Of Ice and Men

I like November. It means [American] Thanksgiving is coming—which is one of my absolute favorite holidays ever. And one of my favorite bands has a great lyric: I always believe in futures / I hope for better in November . I've been waiting for November to roll around this year because it finally means a break  in activity. September and October were especially busy for me, and it looks like all my medical business is winding down after I had my gallbladder removed in July. So what does November have in store for me then? Nothing.  And I can't tell you how excited that makes me. Instead of being bogged down with social events and obligations, I'm staying home! In all honestly, I do have two major tasks on my agenda for November, which is to thoroughly clean my apartment and organize it, and to really sink my teeth into Dump and Chase.  I have so many ideas, and I don't seem to have the time to get them all out. That should all change, starting tonight! I did a l...

October is one of my favorite months, and it's almost over! It's going by so fast. Too fast. Last weekend, I was celebrating my friend's big day: her wedding! My friend and I with the beautiful bride. That was the first big event of the month. Next up is my Halloween party. I love Halloween, and I'm going all out for my costume this year. I'll post pics in my Facebook readers' group, the Jay Birds , for you to see. But most excitingly is the author event I'm doing on the 28th. I'll be one of many authors at the Glass City Author Event (check it out on Facebook and get tickets here ). If you're from the Toledo area, I'd love to meet you! And in between all that, I'm working on the next book in the Dallas Comets series. I've got a great title for this one: Dump and Chase. Is that not awesome? I'm working on the blurb, and I'll post it as soon as I've perfected it. As always, stay tuned for updates and more ...

Eight months are in the bag for 2017. It's September, which means hockey starts this month! Players are starting to come back to their NHL towns. Training camp starts soon, which means preseason soon after, which means regular season after that! Plus, fall is starting to emerge in my corner of Pennsylvania, with temperatures cooling and nights slowly getting longer. I love fall! But I've got more reason to celebrate. I've finally pinned down a release date for False Start , Comets book #4. Right now, the only retailer up is Amazon , but I'll post the others via social media as soon as they go live. I'm really excited to get Chris and Helene's story out to y'all. This is a different kind of story for me—more in the new adult genre. I hope you'll enjoy! Each time I share a story, it's like sharing a part of me. And I've worked for a long time on this story, off and on, through bouts of illness. Even when I couldn't write, this story sta...

I know "normal" is a relative word. What's normal to me isn't normal to someone else. And what used to be  normal for me has gone flying out the window. So now I begin the search for my new normal . On July 21, I had my gallbladder out. Within a week, I was feeling great! I was off the pain meds, could stand up and sit down as good as ever, and was starting to experiment with what foods to eat. I've been able to to eat pizza and fries again! No more nausea and vomiting! Even better, I've gotten back some of my lost energy; last week, I was able to go grocery shopping and then come home and put everything in its place! And yesterday, I did laundry and put it all away in the same evening. Yes, I'm definitely feeling more energized. So I'd chalk the surgery up as a major success . I will continue to experiment with my diet to see what works for me and what doesn't. I still have IBS, so I have to learn what foods to avoid, what foods...

 In June, I met up with Lisa B. Kamps , Michelle Monkou (and her daughter), and Julia Canchola for a writer's retreat in Nashville, Tennessee . That week turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life! Get ready for my virtual slideshow! We ate delicious food and had some amazing drinks :  (Bavarian Bierhaus, in Opry Mills Mall) (Jack's BBQ, on Broadway) (Sangria at Rock Bottom on Broadway) (Happy Gilmore at Nelson's Green Brier Distillery) We had a great time sightseeing, visiting a lot of the places that make Nashville, well, Nashville. We went honky-tonking, my favorite place being Nashville Palace . The grilled cheese with ham was to die for, as were the apple pie moonshine margaritas that Lisa insisted we try! Josh, our server, was the more adorable introduction to the great Tennesseans we encountered.   On Friday, June 23rd, we went to the Grand Ole Opry to for the r...

I got a call from gastroenterologist's office yesterday with news about my latest test, a HIDA scan with CCK : my gallbladder is functioning at 18% . They have recommended removal and are in the process of referring me to a general surgeon. Finally , an answer as to the culprit of my ailments! The offending organ! I'm very relieved to have been told there is a cause for my ongoing symptoms. I'm excited to think that maybe  this treatment will cure some (if not all, fingers crossed!) of my digestive problems. But even more than that, I'm relieved to not have to focus so hard on finding an answer. So much of my mental energy was wrapped up scheduling tests, having tests performed, waiting for test results, and then repeating that cycle over and over and over again. I did so much online research and reading about tests and procedures and drugs for every possible outcome and learning as much as I could. Months of this, and years of enduring symptoms, was exhaus...

It's time for me to talk about something I've been avoiding for a long time. I'm not a very open person about certain things in my life. I'll share pics of my cats and bad hair day selfies, but I keep some stuff close to my chest. Like politics, relationships, and... health stuff. In a previous post , I mentioned that I was going to spend 2017 getting healthy and trying to resolve some ongoing stomach issues, but I didn't divulge anything else. I had no specifics to give out, and I didn't want to discuss anything more than that. I felt the need to let everyone know that I would be taking more time for myself than usual, meaning there would be less writing happening because my focus would be on me and my health/issues. Now it's time to be gutsy and talk about my guts . For the past couple of years, I've felt like a walking Pepto-Bismal commercial (and that's all the detail you're going to get about that!). I went to my doc, and s...