Patty Fletcher shares how receiving her guide dog Bubba changed her life helping her to live it so much more fully

Hello Again;

This week I’m posting another previously recorded interview.

As my friend Lorraine Reguly reminded me last night I have to accept that it may take me longer to recover from my travels than it used to. 🙂

It’s a good thing that I do have so many amazing interviews that most of you have never heard before.

That way I don’t have to disappoint anyone when I’m dragging a little and don’t quite make it to recording a new episode.

And having Patty Fletcher to share with all my new listeners on The What’s Your Excuse? Show this week is a real life saver.

I met Patty while preparing to have Peter Altschul on the show.

Patty helps Peter and others with the publicity of their books. And you can expect to hear several more of her clients on the show in the near future.

In fact the recent interview with best selling blind author Phyllis Staton Campbell happened because of Patty.

Before I introduce you to Patty properly I want you to know that she is a real trooper and a no excuses person herself. Her laptop was damaged a few days before our interview. Instead of backing out she decided to call in on a phone line instead.

So, even before we got started I was impressed by her openness towards trying something new and just doing our best. It’s every bit as motivational as what she had to say.

She is a twice published author who also happens to be blind. She shares her life with her guide dog King Campbell who figures heavily in her personal life story. She actually credits him with helping her to retrieve her life.

We talked about the experience that lead her to decide to replace her white cane with a guide dog. She shared how she was feeling at that time and the decision making process she went through. And then she talked about just how physically demanding the training turned out to be.

She openly shared about her struggles with mental illness. She went through some of her coping mechanisms that she uses now. She even talks about some of her lowest moments. And through it all King Campbell AKA Bubba is there with her and for her.

We talked about the whole process of writing and publishing her books. She shared about how many people in her life are asking about and pressuring her to release her next book. And how she is pushing back telling them to let her enjoy the latest one first.

And she did a great job talking about her writing. She transitioned from her first book Campbell’s Rambles, How a Guide Dog Retrieved My Life.

Which trust me is a powerfully inspirational read.

She also talked about her latest book Bubba Tales, From the Puppy Nursery at the Seeing Eye.

Giving a great teaser to get readers to want to buy it.

And then she laid out her current and future plans and invited my audience to come over to her website and participate in the writing of her first ever book of what she is calling inclusive fiction.

I don’t want to spoil the interview for you. I will only say that some of the most important things she had to share don’t come until the bottom half of the hour.

I decided to go long so we could talk honestly about her struggles with mental illness. What she shared then was positive and powerful because of how she dealt with the experiences during an especially bad Christmas holiday season.

From beginning to end Patty will have you saying if she can do it then what’s my excuse?

Now On To The Show

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The show continues to be sponsored by Chip and Pam Edwards of www.createmyvoice.com

They will get you set up so people can find your blog or podcast on those wireless speakers that are popping up everywhere.

Now, people could even be listening to your content while doing things like washing dishes, cooking dinner, getting a midnight snack from the refrigerator, or even while mowing their lawns.

Just imagine all the potential fans, followers, and customers or clients you could be missing?

You can trust them to do just as good a job for you as they have done for me.

About Patty

I’m a single mother with a beautiful daughter, of whom I am very proud. I have a great son-in-law and five beautiful grandchildren. Three girls, and two boys. I hope to be able to write more about them later on. I own and handle a Black Labrador from The Seeing Eye™ named Campbell Lee—a.k.a. Bubba Lee or King Campbell, to give just a couple of his nicknames.

I was born one and a half months premature. My blindness was caused by my being given too much oxygen in the incubator. I was partially sighted until 1991, at which time I lost my sight due to an infection after cataract surgery and high eye pressure. I used a cane for 31 years before making the change to a guide dog.

Currently, I live and work in Kingsport, Tenn.I used to work for CONTACT-CONCERN of Northeast Tennessee, Inc. I left that position in order to spend time with family and pursue my writing full time.

I wrote Campbell’s Rambles to tell the story of how going to The Seeing Eye™ and getting Campbell, learning to love, handle, and work him, then coming home and adding him to my life, gave me true freedom.

I tell of how changing from being a 31-year cane user to being a guide dog handler taught me things about myself I had never known before. I tell of the wonderment I experienced when I finally took that chance.

A major goal of mine is to help others who find themselves in domestic violence situations. I also want to help others learn more about mental illnesses and how different situations and environments can drastically affect those with such challenges.

I also tell how training affected me physically as a result of the fibromyalgia I deal with, along with the side effects of the medications I take.

I focus on bipolar disorder, on how it can go horribly wrong and cause a person to behave in ways they normally would not. Then I show how hurtful it can be when a person is completely rejected, made to feel as if they have been tossed out with the trash, when they become sick as a result of mental illness.

Another thing I have attempted to show is how, in certain institutional settings, attachments can develop—and how those attachments can become unhealthy for all concerned if they are not handled correctly.

Most simply, I want others to know more about me.

My hobbies include reading, writing, music, and standup comedy. I also like nature walks, light hiking, tent camping, and fishing. No, I am not afraid to bait a hook.

Patty’s Books

You can find all the sales links for her books on her Amazon Author’s Page.

Campbell’s Rambles

How a Seeing Eye Dog Retrieved My Life

Published 2014

This is the story of how the author obtained her first guide dog from The Seeing Eye™ in Morristown, New Jersey: what motivated her, the extensive training she had, the special relationship she developed with her trainer, and the good friends she made. Once she returned home to Tennessee, there were many new challenges to be met and overcome, including domestic abuse.

All that was in addition to her chronic conditions of bipolar disorder and fibromyalgia.

With honesty, courage, and humor, Patty Fletcher tells a remarkable story of personal development that is sure to inform, entertain, and inspire others, both blind and sighted.

Bubba Tales

from the Puppy Nursery at The Seeing Eye

Published fall 2017

In this magical and love filled tail, King Campbell, Super Seeing Eye Dog AKA Bubba travels to the puppy nursery at The Seeing Eye to help ready a group of puppies who are just about to embark on the fabulous journey of learning to become Seeing Eye dogs. Just as he is about to finish his tail, a wee pup becomes very frightened of all that lies ahead, and one frightfully stormy night she runs away! Will King Campbell hear the urgent call from the puppy nursery in time? Will they find her and save her so she can fulfill her destiny?

Connect With Patty

Website: https://campbellsworld.wordpress.com

E-zine: Campbell’s Calamities

Face Book Patty Fletcher: https://m.facebook.com/patty.fletcher.108

Face Book Bubba Tails: https://www.facebook.com/Bubba-Tails-196761360863975/

Face Book Tell It To The World: https://www.facebook.com/tellittotheworld/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bubbalee04

Email: patty.volunteer1@gmail.com>

My friend Patty sees it as her mission to educate the world about mental illness, fibromyalgia, blindness, and much more.

But, she is a business woman and also needs to attract new publicity clients and sell more copies of her books. I want to help her reach her goals.

So, I hope you will visit her site, check out her services, and at least consider buying her books.