October is one of my favorite months. It’s a great time to take a vacation, but this year, I’m doing no such thing. In fact, I’m working harder than I ever have. Earlier this month, my educator-recommended novel, The Heart of Applebutter Hill, was chosen for the AllAuthor “Cover of the Month” Competition. I’m so excited to report that it is now in round three – the top 50 vote-getters!
Print copy of The Heart of Applebutter Hill and Blooming Amaryllis: photo by Rich Hill.
Getting the Vote Out
I’ve been working my butt off, following every lead and using social media in ways I would have never dreamed of only a month ago. I need your help to get into the fourth (top 25) round. If you just want to go vote, here’s the link. Instructions for people using the Jaws screen reader are below, along with a description of the book cover. https://allauthor.com/cover-of-the-month/5725/
Can you help me? Options include spreading this news via your social media pages, direct mailings or word of mouth. Re-blog this post. Share my social media posts. I’m @dewhill on Twitter & Donna W. Hill on LinkedIn & Facebook. The Heart of Applebutter Hill has its own FB fan page – the links are at the end of this post.
Description of the Book Cover of The Heart of Applebutter Hill
The cover of The Heart of Applebutter Hill shows a cave scene – stalactites reflected in an underground lake. In the bottom right, a hand holds the blue, heart-shaped Heartstone of Arden-Goth. Photos by Rich Hill; cover design by Bob Lizza, Lizza Studios.
The idea for the book cover, however, came from yours truly. I have a beautiful blue glass heart-shaped paperweight, which was given to me by my “secret sister” when I belonged to a women’s circle at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Glenside, Pennsylvania. The cave scene is a bit of a secret. I would like to find out if anyone recognizes it. I will say that it is a spiritual location that inspires me.
Some Thoughts on the Big Picture
Why is this so important to me? It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and a celebration for me of twenty-nine years as a breast cancer survivor. I am aware that life is short and that there is a reason each of us is here, a unique perspective on the human condition we hold in our hearts and share as a gift to Life.
I was born legally blind, and I feel a deep obligation to smooth the trail a bit. People are still dealing with the devastating impact of misguided, erroneous and cruel prejudices about our potentials. These prejudices are held by people who refuse to accept the truth of our common humanity.
The sighted world needs to learn about and embrace us for at least two reasons. First, many of us have developed survival, coping and innovation skills that seem to be far less common in the general public. We know how to press on. We don’t have the luxury of giving up after a few tries. We endure humiliation and find ways of coping with it.
Secondly, there are people out there, from children to senior citizens, who are unknowingly living as temporarily sighted people. Most of the people in the world who are now blind lost their sight as adults. They grew up as sighted kids, soaking up all of the negative stereotypes about blindness, until they found themselves having to give up on life or transform their thinking about what it means to be blind.
Social Change Through Literature
Blind people come from every race, religion, ethnic, social, age and economic group. To change the minds of the next generation, we need to get our young adult novels & autobiographies into the classroom, where books can open young minds about the abilities and common humanity of people with vision loss. I have been working on this issue all of my adult life, using music, classroom visits, school assemblies and now through literature.
Yes, we can open minds about blindness through literature. A book can give sighted people a safe place to get to know a blind person. It’s also important that young blind people get to see themselves in an exciting adventure fantasy. I believe it can help bridge the gap between the sighted public and the blind community and help kids who are losing their sight to realize they are not alone.
Voting Instructions for Jaws Users
Go on over to: https://allauthor.com/cover-of-the-month/5725/
- The page title is “Vote for The Heart of Applebutter Hill“
- From the top of the page, use ‘h to next heading which is the book title The Heart of Applebutter Hill.
- Down-arrow past author & genre till you hear a number followed by “Vote button.” At this writing I have 167 votes, so it should say, “167 Vote Button.”
- Enter.
- You will be prompted to sign up to the site; choose ‘author or ‘reader. You can establish a nice profile, but you don’t have to.
- Give your email, password and sign up. You’ve just voted.
More Links
Facebook Fan Page for The Heart of Applebutter Hill: https://m.facebook.com/TheHeartOfApplebutterHill/
Donna’s Profile on Facebook Mobile: https://m.facebook.com/home.php?r5af25bf3&refid=8
FaceBook.com: http://www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dewhill
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
Donna’s WordPress Blog: http://DonnaWHill.com
The Heart of Applebutter Hill 
Reblogged this on Campbells World and commented:
Here we are again on this WordPress Wednesday and this time we have author blogger, Donna W. Hill to talk to us about her book and what she’s up to.
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