Sarah Marie Graye's Blog, page 4

Suicide is not a disease of the young

I’m not the only person with mental health issues to be writing a blog about the suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain (both link to BBC News).

I’m also not the only novelist who writes about suicide to be writing a blog about the suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain.

But it isn’t about being the only one: it’s about adding my voice.

And the slant I want to look is why an article in USA Today referred to their deaths as part of an increased suicide rate of what they called “an u...

The Pict Publishing June Indie Book Giveaway

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Responding to ableism with ableism. Really?

Yesterday, a comment I made on a Guardian article about ableism was marked as a “Guardian Pick”.

I was really pleased because the original article had questioned whether or not we should get rid of disposable wipes almost as, if you’ll excuse the pun, a “throwaway” comment and not the main thread of the article.

My post was about how any discussion about banning a product should factor in the needs of the disabled or it’s ableism.

I shared my “Guardian Pick” news on social media, where it me...

My thoughts on indie book awards

After The Second Cup was named as a finalist in the 12th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards, Pict Publishing (my publisher – links to their website) asked me to write an article on entering such competitions as part of their #FridayFacts series.

As Pict says in the intro to my article, indie authors like me are not able to enter the Costa Book Awards and the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction. So instead we have to try and navigate the minefield that is “indie book awards”.

Some authors w...

After illness: things are never the same again

When I read about fellow author Stephanie Butland’s article about why coping with life after cancer is harder than the treatment (links to Daily Mail website – my apologies), I felt I’d found a kindred soul.

A decade ago, I had multiple life-saving lung surgeries after being diagnosed with recurrent right-sided pneumothoraces.

After it was all over, the procedures, the time in hospital, the half-recovery, like Stephanie, I didn’t bounce back.

For whatever reason, my right lung had started to...

Bridesmaid for a fifth time

The Second Cup is an award finalist for the fifth time – this time in the 12th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards. See the full list of finalists.

Why I put disability rights before readers

When you’re an indie author, Rule 101 is not to upset any potential readers. But there are times when this rule has to be ignored – and for me, disability rights is one of those times.

This blog post is about the word inclusivity and what it means to me as someone who is partially deaf: it is about access for everyone – not picking and choosing.

So if I see a Facebook Book Club group calling themselves inclusive because they support those with visual impairments, I will ask them to update th...

I get to be angry during Mental Health Awareness Week

I know the main reasons behind Mental Health Awareness Week are good ones.

Hosted by the Mental Health Foundation (links to MHF website), it’s an opportunity to highlight mental health issues and reach out to those who may be struggling in silence.

But in the age of social media, for many it is just another hashtag to hijack in the aim of raising their online profiles.

(People are using #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, #MHAW and #MHAW18 on Twitter. Some of the posts using them are embarrassing in...

Listening is not reading

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Discussions about whether listening to an audio book is “cheating” suggest that listening is a lesser skill when compared with reading.

I think this is a great shame… because it makes sensitive people jump to the defence of those who listen to audio books and declare that listening and reading are the same.

As someone who is partially deaf, this “the sameness” really irritates me.

The part of my brain that processes sound doesn’t work properly, but it doesn’t affect my reading comprehension....

All or nothing…

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In keeping with my ADHD, my novel writing is very much all or nothing.

After months of not typing a single word, I’ve written about 15,000 words in 10 days, my sleep pattern is totally screwed and my wrists are starting to ache.

I’d grown my fingernails longer than usual. Not on purpose, I just didn’t need to cut them because I’d been doing so little typing. But after having two of them break on the keyboard, they are now much shorter again.

With my manuscript now over 30,000 words, I just n...