We Are All Disabled
If you have a visible disability in the southern U.S., you are likely to be approached by a well-meaning Christian about how 1) Jesus can heal you, 2) they themselves can heal you by laying on hands in the Lord’s name, or 3) if you pray more, Jesus would heal you. Whenever I see this happen, I am always really tempted to turn it on the person. Of course, no one is saying it to me, so it’s really none of my business (and when has that ever stopped me?!) But if I were the person being told this, I’d say, “And if you prayed to Jesus more, he would cure you of….” There’s always something. Obesity. Near-sightedness. Bad teeth. Baldness. Acne. What, I wonder, makes the person think that they are in a position to say they are...
Read More6 Sentence Sunday
This is my first time participating in “Six Sentence Sunday.” It’s another short writing blog game and I’ve been having so much fun with Romantic Friday Writers, that I’m going to try this one too. Here are my six sentences, which are an excerpt from my novel (W)hole… ### “May I cut in?” They both stopped moving and broke apart. Elizabeth turned and saw the man from the river and her stomach seized up. He was even more beautiful close up. “Are you serious?” Robert said, but the man wasn’t looking at him. He held out his hands to Elizabeth....
Read MoreRomantic Friday Writers: Haunting
http://romanticfridaywriters.blogspot.com/ This blog has a challenge for writers of romance/love stories to write 400 words on a theme each Friday. The theme this week is Haunting. This is the last excerpt related to the ongoing Kaitlyn and Jason story before National Novel Writing Month begins and I start posting excerpts from that story. Be sure to come back on November 1-3 to find out more about my NaNoWriMo project! Other bits of this story can be found: https://ruthmadison.com/blue-moon/ https://ruthmadison.com/theme-first-love/ https://ruthmadison.com/rock-candy/ https://ruthmadison.com/fearful-heart/ https://ruthmadison.com/whispers/ Word Count: 288 (Full Critique Accepted) ### Kaitlyn believed in hauntings, just not in the traditional sense. She knew...
Read MoreCan You Spot the Difference?
It’s really strange to me that the general population does not seem to be aware that there are different kinds of wheelchairs. Not just that there’s a difference between manual and power, but that some are ugly. My mom told me one day about seeing a man using a wheelchair at the ashram. I said, “Was it a sexy wheelchair?” She looked at me blankly, then said she had no idea. Most people don’t seem to think of wheelchairs as sexy or not sexy. Yet, if I ask a paraplegic friend a question like that, he or she knows *exactly* what I’m talking about. I was watching a TV show I just discovered called Lie To Me. They had one episode where there’s a character who uses a wheelchair. He’s introduced during a wheelchair...
Read MoreDisability: Excuse or Explanation?
This is a fundamental question in my own life. When faced with something that is challenging because of my autism, do I accept that it is not worth the trouble to do it or do I force myself through my difficulties to do it anyway? Partly, of course, it depends what it is. But what is my default? Before I knew that I had Asperger’s, I worked very hard to keep up with my peers. I pushed myself to do things out of my comfort zone. My strong desire was to stay quietly at home, to not stretch, to not engage in the world. I was all about self-improvement, though, and I saw others going out to make their fortune, as they used to say in adventure books. I moved out of my parents’ house, out of the State, and forced myself to live independently. I’m...
Read MoreProgress Trackers
At proofreaders; available for pre-order
What Is Meant To Be
Second draft
Homework & Homicide (working title)
Second Draft
Book Montage
RFW winner October 7, 2011
