This is a free post for all subscribers. Most content here, as explained below, will be for paid subscribers only. If you can’t afford to pay, that’s okay; I can’t afford to work for free.
Once I have enough paid subscribers, though, I’ll be able to provide scholarship subscriptions. Thank you for bearing with me through this start-up period!
I began a new job last week, writing articles for a site that mostly doesn’t do bylines. I like it that way, because it’s not my regular wheelhouse of topics. I’ll still write about my regular topics — disability, parenting, education, women’s rights, grief, hope — via freelance news-site pieces and disability-focused DEI with with The Diversity Movement.
And here, of course.
Most of my sex trafficking writing will debut here, for paid subscribers only, because I need a space to practice public explanations of what trafficking is and isn’t. The space needs some privacy, and it also needs to be controlled by me. While some posts, like this one, will continue to be free, more sensitive ones about sex trafficking or other intense trauma will be behind a paywall, for reasons I’m sure you’ll understand.
I’m also doing more and more consulting work, specifically disability and adoption content/illustration reviews for books and accessibility assessments of existing spaces/programs or future designs for businesses and religious organizations (including but not limited to churches). I’m still easing into this work as a paid service, having done it for more than a decade through a non-profit for free, so if you want to work with me, now’s the time to get a better deal than you might otherwise!
And, of course, as I shared last time, I have a second book in progress with editors considering it right now.
I’ll update ShannonDingle.com with all this info soon, but I wanted to share it with you first.
Now I’m opening up the comments for all of you, free or paid, asking you to tell me: what are you specifically hoping to find/learn/explore in this substack space?