[Ct-nfb] FW: Complimentary new resource for you & the NFB of Connecticut

Sun Feb 16 14:01:59 UTC 2014

From: Donna W. Hill [mailto:dwhill at epix.net] 
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2014 1:27 PM
To: erival at comcast.net
Subject: Complimentary new resource for you & the NFB of Connecticut

Dear Elizabeth,

In your work as President of the NFB of Connecticut, I'm sure you're well
aware of the challenges faced by students, their families and teachers, as
they struggle with the many issues surrounding vision loss. Of all of these
challenges, the most difficult are the beliefs of the general public. Low
expectations and misunderstandings are the greatest barrier to full
inclusion of students with visual impairments into their natural
communities. Raising the awareness of the general public is both crucial and
difficult, as the myths can be held by family members, professionals and
often blind people themselves. 

I am a blind writer from Pennsylvania, and worked for five years as a
volunteer publicist for the NFB, placing articles about NFB scholarship
recipients, Braille Readers are Leaders participants and Writers' Division
Youth Braille Contest winners in newspapers and other media throughout the
country. I also wrote articles about blindness issues for online magazines,
and my 2009 Braille Literacy series for the American Chronicle, which has
been widely republished, remains the most extensive series on this topic
written for general audiences. The Braille Monitor, which has published
several of my articles, included the article "Federationists Speaks to
Education Majors" in its April, 2013 issue under Monitor Miniatures:

https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm13/bm1304/bm1304.htm

I'm writing to introduce you to a new tool which can help bridge the social
gap and facilitate a dialog on blindness issues. The Heart of Applebutter
Hill is a novel that allows teens with visual impairments to see themselves
in an exciting adventure that could have happened to anyone. It also tackles
some of the social issues they experience. I'd like you to have an
electronic copy of it.

The heroine of The Heart of Applebutter Hill is a 14-year-old, shy
songwriter, who is losing her sight. Abigail has a guide dog named Curly
Connor, and she is just starting to learn about Braille and assistive
technology. The reader witnesses her struggles and triumphs as the story
unfolds. I hope you will find it to be an enjoyable and useful
consciousness-raising and motivational tool for students and their families,
and that you will recommend it to others. 

An introduction to The Heart of Applebutter Hill for educators was written
by Illinois College of Optometry   Clinical Professor and Chicago Lighthouse
optometrist/low-vision specialist Dr. Karen Squier. It has also received
recommendations from professionals in the fields of education,
rehabilitation and the arts as a classroom resource for
diversity-inclusivity and anti-bullying initiatives in middle school through
college. You may recognize some of them, including Future Reflections editor
Deborah Kent Stein and LCB Braille instructor Jerry Whittle. Their comments
are at:

http://donnawhill.com/recommenders-of-the-heart-of-applebutter-hill/

Fiction is a safe and highly personal way of introducing readers to the
struggles and capabilities of people with vision loss. My goal was to write
an engaging story that would appeal to a broad range of interests, in which
some characters have visual impairments and other differences.

The Heart of Applebutter Hill is an adventure-mystery with excursions into
fantasy for general audiences. It follows two 14-year-old refugees as they
make their way in a new land and deal with the consequences of discovering a
dangerous secret. The fantasy portion is based on a passage from C.S.
Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. 

If you would like a copy, send me the name of your e-book reader or the file
type you prefer, and I will e-mail it to you as an attachment. Available
file types include: .mobi (Kindle), .epub (Nook, Apple, Sony, Kobo, etc.),
.lrf (older Sony readers), .pdb (Palm Pilot), .pdf & .rtf (for use on
computers).

Below my contact information, you will find information about recent
articles, online availability, accessible versions and an author bio.

Sincerely, 
Donna W. Hill

570-833-2708

http://DonnaWHill.com <http://donnawhill.com/> 

dwhill at epix.net

Recent Articles about The Heart of Applebutter Hill

12/19/13 

Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader

"The biggest project of my life" by MARY THERESE BIEBEL 

http://timesleader.com/news/features/1050744/The-biggest-project-of-my-life

1/1/14

Wyoming County Press Examiner 

"Meshoppen Author Pens Mystery Novel" by Michael Wintermute
http://wcexaminer.com/?p=39493

Author Bio 

Donna W. Hill is a writer, speaker and avid knitter from Pennsylvania's
Endless Mountains. A songwriter with three albums, she is the author of The
Heart of Applebutter Hill, an adventure-mystery with excursions into fantasy
for general audiences. It follows two 14-year-old friends as they make their
way in a new country and struggle with the consequences of learning a
dangerous secret. Recommended by professionals as a
diversity-inclusivity-anti-bullying classroom resource, it is available in
print through Amazon, on all major e-book outlets and in accessible versions
on Bookshare.

>From 2009 through 2013, Hill was an online journalist for numerous
publications, covering topics ranging from nature, health care and
accessibility issues to music, knitting and chocolate. Her essay, "Satori
Green" appears in Richard Singer's Now, Embracing the Present Moment (2010,
O-Books), and her breast-cancer-survivor story is in Dawn Colclasure's On
the Wings of Pink Angels (2012). 

Hill, who was born legally blind from Retinitis Pigmentosa, was the first
blind child mainstreamed in the Easton Area School District in Pennsylvania.
Her memoir, "Special Class: a journey in mainstreaming" was selected for
Behind Our Eyes: a second look, an anthology of stories, poetry and memoirs
by writers with disabilities: 

http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Our-Eyes-Second-Look/dp/1490304479/

Hill is an experienced talk show guest and guest blogger. Before moving to
the mountains, she provided educational and motivational programs in the
Greater Philadelphia area for fifteen years. She presents workshops about
The Heart of Applebutter Hill, creative writing and blindness issues for
school, university, community and business groups.

http://DonnaWHill.com

Purchase The Heart of Applebutter Hill 

Print Versions

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1483948226

CreateSpace eStore: 

https://www.createspace.com/4000964 

Electronic Versions 

Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CNG6DDM

Nook Book:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-heart-of-applebutter-hill-donna-w-hill/1
115426305?ean=2940016415000
<http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-heart-of-applebutter-hill-donna-w-hill/
1115426305?ean=2940016415000&itm=1&usri=2940016415000>
&itm=1&usri=2940016415000

Kobo eBooks:

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/books/The-Heart-of-Applebutter-Hill/XSjHDXv
6zE-kw8nRWgXEMw

Smashwords (7e-book versions):

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/313071?ref=DonnaWHill

Accessible Versions for Readers with Print Disabilities

Bookshare:

http://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/639304

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