March is filled with all kinds of excitement. Geese are flying back from their winter migragtion, the chipmunks are once again romping around the yard, and the sun is shinning down with bright warm rays that evoke a sense of spring cleaning among us folks.  There is so much to do and my personal calendar holds no exception to the business of the season.

This week my friend Lisa Buske and I will once again be traveling to our writer's critique group. It is always such a nice night out with a wonderful group of friends. This month I am bringing a special piece of work and I am very excited to be having it looked over by some great writers. Their input will help me in my final copy which is due in two weeks.

On Wednesday I will be coaching my team in the Battle of the Books. Since December the kids have been reading books, memorizing the title and author of each, and practicing the study questions and participating in mock battles. They have been working very hard. After our building battle medals will be awarded and the first place team will proceed to the district battle on March 28th. The Rockin' Readers are ready for the challenge !!

My focus will then be turning to my speaking engagement for the HOPE Network on March 28th. A spa day is being held in honor of mothers who are raising children with disabilities. (Yes, I get to speak and enjoy spa treatments...the best of both worlds!) I have been asked to talk about my experiences as a mother so I prepared my speech accordingly. Now I just need to do a run through to ensure that it fits into the time constraints. There will be approxiamtely 65 participants at the event, and each one will be going home with a copy of Sometimes The Wind Blows Sideways: Our Lives with a Special Needs Child.

At school the kids have been working on the character trait Fairness. I have been working with the Oswego Arise office to bring in a speaker to our assembly to talk to the entire student body on exactly what fairness is.  It does not always mean treating everyone the same, it means to give everyone gets what they need. Our goal is to show the school examples of this so that they will come away with an understanding of why some people get certain things while others do not.

My calendar is also filled in with various appointments and two birthday parties before the months' end, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel because as March goes out like a lamb it will bring me into spring break and allow for some much needed time to relax.

What does this distinguished group of people have in common? They all came out to help celebrate the part that they took in spreading disability awareness. As contributing authors to the book Sometimes The Wind Blows Sideways: Our Lives with a Special Needs Child, each of these individuals offered a unique perspective on how a disability has touched a loved one in their lives. The gathering came just in time to kick off Disability Awareness Month and was held at the Oswego Arise office.

Autographs please!
How often do you get a group of writers from the same book together in one room? I took full advantage of it and had everyone there pen me their John Hancock on the page where their story appeared. While not every author could attend this event, I am pleased that I was able to get as many signatures as I could.

Dinner, laughs, and good conversation:
The evening went by quickly as conversations passed among us. After our meal we all gathered for a photo shoot before retreating back to our lives. Once back home I got a nice surprise when I found out that the book was being sold at Barnes & Noble!  I pasted a copy of the link below for anyone who wishes to purchase a book.  A little birdie also told me to be watching out for a write up in the newspaper about our evening so I'll keep you post






Where To Pick Up a Copy:

Estore:
https://www.createspace.com/3703816

Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Sometimes-Wind-Blows-Sideways-Quonce/dp/1466419180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321650454&sr=8-1

Barnes & Noble.com:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sometimes-the-wind-blows-sideways-amy-quonce/1036936317?ean=9781466419186&itm=1&usri=amy+quonce

Kindle
Store:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00757ISSM

River's End Bookstore: Oswego, NY

We've shared our stories and connected with one another through the power of words. Now thanks to the Oswego Arise, we will get the chance to met one another in person!

Celebrating the kick off of Developmental Disability Awareness Month, every partcipant who submitted a story to Sometimes The Wind Blows Sideways: Our Lives with a Special Needs Child will be invited to a special get to know you session at the Oswego Arise Office in March.  The families will enjoy a casual dinner while socializing with one another. It will be a wonderful opportunity for both the kids and adults to make new friends!

Having a child with a disability, whether physical or mental, is a daily challenge.  Arise is a non profit organization that advocates for the individual and their families.  The following is their mission statement:

ARISE’s mission is to work with  people of all abilities to create a fair and
just community in which everyone  can fully participate.

We  embrace the guiding principles of independent living – that individuals
with  disabilities have a right to dignity, personal responsibility, and 
self-determination. ARISE offers advocacy and support services to people of all 
ages with all types of disabilities.

I am very excited to be teaming up with Arise to extend this offer to all of the people who shared a part of their lives with the world via my book. The feedback that I have got from my readers have been overwheleming. Over and over I have been told that Sometimes The Wind Blows Sideways: Our Lives with a Special Needs Child has brought inspiration, laughter, tears, and joy to many people's lives. This night will be a way to say thank you and to connect everyone involved.