I was honored to be interviewed by Special Needs Book Review about what it felt like growing up as the sibling of an ASD older brother, why I chose the name “Fisheye Books,” and how I try to stay current with the ever-evolving self-publishing world.

Here are the first 3 questions and answers from the interview.

Interviewer: “Fisheye” is her nickname. Why? We might find out in this interview with Trish Thorpe, author of two books: Fisheye: A Memoir and Asperger’s Sibling Support: 15 Practical Tips for Parents/Caregivers.

Welcome to our interview series! In your guest post I read you grew up in the 60’s and 70’s and had an older brother (by two years) who had undiagnosed Asperger’s syndrome. Please tell us about your childhood and what being the sibling of an undiagnosed brother with Asperger’s was like.

Trish: In a word, lonely. I was constantly trying to figure out how to get my parents’ attention without upstaging my special-needs brother. I was also constantly trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I remember always feeling alone. It was not a good upbringing.

Interviewer: “Fisheye” a word you use often. Your website is www.fisheyebooks.com and your books are Fisheye Books. Please elaborate.

Trish: Because I lived inside my head so much while “growing up” and rarely relied on my parents for support or advice, I learned at a young age to look at “the big picture.”  My dad was a television director and therefore familiar with camera lens terminology. He’s the one who dubbed me “Fisheye.” A fisheye lens projects a wide-angle view. A good example is the peephole in your front door.

Interviewer: Tell us about Fisheye: A Memoir. When was it published, how many pages and what years and aspects of your life does it cover?

Trish: My memoir was published in October 2012 and is 210 pages. It was a grueling writing process, but I’m really glad I did it. I learned so much about myself and about what has happened in my life so far and why.

My life has spanned a wide range of subjects. Everything from growing up in Hollywood, to having an alcoholic mother and a narcissist father, to drug addiction and recovery, to raising an LGBT family in the suburbs in the 1990s, to helping a parent die who was never there for you, to being an ASD sibling. That’s just a start.

As I was writing Fisheye, I rediscovered my passion for writing, which inspired me to write more about being the sibling of an ASD brother and what would have helped me feel loved and supported at the time.

You can read the full interview here: http://www.specialneedsbookreview.com/2013/07/27/interview-trish-thorpe-author-aspergers-sibling-support-15-practical-tips-for-parentscaregivers/