[stylist] A New Member
John Lee Clark
johnlee at clarktouch.com
Thu Dec 25 21:28:07 UTC 2008
Shelley:
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
If I may ask, why don't you usually have blind characters in your stories?
John
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Shelley J. Alongi
Sent: Thursday, December 25, 2008 2:55 PM
To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] A New Member
Hi John, Shelley here; my writing is what I would call sentimental,
informational stories where people deal with issues and resolve them, or
just have fun. I don't usually include blind characters in my stories. I am
a blind person in the world benefiting from the work of others and helping
where I can, but my stories don't usually include blind characters. I do
have one story sitting somewhere with a blind character dealing with just
becoming blind. I would say in all cases that my stories are based on one or
more elements of truth though you would have to be intimately familiar with
the circumstances from which I drew the idea for each story. By the time the
story emerges I don't even recognize what the element was that created it.
It may be something as simple as a person's height or profession. It makes
my writing interesting; makes me do a lot of research and ask a lot of
questions. I've written articles for the local newspaper and I've been the
subject of articles, too. The only money I've ever gotten from writing was
from the two times I placed in the NFB Writers' contest. I don't write for
money; I just write for fulfilment. At the end of a day I can look back and
see what I've accomplished.
Shelley J. Alongi
Your Lifelong Pampered Chef Consultant With Bells On!
Home Office: (714)869-3207
Start your holiday shopping now with great quality tools from the pampered
Chef
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**
Read my latest instalment of Flirting with Monday
http://www.storymania.com/cgibin/sm2/smreadtitle.cgi?action=display&file=new
titles/AlongiSJ-FlirtingWithMondayChapter14.htm
**
To read essays on my journey through Metrolink 111 or other interests click
on
http://www.storymania.com/cgibin/sm2/smshowauthorbox.cgi?page=&author=Alongi
SJ&alpha=A
updated Dec 7, 2008
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Lee Clark" <johnlee at clarktouch.com>
To: "'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 25, 2008 9:36 AM
Subject: Re: [stylist] A New Member
> Judy:
>
> Hey, I would love to read your book! I'm curious what you are thinking of
> as your options for publishing it.
>
> Yes, I read in Braille. I learned Braille when I was seven. Although I
> was
> not even legally blind then and did not keep reading Braille on my own,
> this
> early exposure must've made picking it up again at thirteen a most smooth
> experience for me.
>
> As for grants, what I was referring to are individual grant for artists
> that
> arts organizations and state arts programs confer to the winners from a
> pool
> of applicants in various categories. Most often, the grants come with
> virtually no strings attached, and you can just say it helps you to take
> time off from work to focus on your project. In other words, you can buy
> food with it, pay the rent, pay off debts, buy a nice winter coat to
> replace
> your old rags, whatever. Some use it for travel, to stay in a Spanish
> villa
> for a month, or to pay for registration at a conference or workshop. Some
> use the money to buy new computers and supplies. Minnesota happens to be
> the state with the second highest number of grants and value in dollars
> for
> individual artists. The first is New York. But most states should have
> at
> least two grants you could apply for: The state's council, board, whatever
> for the arts and the local chapter of VSA arts.
>
> Fellowships are similar but tend to mean a lot more money. Grants range
> from one to ten thousand dollars. Fellowships are a full year's income,
> ranging from twenty five grand to two hundred fifty--the latter is at the
> very top, the MacArthur "Genius" fellowships that pay half a million
> dollars
> for two-year fellowships. Those are given to bestselling authors or
> winners
> of the Pulitzer Prize. Thus, grants are usually for what they call
> "emerging" writers, those who have published from zero to two books. Then
> the lower rungs of the fellowship world are for those beginning to
> establish
> their reputations after three books.
>
> Anyway, that's what I was talking about. Now, for the type of grant you
> are
> thinking about, I am no expert. However, I've done work in nonprofit
> fundraising, and most healthy nonprofit organizations get eighty percent
> of
> their raised funds from private donations, fifteen percent from grants,
> and
> five from corporate donations or sponsorships. You can tell right off
> that
> an organization is misguided or in bad shape if most of its money are from
> grants. So if you want to set up a new program, I would advise that you
> look into fundraising instead of grants. Further, it would be wise to set
> up a foundation or trust account, so that the donations you get won't
> vaporize. What's the point of working hard to get donations only to blow
> them away almost instantly? The motto is also that you are not raising
> funds, but friends. Make friends, maintain friendships above all, and the
> money will come naturally. Send thank-you notes, add them on the mailing
> list for the newsletter, organize an annual event geared specifically for
> your cause's supporters and friends. Contract with someone with a
> certificate from the Association of Professional Fundraisers. Those
> people
> know what they're doing.
>
> Just some thoughts!
>
> John
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Judith Bron
> Sent: Thursday, December 25, 2008 9:57 AM
> To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] A New Member
>
> Welcome John! I'm assuming that you do most of your work in braille. I
> am
> getting ready to find a publisher for muy first book, "Lethal Disclosure".
> Lori is helping me in this pursuit. I'm also working at our local
> Independent Living Center as a mentor. My supervisor, Peter Groos and I
> are
>
> also looking for grants to start a program for the newly physically
> handicapped. Peter suffered irreversible spinal cord damage in an
> automobile accident and is paralyzed from the waist down. You mentioned
> that you have a background in receiving grants for worthwhile projects.
> Can
>
> you share your wisdom on getting grants? Thanks and happy holidays!
> Judith
>
> Bron
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Lee Clark" <johnlee at clarktouch.com>
> To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 11:27 PM
> Subject: [stylist] A New Member
>
>
>> Hello!
>>
>> I recently subscribed to this list, on the suggestion of Lori Stayer. I
>> would have liked to lurk for a while before introducing myself, but so
>> far
>> the list has been awfully quiet, too quiet even for someone who is deaf.
>> So
>> I am going to dip my toes in here.
>>
>> To introduce myself briefly: My name is John Lee Clark, and I am a native
>> of
>> St. Paul, Minnesota. I was born deaf to an all-deaf family and so
>> American
>> Sign Language is my first language. I gradually became blind in early
>> adolescence, just as my father did and my younger brother did. After
>> graduating from the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf--on the other
>> bank
>> of a former river across from where the Minnesota State Academy for the
>> Blind is--I studied briefly at Gallaudet but jumped up in love, not fell,
>> with Adrean, a deaf girl from North Carolina. We got married fast and
>> moved
>> to Minnesota. We've been married for ten years now and have three sons.
>> Currently, I am the head of a new service that provides accommodations
>> for
>> deafblind people using video relay service.
>>
>> As for my literary pursuits, my wife and I ran for six years a small
>> press
>> devoted to signing community literature both in English and ASL. But it
>> could not support our family, so we've had to turn to other sources of
>> income. I've published many essays, but it's through my poetry that I've
>> won the most recognition--awards, grants, fellowships, all that.
>> Recently,
>> my chapbook of poems, Suddenly Slow, came out from Handtype Press. I've
>> also done some independent scholarship on the literature of the deaf and
>> deafblind communities. In March, Gallaudet University Press will come
>> out
>> with Deaf American Poetry, which I edited and which is the first
>> definitive
>> text of its kind, covering nearly two centuries of poetry by Deaf
>> Americans.
>> I am nearly done with anther anthology, this time of writings by
>> deafblind
>> people all over the world and since 1820.
>>
>> This should suffice for now! I would love to learn about who's on this
>> list, so please do introduce yourself.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>> 11:49 AM
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>>
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>
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