Stacy Rodrigues was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, an inherited condition causing the gradual
bilateral decrease in vision to barely 20 percent at the age of 14. But that
doesn’t stop her from achieving her dreams. Her love for colours and unleashing
her creativity on canvas led to three exhibition, the need to let her emotions
speak volumes, two editions of her poetry book ‘Reflection’ were released and
she even represented Goa for Princess of India contest.
But what exactly is she in search of? Her
debut book, ‘In Search of – A Journey of Finding Oneself’ answers the question.
With 47 chapters, the self-publishedauthor journeys with the characters through
the struggles of an impaired person’s life. “The book is a story of a
challenged individual, a visually impaired girl,Amber. The desire to be
accepted and her constant seeking for herself to be wanted, brings all the
twists and turns in her life, which readers can connect to. How she learns the
truth of life, how she finds herself,how she discovers herself and her
experiences is the story of ‘In Search of’,” says Stacy, a Margao resident.
Stacy has adapted her weakness and built a
confident demeanour which makes many people to wonder whether she really can’t
see clearly. She wants to instil the same confidence in other people through
her book. “I want to inspire other people especially visually blind people and
I am confident enough that I will. We are part of the same society. It book
portrays how the character deals with her issues and understands life. It also
teaches about having faith and hope and never letting your fighting spirit to
die. The book is also inspired of a few true stories which I have tried to put
together in one character,” she says.
Stacy always wanted to write. She wanted to pursue literature
and then get into writing. “Because of my impairment, I had to hold myself
back. I was introduced to the software Jaws which helps the visual impaired to
read what is on the screen. That was a dream come true for me to do something
constructive. I started off with poems and then two different stories at the
same time. I searched for audio books about six years ago. It gave me some
guidance to put my ideas down. When I went for Princess India, I knew what I
wanted to write. I had to write a story which shares my experiences as a
visually impaired and how I paint. I wanted people to know the ups and downs in
an impaired person’s life,” she adds.
Interestingly, the chapters in the book are in parts and some
make up of three chapters. “Every phase of a person’s life is a part. I never
felt like numbering chapters. Even as a reader, I felt more connected for it to
be chapter wise. Every phase of our life is like a beginning of one part which
follows into another. That’s the reason I named the chapter part wise,”
explains Stacy.
Stacy has self-published her book through BlueRose Publishers.
She shares her experience, “It was great. It was a coincidence the way I met my
publishers when I initially started looking for publishers. I decided to go for
self-publishing because I knew I wouldn’t have to literally search for a
publisher. The director of the company Bluerose spoke to me and he made me so
comfortable. I signed the contract and sent the story to them. It went off very
well and I had a very good experience with them.”
Stacy is very thankful to Caroline Pereira, who helped her in
putting the book together. From mastering the software to freely write to
actually creating the characters and storyline, there were a lot of challenges
she had to overcome. “Caroline Pereira helped me edit the book. The process of
thinking for writing a book and how to put it together is the biggest
challenge. There were days when the story would just flow and sometimes I would
be stuck on the first line. It was a learning process, every line that wrote,
every page I completed; I learnt how to bring it all together,” she says.
The
book is available on Amazon, Flipkart, Shopclue and Bluerose websites. The book
is also available on Kindle and very soon in Goa at Crossword Book Store,
Panjim.
