The publishing process for a novel takes a long time, many rewrites and edits, and constructive remarks from beta readers even before someone with professional pedigree lays eyes upon it. For us who know we’re going Indie publishing, that means getting that editor to scrutinize the manuscript and recommend changes before we authors put those changes into place.

That’s where my forthcoming novel, Jag, is at. You can read more about Jag’s plot here, from an earlier post in this blog.

Now, here’s a rough snapshot taken from one of Jag’s early chapters to give you a sneak peak:

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“Breakfast is ready!” Mom’s voice drifted up from the kitchen along with the aroma of bacon and eggs.

“Be there in a minute.”

Breanna doubted Mom heard her drowsy reply. She still lay beneath her aqua-blue comforter after snoozing the alarm–stalling for a few more moments alone with Jag.

The brawny black Labrador sat on his haunches in the heavy-duty plastic crate next to her bed. His deep brown eyes danced as if pleading for that caress with which she greeted him each morning.

“It’s your big day, my big baby.”

Breanna kicked off the covers and sat up. When she swooped her open hands over the crate’s edge, Jag burrowed his boxy nose into her cupped palms and she massaged his jowls. Soft facial fur slid beneath her fingertips while hot breaths moistened her wrists.

The past sixteen months raising him had slipped by so fast. Today, she’d return Jag to California Guide Dogs for training.

“Some really nice folks are gonna teach you to help a special blind man or woman go places. But what am I gonna do in college without you?”

In one smooth motion, Breanna slid out of bed, knelt on the floor, and unhooked the crate’s latch. The wire door swung open and Jag bolted out onto the bedroom carpet. Breanna folded the big lab’s head and shoulders to her chest. His sloppy tongue brushed her left cheek and his left-front paw lighted on her shoulder.

“Yeah, you feel my jitters, don’t you?”

The dog’s chocolate brown eyes met her gaze and a little woof escaped his silly smile. That he understood nothing she said mattered little. Breanna brushed away a couple sleepers from his eyes and smiled as if he did. She scratched behind his ears and stood. “When I got you, you were just a little pup in my arms. Now, look at you!”

Breanna brushed a trickling tear drop from her left cheek. Jag was the fifth pup she’d take back to California Guide Dogs, but despite all the previous pups’ successes, he would always be her favorite. He’d been her buddy on hikes at the beach and her solace when Mom and Dad’s arguments interrupted her senior year studies. Now he was ready to become some blind man or woman’s best friend.

Breanna started for the stairs when a navy-and-white-striped package on the dresser caught her eye. A manila envelope lay beside it covering her newly-arrived diploma.

“Where’d these come from?” she asked no one in particular.

Snatching the envelope, Breanna read the return address: 4625 Figueroa Street, Santa Barbara. Aunt Maren? Had she forgotten to write her name on the envelope? Or was this how Dad could get through to her? Since the divorce became official in June, Mom swore she’d block every attempt he made at communicating with her.

“Breanna Renee!”

Ignoring Mom’s second summons, Breanna tore the envelope to shreds and read the note: 

Dear Sprout,

I hope this gets to you before you leave for school. I’ve missed you so much these last several weeks.

First, please forgive me. I am so sorry for how everything turned out this summer. I’m so sorry that I haven’t been around or even called. You must feel like I ran away, but I didn’t intend to do that, and it’s about killed me not talking to you. I know I should say this to your face, but this letter will have to do for now.

Second: Hang this accompanying little doodad in your truck window while you’re on the road. When you look at it, think of me and know how much I love and admire you. Let it bring you comfort when times get rough. Remember that God has blessed you with a tender heart just as he’s enriched your beautiful mind. Your wisdom and grace amaze me every time I think of you.

Third: Take a class with Jeff Patrick. Do you remember your mom and me talking about our college buddy Jeff? Well, he’s Dr. Patrick now and he’s a professor at Gerhard College. He’s shown some symptoms of sight loss, and it’s been hard for him to handle. Seriously, if you get a chance, take one of his courses. Just don’t expect him to cut you any slack on account of me! He probably owes me payback from a prank or two back in the day.

Finally: Call me when you get there, Baby Girl. We’ll talk often, I promise.

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Whether you listened to a talking cassette years ago from your State’s library for the blind or a recorded novel from Audible, you’ve heard the credit given to its narrator. Sometimes, it’s the book’s author. At other times, a lone volunteer has responded to a library’s help-wanted ad and given a few hours’ time to make our favorite action adventure or cozy romance come alive.

The trend toward audible books on CD or digital download has caught on in the past couple decades for the general public since many of us live in the hurry-up-and-wait commute to and from work. Blind and visually impaired readers have relied on full length texts on tape much longer than that. It was very common for us to get the latest copy of Braille Book Review, call our State library’s lending service and request those books be sent to us in a plastic box that’s about the size of a cardboard sandwich container from MacDonald’s. It could take from three days to a couple weeks for those books to arrive. Then when they did, we poured over them for hours using a specially made recorder whose speed, pitch and volume changed with the push of a slide bar.

Now, even with books coming our way via the Victor Stream or downloaded from Bookshare, the recorded voice of a narrator still graces our ears. Radio Reading Services in many parts of the country solicit the need for people to read selections of the local newspaper, a whole host of other periodicals, and even community organization updates. Often these volunteers spend hours putting their voice into electronic text, editing and re-editing their work and making sure their diction is clear enough for us to understand. While some of us prefer those readers that narrate at a casual, conversational pace, many older readers benefit from the more methodical cadence of someone who enunciates each word with crystalline clarity.

Occasionally, these readers-and we all have our favorites-receive a small stipend for their work. Or, when helping such organizations as the Lutheran Library for the Blind or Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic, they gain charitable recognition in a quarterly news bulletin or at an annual banquet. Their service is truly a labor of love that touches millions who may or may not be able to read the printed page. So, this week, we say, “Thank you” to our talking or audio book narrators who have kept us company at home, on the long drive or when preparing for classes in school.

Every blogger knows that the secret to surviving, let alone growing his brand, is knowing when to add more stuff and knowing when to keep on doing what he’s doing. That’s why I want to make Boldly Blind a community wherein we help each other navigate life’s contours. So here’s a snapshot of what you can expect to see over the next few weeks as I post and work behind the scenes.

• A subscription block where you can add your email to get posts sent to your inbox.
• Responses when you leave a comment following an article you read.

-A newsletter featuring online courses, social events, and blind sports’ notices all accessible to you on the web

-Encouragement to send ideas for blog posts and suggestions

– Improvement in the audio quality and frequency of podcast episodes. The next planned segment is this coming Monday’s installment of myth busting.

These next few days’ posts, you will read our weekly Thank-You Thursday, Fitness Friday, and Sunday To Sunday columns and more.

Until then, keep navigating life’s contours boldly blind or getting to better know those who are.

Dare I say that even we who lived many years prior to the use of smart phones have seen our world change before our very eyes and fingertips. Do you remember using a rubber band wrapped around one canister to distinguish baking soda from baking powder or paper clips attached on a bag of barbecue chips to keep it separate from the sour cream and onion flavored ones? Yes, those were the good ol’ days when folks encouraged us who are blind to wear sunglasses when in public> (I never figured that one out.)

Well, times have a-changed quite a bit for the better and while we still do pay a thousands of dollars to make some things adapt for our use such as refreshable braille displays, many smart phone apps work well for us as they do for people who are fully sighted and they don’t cost much money at all.

So here’s an article showing one of the most comprehensive lists of apps geared for everyday use around the home.

https://lighthouseguild.org/smartphone-apps-and-resources-for-people-with-vision-loss-or-impairment/

No, they’re not just for senior citizens. As total blindness and low-vision affects millions who are younger, they’ve begun to catch the wave of smart technology and surf alongside their peers in the classroom, on the bus, or at work.

As I have often pointed out to both people who are blind and those who are sighted, this kind of technology has the potential to bridge the unfamiliarity gap in ways that legal statutes such as the Americans With Disabilities Act (1990) could only dream of accomplishing. That’s because apps for IOS and Android are usually low-cost solutions compared to the adaptations we’ve made in the past. On a smart phone, you can tell the time, set alarms, check the temperature, and other tasks we used to do on separate appliances like a talking clock, talking thermometer, and talking calculator. The key, of course, is buying the smart phone and keeping it updated so that you can use the latest apps on the market.

When our family and friends see us using these apps over time, they no doubt will begin to shed the notion that we always have to do things “the blind way” or take them from an assumed comfort zone to help us with the simplest tasks.

This wide array of apps and smart technology helps us who are professional or freelance advocates propose legislation like the Web Accessibility Act and the Communications and Video Accessibility Act which, we hope will gain traction in the U.S. Congress this year. Apps that help us navigate a smart phone’s flat surface and also make exercise equipment’s flat screens navigable just by the slide and tap of our fingers on any given icon.

Of course, progress will continue to appear glacial at times. But, as we use this technology at home and in public, we will change the people’s perception of blind people being helpless to that of seeing us as capable contributors to society along side themselves. How can this not affect the bloated unemployment rate that is so characteristic of the disabilities community? The sooner we incorporate apps and smart technology like what’s discussed in the linked article, the more we will navigate life’s contours with others who man learn with us.

I don’t know about you, but when I mention to folks I lived on my own since college, many people asked me how I did chores like keeping my kitchen clean. How did I know which plates I’d washed versus the ones I rinsed. Maybe, you -if blind-are still working out a system for yourself.

Items you’ll need:

Dish rag

Drying cloth and dish drainer

Dish soap

Sink

Stopper

Dishes

For me, it’s literally divide and conquer. Before I actually wash a meal’s dishes, I scrape off any excess crumbs, turn on the water and flip a switch to let the disposal do its work for a few seconds. Once I’ve shut off the disposal and the running water, I put a stopper in the drain, then pour dish soap in the sink.

Now, you may ask: Why pour in the soap first before filling the sink with water? Combined with the hot water I’ll run, the soap bubbles instead of staying oily and static. My choice of dish soap is Dawn because it handles all kinds of surfaces well from the plates to skillets, to the countertop and table.

Now it’s time to run the water. It’s always a good idea to wash after each meal or two so that you can run just enough water to cover the dishes. With a dish cloth, wash each item and set it in the other side of your sink, presuming it’s empty. That way, what you washed doesn’t get dirtied again by what you haven’t.

Once all your dishes are scrubbed and lathered up with soap, drink the water, rinse the side of the sink where you washed the dishes, and put the soapy ones back in it.

Make sure you’ve rinsed the dish cloth as free of soap as possible before using it in tandem with the running water to rinse your dishes. Repeat the process of rinsing that you did with washing except that you’ll place your finished dishes in a drainer or drying mat to the side of the sink. Personally, I like air drying the dishes I wash by hand instead of drying them immediately with a towel. Only later, when I put dishes away do I wipe the remaining water off before putting them away.

Of course, using a dish washer makes things a whole lot easier after scraping excess food residue into the disposal. With that said, you’ll always have those pots, pans, and utinsels that are better done by hand.

The Boldly Blind Podcast is up and you can begin catching it here.https://anchor.fm/david-rosenkoetter/episodes/Myth-Busting-Part-1-e1gmikl?fbclid=IwAR2H0UsYZZ_9bCZ2Mo3syytSXV5S9NwumgPNn5ZWf-qlp7NYOLUuVQ5ZY94 Today we take on an age-old myth and correct it with facts from the real world of being boldly blind.

Any of us sports fans love our commentators, play-by-play broadcasters and personalities like the late Jack Buck or the erstwhile fan fave, Dick Vitale. Many of us have walked into work or a family dinner repeating the excited phrases our favorite radio voice used to call the games we’ve listened to in the past day.

Maybe, we’ve even tried picturing ourselves sitting in the broadcast booth giving the run-down of stats or team histories involved in a big-time rivalry. Now, can you picture being a sports broad caster when doing blindness? How can someone call a basketball game without seeing the players, ball, or hoops? What makes someone give good color commentary, analysis of plays and statistics when he cannot view the game in front of him?

Well, let’s get acquainted with Bryce Weiler who’s sat in the broadcast booth at many basketball, soccer, and baseball games.

https://fox2now.com/news/blind-sports-commentator-bryce-weiler-breaking-down-barriers/

What makes him stand out is more than his enthusiasm for and knowledge of the games he helps call. It’s his advocacy for others who are blind or otherwise disabled to get involved in sports broadcasting. He shows himself to be boldly blind because he’s not just after his own advancement but bridging gaps that can make everyday life and careers a reality for those who can and can’t see.

Check out Bryce’s work with the Beautiful Lives Project, especially the feature on his ambitions as a sports broadcaster. He wants to create opportunities for people to experience careers and goals they previously never thought possible and for people who can see to recognize the things they can do instead of who they are not while being blind.

https://www.beautifullives.org/

For more of Bryce’s work in action and interviews, go here:

Although I myself am totally blind, I find it helpful to be acquainted with devices that help people who have varying degrees of low-vision navigate the world around them. Often, people who experience some degree of vision loss but still have a manageable degree of sight, the general public so quickly overlooks their needs.

The linked blog post, therefore, can inform our friends who are low-vision about a whole range of choices in devices that can help them better glimpse printed tags at the supermarket, textbooks, and street signs, among many other things. You who read this blog and are fully sighted might see someone using one of these lenses, magnifiers, or scanners. So here’s to you being more aware of how said technology helps your friends and family members participate in the livelihood you share with them.

When competing in chess, for example, these lenses don’t give your opponent an advantage but adapt the game so they can see the board more clearly. If you’re in the office, you may see your co-worker using these devices to keep them on pace with the projects your team needs to accomplish. Rather than slowing them down, they make going about their work a smoother process.

The blog from which this post comes also deals with fitness, life as having low-vision, and techniques of making life more accessible.So check it out here:

Top 10 Reading Devices for People with Low Vision

I love going to the gym to run, lift weights, and do abdominal stretching on a mat. But, there are days when time doesn’t allow                           me to leave my home office, catch a paratransit ride, and spend two or more hours at Planet Fitness. That’s when at-home calisthenics help me get up and get moving for the day.

Why? Whether you have it programmed through an app on your smart device or pumping through the speaker you bought through Amazon, Alexa has a few exercise routines always a voice prompt away. One of my favorites is the seven minute workout where you change your exercise every sixty seconds. It keeps your heart pumping as you build intensity. By the time you’re done, you’ve let your body move with the music as your pulse quickens. However many reps you do for each exercise is up to you since Alexa doesn’t prompt a given speed. I love its random selection so that my muscle memory doesn’t get locked into one routine each time I do it.

If stretching’s what you want, a six minute routine gives you the chance to work your abs, arms or legs. Of course, that may involve some yoga positions or a simple planking posture that you hold for thirty or sixty seconds. This kind of workout may be short if you go one rotation, but provides a way to relax into a busy part of your day or cool down afterward.

Of course, there are longer and more complicated time controls. You can do several sets to the six or seven minute workout to make it last a half hour or more. The point is that Alexa brings the exercise to you when you can’t drive or ride to it.

Maybe, you do want a longer time doing calisthenics. Go for it! I will often run in place to some classic or soft rock from the 1980s before stretching my neck, arms, shoulders, waste, and ankles. Then, after getting Alexa to change pace, I will do multiple sets of crunches, leg lifts, push-ups, and sit-ups, before stretching through a few minutes of cool-down.

No matter how long or short you go, Alexa’s company, directions, and music can certainly get you up and get moving at whatever time you exercise.

Want more information on Alexa’s settings for getting your workout set up, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Voice-Apps-LLC-My-Workouts/dp/B06XR9BL7M

The readings for the fifth Sunday in Lent are Is. 43:16-21; Phil. 3:4b-7, 8-14; and Luke 20:9-20.

We often look to the past and compare the present to it as if the past held better fortune or tranquility. Or we may say, life was easier “back then.” Through His prophet, Isaiah, the Lord gave another reason for His people to know their past deliverance from Egypt. It foreshadowed the new thing He was doing to deliver them and the whole world from sin, death and the power of the devil. That new thing was sending His own Son to pay the penalty of death they and we deserve because of our disobedience. Through Jesus’ bloody suffering and death, God saves us to eternal life now and beyond the grave. For Jesus Christ is risen and so shall we.