Ten Days & Counting

I'm totally flattered that so many have asked about my writing and the next possible book. Sadly it will be some time before my next publication becomes a reality.  Consider this, it took me a year to write my last book, ten months to find an agent and she's had it for over a year without bites. The reality is that so much has happened on the home front since I wrote that book that it's not on my top ten things to worry about at the moment. It takes an eternity to go from the first draft to a published work. Still, warms the heart to know readers are interested.

My three other novels in various stages of completion and the several attempts I've made to work on a couple of them recently have been futile. Too much on my plate, too many things to work through for the creative juices to flow. I was thrilled to get a call from Kim yesterday. It's not uncommon for us to talk for hours about everything from family and work to writing.  She told me not to worry about the writing and that one of these days, it will flow again.  I certainly hope so.

My publisher announced earlier this month that as of May of this year they are an exclusively e-book publisher. I supposed this means I need to break down and buy a Kindle Fire.  The publisher returned the paperback writes to their authors so now what? Anyway, I'm not sure how long the paperback version of my novels will continue to be available through Amazon.  For now, they are though. I'll admit this news forced me to do some serious thinking about the future of my writing and publishing options. I have a few decisions to make, but frankly I don't want to make any until I've cleared my mind of the clutter.


I've tried to be positive about my cancer and continue to feel nothing but grateful on countless levels.  Since my last post which was written the day after my third chemo treatment I haven't really been myself.  The final treatment on was April 13 and although the chemo is expelled from the body (mine was after three weeks) the affects continue to build up. Thankfully I was never ill and was able to continue to work, but by around seven in the evening I was literally exhausted and void of any energy and desire to do the things I normally enjoy doing. There were evenings I didn't even turn on my computer or checked my e-mail. What's worse, I didn't miss it.

After several weeks, I was starting to feel like myself again when I began my 33 daily radiation treatments. Thus far I've had 22 and had hoped to be done by next week.  Unfortunately, the second-degree burns that have resulted on my skin, especially in and around my armpit area, have earned me a week off the radiation as well as work. I normally have a very high tolerance to pain, but to be honest, it and my patience with this whole mess are quickly bottoming out.


On the upside of things--and yes, there's always an upside, Rick had his feeding tube removed a couple of weeks ago and is doing great.  His balance comes and goes--still gets around with the aid of a walker. He may never fully recuperate from the stroke, but it is what it is and we've come to accept it as our new "normal."  At least, and thank God for it, he is finally able to enjoy solid food again. Consequently, he has also begun to gain some much needed weight and muscle mass and is feeling stronger every day.

I nearly jumped out of my skin this week when he announced that he was going to drive the car around the block. He hasn't driven since his stroke in June 2011. He only drove a few blocks around our neighborhood and practiced a bit in the high school parking lot. Needless to say, I was more than a bit nervous about it, but admit he did well. At least no pedestrians, vehicles, mailboxes, or animals were hurt in the process.


In spite of everything, we've managed to do quite a bit of yard work too this spring. Our son Tracy and I created a few new paths, Rick had a beautiful pergola built in the side yard so we could expand the patio area beneath it as well as the adjacent flower beds.  I've taken tons of photos of the garden to post on this blog and hope to download them soon. Regrettably, this heat wave is keeping us in most of the time except in the early morning and evening when it's time to water. Fortunately, the perennials will survive. Survival seems to be the on-going theme of the year.

I hate that my cancer treatment countdown has been temporarily halted, but the skin has to heal. It's an all consuming task at the moment. I'll start counting down again soon enough.