Hello again Dear Reader,
*Shuffles in awkwardly*
So that went differently from how I expected things to go…
The Curse of Summer (Heatwaves)
I’ll start this newsletter with the boring bit about where I’ve been (hint: not the TARDIS).
Here’s the thing. Heat and I don’t mix. Which is not a good thing if you live in a warm country whose summers get sweltering. And I don’t mean ‘I dislike the heat’, I mean I get physically ill when we have a bad heatwave. And, boy, did we get a few of those this year. And right on top of each other, just to make things even better.
Basically, my joint pain levels spike, I get migraine, the works when it gets to about 32°C. Which is quite often these days. Even if I sit in front of a fan. (Good news: I got a huge outdoor misting fan for my room. It helps! It just looks a bit out of place.)
When this happens I end up having to take it slow work-wise (unless it’s migraine, then good luck to me writing anything for that day) even with painkillers and all the CBT pain exercises I can muster. Honestly, they only go so far.
This has a knock-on affect that means I need to play catch-up to work as soon as I’m feeling better. Which means that my fiction gets pushed to the back burner for a time.
See what I mean about this being the boring bit?
But, please, bear with me.
So here I am minding my own business when the weather decides to take a turn for the worse and so does my overall health. And soon enough I realise that that bloody idiot depression has walked back into the room like “You’re So Vain” is starting to play. And my OCD strides in right behind him. Fabulous.
Long story short, I got in to see my psychiatrist earlier than I would have, and also got in to see my psychologist regularly again (which I haven’t been doing ‘cause, you know, lockdown and all).
I’m doing a bit better now, though we still don’t know what’s with the joint pain (I see a rheumatologist in my future), plus the huge amounts of riboflavin I’m now taking seems to actually be helping the chronic headaches I’ve had since I was 12 (it runs in the family, oh joy). I wish I’d knew to try this before! I hope it keeps on helping…
So, in the end, getting everything done I wanted to get done fiction-wise and doing my work was wishful thinking.
I Haven’t Given Up on Writing
I’m still working on Where the Stars Used to Sing (yup, that’s how little I’ve been able to work on fiction!), and already have an idea for a second volume titled When Ships Sailed the Skies. Now I just need to write them.
The Ruon Chronicles are also coming together slowly but surely in-between all the rest of the madness. However, the notes I have are full of spoilers, so I can’t share them.
I’ll hopefully be able to post again normally now that I’m starting to feel better (and the weather starts turning cooler, hallelujah!).
And the next newsletter will be more-fiction-less-chronic-illness-crap, I promise.
Thank You From the Bottom of My Heart for Sticking Around!
Love,
Carin