This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. David will be awarding a library edition audio book (US only) or if an international winner, a $15 Amazon/BN GC, to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
1. Speed Demon or Too many books, too little time:
I speed listen to my audio books; it’s similar to your speed reading print books. Take a look at how: http://www.katc.com/story/34517232/whats-your-story-episode-8-lafayette
2. Happiness in a Bottle or Aromacologically yours:
I want to have a fragrance developed just for me. Why should the celebrities have all the fun! I have read about aroma therapy and think it would be interesting. I am so tired of being told what to like, having this and that odoriferous junk shoved at me by sales people who know nothing of the craft and tradition of the great fashion houses and their aromatic accomplishments. Would my signature scent contain hyraceum, ambroxan, chypre or fougère notes? Look out Osmothèque, think fragrance library, here I come.
3. Dvorak or As easy as A, O, E:
I want to be the world’s fastest blind typist. I learned the Dvorak layout but have had no end of trouble searching for a new keyboard. Mine is getting old. For those curious minds out there who want to know, the Dvorak layout rearranges the letters of the alphabet such that typing is easier on the hands. The most commonly used letters are on the home row: AOEU ID HTNS. The QWERTY layout was deliberately made to slow the typist down because the mechanism that struck the letters would jam.
4. Travel or The grass is “always” greener:
I want to live one year in a foreign country. It can be an English-speaking country such as Australia, England, or Canada.
5. Hack Attack or Wouldn’t it be nice:
I wish I had the cerebral gifts to become a hacker. An e-friend hinted he makes $300 an hour and he’s blind! I know few blind people making that kind of money. Not all of my blind friends are employed. I know how that can feel.
Lagniappe.
Let me explain, using material from my A Year in the Life of a Blind Bibliophile. “In Louisiana, there exists the custom of lagniappe. The word is derived from the Quechua (or Inca) language of South America and was brought to New Orleans by the Spanish Creoles. Broadly, it refers to the practice by merchants of including a bit of unexpected extra with a purchase.”
6. Suede Gloves or What do those pages really feel like:
I want to examine old books. I wonder what pages in the Gutenberg Bible feel like. Is vellum like suede, and is parchment similar? What would a papyrus feel like? Or Johnson’s famous dictionary – bibliographical and lexicographical minds want to know.
Thank you
Scopist65@gmail.com
PS Scopist refers to scoping, a kind of legal editing associated with court reporters.
Friends and family. Restaurants and recipes. Hobbies and history. TV programs the author loved when he could see and music he enjoys. The schools he attended and the two degrees he attained. The career that eluded him and the physical problems that challenge him. And books, books, books: over 200 of them quoted from or reviewed. All In all, an astonishing work of erudition and remembrance.
Read an Excerpt:
Introduction
More than at any other time, when I hold a beloved book in my hand, my limitations fall from me, my spirit is free. —Helen Keller (1880–1968)
I have long wanted to write and publish something, be it an historic novel, a young adult novel, or nonfiction. When, in November 2013, Dr. Katherine Schneider asked me to read and review her just–published Occupying Aging, I conquered my usual reservations: Would I be a good reviewer? Would I be able to write something interesting and help her book sales? I dove in and came up with this review, which appeared on www.goodreads.com:
This book, with its mixture of the quotidian and sublime, stands as an interesting glimpse into the life of one early 21st–century woman. Schneider, a retired psychologist, recounts a year of thoughts and events in this journal. Her ruminations on death, spirituality, dogs, and navigating the landscape of the sighted as a totally blind inhabitant of her Wisconsin college town are enlightening. Touches of humor involving Fran, her Seeing Eye® dog, add a sense of fun.
As someone who is acquainted with Dr. Schneider (we have exchanged emails), I could wish I occupied my 40s quite as well as she does her 60s. The proactive attempts to educate about disability issues, the volunteering, and the public speaking are outstanding. Maybe some of her enthusiasm for life will rub off on all her readers.—An excellent vade mecum, a handbook, for handling the uncertainties of retirement.
While reading her book and formulating my review, I thought, Oh! I just might be able to write something in this journal–type format. So I jumped in right then, not waiting to begin on the more traditional January 1. I thought that to wait was to postpone indefinitely and fail; to start could mean a chance at a successful resolution. Who says a journal has to run from January 1 to December 31 to be of interest?
So, everyone, here goes nothing!
About the Author: I’m pleased to take a moment to talk about myself and what makes me tick. I’d have to say books, books, and more books. Let me explain. Braille and recorded books take me places and show me things I would otherwise never get to encounter. They see for me by their descriptions, their vivid word pictures, and lyrical prose. They befriend me when I'm lonely, educate me when I'm curious, and amuse me when I'm in a blue mood. I have always known I could pick up a book and for a time be in a better or at least A different place. Books don't judge, ignore, or marginalize us. I remember long, hot, Louisiana summers that were perfect for curling up with a good book. I have had to struggle some nights to put the book away because I’d not be able to get up for work the next morning. That’s being a bit too biblioholic.
I have worked as a medical transcriptionist and braille instructor. I attended library school in the late 1990s when the Internet was starting to take off. I ran an audio blog for several years. I have also served on the board of a nonprofit organization that attempted to start a radio reading service in the town where I live. Since 2006, I have reviewed audio books for Library Journal.
http://www.dldbooks.com/davidfaucheux/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16933334.David_L_Faucheux
Buy the book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, or Smashwords.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
