College Blog

Hello everyone! I know it's been a long time and I haven't updated my story. I am here to tell you...I still haven't updated my story. I am in between computers at the moment and haven't uploaded my document to this one from my drive yet.

However, I have started a blog that discusses my college life, American Sign Language, and other things related to that. If you're at all interested in ASL or what an Interpreting program looks like, I'd recommend you check out my new blog. The blog post linked is a sexual harassment discussion in relation to my experience with it. My first blog post is about shy people in an ASLIE program.

Please read and share my new blog, I'd love to see more experience related information on the internet about ASL programs. 

Authors Note addition

Hello! I recently added an Authors Note to my book that explains why I formatted languages the way I did. It also gives shout-outs to a few people who have helped me this far into the process. In addition, it gives a little more detail about what I am doing with the printing presses in the story.

I am editing my book now, after adding the 6th chapter. Due to new information about presses, entire chapters are going to be overhauled. Mainly chapters 4-6. I am reading my entire story first, again, then I am going to edit as I go. When I'm done I'm printing my book again and having my mother edit it.

I don't anticipate this book being complete for a while. But please continue to support by reviewing, sending e-mails, and leaving comments. Also, share with your friends! I want feedback and opinions. I may not use all of them, but I want to be able to try and adjust the book as needed.

I am also planning on making a new group on Facebook to discuss the book. It would be privet. I also have a Tumblr dedicated to my book called WhenTheSkyCaughtFire. Please go follow that.

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Sam

Writing Disabilities

Today I am talking about how to write disabilities. I am obviously no expert, but I think some of these things could help other authors with writing. (Published or unpublished)

I have two disabilities I have written before (unpublished/fanfiction) and I think there is always something to be learned about writing it.

1. Blindness.
You need to be very careful with how you depict any person with a disability. It can become very easy to offend people by acting like they are unable to do things. (Driving is a given but even some legally blind people can, technically, drive.)
The first thing you need to do is get educated on the subject. If you aren't informed you will come off the wrong way.
The second thing you should do is get to know the people. Go out of your way to meet blind people. Be transparent about what you're doing. Being honest is the best way to go.
The third thing you should do is read literature (fiction) that focuses on blindness. It will give you a general idea on how to write it.

2. Deafness
Again, you need to be extremely careful with how you depict any group of people. This applies for deafness as well.
The first thing you need to do with this is take some ASL courses and/or a Deaf culture class. This will help you become mildly educated on the subject. I would also suggest reading a variety of books on the subject.
One such book is called: Inside Deaf Culture. This particular book brings you back to the eighteen hundreds and earlier (if I remember right) and details Deaf culture from that point forward. I am currently a little more than halfway through it.
The second thing you should do is go meet some Deaf people. Take an Interpreter with you if you know you won't be able to understand. Be transparent about what you are doing, they will appreciate your honesty.
And the third thing is read literature that focuses on it. I haven't read much literature with Deaf people in it, unfortunately, but there is a Manga called A Silent Voice and is an excellent manga. I am very picky about what type of Manga I will read but that particular one is and always will be one of my favorites. I have read the first three and will soon have more on hold at my Library.

Thanks for reading. This just scratches the tip of the iceberg but I hope it can be of some help.

Sam

College, Postcrossing, and writing

Greetings!  For the past month or so I have not been doing anything with my book. I am a little ashamed by my lack of motivation. But today I'm going to give you an update with what I've been doing.

College:  I have been attending six classes at my local college (18 credits) and my first tests are coming up pretty quickly. I haven't had the foresight nor time to create flashcards and now I'm on crunch time. Maybe on the weekends I can make the flashcards; that way I won't be completely in the dark.

I am also attending three ASL classes this semester. One is ASL 5 (Intermediate) and is more vocabulary and signing skills. There is also quite a bit of turning ASL into English and back again. My second ASL class is Introduction to Interpreting. This class is taught completely in English but I am thankful for that. If it were not taught in English I think it would go over my head.
The third and final ASL class is Linguistics. This is also taught in English but it is mostly self taught. A lot of my classmates seem to really hate this class; but I love it. I grew up learning in a self-taught manner and I have been in my element

My other three classes are Ethics, Intro Sociology, and Math. In the spring I'll be done with math and my focus will be mainly ASL.

For those who do not know what ASL is it is American Sign Language. It is used with the Deaf and the Deaf-Blind. People who can hear also use American Sign Language to communicate and/or interpret.

PostCrossing: For those of you who don't know what this is; it is a place where you can send postcards to anyone in the world. It is randomized. I have gotten one person from Germany and one person from Russia so far; so two American postcards will be being sent.

Writing: I haven't done much writing lately. I was planning on doing some today but I have homework and work stuff to do. I am hoping to get my 5th chapter out by December. Please keep reading my story and please send feedback on it. Until then, here is a quote from the 5th chapter to keep y'all waiting and happy:

"I grabbed the guy’s wrist the next time he came after me and twisted it until I felt it crack. His mouth opened in a silent scream of pain. I’m sure it wasn’t silent, I’m sure it was bone chilling, but my lack of hearing helped with that."

Abe:
"My brother passed out before I could ask how much it hurt. Which was a really stupid question anyways; if your eyes are unfocused as much as his were you wouldn’t have been able to tell what I was signing either."

5th chapter

Hello! My last post was so short, I apologize. I know I have no followers and very few views, but I enjoy pretending like more people look at my stuff. (=

Today I started working more on the 5th chapter which is from Moses's point of view. I'll probably have at least three points of view in this chapter.

"I grabbed the guy's wrist the next time he came after me and twisted it until I felt it crack. His mouth opened in a silent scream of pain. I'm sure it wasn't silent, I'm sure it was bone chilling, but my lack of hearing helped with that."

So, with college starting up it isn't likely that I will get the next chapter out until sometime in September. I hope to be writing a little in my free time after all my schoolwork is done. I also hope to gain a better perspective of Deaf culture so I can effectively write my Deaf character. 

Thanks for reading!
Sam

New Chapter

Hello everyone! I am proud to announce I finally posted my 3rd chapter for my story. Feel free to follow the link and read it. I am now working on my fourth chapter and I don't expect to get it done for a couple weeks.

Here are a couple quotes from the book:

Moses hesitated then wrote, I was still isolated. In a world where you can't hear, can't speak, and can't lip read you have very little opportunity. Besides, you can still hear a little. I literally hear nothing.

"Oh great. The last thing we need is Ross being able to swear at people without them knowing it," Storm covered her face with both her hands, muttering, "What is my life?"

My life and my Writing

Hello, so I thought it might be interesting to give a little background on my life and my writing. I originally started getting the idea to write from my sister. My sister started writing little stories when she was between 8 and 10 years old. I watched her do this and she could write pretty good mystery stories as a kid. I wanted to do it because I was a year younger than her and anything she did was cool. 

So what did I do? I copied her. Gasp, plagiarism right? No, don't worry, neither of us have published a story. Now I get permission to use her characters. Storm? Yeah, she was my sister's. Sometimes she asks me to use certain characters because I write them better. 

The first ones I tried were crappy romances. And mine were really crappy, whenever I find one I throw them away. I also tried Sci-Fi and I was really bad at that. And by Sci-Fi I mean Star Trek and Star Wars type things. Then I tried Fantasy, which I am okay at. I'm trying my hand at it again and I think I've a better idea of what I want to do with it. 

So, I tried a lot of stuff, even non-fiction. I tried to write a book about the life of an Evangelists kid, the life of a Pastor's kid, the life of a Home-schooler. Yeah, I've tried a lot. I love writing Dystopian because everyone has that little What If thing in the back of their minds. "What if ___ happened?"   "What if a Monarchy took over the states?" 

What is happening in my life right now? I'm writing a book (duh), attending college, volunteering at a bookstore, and trying to keep up with my sewing and knitting. I am not attending college for English, I am attending for American Sign Language and plan to transfer so I can become an Interpreter. 

I hope this has been informative! 
Sam