Growing up blind, Fullerton-based author Melissa Whitney voraciously consumed representation of the blind community in media, hoping to connect with inclusive characters that reflect her and her disability.
“I always wanted a book where I could see myself as a main character,” Whitney said. “I can think of very few really amazing representations of blindness.”
To celebrate October’s Blindness Awareness Month, Whitney released her newest book “At First Smile” — which contains her first blind character — on Oct. 1. “At First Smile” is a romance novel about a blind social media influencer and a semi-famous hockey player having a chance encounter, when something deeper blossoms.
At an author signing and Q&A for the new book, hosted at Underdog Bookstore in Old Town Monrovia on Saturday, Oct. 12, Whitney discussed her motivation for writing about disabilities in fiction and advocating for the blind community.
She aims to write accurate and fun romance stories, with characters “who happen to be disabled,” the author said. Often she finds that books with disabled characters are about “more negatives,” or feed into community stereotypes.
“There’s still a perception that books with disabled characters are automatically heavier in subject, and that speaks to where we’re at with disability stories,” Whitney said, adding that the romance genre is “therapeutic” for her to write about. “My books have some emotion in them, but ‘At First Smile’ is a fun, sexy romantic comedy. Disabled people and characters can feel joy and fun and we can be more than sad or inspirational.”
Whitney found that writing romance books that highlight disabled characters was a natural way to challenge narratives around disabled people.
“People with disabilities and sex being in the same conversation doesn’t happen enough,” she said. “I wanted to show a disabled person who both wants sex but is also sexually desirable, because a lot of times we are seen as an asexual being or we’re fetishized.”
At Saturday’s event, the author, who uses a white cane, also wore themed earrings in honor of Blindness Awareness Month and White Cane Awareness Day on Oct. 15 — which recognizes the tool that helps blind people move around more freely and independently, according to the National Federation of the Blind.
While being disabled is a source of pride for Whitney — and by extension, her characters — she doesn’t ever want them to be seen only as being disabled.
“But at the same time, you do have to see it because that disability is going to impact the way that disabled people experience the world, and also the way in which they’re going to experience relationships,” she said.
Disabled authors hold a special place and meaning for Kealie Mardell-Carrera, the new owner of Monrovia’s Underdog Bookstore. The nonprofit’s mission is to highlight underrepresented authors, including authors of color, indie, disabled authors and more.
Mardell-Carrera has dealt with various disabilities for most of her life and was an ambulatory wheelchair user. She was “overjoyed” to see a disabled author represented in her bookstore’s event.
“I previously felt pushed out from working at a bookstore as a physically disabled person,” Mardell-Carrera, 31, said. “A lot of bookstores have requirements for abilities, being able to stand, lift up to a certain weight, etcetera. Being able to make sure that never happens and that everyone feels welcomed and accommodated is just absolutely something I never imagined.”
Pasadena resident Sally Krueger-Wyman was inspired to hear a fellow disabled author writing characters reflective of their disability.
“I loved the talk about how a character is not just their disability, like they are a fully-fledged person,” Krueger-Wyman, 32, said. “Those of us who have disabilities, obviously that’s not who we are… not the whole picture. But you’re not just your disability.”
Like Whitney and Mardell-Carrera, Krueger-Wyman works to bring about more positive, nuanced disability representation, as the executive director and co-founder of the Los Angeles Dysautonomia Network. The group hosts a quarterly “Sick Lit Book Club” to discuss books written by authors with chronic illnesses and disabilities, or with those themes.
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Whitney’s other romance novels include characters with autism, complex trauma and more. She has more books planned and is finishing up a magical realism novel.
“At First Smile” is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org and wherever books are sold. For updates, follow Melissa Whitney at @melissa_whitneyauthor or melissawhitneywrites.com.