Thursday, March 25th, my new book Living Strong with Cerebral Palsy: The True Story of Amanda Forry-Fino is released. Living Strong with CP was a lot of work to write, so I’m very excited to get it out there. which I began writing on the day following my 27th birthday, and which will be published 13 days before my 31st birthday.
NOTE Living Strong with Cerebral Palsy book is 18+ includes dark issues and adult language and is not suitable for children or minors.
Although some chapters of the book have been challenging for me to write, somehow I managed it. So many people have asked me to write my life and how I live with my Cerebral Palsy, overcoming it. To me, having CP I have to overcome it each day. Writing it was very challenging for me because I knew I never wanted to return to what I had experienced in my past. Essentially, I was motivated to write it because I would like for other people to look at people with disabilities differently. In support of National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day, I gave away book copies to people who ordered shirts from #cpdreamteam. It bothers me that most of the #cpdreamteam shits were purchased by parents for their children. That’s unfair since my book contains language and content that children or minors might not understand. Leading me to adapt my book to be family-friendly. Having revised the early memories into a revised opening and climax within a few days, the book eventually came into its own, Cerebral Palsy Gal.
Living Strong With Cerebral Palsy: The True Story of Amanda Forry-Fino is the title of my memoir to be published this month, March 25. Living Strong with Cerebral Palsy is both inspirational and heartwarming, representing the struggles and victories of a young woman to discover her voice and develop her self-esteem to advocate for all people with severe disabilities.
The month before the launch of Living Strong With Cerebral Palsy: Amanda Forry-Fino’s True Story; In support of National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day, I gave away book copies to people who ordered shirts from #cpdreamteam. It bothers me that most of the #cpdreamteam shits were purchased by parents for their children. That’s unfair since my book contains language and content that children or minors might not understand. Leading me to adapt my book to be family-friendly. Having revised the early memories into a revised opening and climax within a few days, the book eventually came into its own, Cerebral Palsy Gal.
The Devils’ Maids Out of the Witchy Wonders Anthology”
When the ghouls come knocking, the witches come to play. Ever wonder how the witches party on the day of the dead? How the supernaturals play when the veil is thin? Well here’s your chance to find out all their secrets. From witches, to wizards, and all the wickedness. Come join these 20 authors as they discover what goes bump in the night. Authors include: T.K. Barber, K.J. Sage, N.K. Stackhouse, Chris Storm, Helena Novak, Bex Taylor, Stefani Kenna, Mira Kane, Zelda Knight, Lauren Smith, N.J. Ember, Krista Ames, Maria Vermisoglou, V. P. Allasander, Poppy Flynn, Sasha Fino, Lissa Lynn Thomas, Katherine Moore, Bethany Strobel, Michelle Scissom
THE DEVILS’ MAIDS Swish, swish, swish. The Devils’ Maids are coming this Halloween to sweep the streets clean of any wrongdoers. Esther, a witch, is seeking assistance. Will the Devils’ Maids provide assistance to Esther? My very first Book/Anthology is coming out this Halloween, tiled; The Devils’ Maids Out of the Witchy Wonders Anthology, is coming out HALLOWEEN DAY; 10/31/2020! In the meantime check out The Devils’ Maids Book Trailer.
I’m Astrid V.J., award-winning author, social anthropologist and transformational life coach. I would like to thank Amanda for reaching out to me and asking about my upcoming novel which is a project very close to my heart.
The Apprentice Storyteller is a fantasy/sci-fi cross-over about itinerant storyteller, Viola Alerion, and how she meets a boy who wants to become her apprentice. She is a grumpy, irascible person who doesn’t want to be saddled with any extra responsibility but the boy refuses to take no for an answer and eventually she gives in, accepting him as her apprentice and allowing him to accompany her on her travels.
Although The Apprentice Storyteller is all about a journey, it is not only the physical journey of an itinerant storyteller and her apprentice, nor is it merely a voyage of a boy learning about the universe and how it works while learning the art of storytelling. This is a story about the inner journey we are all capable of, the power we hold at the tips of our fingers and that most of us never tap into.
Viola’s journey is all about the realisation that something in the current situation, circumstance or condition causes dissatisfaction and the growing sense of longing we all feel in those times is a source of power. The novel looks at how to transform ones experience into something meaningful and, in so doing, transform the life one is living into something one loves.
When I was twelve, I wanted to become a writer. It was my most ardent dream and I worked on my novels every spare moment I had. I used to walk around with a big, hard-backed file under one arm and a pen in hand, constantly filling it up with spare sheets of paper.
In time, that dream became crowded by shadows and I gave into the thoughts that told me I’d never make it, that my books weren’t worth it and that writers are poor. I don’t know where the belief about finances came from but it was very powerful and stuck with me, leading me to even deny the many examples that belied that very thought. I dismissed J.K. Rowling, for example, by pointing out that there was no way my books could be as good as Harry Potter. At every turn, I denied myself any possibility of success and turned instead to something “reasonable” and studied Psychology, a subject I actually ended up hating and Anthropology, which I learned so much from.
The desire to write never left me and if I ignored my pen for too long, my heart strings would tug at me remorselessly. Over time, I continued to put myself down and particularly denied that my writing had any worth, even if others who read my books thought they were amazing and told me I should publish them. I don’t know exactly when the shift happened. It wasn’t some crazy “ah-ha” moment. It was more a gradual changing of perceptions and, at last, little over a year ago, I made a decision that I would reach for my dream and prove to myself that I am worthy of being an author no matter what. I’ve published three books since then and am working very hard on a whole lot more. I’ve met some amazing people on this journey as well and I am truly grateful for all the opportunities that have opened up before me.
Last year, I also found out about transformational life coaching and realised that it is my second calling. My interest in Psychology, back in the day, was based on my desire to help people overcome the difficulties of their lives, but I have no interest in telling people what is wrong with them. I’m much more interested in guiding people to find their own solutions to overcome the problems they face and to reach for the success they long for. The principles underlying human transformation are simple and can really bring about huge changes if we use them in the optimal way. Many of us start on the path of change, we make new year’s resolutions, we decide to diet and get into shape, we push for the dream job or vacation of a lifetime, but many of us try to bridge the gap in a disorganised way, without understanding how things work and how they fit together.
I came up with the idea for The Apprentice Storyteller many years ago but there was something missing and I realised during my certification training as a transformational life coach that the principles of transformation were my missing piece. As soon as the penny dropped, the story unfolded perfectly and took my breath away. It was entirely different from anything I’ve ever written before and totally challenged me to grow as a writer.
I wrote the manuscript in November during NaNoWriMo and have spent the past months trying to put together what I need to get the book to a professional editor because I take my readers as seriously as I like to be treated when I pick up a book. The original plan of using my income from my day job towards this project fell through when my husband lost his job and he’s still seeking, but I didn’t want my circumstances to stop this book from seeing the light of day, especially when it has the power to uplift and transform lives. I had to find the courage to acknowledge that the principles I’ve included in The Apprentice Storyteller can work for anyone, including me.
If you’d like to find out more about The Apprentice Storyteller, you can check out my Wattpad (where I have a few chapters available for free), or the crowdfund I set up as a pre-order for the book and an accompanying series of novellas. I recently did a live reading of the first three chapters.
Remember, no matter what it is you want to do, the power within you is far greater than any circumstance or situation you may find yourself in.
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau
How do you move forward when the past is holding you back? When the abuse from the past affects life choices in the present? Cerebral Palsy Gal is the riveting story of one woman’s quest to come to terms with her health, heartbreak, and family.Amanda was born with cerebral palsy. Throughout her life, she struggled against seemingly overwhelming odds to follow her dream – to be a best-selling writer. As a child, she endured appalling physical, mental, and emotional abuse from members of her own family, especially her mother, who could not accept Amanda’s condition. When her father was only fifty-nine, he died of cancer. She found comfort and solace with her grandmother – her “gragwa” as she called her – the only person in her childhood who cared for her. A chance meeting with a former U.S. intelligence officer and his family at a convention in Las Vegas gave Amanda the chance to be part of a loving family she so dearly craved.Cerebral Palsy Gal is the remarkable story of survival against the odds, a poignant, inspiring, and utterly compelling account of one person finding her own voice and, in turn, becoming the voice of those who, through disability, cannot speak for themselves.
This Sunday, my autobiography is coming out, and I still wonder where I got the strength to write CP gal after years of people asking for it for many years — saying no out of fear. Remember back to years ago, I recalled my birth-mother telling me to write it, Yet I didn’t because it won’t be the whole real truth like it is. Back then, I didn’t do anything remarkable in my life like now. In it, I wrote the real hardships that I have endured growing up with cerebral palsy. I found my own voice in the hopes of becoming the voice for those who, through disability, cannot speak for themselves. Writing Cerebral Palsy Gal was very therapeutic, expressing myself to being very truthful. I realized that telling my inner emotions had helped me heal some of the pain I had hidden away since childhood, and it was tough to write, reliving my worst memories and such. I’m proud that I wrote all down even when I was no angel telling my hugest mistakes and f ***’s up. I have written CP Gal in hopes of helping others with Cerebral Palsy. Some will love CP Gal, calling me a hero or an inspirational. There will be some who would be calling me every name in the book.
Everyone pictures people with CP or with another disabled adult as being innocent and vulnerable. They treat us, disabled adults like children. I think my story could help open people’s eyes. Having a disability does not make someone less of an adult, innocent, or unaware. I have sexual wants and desires of a woman desiring a companion. It’s hard, hurtful, and has become a thick cloud of lust, of wanting sex but not having it. My biological mother turned from a loving mother to someone who hated me while I grew up. This feeling locked me up through my teen years. She manipulated my thinking and behavior, such as making me unfriend Jessica, my beloved life-long best friend, and family that she had brainwashed me to hate and such. I’ve survived three murder attempts by her hand. She made me feel like an animal/monster that needed to be locked up, and she tried to get me locked me up in a mental asylum or a group home for disabled people to forget about me — acting like I was never her daughter. Sadly, to say, I don’t believe our paths will cross again. I have my own life, and she has her own life that’s isn’t web together. There is so much worse than my mom had done to me after my dad passed on that I won’t write here. I recall that night when she admitted: “I have hated you since the day I found out that you have CP.” Since that night, I lost something dear to my heart. My undying-daughterly love for her, knowing that she’ll never come to love me as me.
My biological father had this golden heart, a warning, a substantial great smile, and such a pleasant personality. I hold no antagonism against my father. Now that I’m older, I see that my dad was under her thumb and gas-lit when it comes right down to it by my mom. He tried hard to please my mom with shopping money, gifts, yard work, doing what she said or wanted, even if he had to turn away from his mom, brother, and his three sisters for good. At times I never understood, but now as I type, he was like myself, brainwashed by Mom. Everyone tells me that I am just like him, carrying on his happy-go-lucky attitude. God, I wish he was here today, along with his mother, my grandma, that I was only sixteen when I last saw my grandma. Grandma, I love you, and I regret the last time we saw each other! Right now, I feel like there needs to be a book on adult matters of a full flesh woman that has Cerebral Palsy — expressing my deep inner emotions within myself — having a unique person outlook on life. In hopes for other young people that has Cerebral Palsy not to make the same mistake as I did. Person Gain is not who I am or why CP Gal is coming out for. in turn, becoming the voice of those who, through disability, cannot speak for themselves. The forward for CP Gal was written by my best friend, Tylia L Flores, from Stomping on Cerebral Palsy with Tylia and a Writer at The Mighty. I’m lucky that I have great friendships within the cerebral palsy advocacy Facebook community. Heaven Ramsey from Stairway To The Stars Heaven’s Journey With CP and the co-founder of the #CPDreamTeam t-shirts for National and World CP Day each year along with Richelle Heath. Charisse Hogan is an excellent friend from Charisse Living with Cerebral Palsy. I am looking to the future!
I guess I trying to say Holy Moly I wrote it at last. I have thank god for giving me the will power to write CP Gal.
Amanda was born with cerebral palsy. Throughout her life, she struggled against seemingly overwhelming odds to follow her dream – to be a best-selling writer. As a child, she endured appalling physical, mental, and emotional abuse from members of her own family, especially her mother, who could not accept Amanda’s condition. At age fifty-nine, her father died of cancer. She found comfort and solace with her grandmother – her ‘gragwa’ as she called her – the only person in her childhood who cared for her. A chance meeting with a former US intelligence officer and his family at a convention in Las Vegas gave Amanda the chance to be part of a loving family she so dearly craved. Cerebral Palsy Gal is the remarkable story of survival against the odds, a poignant, inspiring, and utterly compelling account of one person finding her own voice and, in turn, becoming the voice of those who, through disability, cannot speak for themselves.
My name is Amanda Fino. I’m thrilled and excited to say that my new book, CP Gal, is coming out on December 15, 2019. In it, I wrote the real hardships that I have endured growing up with cerebral palsy. I found my own voice in the hopes of becoming the voice for those who, through disability, cannot speak for themselves. Coming out from my beloved book publishing company, Blue Fortune Enterprises, LLC, on December 15, 2019. My dream is to have it on Amazon’s bestseller list in its first week. I’m looking for help to spread the word. Writing my autobiography was very therapeutic. It allowed me to express myself, my truth. https://www.facebook.com/events/768447166901838/
I feel like
there needs to be a book on adult matters of a full-flesh woman that has
Cerebral Palsy — expressing my deep inner emotions within myself. Having a
unique personal outlook on life, I admit that I made a lot of horrible mistakes
on my behalf, and I own up to ALL of them. In hopes for other young people that
has Cerebral Palsy not to make the same mistake as I did.
In honor of CP Gal, I invite all of you to share this in hopes of spreading disability awareness. Your help is needed for those who suffer from Cerebral Palsy and other Maladies. Let’s make a movement in history. Please take a second to sign this petition. http://chng.it/b6VmsmvLdJ
Thank you
for taking the time from your busy schedule to read this.
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