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At the end of July back in 2014, a former coworker shared a blog post written by a parent, advising how to best interact with her child with disabilities.
I responded to her, realizing that the parent's advice did not necessarily match what I would suggest -- as an actually disabled person. I wrote a personal response to this, and when I realized there were likely more people who could benefit from it, I made it into my first blog post.
I created this blog, Tonia Says, the following day: July 29, 2014.
To celebrate blogging here for the last 7 years, I wanted to answer your questions. So last month, I put the word out on my social media -- and I'm so glad to have the chance to answer your questions!
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| [Image: Frosted cupcakes are lit with 7 candles] |
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What written work (any format) are you proudest of and why?
As far as blog posts, I'm proudest of When Accessing Basic Needs Is Anything But Basic. I worked on it for most of a year, and shared about things I had yet to share about. It's a really important post and one that means a lot to me, because of how common an issue lack of access is for disabled people -- even in our own homes.
I also have another post coming up about medical trauma and CP that I'm really excited to share.
As far as other writing, I think I'm proudest of Found, which I finished in 2019 and took me nearly a year to write.
For those who may be unfamiliar, Found is the fifth story in my current disability fiction series. It's long. It covers a lot of ground and a lot of topics, like abuse, like trauma, like parents coming face to face with their own ableism.
I'm proudest of it because it's something I got to work collaboratively on with my sister. (She wrote the equivalent of ten chapters of much-needed content.) I'm the most proud of it because I think -- more than any other -- it digs deep into these topics and stays with the characters through their discomfort.
Plus, I really enjoy all the seeds that are planted there for future stories.
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How do you continually find inspiration for new blog posts?
All over!
I still have a list of prompts saved from my brief days when my content was published on The Mighty. I enjoy taking those prompts and kind of reinterpreting them if I have no other ideas.
I also get ideas from media -- podcasts, Netflix shows. If something catches my interest and I want to delve more into it I do.
I'm a part of a couple groups on social media where I see a lot of the same questions asked by parents of kids with CP. If I see a question asked a lot -- or a topic that keeps creeping up that I feel needs addressing, I make sure to do that via a blog post.
And finally, I get most of my ideas from my people in my life. My blog post series ideas have all spawned from people in my life suggesting them -- except the writing disabled characters series -- that was a rare idea that was all mine.
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About your experience writing Disuphere: Who is the easiest POV to write from and who is most difficult?
Honestly, Jesus's POV was probably the easiest to write for me. His came really naturally.
And His POV was the most difficult. I'm glad writing the story didn't end up taking longer than it did because by the end, it really started doing stuff to my mental health to keep writing a character like that. To get inside His head and kind of live there.
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Which of your characters are you the most fond of and why?
I think it changes story to story, to be honest.
So, right now, I'm fondest of Weston. He's really intriguing -- and really the first character I get to follow through his whole life.
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How do you plan the structure of your stories? Is the process always the same or does it change with different books?
The thing is, I really don't.
For Disuphere, I knew I wanted to tell one story in the present and another in the past. For The Crossing I did explore the idea of telling a story in 40 scenes / 3 acts, because my main character was into theater.
But generally, two weeks before I start writing, I get an idea, and then I spend those two weeks either getting to know a new character or brainstorming general ideas with Tara. (If the situation calls for it, Tara makes me a really good timeline or a map.)
But the structure of the stories is really a living, breathing thing.
The characters tell me where to go next.
I very rarely know how a story will end. But I know the end when I reach it, if that makes sense.
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Is there anything you regret writing? Or would want to rewrite differently?
As far as blog posts, I don't have any I regret writing. There are a couple I have rewritten since they were originally posted. So that they reflect events more honestly.
My biggest fear has really been that I'd have regrets over things I haven't written.
In 2020, with the pandemic hitting, I made the decision to stop holding back and be as honest as I could safely be. That's when the rewrites of those posts took place.
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What's your favorite blog series over the years? What's your favorite media review?
I'm keeping these questions together because my answer is the same: our 13 Reasons Why brain injury representation blog series is my favorite because it's so in depth.
I love being able to discuss so many different facets of representation. And the fact that it is largely positive means that I don't feel as though my soul is being sucked out of my body -- which is the case with so much (negative) media representation that I get asked to comment on.
(Please come check out our current series! Tara and I are working really hard on it and we're loving the opportunity to share it!)
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What do you love about having CP? (I know you’ve answered this before kinda, but I’m curious to see if your answer has changed at all!)
I love the people in the CP community, and I love how we support each other. I love our ability to adapt (because it's such an undervalued skill and we rock at it.) I love CP laughter and being able to see myself in the faces and the movements of others with CP.
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