An Interview with Ellen Tomaszewski

Interview for The Book Blues www.thebookblues.com.

1. Can you tell us a little more about your book and how you came into writing? (Is it fiction, based on your experience with your daughter, or non-fiction?)

  My Blindy Girl is a memoir (non-fiction). When Katy was born, I recognized that she was different than our first three children. Besides not being able to see well, and that her eyes bounced and crossed, she didn't develop normally. I took drastic action and found a way to help her IQ go from 55 to 150 by the time she was three. When she was nine, though, she developed depression and dropped out of third grade, and threatened to kill herself. With research, I realized that depression and suicidal thoughts in children was not only possible, it was more prevalent than most parents know. I again went into high gear to help her; I home schooled her, and got her therapy, and made sure she knew she was loved. My daughter not only survived, she thrived. So this story, I think, is important for other parents to read. I think it can provide hope and insight, and the realization that a child's IQ is not static, that depression can be reversed, and that parents can make a big difference in a child's mental health, intelligence, and physical development.

2. Can you give us a brief overview of Achromatopsia?

Achromatopsia is a rare (1 in 35,000) recessive (both parents must carry the gene for the child to get it) genetic visual condition. It causes the cones (which see the color) to be either not present or defective. Cones are 10 times more numerous than rods, so they are the cells that help clarify our vision. Thus, a person with achromatopsia has less "pixels" to work with, and thus their vision is about 20/400 instead of 20/20. (This means an achromatope sees as well at 20 feet as someone with perfect vision sees at 400 feet.) This cannot be corrected, because the achromatope just doesn't have the clarifying cones available. Also, with poorer vision, the eye tries to see more. Thus, it does this thing called "nystagmus" where the eye bounces all over, around in circles and up and down, trying to bring more light into itself to get more data to create a more complete picture. And sometimes the eyes cross. This lessens over time, as the person learns to control the eyes.

Another main issue with this is light sensitivity. Cones are the cells that see in daylight. Without them, a person uses just the rods or what we think of as "night vision" cells. When you use just them, bright light is very painful. You know this yourself, from times when you turn on a light at night and it hurts your eyes. Well, my daughter's eyes are always sensitive to bright light that same way. Any time she goes outside, she is confronted with bright, painful light, which causes her to either squint or completely shut her eyes. When she was nine, and we finally discovered her diagnosis, we also discovered that red lenses cut out most visible light. With them she could open her eyes for the first time in daylight without huge pain. All achromatopes wear red or amber lenses, either in glasses or contacts, when in bright light. Otherwise, they can't open their eyes except for a moment or two.

3. This doesn't appear to be your first book. Can you tell us a little more about your other books and how you came into writing?

I started writing in 1980 because of a deep hunger to express myself. My husband and I were having relational difficulties at the time. (We worked out the kinks since then). He could not listen to what I had to say, so I turned to the written word. But I was very nervous about letting anyone read what I wrote. I couldn't handle any criticism. I've learned since then that any critique someone gives me helps make my writing better.

  I wrote my first book, a manual, out of need. I'm actively involved in a ministry called the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life. This is a prayer experience where people pray for an hour a day, and attend monthly group meetings. Over the years, we realized planning group meetings would be so much easier if we wrote down our process. So I volunteered to do that. Once I did, other groups around the country heard about it and began asking me for copies. Eventually it was professionally produced and sold online around the country and the world. (www.spiritual-exercises.com) I've also written a manual for supervision of spiritual directors, and a series of booklets for a short, five-week retreat.

  Besides manuals, I've sold several articles to magazines and contributed stories to A Cup of Comfort for Horse Lovers and A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Special Needs. I've recently completed a book called Soul Tapas, little plates for the soul, and am looking for a publisher for that. Currently I'm working on two new projects. My first fiction novel, Obsession, is the story of a woman who suffers a major head injury at work and regains her short term memory six months later and finds herself married, pregnant, and married to a man who was stalking her before her injury.  Obsession is loosely based on a true story. The other current project is a non-fiction book of motherly advice on the nature of peace, hope, love, honesty, etc, and how a parent can develop these traits in self and children. I don't have a title for that yet.

4. Does being a mother have any bearing on your writing? If so, how?

Although my children are grown, motherhood has a huge bearing on my writing. My stories are driven by that experience. I believe that motherhood is one of the most important things a woman can do. Mothers can influence a child's health, development, spiritual growth, intelligence, compassion, honesty, and every other trait. We are the builders of a nation, child by child, person by person. Mothers create values and instill hope. Mothers can instill genius into a child and influence his or her life experience for good or ill. So mothers can be, should be, the greatest force in the world. But we aren't. Why? 

Unfortunately, most of us don't know what power lies in our hands. We allow the culture to manipulate us into thinking motherhood is boring and uncreative. We are duped into thinking that motherhood is nothing more than babysitting, marking time while we wait for a child to grow big enough to attend school. This is tragic. I want to help mothers realize how important they are and encourage them. That's why I wrote My Blindy Girl.

5. Do you have any advice or suggestions for new or up-and-coming writers?

It can be of great benefit to join a writers' group. The other writers can help you understand how your writing affects others, and meetings give incentive to write.