What is Chronically Awesome?


Well, it's exactly what the banner says! A series with the intent of spreading awareness about life with chronic illnesses. I know that this series isn't necessarily about books, which may seem odd considering that this is a book blog, but I'm hoping that you guys will make an exception for this.

I came up with the idea for Chronically Awesome when I realized that there aren't a lot of main characters in YA who have chronic illnesses. They pretty much only show up in contemporary, and usually follow some plots that are less than realistic, true, and are honestly kind of insulting. (I'll be talking more about this next week).

But from that idea, I realized that there are actually a lot of misconceptions about people with chronic illnesses. So, here we are! Now, I am in no way claiming to be an expert, and my experiences and struggles aren't going to be the same as others, but I thought that this would be a good idea for opening up conversations, and learning more about each other. 

Every month I will be making a post about a chronic illness, something I notice, something that bugs me, maybe I'll have some guest posts if people are interested, really, anything I (or you) want to know about. Which is where you come in. If you have anything you want to know about, a post suggestion, or if you want to make a guest post, you can email me at booknerdblogger@gmail.com, or DM me on Twitter  or Instagram.

So that's it! I hope that you guys will come and read these posts (even if they aren't what you normally read). Any suggestions for posts? Let me know in the comments. :) 

Comments

  1. I love this idea! I have a chronic illness (one of those 'invisible' ones) and I'm always interested in others experiences. And also seeing how they're portrayed in books (which seems to be hardly ever, but that may just be because of what I read?)

    I will totally read these posts! :)

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    1. I also have those pesky invisible ones. And I don't ever see MCs with chronic illnesses in books either!

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  2. I think YA definitely needs more chronic illness! And not just in contemps. I'd love to see more of it in fantasy and SF too... or even urban fantasy. Imagine a protag having to deal with real life chronic illness issues along with all the vampires and weres lol. Now THAT would be a badass. :)

    Nice post.

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    1. I was thinking the same thing! Imagine what a great twist that would be in a classic zombie survival book!

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  3. Wow, this is an amazing idea. The only way to bring about visibility to these 'taboo' topics is to talk about them. So I guess you are in the right direction.

    P.S. I found you through the Commenting 365 Challenge. Good to meet you

    Gayathri @ Elgee Writes

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    1. Well hi there! Welcome to the blog. :) And thank you! I'm hoping that everything comes out okay. lol

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  4. What a fantastic idea - having awareness and representation is so important. Honestly I cannot think of a single YA book I've read lately that showcases chronic illness.

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    1. I can think of three, but none that have been published recently. :(

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    2. Which three are you thinking of!? I want to know now! :)

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    3. The Fault in Our Stars (cancer), Geek Girl (autism rep), and Dead Girls Society (cystic fibrosis).

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  5. I love this idea, and I'd love to see more normative representation of chronic illness in YA and adult fiction, including SF and Fantasy. I'm not sure how well it would work in fantasy or historic fiction, though. If you've got a setting where healthcare isn't at today's level of knowledge, or even that of 100 years ago, some people with what are today considered treatable chronic illnesses would be far worse off.

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    1. That is true, but I also think that it would be interesting to see a character fight battles and live life with no health care or anything. Even just to see how they live their normal life. Might just be me though. :)

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  6. oh this is a WONDERFUL idea! I was scrolling down to see if my blogger wifey had read this SHE WILL LOVE IT! I gotta go tell her now!

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    1. Awwwwwww! Thank you so much, Daniela!! I'm excited to get some posts written! :)

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  7. Great idea! Are you including mental illness in this project, by any chance? I DO read a lot of books on mental illnesses. Both fiction and nonfiction.

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    1. I wasn't, I'm mainly focusing on chronically illnesses that are physical, though I have talked about the link between chronic illness and mental illness in the past! :)

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  8. I think it's fantastic that you're sharing your experiences with other people so that you can spread understanding. And, yes, this topic works well with a book blog because these are topics that need to be represented better.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, I'm hoping that everything goes well. :)

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  9. OMG I LOVE THIS!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to spread awareness. This is so important. I'll be bookmarking this post for my monthly wrap-up later this month. <3

    - Aimee @ Aimee, Always

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  10. Oh, this is an awesome idea! I just got diagnosed with a chronic illness and let me tell you, it sucks!

    I don't read YA contemporary so I can't comment on the chronic illness representation but the YA Sci-Fi, Dystopia, and Fantasy that I read don't seem to have any chronic illnesses.

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