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Roxanne Smolen, science fiction author

Welcome to Roxanne Smolen Facts and Fiction

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            I am the author of twelve books ranging from science fiction romance to horror.  I'm a wife, a mother, and a grandmother.  I'm also blind.  Let me clarify that.  I see shapes and shadows but no detail.  For instance, I can see where my face is in a mirror, but I cannot see my lips to put on lipstick.  This may seem a trite problem, but my husband keeps introducing me as Ronald McDonald.

            Writing blind can be challenging.  Typing is not a problem—typos are.  My computer helps solve this.  Computers offer new abilities to sight-impaired people.  Screen brightness, color contrast, and font size can be manipulated to meet special needs, opening a world previously inaccessible to anyone with visual impairment.  Verbose computer programs can read aloud everything from web pages to email—even regular mail if you have a scanner.

            When I first began writing, I used a word recognition program with playback capabilities.  This is not a foolproof solution.  Word recognition is at best 90% accurate, which means that nine out of ten words will be right.  That's fine for a sighted person, but all I could hope for was that the word that was wrong was not a really important one.  And if I was tired and slurred my words, I ended up with sentences like hatchet fizz in the goop bandana.

            Today I use a computer program that echoes the keys I press and reads the screen to me.  The robotic voice took a little getting used to, but I've come to rely upon it.  My computer is a frustrating and essential partner.  It does more than help me write.  It helps me research and promote—and it connects me to other writers.


            Thank you for visiting my site.


http://writersrainbow.blogspot.com/2011/10/guest-post-roxanne-smolen-on-value-of.html

http://www.yatrailerpark.com/2011/10/amazing-wolf-boy-by-roxanne-smolen.html

http://collettescott.blogspot.com/2011/11/meet-author-roxanne-smolen.html

http://karlacc-bookaddict.blogspot.com/2011/11/amazing-wolf-boy-by-roxanne-smolen-book.html

http://newbookjournal.com/2011/11/werewolves-spotted-in-florida/

http://stacyeatonauthor.blogspot.com/2011/11/cody-from-amazing-wolf-boy-howls-into.html

http://paradox-theangelsarehere.blogspot.com/2011/12/author-interview-amazing-wolf-boy-by.html

http://susanwhitfield.blogspot.com/2011/12/roxanne-smolens-wolf-boy.html

http://wp.me/ptCd3-1Lh

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