I'm back!!!

Hey everyone...I want to say I am so sorry!! I have lost touch with the reading and writing world. Life has thrown me a few curve balls and I have had to play dodge ball for a while. lol. But I am back and ready to rock and roll with my book(s). I am going to be starting a new book this summer and hopefully it will take under a year to right. More info will follow in the next few months. As for "Growing with Joe", sales have dropped this past year but that is probalby to the economy and the fact it is in the crapper!!! I am announcing that my book is back on Amazon with a new "increased" price. Nice...! Not! They have raised the price of "Growing with Joe" five dollars. The good new is that I have not. I am still personally selling the book for the old price on my website freewebs.com/daniellehiner. I see no need to raise the price. Don't forget that every book that I sell off of myh website is autograph too.

Currently, I am trying very hard to partner with my sister who sells BeautiControl. I am hoping to be able to work something out with her for some type of discount to anyone who buys a book. Maybe the customer can recieve a coupon for BeautiControl or enter to win a basket...or something. After all we deserve to pamper ourselves.

Drop me a line or two sometime. I love to hear from my readers.

Live Interview

Jeff Miller will be interviewing me live about the book on March 26th/ 3am eastern time.It will be archived. If you would like to listen please go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Jeff-Miller and play the interview.

Changing the future!!!

I am very excited to annouce that I have started a scholarship fund in my son's name at my local Easter Seals. A small portion of the proceeds of my booksales will be deposited into the fund and the balance will be awarded each December to family who is having difficulty paying for their child's therapy. We all leave behind some form of legacy, now Joey will too.

Help me make a difference. If you know anyone who has been touched by a person with special needs, please share my book information with them.

Book on ebay...hurry! Auction ends 10/18/07

Hey everyone! I have started auctioning off my book (autographed) on ebay. Please stop by. It's titled "Growing with Joe" . It is about what my family has gone through since my middle son was diganosed with sever Autism and Cerebral Palsy. I have gotten such great reviews and feedback on the book that I decided to make it available on ebay as well as the on-line bookstores. I am trying to reach as many people as possible (like any author would). A scholarship fund that has been established through Easter Seals to help a family pay for their child's therapy expense. So a small part of the proceeds will go to this scholarship fund. Please, please help spread the word about this book and of course stop by ebay and check it out.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Growing-with-Joe-raising-a-child-w-autism-CP_W0QQitemZ200162143219QQihZ010QQcategoryZ378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

If this works out, I want to have a copy of the book on ebay continuously so that I can offer a discounted price for everyone.

Speaking Event

November 15, 2007
Easter Seals annual dinner
Boardman, Ohio
I will be the key note speaker. For more information please email me.

About the book~

As each child with a disability is diagnosed there is a family who enters into a dark place full of fear, anger and a constant feelings of empowerment, that only another parent of a special needs child could possibly comprehend. Danielle and her family know of this place all too well. In 1999, Danielle and her husband Dan watched as the world that they knew of quickly crumbled down around them. After a year of testing, Joseph their second son, was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, Autism and White Matter Disease. However, Danielle had already begun to fall into a sever depression, distanced herself from her husband and had surrendered to her own self blame. Realizing the road of self destruction that she had taken, she began to search for someone or something to help her find the strength she needed. Then she found the only person who could give her the guidance that she was searching for…her own son Joseph. Danielle is now sharing her story through her autobiography titled "Growing With Joe", in hopes to help other parents of special needs children find that strength and the hero that lies within themselves. Where you can purchase

Excerpt~Please Read

I can still hear the doctor telling me that I would go through a period of mourning and that was completely normal. Normal? None of this is normal! It was so crazy, sitting there listening to a doctor tell me what I was going to feel and that it would be normal if I found myself feeling that way. Even today, I remember not understanding what in the world he was talking about. Why would I mourn my son who is here with me. He's not gone, he is by my side everyday.
Then one day it hit me. My mother in law had taken Danny and Joey for awhile. I guess she thought I needed time to myself. As I was picking up toys in the living room, I reached for Joey's blanket and realized that is was so quiet, too quiet. It had felt like the calm before the storm. As I continued to clean up the house I began to replay the last year and a half in my mind. All the conversations that I had with each doctor. The list of things he was falling behind in just kept repeating and repeating. I would remember Danny and everything he was doing at Joey's age. Then I began to cry, realizing that Joey would never be the baby I pictured in my mind while I was carrying him. My husband was not going to teach him to play baseball or catch a football. I was not going to watch him play on the floor with his blocks or be engaged in a book. He was not going to chatter like young babies do. Joey was never going to be a baby. My husband Dan and I often talked about what it would be like to have two boys. To watch Danny and Joey bond like brothers do. They would play outside until sunset and run out the door at dawn to start it all over again. Danny would have a best friend that he would share everything with. When I realized all of these dreams would never come true I began to mourn Joey. Finally I understood, I would mourn my son that I had dreamt about before he was born. I stood in Joey's room, held his blanket to my face and cried harder than I have ever cried. I needed to say good-bye to that boy that existed in my maternal fantasy. My dream had died in front of my eyes, in a sense you can say it died in the silence. If it wasn't for the silence I would had never been forced to confront all the thoughts that were in my head.
It was not over that day. It took many days filled with tears and anxiety. I use to start to cry while I was doing the dishes. One Christmas Eve, I remember watching Dan play with Joey's cousin Hunter, who is seven months older than him. They were looking under the couch for a toy car. My heart sank deep in my chest as I thought about how he should be able to do that with Joey. Joey was his son and he couldn't play with him like that. As I felt my eyes tear up I had to look away. It was sight that was just so cute that tore me apart inside.
Less than a year later, I found myself struggling to hold back the tears as I watched a little girl Joey's age named Jenna playing during Byzantine Catholic Central's annual Special Persons Day, while standing in Danny's kindergarten room. Her family was there to see their son's classroom as Dan and I were. I watched her play and thought to myself how Joey should be able to play telephone with her. They should be in the same grade together. He is not suppose to be like this. I became so upset that I was unable to glance her way for the rest of the time we were there, in fear that I would begin to cry and embarrass little Danny.
Despite the fact that Joey would be in the same room as I was, it was clear that I was mourning him. There were many days that I would have to drop whatever I was doing and go into the bathroom and cry in to a towel, so that Danny would not hear me. One minute I would be sitting on the floor with a towel crying and the next minute I would be smiling and acting like nothing was wrong. I had to learn to smile through such unbelievable pain for the sake of Danny. He was so young and I did not want him to remember his mom in such disarray. I had to be strong for him and his dad. So I became an amazing actress.

Excerpt from my autobiography "Growing with Joe", soon to be released to the public. For additional reading or information please go to www.freewebs.com/daniellehiner .