Release day is just around the corner!
Hello Everyone!
Less than a week and Impact! will be in your hands! This continues to be an exciting albeit time-consuming journey. I thought I’d take a few minutes to share some behind-the-scenes information about the team who got us to this part of the journey.
My friend, Cindy, has taken an amazing journey and has allowed me to share some of it with you through Steven’s story. She’s joining us for the release party and wants to share some of the factual aspects of her story I haven’t included in Impact out of respect for her privacy.
I’ve joined forces with a new critique partner and friend, fellow author, Amy Argent. Amy helped me tame a monster of a manuscript into something manageable without losing the content that made this story unique.
Enter editor, Susan Atlas, who was a joy to work with and I feel like the experience was enlightening for us both. It was far from the nail biting process I feared it would be, but the last weeks of the process certainly tested our mettle. One day I will sit on a porch with these ladies while we drink coffee and share silly tales.
Jd Michaels, continues to support my vision to complete this series and has just hit the ball out of the park with another amazing cover design. Jd has been collecting snippets of conversation for over a year to combine them into the cover of my dreams. Stay tuned for the reveal!
And Alec. Goofy, silly, endearing and sometimes frustrating, Alec. Right now Alec would be telling me I can do anything my heart desires and that my writing is making a difference. He’s been gone nearly three years but his good works continue to make this world a better place for us all. If I stop and listen, I can still hear him. He changed every life he touched and I’ll be forever grateful for his encouragement.
We’re going to share another amazing book with you this week and I couldn’t be prouder of the way it turned out. I hope you love Impact! as much as I do.
Alec Frazier & Jd Michaels
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The inspiration behind Impact!
So, a while back, I started writing a story you now know as The Roll Models Saga. It was written in the spirit of contributing to the disability narrative by authentically representing the Disability Population. When this all started, my mom lived with me, and she was frustrated that there was so little content that she could connect with as a person with a disability.
We wanted to create something that would represent us, something that showed the world that the members of the disability population live full and satisfying lives, that we are all—every single human being—uniquely different and The Roll Models Saga was born.
What you might not know is that every single character in this story honors someone I’ve had the pleasure of knowing in my community, including my main character.
I dedicated the series to a friend who lived through an accident similar to Steven Maxwell’s and many elements of his story mirror her own.
“C~ Early in my career, working with individuals who have disabilities, you came along and changed everything I thought I knew about advocacy; you laid entirely new worlds at my feet.
I have never taken the opportunity to show my gratitude for your mentorship; to thank you for teaching me that even in the toughest times, there is hope; that even the most insurmountable feat can be conquered, and that it is the squeakiest wheel that gets oiled.
Nearly everything I have accomplished in my career is a direct result of what I learned from you. This book series, The Roll Models Saga, is for you.
I hope you can forgive me for taking so long to thank you. D.A.C”
As we struggled to create the perfect cover, my friend offered an accident photo of her wheelchair as the basis for our design as a way of moving forward and contributing something positive out of that horrific day because she is 110% about Disability Pride and representation. The preliminary mockup of the cover is stunning. (I know, we’re cutting it close here, but a fine wine takes time.)
The 32nd anniversary of that fateful day just passed and my friend has chosen to turn a day that has brought great sadness and apprehension into something positive by embracing The Roll Models Saga and sharing it with her friends and followers.