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PLEASE FORWARD
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:
Are you:
- A woman in your twenties or thirties who has a chronic illness, or
- A woman who is older, but was diagnosed with a chronic illness in your twenties or thirties?
- Are you either one of those and you blog about your illness?
If so, I am working on a project collecting essays from women about their experience with chronic illness. There are many books available that chronicle the story of one person. And they are great, but… I’m interested in providing women like me with a variety of stories that they can relate to. Although the diseases and symptoms may be different, the overall experience of chronic illness is very similar. I am also interested in having people tell their own stories.
These stories should be in your own words! Tell it well and tell it from the heart!!!
Submission guidelines are the following:
- Essays should be between 5 and 20 pages.
- Please also include a few pieces of advice at the end of your essay that you think other women with chronic illness might find useful.
- Please include a paragraph or so about yourself.
- If you are so inclined, include a picture of yourself.
The end goal is that these essays will be compiled and turned into an anthology for publication.
*** DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS OCTOBER 1, 2008 ***
ABOUT THE EDITOR: Leslie Rott holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Sociology from the University of Michigan. She is currently a graduate student in the sociology Ph.D. program at the U of M. Expressing talent in journalism during her days as an undergraduate student, she has written for a variety of publications, working as a reporter for The Mackinac Island Town Crier and The Michigan Daily. She currently authors the blog Getting Closer To Myself (view here), which chronicles her journey with her own illness and other aspects of her life. And she was recently interviewed by Rosalind Joffe for her widely read blog, Working With Chronic Illness. The interview can be found at (view here).
Submissions or questions? E-mail: gettingclosertomyself@gmail.com.
Just wanted to let you know that I posted this on my blog as well.
ReplyDeletehttp://rhymeswithmigraine.blogspot.com/2008/07/call-for-submissions-tell-your-own.html
This is a great project, Leslie, and I would love to be part of it!
Be well,
MJ
Thanks to MJ passing on the link, I too have posted the link in the WEGO Health Migraine Community, as well as Dystonia and Thyroid communities.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea!
I hadn't seen your blog before. I'll enjoy going thru it in the next days. From what I've seen so far, I'll get a lot from it.
Thanks!
Ellen Schnaeknberg
Visit my Blog
Thanks, MJ! I would love for you to be a part of it!
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm thinking about it, if you haven't seen this site before (or the forums there), this may be a great place to publicize it as well:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.butyoudontlooksick.com
Lots of young women there with various chronic illnesses who may be willing to share their stories.
I'll get working on mine over the summer and send it to you when I'm ready.
Be well,
MJ
Thanks, MJ! I do know that site, but I am not familiar with the forums. I will check it out!
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog and I love it. I live in Michigan, too, and I just got back from a trip to Mackinac, one of my favorite places. Wishing you the best of luck with your project!
ReplyDeleteHi Leslie,
ReplyDeleteWe're on the same wavelength, here, I think, since I just published Life Disrupted: Getting Real About Chronic Illness in Your Twenties and Thirties. In addition to my story it follows several patients with a variety of chronic illnesses, from life-altering to life-threatening--diabetes, fibromyalgia, celiac, cystic fibrosis, Ehlers-Danlos, to name a few.
You're right, there are definitely unique challenges to being chronically ill at this stage in life, and yet so many universals that connect all of us patients.
Anyway, not sure if you've already done this, but definitely check out ChronicBabe.com--Jenni is fantastic, and great about promoting calls for submissions like this. (She's also in my book, as is Rosalind Joffe and Kerri from Six Until Me).
Glad to see such interest in the younger adult patient population! Good luck!!
PS--Meant to add that I'll pass along the call for submissions, too! :) And update the Blogroll...
ReplyDeleteLaurie, I'm so glad you're reading my blog! I love reading yours. I just bought your book last week, but have yet to read it. I do enjoy Chronic Babe, so I'm glad you mentioned letting Jenni know about my call for submissions. I haven't done that yet.
ReplyDeleteHi there :-) I just came across your blog and added you to my links section on my blog... Hopefully I will have time in these next few weeks to write something for your call for submissions!
ReplyDeleteI am in my early 30's and been sick for 5 years with Lyme disease. I have 2 blogs: lymeadehealth.blogspot.com and lymeadehomeschool.blogspot.com. I'm not doing very well with my writing right now, as I'm not doing well in general. But if you can use anything from my blog, just let me know. Maybe I'll get a story in if things turn around before then. Particularly, I thought you might like my post called the "Not-so-merry-go-round of Lyme disease."
ReplyDeleteHi Leslie, I came across your blog because you were in Hopenotes ~ Rest Ministries. I have a chronic muscle disease, and frequent RM often. I am excited about your blog, and plan to thoroughly check it out in the next few days. I've just finished writing my memoir (about my illness & how it was a catalyst to finding God. It is all about my Christian growth). It will be published in 2009. Anyway, I recently started blogging...yes, there's some posts about my chronic illness, but its absolutely centered on Jesus. I would love to trade links w/you. Let me know. My blog's URL is... persevere-lori.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteGod bless,
Lori Laws
Hey there. Seconding the idea to post at the forums at butyoudontlooksick.com... I hang out there, and there's so many people there who have so much wisdom to share, and from what I can tell, the average age is pretty close to 30.
ReplyDeleteI just heard about this, and I'm definitely interested. I was thinking this week I should write an essay about what it's like to be chronically ill.
ReplyDelete