Justin in wheelchair in front of word wall of literary words such as wordsmith, essayist, comedian, scriptwriter, novelist, poet, and quote "Noble words coming. Look out. Could you try your hand at it you..." from James Joyce, Ulysses.
Writing

DONE! (WITH THE FIRST DRAFT)

Time to pop the champagne! Oh, wait, I don’t drink alcohol! At three minutes before eleven o’clock last night, in a big rush, I finished the first draft of the book I have been working on for the past year. I am going to take a month off before I go back to edit this… Continue reading DONE! (WITH THE FIRST DRAFT)

Justin in wheelchair in front of word wall of literary words such as wordsmith, essayist, comedian, scriptwriter, novelist, poet, and quote "Noble words coming. Look out. Could you try your hand at it you..." from James Joyce, Ulysses.
Accessibility (#A11y), travel, Writing

Random post of random thoughts

Writer's life: currently at 99k words I'm almost DONE with my last round of edits before betas. Not much time for blogging. Dream trip is DONE! I'm done writing about my dream trip. I was going to write about some stuff that didn't work well for me on the trip. I had an amazing trip… Continue reading Random post of random thoughts

Justin, young man laughing, wearing red and black houndstooth plaid shirt, seated in power wheelchair, in front of One Minnesota 2023 Inaugural Celebration banner with yellow and blue pine trees
Accessibility (#A11y), Advocacy, travel, Writing

Hello 2023 – AWE

Welcome to 2023, everyone. Here’s my annual post about my 2023 goals. This year is going to be AWEsome as I Advocate, Write, and Explore. Advocate Affordable and accessible housing Watch the awesome video of the Minnesota Council on Disability Legislative Forum where I recently spoke with Minnesota State Representative Reyer about the dire need… Continue reading Hello 2023 – AWE

Justin, young man, seated in wheelchair in front of adapted computer keyboard and joystick mouse, smiling at camera, Word document open on computer monitor, We are Wimbledon flag above monitor
Uncategorized

Random updates: Housing, Football & Travels

Advocacy: MCD Legislative Forum Just filmed part of my presentation yesterday for the MN Council of Disability’s (MCD) Legislative Forum coming up on December 16, 2022. Honored to be presenting along with Representative Reyer, the Public Policy Director from the Arc MN, and MCD board member about accessible affordable housing legislation. You can learn more… Continue reading Random updates: Housing, Football & Travels

Justin and his dad in the crowd
Advocacy, Music, Writing

“Never let ‘em break you down”

Actually, independent living in and of itself, is cool. It’s the systems that I need for support that I’m finding incredibly frustrating. Going to keep up the good fight to live a self-directed life! “No matter how far I go, I always end up back here” Remember when I said I was getting a housing… Continue reading “Never let ‘em break you down”

Justin, young smiling man seated in wheelchair in front of adapted keyboard, in living room
Uncategorized

A week of action

Done! I have been keeping a little secret. I have finished the first draft of the book. Yes, I finished on Monday - early by three weeks. This is dual point of view (well, really multi POV) because I wanted to do this from different perspectives and for what the book is dealing with, I… Continue reading A week of action

Advocacy, Music, Writing

86k: what’s next?

I am currently at 86k words and nearing completion of the first draft of the sci-fi fantasy book I have been working on for the last year. My deadline is sometime in the first week of June. I’ll take a little time off before the rewrite process. What am I going to do before the… Continue reading 86k: what’s next?

Justin Smith and Mary Lucia smiling
Accessibility (#A11y), Advocacy, Writing

Independence Year Updates

Short blog today because I want to work on my other writing today. I’m continuing to make progress on putting the pieces together: Housing voucher is officially approved which means my apartment is officially affordable with my paying a percentage of my SSI income on rent. This is a huge thing – many people wait… Continue reading Independence Year Updates