wynharper

[wynharper]

Start making room on your bookshelf (if you want). I'm so excited for everybody to meet Alison and Hunter!

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My bestie when I told her I have a pub date:

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June 4, 2024, sound like a good day to anybody else?

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Flash in the Pan - Chapter 10

Read on Amazon Vella HERE. Read on Patreon HERE. Read on Ko-Fi HERE.

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Flash in the Pan - Chapter Nine

Flash in the Pan has been updated across platforms with the latest chapter (billed as Episode 11 on Vella).

You can find that update across these platforms:

Kindle Vella

Patreon

Ko-Fi

Thank you!

[wynharper]

reblog this post to remind the person you reblogged it from that they’re valued and loved and seen

[wynharper]

Hi hi!

So I'm considering approaching my bosses to ask if I can put together a presentation (that can possibly be adopted into our training model) regarding deconstructing ableist language within our field. I don't foresee them saying no but I do think that they may tell me I'm still too new and they don't want to put extra responsibilities on me. Even though I'd be volunteering to do this and I have volunteered myself to take on next steps earlier in the past, my bosses are very big into making sure their employees are taking care of themselves first and foremost and I have felt safe in disclosing my own conditions to them so they are aware that I sometimes have limitations that I don't feel comfortable speaking up about and they will do so for me. In preparation for that possibility I was thinking of actually going ahead and putting this together anyway because I think that it's something that could benefit the writing community as well.

A big reason why I think that this is so important (and can be used in all fields but is a huge deal in my own) is because disabled people are often times un- or under-employed. So when it comes to my field, we are lacking in representation of the very community that we serve. This leads to a lot of outdated language and it leads to a lot of inaccurate understanding of the individual that they are serving. The language that is often used regarding disabled people is language that paints us as sad and evokes pity. So somebody who has never worked with this or that person automatically has an image in their head based on that language and that is what they go into interactions with and it leads to poor experiences where caregivers and families and individuals themselves feel unseen and unheard and uncared for by the very people who are supposed to help amplify their voices.

How this could benefit the writing community is helping with ensuring that we're not intentionally excluding an entire group of people from narratives. I've talked about this before but I don't expect to see myself in every story nor do I want to see myself in every story but I'm very good at picking up on when people like me are not wanted or welcome in a story.

That being said, I'd really love to hear from other disabled people regarding things that have been said to them that wasn't meant to come off as aggressive or dismissive or ableist but did anyway. Two of my biggest phrases that I plan to focus on are suffers from and struggles with.

For example, I've had somebody say, "she suffers from hearing loss," about me. Well... no. I don't suffer from my hearing loss and I'm not some half drowned kitten in a thunderstorm. What happened is that I had an infection that, as a result of poor access to medical care, I experienced partial hearing loss in my left ear. This is something that compounds on top of my auditory processing disorder that I experience as a symptom of my cognitive disability, which is autism and ADHD.

I hope that the difference between the original statement and the way that I presented my own abilities was noticeable and I welcome discussion and suggestion from abled and disabled people alike. Obviously, I'm prioritizing disabled voices but abled voices do have their space in this conversation. Why? Because it has to be a conversation and it has to be about learning and no gaps can be closed if abled people feel as though they can't ask questions or can't speak as somebody who loves a disabled person who has also experienced disrespect of language.

I also want to hear from queer and BIPOC people with disabilities on this topic because it has been my experience while working in this field that both populations are underserved and language plays a huge part in that not only by being ableist but also by being anti-LGBTQ+ or racist. My goal with undertaking this project isn't only to help my colleagues address and check their biases in real time but also to become a better advocate and hopefully help to increase services for people in my community who need it and are ignored.

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Flash in the Pan Updates!

Hiii!

I fell a little bit behind with updating the rewrites of Flash in the Pan with all that was going on with Amazon and everything that was going on in *gestures broadly* life.

As of today, I am all caught up with editing the already available episodes of Flash on Kindle Vella. If you have already paid for the episodes with their little coin system, you don't have to pay again and they are still open to you. Kindle Vella is US based only, I do not believe they have opened it up to any other countries (please tell me if they have), so it's not the most accessible option. However, if it's a platform you enjoy using, you can find my little story HERE.

Flash is also available via my Patreon, which is a subscription of $5 (USD) per month. My plan alongside uploading the story there is to share extras, commissioned art, etc when I am in possession of those things to share. If this is an option you'd like to utilize, you can find that HERE.

But between these two platforms is quite the difference. One is inexpensive (the coin system) and the other is accessible (as it is not US based only). I wanted to bridge these two by also utilizing Ko-Fi in a pay what you want/can manner with a minimum of $1 (USD) per month for story only. You can choose to go up in what you want to pledge but you're not obligated and I appreciate you wanting to read at all. If this is an option you'd like to utilize, you can find that HERE.

All episodes (Vella) and chapters (Patreon, Ko-Fi) are uploaded and available. There is no specific time you have to join (and I believe the monthly charge will come out on the day you subscribed the month previously). Subscribing will give you access to all available uploads plus the uploads still to come and you can choose to cancel at any time.

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[scream]

Hi. Hey. Hello.

Crawling out of my hole. Hi. I've had an interesting few weeks and they've been frustrating but, at the end of it all, I've got some things on track and I'm getting answers and, like... things are working out, it seems.

So for those who don't know (because I don't really talk about it), I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease when I was sixteen. Honestly, I kind of rejected it and I didn't really take it seriously. I was very much of the opinion that if I ignored it enough, it simply wouldn't be true. As time went on, I took my medications but then my medical care got worse and worse (I grew up in almost-rural Mississippi so specialists weren't exactly accessible to me). Finally, I'd lost my insurance when I was 26 and I didn't really understand what I was taking the medication for anymore. My doctor would spend all of five minutes with me, take my blood, up my dosage, and never explain why. I didn't have the means or the mental capacity for the bloodwork and the medication and the whole being ignored of it all. So I just stopped taking it and I stopped going to the doctor and I went back to thinking, "Hey, if I ignore this, it'll just go away."

I feel like I was doing fine, maybe, but the last couple of years it's really been in the back of my head. I don't feel well, my hair is falling out, my nails are brittle, my muscles are weak, my fatigue is at an all time high. Last year I addressed my brain fighting itself but I really needed to address my body fighting itself too and I needed to start over from scratch so that I knew the ins and outs of this all.

After a few weeks of needles and bloodwork and doctors and poking and prodding and more bloodwork, I have my second official Hashimoto's Disease diagnosis. And I'll be damned because after three days of treatment, I'm already starting to feel better but I also didn't realize how bad I was feeling?

But also starting over from scratch because I'm establishing my own medical care for the first time in my life, I'm getting told the really scary possibilities of every comorbidity I could have. And it's pretty much been suggested to me that it's not IF I develop Rheumatoid Arthritis, it's WHEN.

A three day weekend could not have come at a better time, truth be told, and I'm using this time to try to relax and actually rest but I'm also hoping to catch up on writing I've been too stretched thin to touch. I'll be working on getting Flash uploaded over at Ko-Fi. Reminder that it can always be found on Patreon and Kindle Vella.

Anyway, thank you for being nice and understanding, I know I fuck up a lot so I do appreciate it.

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KDP offered an olive branch yesterday. After weeks of back and forth, a higher up than anybody I had been dealing with before emailed me to say that my content had been unblocked and I was allowed to edit and update again. We spoke and canceled my request for the story to be unpublished. I was dubious and just wanted to see if it worked but it did! While KDP is still not my avenue of choice, it is a good marketing tool and the bonus money I make for having my content on there and making frequent updates was vital to my survival when I was in a bad place. That being said, I will continue to update the episodes on Vella through edits as well as updating to both Patreon and Ko-Fi (as to provide accessible options to all).

Chapter Five of Flash in the Pan can be found HERE on Kindle Vella.

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So... after weeks of the most frustrating experience with Kindle Direct Publishing's customer service, the one person there that was actually listening to me and helping me was removed from my case and the final communication I received was, "We've changed the status of all your content to blocked. Hope that helps!"

I have requested that it be unpublished as soon as possible from their platform as I no longer wish to do business with them. The quality of their printing alone leaves so much to be desired, the quality of their customer service leaves even more and the fact that authors cannot have full control over their content is the icing on the cake.

So, I guess, from here on out, Flash in the Pan will be available on Ko-Fi and Patreon exclusively. There is no timeline or dates that you have to sign up for either, you can sign up at any time and gain access to the whole story as it stands and as it updates.

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When the fortune calls you out...

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Issues and Updates

Hi hi, everybody!

I've been having a lot of back and forth with Kindle Direct Publishing regarding Flash having a home on their platform. They are having an issue with the fact that I'm rewriting and reuploading and have blocked some of my content. It's been like pulling teeth with them, honestly, but I feel like we're coming closer to a resolution. Whether that resolution is that I leave the platform behind completely or they actually help me remains to be seen but it does feel like this frustration is about to be done which I'm very excited about.

That being said, I am continuing to upload Flash to Patreon but I understand now that some people don't really like the Patreon model. I have decided to also make Ko-Fi a home for this story.

I have set up the Ko-Fi to be a monthly membership that is essentially pay what you want/can with a minimum of $1. You can increase the amount you want to give if that's your choice but I will say that if you're going to give $4 or $5 per month, I encourage you to subscribe to the Patreon instead as it will have extras as I start to have details to share for other projects.

All chapters of Flash in the Pan that exist thus far will be uploaded to Ko-Fi for members and then it will receive updates in tandem with Patreon (and Kindle if they decide in my favor).

Please subscribe to Ko-Fi HERE if you would like to. Read Chapter Five of Flash in the Pan on Patreon HERE.

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Hi hi, late upload update!

Well, it was uploaded Sunday? Monday? I don't know. I have lost the meaning of time.

That being said, the fourth chapter of Flash in the Pan is available now on Patreon HERE and Kindle Vella HERE.

I have hit an issue with Kindle Vella right now which is that they're telling me I've plagiarized myself and they are blocking episode 7 and onward while we go back and forth and scream at one another. Which is incredibly frustrating. I've input an appeal because episode 7 is for chapter 5 (I gotta figure out a better way to identify these).

Thanks for reading and sticking next to me as I scream.

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Okay, finishing touches on this and then sending it for review. Might not be available until Monday night. Looks like next week is a double upload week (granted my procedure goes well on Tuesday and I'm not in hell afterward).

I think the next chapter of Flash is going to be a bit late. I'm trying real hard, guys, but I'm so tired and have just had a really exhausting week.

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I think the next chapter of Flash is going to be a bit late. I'm trying real hard, guys, but I'm so tired and have just had a really exhausting week.

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look away