Today Robyn Campbell, the host of Robyn Campbell's Blog is here today to
talk about Kissed by an Angel and what this anthology means to her. Thank
you Robyn, please, the floor is yours.
First of all, thank you from the bottom of my heart
for asking me to do a guest post about the Kissed by an Angel anthology,
Yolanda. For those who don’t know about the anthology,
my son Christopher was born with a rare brain disorder called Sturge-Weber
Syndrome. The money from sales goes to the Sturge-Weber Foundation, which aids
in research, supports families, educates, is a physician referral service,
supports medical education programs and more. In 2013 the gene that causes
Sturge-Weber was discovered. GNAQ! Now we have the opportunity for better
treatment options. And maybe even a cure.
Yolanda gave me some ideas about what I should write
about, and I chose to talk about my inspiration for the anthology. My son
Christopher has had a lot of problems due to this disorder. Seizures, Glaucoma, learning disabilities, and a host of
other ugliness. But one thing remains. His outlook. All through his life,
people (adults and kids alike) have stared
and mentioned to us they had makeup to
hide the port-wine mark, or asked me if I was embarrassed to have him out and
about. So when he was little, I told him
he was kissed by an angel. I said the angel wanted to make sure people could
see the specialness that was him. His life is an inspiration to me. I have observed
his reactions to people. He has such a gentle spirit. I cannot be mad or sad
and look in his eyes because I know I will smile and laugh and feel warm
inside. He’s my light.
His sweet face inspired the other authors in the
anthology. They added that to the blurb about Christopher being their
inspiration.
Sturge-Weber causes seizures, stroke, blindness,
paralysis, glaucoma, and blindness. Christopher’s case is rare in that the
port-wine mark covers 90 percent of his body. So it’s over his major organs,
heart, kidneys, lungs and liver. Anywhere that mark is can be affected. I used to worry constantly about all of this,
but now I take it one day at a time, one foot in front of the other. I came to
realize some things are out of my control. I had to let God have this, or I
would have never made it through the tough times. This past summer and fall we
went through some scary testing with Christopher. They thought he had an
aneurysm in his brain. It was a mistake. You cannot believe the relief we felt
after they told us the great news.
Christopher’s sister has an illustration for my story. So
that was a family affair. My story is true. It’s about when Christopher was
going for his black belt and having a lot of seizures. He used to have many,
many in a day’s time. Sometimes, close to 80. This did damage his brain.
I hope everyone will buy the anthology. It will be in
print and ebook. It launches this coming week. The other authors are (in
alphabetical order) Yvette Carol, Catherine Johnson, Lynn Kelley, Vivian
Kirkfield, Ellen Leventhal, Suzy Levinson, Hope Lim, Theresa Milstein,
Cheryl Secomb and my buddy (13-year-old) Erik Weibel. Erik is a fabulous
writer. I love him dearly. Of course, ALL these authors are dear to mine and my
family’s heart. Christopher and Erik are buddies. J Yvette Carol did the cover art,
Lynn Kelley the graphic design and Mikey Brooks the interior design.
Thank you, my friend,
for inviting me over. You are beautiful. Inside and out.
*****
Thank you, Robyn, Christopher is a beautiful soul, an angel
sent to earth with a heavenly purpose. How blessed we all are by his presence.
Wander with us onto a magical island ship, uncover an
amazing secret, and solve a very fishy mystery. Discover a World War II
codebreaker, captivating garden, time machine, undercover agents, bug master,
plus more. And meet a special boy who was kissed by an angel.
Her latest projects are a middle-grade adventure novel and a children’s writing book. Robyn is a member of SCBWI, The Writers Workshop, and the North Carolina Writers Network.
Robyn lives in North Carolina on a horse
farm where she has plenty of fodder for her stories. She is married to Gene,
and together they homeschool their family.
Robyn can be found at http://robyncampbell.com/,https://www.facebook.com/robyn.campbell.587
and https://twitter.com/authorswrite.
Kissed By An Angel
