Month: October 2022

Writing Despite Cerebral Palsy

Writing is a challenge on so many levels. We all know the terrain.  Imagine, then, adding the very ability to type, to capture your words quickly and effortlessly, to the list. Novelist Karina Bartow could write a book about this. In fact, she has, and here she shares her story of courage in overcoming the limits that life throws at us.

Please welcome Karina to Write Despite.

When one starts a writing journey, there are often many obstacles. You wonder if you really have the creativity and skill to get anywhere, and you might struggle with whether or not you have the time and dedication to devote. When I began my first novel in 2008, I contended with all those doubts…plus a disability. 

Born with Cerebral Palsy, I’m limited in various ways, the most inconvenient being my lack of control with motor skills. I say I have one good hand, but it still isn’t a showpiece. Nonetheless, it helps me to have a high-functioning life, especially in my writing. 

When the writing bug bit, my family and I discussed the logistics of me typing out a book. I experimented with speech recognition programs, but my speech doesn’t register well with them. My sister and mom typed little children’s stories I composed when I was a kid, and we threw around the idea of me dictating my thoughts into a recorder.

But I was determined to do this all on my own merit. Plus, I knew my wonderful and well-intentioned mother wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to chime in.

Thus, I set off and began to type with my one good hand. Because of past disappointments, I didn’t set a deadline accepted however long it would take. To my surprise, I finished my first draft within about a year-and-a-half. Nowadays, I can typically complete one in a year or less. 

As with many writers, my writing is a very personal art form, and through it, I release a lot of my own inner battles. So, you might expect I’d rush to write about the challenges inflicted by my handicap, but that wasn’t the case. In my first novel, Forgetting My Way Back to You, the protagonist suffered an accident, so I incorporated a few of my struggles there. 

Still, I resisted leaning in too much, because I didn’t want my disability to define me or my work. 

Then, a mystery novel started to form in my mind. I believed in the plot and all, but I wanted some way to make it my own, mainly because I don’t like mysteries that feature investigation without anything personal. Mulling it over, I saw an opportunity to channel my experiences as a handicapped person striving to defy the odds. 

Hence, my character Minka Avery was born. She’s a deaf detective, who often gets underestimated. Though she has a different kind of disability, I’ve worked in many of the highs and lows I’ve encountered in my efforts to live a normal life despite my differences.  You can meet Minka in Husband in Hiding and Brother of Interest.

Whether your challenges are external or internal, don’t give up on your dreams. As they say, turn your mess into your message. 

Connect with Karina on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

A Trio of Women’s Fiction Tales

Kansas City novelist Darlene DeLuca loves writing about women’s friendships, especially the “I’ve got-your-back-girlfriend” type featured in her Women of Whitfield trilogy.

Here, she discusses her motivation, process, and how a single novel blooms into a trilogy.

Please welcome Darlene to Write Despite.

Three friends. Three books.

When I sat down to write my first women’s fiction novel, The Storm Within, I wanted to write about a woman who faced tragedy in her life and was helped through it by a group of amazing women friends. I wanted the power of friendship and the impact of other women in our lives to take center stage and be a central theme throughout the book.

So I created Claire Stapleton, then I set about ruining her life with a couple of big events and a series of small incidents that would leave her reeling, confused and in need of a serious course correction.

Enter amazing we’ve-got-your-back girlfriends. These women who had known Claire for years, raised children together, gone on vacations together and shared so much history jumped in and kept their friend from going over the edge. They supported her with handholding, late-night calls, and intervention. They were there when she needed them most.

Though they were secondary characters, they became important in their own right. Each woman’s life intersected with Claire’s, and it became obvious as I wrote that each of them had their own story—and that I should tell it.

The writing might have been easier had I set out to create a trilogy in the first place. I could’ve mapped out more connections, probably would’ve kept tighter notes. As I wrote books two and three, I had to go back to the original novel many times to make sure my facts and tone for each character were accurate.

Sometimes, I’ve finished reading a book and wished it had a sequel or a series. I’ve found myself imagining what would’ve happened in a character’s future—or what I would’ve wanted to happen. It turned out that continuing the stories of these friends seemed natural.

Creating the Women of Whitfield series enabled me to dig deeper, to stay in the town of Whitfield, immerse myself in that world and explore those relationships further, to really build their lives and weave them together. By the time I was done, I felt as though I’d created real people—women I’d love to be friends with in real life!

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from book one. It refers to a gift the friends sent to Claire: “This tree is like us, dear friend. Lots of individual branches going every which way, but with deep roots and a trunk that’s a little bit twisted but fused together forever.”

Darlene Deluca writes contemporary romance and women’s fiction that explores relationships—what brings people together or keeps them apart. Her intent is to bring to life interesting characters that readers can relate to in real-life situations that combine a little fun, plenty of drama (with perhaps a tear or two), and big helpings of friendship, love, and self-discovery, and will leave readers either cheering or sighing with a satisfied smile as they turn the final page. Darlene enjoys getting lost in a good story with a glass of tea, a bit of dark chocolate, and a warm, sunny beach. Follow Darlene on FB, Instagram, and Pinterest.