Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Langlois.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In 2016, I set up shop! A writing shop that is!
Built a website and started networking with other writers, which was challenging because I was (and am) still learning to hear with my 2 cochlear implants. Large groups, telephones, and noisy environments pose a challenge and are sometimes obstacles that block my ability to reach goals.
Problem-solving, adjusting, persevering are a part of life, so onward and upward.
In 2017, after many requests to describe ‘what it’s like’ to go deaf then be able to hear, I released a memoir about my rags-to-riches story of losing my hearing and then getting it back through the miracle of bionic hearing. The struggles along the way were important in learning how to persevere, overcome and hold on to hope.
Many who read it sent messages that they laughed, cried because my story was their story, the story of loss and of being lost. They passed the book on to family and friends to share an awareness of the isolation and struggles of hearing loss.
I created interesting, engaging presentations for organizations, schools, and bookstores. These visits were warm, interesting, and moving because I am candid in my presentation.
Next, I wanted to share stories of hope for children and worked on various manuscripts. Then something happened. That something was HURRICANE HARVEY. Harvey was a destructive, devastating force of nature. But something rose above the water, destruction, and rubble of Hurricane Harvey: the human spirit.
I had to write about it! I was compelled to write the story of finding hope in chaos and destruction through the eyes of a child. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT was released in 2019. I decided to include actual photographs from the hurricane and its aftermath to demonstrate that just as the story’s ‘hero’ overcame, so did REAL PEOPLE. The photos show heroes who rescued others, heroes who gave their resources, and heroes who went back to their battered, shattered previously flooded home that was now in ruins – and started cleaning up. It was a cathartic experience visiting children, bookstores, and schools that were affected. The strength and resiliency of those who overcame Hurricane Harvey is profound, and the young survivors are extraordinary.
Again, I created interesting, engaging presentations for organizations, schools, bookstores, and I added children’s museums to my repertoire of book tours. My presentations are highly engaging, and the kids are captivated!
While sharing that book in schools, I witnessed a dog who was sitting with kids. Listening to them read. Comforting them. I discovered that the dog had herself been rescued and loved back to life. Now she was paying it forward. I had to write about it!
The DOLLY & DAISY trilogy was born. Three stories of hope in various situations, all sprinkled with giggles. Once again, I included photos of the actual dogs in schools and at work with kids to link make-believe to real life. Kids love the real photos at the back of the book as a keepsake of the dogs they love so much!
Book 1: DOLLY DOES HER JOB, story of how love changes everything
Book 2: THAT DAISY! A story of how love grows
Book 3: DOLLY’S DAY (Sept 2023) A story of how love lives on
During COVID, once again I found hope amidst the death and destruction of our country’s way of life.
In 2022, EVERYONE GIVES was born. Again, real pictures at the back of the book bring to the make-believe story a sense of unimaginable reality.
In 2023, I released another story on overcoming BUMP IN THE ROAD. This story is set on the running trails as a young girl named Molly and her dog Penny are trying to get to the park, but they hit a few bumps in the road. Molly’s fears and imagination take control until she sees something and realizes what she is capable of. Like all my books, I included actual photos of runners who have overcome various obstacles as well as the real Molly and Penny. My presentations for organizations, schools, and bookstores, and I added children’s museums sometimes includes runners!
My presentation fees are:
Houston Area
Half Day $300
Full Day $500
Books Prices for Presale at Events:
Paperback $12
Hardcover $21
Outside 100-mile radius of Houston
Half Day $500 plus travel allowance
Full Day $750 plus travel allowance
Books Prices for Presale at Events:
Paperback $12
Hardcover $21
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Struggles/Challenges: Hearing loss that is so severe that it is not useful makes life difficult. I was in trouble for not listening in grade school, even getting spanked in first grade because of misunderstandings. I was considered ‘special’, and expectations were lowered.
Other obstacles:
Not being able to use the phone. That is how people communicate. When text messaging emerged, I was so happy to be connected!
Not having a support group. The deaf have a huge and powerful deaf community. They have their own language; sign language, and they have their own schools specifically designed to help them thrive. Hearing people have one another; they have a language, and schools that take extraordinary measures to help kids achieve. In the middle of those two worlds is a gray area. These are the people who have hearing loss. They don’t have their own language or special schools specifically designed to help them learn to learn, learn to hear, learn to assimilate, and learn to achieve. Some choose to struggle onward and upward, some choose not to struggle but find a comfortable, content place in life.
Not learning how to speak correctly. Then working overtime to learn how to articulate when you can’t even hear the sounds. It would have been easier if I were deaf and my language was signing language. But I was not deaf. And yet, I could not hear either.
Trying to keep up in conversation, in the workplace, in meetings, in understanding – but always being two steps behind.
The isolation of hearing loss is devastating. I fought it, but honestly, I got used to it and even liked it. But eventually, I realized that I need people. So, it was important to continue putting myself into social situations regardless of the challenge. Even if I struggle, at least I know I am alive.
Being locked out of communication and conversation is depressing because relationships grow and thrive through conversation.
Lowering standards for people with physical disabilities is tricky – if you lower the cognitive standards, you have disqualified them from opportunities and achievement. This creates a sense of defeat.
Becoming a ‘Nevermind’ to my kids was devastating. At a certain point, they were old enough to be in hurry and could not repeat every single thing to their deaf mom. I began to hear them say NEVERMIND more often than ever before. Accepting that I was a NEVERMIND was a blow to my heart and confidence.
I received my second cochlear implant (Bionic hearing) in 2019 and discovered that hearing with 2 ears is better but also difficult. The world is such a noise place! In addition to the noise of the work, when I go into schools sharing my books, the audiences are sometimes large, and I still struggle to hear voices in a large room or if there is background noise. Learning to hear is a lifetime goal, not an overnight sensation, but the effort is worth it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a writer. I write poetry and children’s books. My stories are cloaked in hope and sprinkled with giggles.
I am most proud of all my children’s books!
But I am also very proud of my Trilogy of children’s books:
DOLLY DOES HER JOB, a book demonstrating how love changes everything.
THAT DAISY! A book about Dolly’s wild child sister demonstrating that love grows.
DOLLY’S DAY (September 2023) a book demonstrating how love lives on.
I am also proud that when I go into schools for my presentations, the audience is always captivated. I read my story to the kids, engaging them as I go along. After I read my book, the presentation I have created extends the story. You can hear a pin drop most of the time. I have been told by teachers that they kids were captivated, and even the kids they were worried about were absorbed in the moment. I think my years as a teacher helped me create engaging, individualized presentations and programs. My years struggling to understand the world helped me to pinpoint specific ideas that could capture children struggling with language, academics, or behavior.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Being hopeful about the future and willing to persevere as well as being candid about the role struggle plays in life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.susanklanglois.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susan_k_langlois/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063705271617
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusanKLanglois
