Aspiring author with Sickle Cell Disease

Hi, my name is Bridgette, and a couple of years ago (5 to be exact), I found my love for writing. So I want to raise funds to self-publish my debut novel.

My mother adores anything and everything fantasy, so I grew up with a very active imagination. I one day decided to express this imagination on paper, and it became an instant obsession, an outlet, something for me to do while I’m bedridden due to my illness.

Sickle Cell, for those of you who aren't aware, is a blood disease that hinders the blood and oxygen from getting to certain parts of the body, which causes excruciating pain during what is called a pain crisis. The duration of the discomfort can vary as well as its intensity. Sickle Cell also causes fatigue and the deterioration of organs. Every sickle cell patient is different, but I have a pain crisis almost every day, sometimes all day. It hinders me from working a traditional 9 to 5, so I’m almost entirely reliant on my mother for everything.

When I told her I had finally finished one of my books and wanted to publish it, her immediate response was to check her savings account; of course, there wasn’t much in it. Honestly, there never are these days because when it rains, it pours, and it always seems to be pouring in my household.

At the end of 2018, after a particularly grueling pain crisis, I woke up Christmas morning almost completely devoid of sight. I was rushed to the hospital, and after many tests, the doctors found an aneurysm. To say we were beside ourselves would be an understatement. My mother had already lost one child due to Sickle Cell, so it’s always in the back of our minds that it could happen again. By the grace of God, I eventually regained my sight later that day, and the doctors set up a plan to treat my aneurysm. Fast forward a few months later, after I received surgery for a stent placement, I started to feel a sharp pain in my side. At first, I thought it was just gas from all of my new medications, but the pain grew worse over time, and it became hard to breathe. Come to find out, I had blood filling my lungs which landed me in the hospital again, only this time around, my stay was much longer. Throughout this whole period, my mother was out of work to care for me, and although she is now employed, times are still hard. Between covid, the recession, and just the unforeseeable things that pop up in life in general, times are hard.

I know that if my mother had the money to support my aspirations, she would in a heartbeat, but she, unfortunately, doesn’t. I’m asking for your help to help me realize my dream of self-publishing my book and, in doing so, allowing me to take steps to enrich my life and future as well as hopefully take some of the weight off of my mother’s shoulders.

Your much-appreciated donations would go towards the following:

• An editor

• Cover art

• Copyright fees

• ISBNs and more.

Thank you so much for your time and patience. I will try to post updates to keep you all in the loop so that you can follow my progress in my publishing journey. Have a blessed day, evening, and night.