Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Michelle. I’m a novelist, a radio professional, and a disabled person. I have ankylosing spondylitis, an immune-mediated auto-inflammatory disease that’s trying to destroy my hips, seize my rib cage, and turn my spine into one lone bone — oh, and chew on the rest of my joints for snacks. … Continue reading
Editor’s note: The last twelve months (and counting) of living during a global pandemic has had an affect on us Spoonies, so I thought I would do a six-week series, asking some of our contributing authors the same questions about how they are managing spoons, one year later. This week’s featured author: Christina Robins SpAN … Continue reading
I spent 2014 in an acute state of fear. Yeah, I know that seems hyperbolic, but I was quite terrified. The chronic pain I had been experiencing from the neuropathy of fibromyalgia had levelled up to a state where it felt like someone had injected several areas of my body with burning hot, vibrating curling … Continue reading
I am delighted to announce that we’ll have a new series starting on February 9, 2020 called internalized abelism. Several of our past contributors (and some new ones) will share with us how they’ve wrestled with their own ableism—which they might have also used against themselves—and how these attitudes have affected their lives. It’s really … Continue reading
SpAN Editor Cait Gordon has a few words to share about the upcoming year. Closed captioning is available for this video. Happy new year! Continue reading
Editor’s note: I invited Derek Newman-Stille to share with us their own experience with writing fiction, as some people might only know them as a champion in elevating speculative fiction authors and/or disabled voices. Their short story, Charity™, is the grand finale of the Nothing Without Us anthology. Most of my writing about disability has … Continue reading
A few years ago, someone asked me if I would ever write a novel with a character who had MS. I told him no. My reasons for this at the time seemed simple. I already wrote a blog about living with multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. That seemed like enough for me. My thought at … Continue reading
I love the Spoonie Authors Network. It’s been a blessing since its inception and continues to inspire (in a healthy way) wonderful things. The SpAN allowed me to gather up people who experience disability and chronic conditions in various ways. Sometimes it allowed the creatives to come to terms with the fact that they are … Continue reading
This week I’m getting my geek on a bit. I am now in the post-Game-of-Thrones era, and while I pretty much despised most of the last three episodes, there’s one thing in particular that rubbed me the wrong way. WARNING: This article is spoilery, so maybe stop reading now if you want to watch Season … Continue reading
