boy do they usually feel bad once they fine out they just tried to run down a blind girl. Hahahaha! Some people seriously need to learn manners. Under what circumstance is it ever okay to just randomly ram your cart into someone? Haven’t they ever heard of saying “excuse me”?

The last part of the line is the check out. A person should be home free at this point right? Nope, of course not. Inevitably in my effort to hurry and get the heck out of there I punch in the wrong pin number for my debit card. Which as you probably know means you have to have the checker reset so you can rerun your card. This always embarrasses the crap out of me. It always makes me think that the people in line behind me assume I have no money and they’re about to watch me have to put all my stuff back. Not to mention they tend to get a little huffy when the line is held up. I can’t blame them though I’m not a very patient line waiter either.

As much of a hassle as Black Friday can be I do think it’s kind of fun. Obviously, why else would I keep coming back? I just wish the dropped prices wouldn’t bring out the animalistic blood lust in people. No item, no matter how cheap, is worth the loss of ones humanity.

PS… Do you have any horror stories from deep in the trenches of Black Friday? Share them down in the comment section.