[humanser] Book that may be of interest to those working with blind teens

[Carmella D Broome]

Hi everyone, I'm really  excited to  post the following press release. I think this book may be of particular interest to those of you working with legally blind teenagers who are   thinking of attending college, or to those already in  college.  Please feel free to  pass information about this book along to your colleagues and associates, and to post it to any other lists you feel may be appropriate. If you do forward it to another list, please let me know where you've circulated it, as I like to keep up with where  announcements are made. I hope this book will be of some help and encouragement to students and others who are interested.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Blind Woman Launches New Year With New Book About College Experiences
 
Columbia, SC. -  January 13, 2009 --  Professional counselor and author Carmella Broome, who has been legally blind since birth,  begins the new year by launching her first book. Carmella's Quest: Taking on College Sight Unseen chronicles the author's first year at North Greenville University (formerly North Greenville College) in upstate South Carolina.  The book is published by, and available through,  Red Letter Press of Columbia SC. Throughout the twenty-six chapters (276 pages) of this straight-forward memoir, Carmella describes  her efforts to adjust to college life and  academics,  friendships and romantic relationships, struggles with   accepting  her visual limitations, and   other experiences that took place during the 1994-1995 academic year. 

Carmella, who lives in the Columbia SC area, says this book has been a work in progress since the summer of 1995. While she's had a few articles and essays published during the past few years, the author says she felt unable to give this bigger writing project the time and attention it deserved. "I'd put it down for months at a time but always came back to it," she says. "I knew I wanted it published one day and that I'd know when the time was right. I knew I'd rather take longer and truly feel that the book was the best it could be than to be in a hurry to publish." 

For the next ten years, Carmella was busy completing academic and professional goals. "Once my career was on solid footing, I was ready to get back to the book," she says. In early 2007, Carmella's driver mentioned seeing an article about a local publishing company called Red Letter press run by USC writing instructor and author Bob Lamb in a local newspaper. "I contacted Bob and he offered me a contract," Carmella says. "We began working together, along with several other talented design and editing people Bob recruited, for the final leg of the journey to publication."

Carmella looks forward to introducing Carmella's Quest to as many potential readers as possible. She has already set up a Carmella's Quest email account just for book related correspondence and created a blog on livejournal. She has planned a launch party, and will be scheduling book signings, readings, and   other venues for promoting her first book. "This is new territory for me," she admits, "But I'm excited about   sharing something I'm proud of with readers who will hopefully appreciate and enjoy it." 

Carmella says she loves public speaking. In the past, she has done programs that included describing important events in her life mixed with   performing songs that went along with themes of the presentation.  "Maybe I'll start singing publicly again, too," she says. "Who knows? I'm eager to see what kinds of opportunities will come about for me once the book is out." 

Wherever she goes to promote Carmella's Quest, her guide dog, a yellow Labrador retriever named Maggie, will be by Carmella's side.  "She's very cute," Carmella says, "I'm sure she'll convince at least a few people to buy a book."

Red Letter Press titles are available at select bookstores, on Amazon.com, and directly from Red Letter Press, 6148 Rutledge Hill, Columbia, SC 29209. The publisher can also be contacted by emailing RedLetterPress at gmail.com. Those interested can also visit Carmella's blog at
http://carmellasquest.livejournal.com/
or email carmellasquest at hotmail.com

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Carmella Broome, Ed.S., LPC, LMFT/I
Crossroads Counseling Center
www.solutionsforlife.org