Novel Inspired by the Author’s Journey with Vision Loss
(PRUnderground) July 14th, 2020
Bestselling author Juliet Braddock captured the top prize for Erotica with Blindsided in the 2020 National Indie Excellence Book Awards. This is Juliet’s second NIEA win in a row.
A chilling turn of fate sweeps rival journalists Josie Rossi and Oliver Billington into a fury of angst and emotion in Blindsided. As their lives converge once again, Josie and Oliver must ultimately decide if trust can salvage the remnants of their love as they face their greatest challenge yet.
Juliet credits her inspiration for the book to her own experience with sight loss. In 2017, she was diagnosed as legally blind due to a rare neurological disease called Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (also known as Pseudotumor). The disease prodcues excess spinal fluid on the brain, which damaged her optic nerves. However, she refused to give up on her writing career.
“When I lost sight, I didn’t want my life as I knew it to stop just because I had to do things differently. I sought out vision rehabilitation, and I found all the necessary tools to allow me to enjoy every moment as I had before my diagnosis,” Juliet says. “I wanted to raise awareness of my disease, but I also wanted to give hope to anyone who’s faced a life-changing curve in the road. Naturally, the writer in me started thinking…and Blindsided was born.”
In 2019, Juliet also won the NIEA and the Sponsor’s Prize for her romantic comedy Smitten, which is a romp through Paris and Provence.
In Smitten, actress January Gallimore has arrived at a crossroad in life. Aside from a short-lived scandal, she’s America’s Sweetheart, of sorts. She built a career starring in romantic comedies, but she can’t seem to figure out her own love life.
“Smitten was the book that I thought would never happen,” Juliet says. “It was the first full book I’d written after losing my sight, and it was fun to write—but it also holds a very special place in my heart.”
Award-winning author Juliet Braddock is the author of eight erotic romance novels. She lives and works in New York City.
About Juliet Braddock
Award-winning author Juliet Braddock loves eighties music, wine, food, theater and all things French. When she’s not exploring the big cities of the world—most notably Paris—she lives and writes in Brooklyn and is the proud cat mom to a very spoiled Russian Blue rescue. Juliet is legally blind and spins her romance novels with the assistance of software for people who have low vision.
Original Press Release.
