Joey Paul's Blog, page 254

Links, Guest Posts and other updates

Hi Readers!

Since I've been doing a lot of writing (just one chapter left to write of book twelve!) and going through the drug trial (half way now!) I realised that there have been a lot of guest blog posts and such that I haven't brought to your attention, unless you're following my Facebook and if not, why not?! So, to make it easier, here's a list of all that's happened since April/May time!

I did a guest blog piece for the wonderful, Brenda Perlin entitled "Writing The Dying Thoughts Series" which can be found here.

I also did a piece about called "Writing Whilst Disabled", for the ever lovely Laurie Boris found here.

I was also lucky enough to be part of Angie Martin's "Feature Friday", where I let Tara take the keyboard and write her own piece. This can be found below:

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Hi everybody, my name is Joey Paul and I'm an indie author. I have published six books, and almost finished writing my eleventh and twelfth ones. Normally when I do these kinds of pieces, I write about myself, but I figured you've all heard enough about me, so here's an introduction to my favourite, longest-running character - Tara Leverton. Before I hand her the keyboard, I'd just like to explain that she's the main character in my Dying Thoughts Series. She'll tell you the rest.

*hands keyboard to Tara*

Hi! I'm Tara and I'm not used to these kinds of things so you'll have to excuse me if I ramble a bit. I'm sixteen and although Joey's further along in my story than the rest of you, I'll do my best not to spoil you.

You see, I never thought that anyone would want to write a single book about me, let alone a series of more than three! I wondered whether Joey would do my story justice or if she'd just get bored and stop writing (which she has done at times), but mostly she's stuck with me and my world. You may be wondering what's so important and awesome about me that someone would want to write a whole series about my life? Yeah, I would've wondered the same thing too.

I have a... well... umm... gift. I see the last moments of someone's life when I touch something that used to belong to them. I know, I know, it's dumb, right? It's also super annoying and for the first nine years of being, well, gifted, I didn't know why it had happened or what it meant and my dad wasn't exactly forthcoming about it all. You may have heard of my dad, he was a big pop star when I was a kid. His name is Colin Leverton. If you've heard of him, you'll know what happened to my mum too. But if not, here's a little catch-up.

When I was six and oblivious to all things supernatural, and my mum was alive, we all lived happily together. Anyway, it turned out that Mum had the same gift as me. She'd gotten it from her grandmother when she died and she ended up working with the police to solve crimes. Cool, huh? I knew nothing about this though, and then things got a little, well, shitty. Dad was stalked by a crazed fan, who believed that I was really her daughter (I told you she was nuts) and she ended up stabbing my mum. Mum died, Siobhan (the stalker) was sent away and locked up, and then it was just Dad and me. He retired from the music business and devoted his life to making sure I was safe, loved and cared for. I don't really think he knew in the beginning that my mother's death had triggered the ability she'd passed on to me. I don't know for sure if he was even aware that I used to touch stuff on her dresser so that I could see her again (as well as her gruesome death, but for me that didn't really matter).

Yeah, I was messed up. I'd never really been one who was in touch with her feelings, and even now, a decade later, my father still gets teary eyed when we talk about Mum. I think when he realised I had the same gift, that's when his over-protectiveness came into play. See, when I'm having visions, to an onlooker it looks like I'm having a seizure and I often got dragged to the hospital where I was under the care of this really cool doctor. He knew I wasn't faking, despite what other people were saying, but there was nothing physically wrong with me. I didn't have epilepsy and I didn't know anything about my gift at that point, so I was just as confused as everyone else. I didn't tell them what I saw (for obvious reasons) and I never really confronted my dad although I know that on some level, he must (well he *did*), know what was actually happening to me.

Enter my best friend, Kaolin! When I got caught up in solving her father's murder and then got questioned by a police officer who I'm now really good friends with, Dad came clean and told me that yeah, he'd known what it was and that he'd only been trying to "protect" me. He said it was what my mum would have wanted. I was beyond pissed because he'd outright lied to me! He'd let me believe I was nuts! I mean, wouldn't you have felt the same way? I was so very very angry with him and it took me a while to forgive him for that.

Life moves on though, and the outcome of it all was that I got to follow in my mum's footprints and start using my gift to help people. That's pretty cool, and it means my life became interesting enough to be written about. So yeah, that's me, Tara, and that's why I have books written about me. Thanks for reading, I have to go and get on with a case coz... oops... I said no spoilers, so I'll leave it there!

*Joey takes back the keyboard*

You can read about Tara's adventures in the Dying Thoughts Series starting with Dying Thoughts - First Touch. They can be found on Amazon, Smashwords, iBook, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and many other e-book stores. You can also follow me on my blog or on Facebook and join in the fun as we count down to my seventh release and beyond!

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I was also asked to write about the moment I knew I had "made it" as an author, Jenny Milchman, which can also be found below.

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I was nineteen when I was diagnosed with both M.E and Fibromyalgia, on top of a few other chronic conditions, and I was in a wheelchair by the time I was twenty. I'd been told that I would probably never work again when I was medically retired from working life. Faced with a life of doing nothing, I turned to something I had loved as a teenager – writing - and with that, a career was born.

By the time I had two books under my belt, I started to approach traditional publishers and told myself that to "make it" I would have to have my book on someone else's bookshelf, that the only way to do that was to be published by one of the big names. I sent off my second book and got rejection after rejection. Sometimes, slipped in with the standard letters, were notes telling me that they loved my book, that it showed great promise, but that they were unable to publish it at that time.

It wasn't until 2005 when I was going through even more medical problems that I told myself it was okay to start looking elsewhere. So I decided to self-publish through AuthorHouse and got to see my book, Blackout, in print. It was the best moment of my life at that point. However, I didn't see it ever going past that. I couldn't afford to continue to pay AuthorHouse and although I continued to write, and had nearly completed five books, I felt disheartened as I got back into the sending off my book, receiving rejection letter cycle.

Fast forward to 2011, when I realised that with the rise of e-books and places such as Amazon and Smashwords, I would be able to turn my writing into something more. My dream was to see my books being read by other people, and after re-publishing Blackout, I started to release the next few books under the label "Bug Books". It was a full time job being an indie author. I had to do a lot of networking and a lot of it was an uphill struggle, but it was worth it.

Today, I have six books available to buy and my seventh book is due out in July. I am working on both my eleventh and twelfth books and have the next two planned. I employ an editor and an artist for the cover designs and I'm doing something I like with my life. I feel like I'm living the dream, because although it wasn't the path I had expected to go down - both in life and in career - I'm so happy doing it. I love creating, I love writing. I love thinking up new ways to fulfil plots and I love being an indie author. My dream was to see my books being read and I've more than accomplished it!
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Now onto more updates! I have announced that WAITING ON YOU will be released on JULY 26TH on Amazon Kindle exclusively! There is an event on Facebook where you stand to win a host of prizes including copies of other young adult books, mostly those within the romance genre, as well as swag and Amazon giftcards!
On top of that DYING THOUGHTS - THIRD WISH is now available from Smashwords and will be trickling down to the other sites soon!
In other news, I have added the Ask The Author tab on my Goodreads profile, so be sure to go over there if you fancy asking me anything!
And that's it! I have some writing to do, and new projects to start soon! I hope to be announcing more fun things soon, so watch this space!

Spoonie Writer: Learning To Say No

Spoonie Writer: Learning To Say No
 
When you're first diagnosed as having a chronic illness and you face the prospect of having  to live your life counting spoons, you quickly realise that there are going to be some things that you just can't do no matter how much you want to. When you add in a job like being an indie author into the mix, you'll find yourself running into problems as you try to achieve all the things you need to do. What do you do when your career needs you to do something, but your body is saying "nope!"?
 
The first thing to do is to face the fact that you will probably never go back to the person you were before you got sick, and realise that if you're going to accomplish things on both your good and bad days, you'll need to have some idea of just how far you can push yourself before it all comes back to bite you in the arse. For me, it was a big thing to accept that despite how much I wanted to take part in a blog tour or convention, I just couldn't do it all. I had to learn to listen to my body and I had to learn that I could say No.

If you're anything like me, you'll know that saying No to someone can feel like a bad thing. It can feel like saying no is telling that person or that opportunity that you never want their help again. I know in reality it isn't like that, but it's taken me a long time to get to this point. Before, saying no just wasn't something I felt comfortable doing. It felt like I was being rude, like I wasn't grateful for the opportunity being offered to me. But of course, it's not that at all, it's about knowing that if I do this thing or this promotion or push myself to write those chapters, in a few hours I will pay for it dearly.

My body will rebel and I will end up spending precious time either in bed, or worse, in hospital where I'm too unwell to do anything. The feeling of wasted time, for me at least, is worse than the feeling of saying no. So over the past few years, I have learnt that sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and tell someone that it was great to be thought of, but you just can't commit to that event. It's not a bad thing, it doesn't mean that you've let someone down and it's all part of being a spoonie.

There will be some people who won't see it that way, and honestly, those people are not worth the worry and anxiety. Those who understand will see that you need to have time to rest, to take some time away and that you are unable to commit to something that may make your condition worse, cause a flare or land you in the hospital. No one else can tell you how you feel, it's your body and your conditions and you will get to know them oh-so-well, and it's about learning to read the signs and know that although you are desperate to do a book tour or a book signing or a guest blog, you just can't at that moment in time. As someone more insightful than me said, the people who matter won't mind and those who mind...they don't matter!

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: How Violent Is Too Violent?

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: How Violent Is Too Violent?

As a young adult author, I sometimes find myself asking how violent is too violent? I mean, with adult books you can go into gory detail of what you do to a character and how badly they were injured, maimed or killed. You can describe the flow of blood and each individual cut you make to their body to drive home just how horrific their injuries or death are. However, when you're writing for a younger audience, there must be a line somewhere that states that the description of cutting someone's fingers off or burning them in acid are too much, right?

I don't always agree that that's true. After all, young adults probably see more violent things in video games and on the big screen than are written in some books. But I was doing a scene in one of my current works in progress the other day and it revolved around torture. While I wanted to hammer home just how bad the pain would have been for my characters, as well as how deranged my killer was, I was struck with the thought that maybe it was a tad too violent.

The same can be said with some of the DYING THOUGHTS books. Tara's gift allows her to watch someone die over and over. The whole idea is that she is able to see things that the police may have missed because they didn't get to witness the death and despite their best efforts, they can not talk to the dead. I have dealt with the murder of children, people being raped and abused, tortured and killed in the most violent of ways and sometimes as I write, I find myself wondering if it's too much. My editor is great and is of the same belief as me, that sometimes you need to show that gore and violence to really give the reader the feeling that they are watching and experiencing it as well.

I guess the difficulty is for me that while some things would be seen as too little in an adult crime book, they can be seen as too much in a young adult book. It's about finding the balance between the two because young adults are generally within the ages of thirteen and twenty-five, and at the higher end of the scale they can see eighteen rated films and see violence in the media. So, why shouldn't they be able to see it in books? I get that for some people they are of the belief that children and young adults should be shielded from the violence out in the world, but by toning down the scenes in my books,  I'm not giving them the full story.

So, yes, sometimes there is a line between how much violence and description to use when dealing with these matters, but at other times, it's the job of the writer to cross over these lines and show the reader the realities of life. When Tara is dealing with a grisly case, I try to make sure that I don't write things that will give the readers nightmares, but at the same time I want it to be as honest as possible, which means including some forms of violence. It's just about knowing where to draw the line, but that seems to be the case with the majority of writing. You need to know the rules so that when you break them, you know you're doing so in good faith. It's all a learning curve and I know I, for one, have a lot more learning to do.

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

Spoonie Writer: Writing During Attacks

Spoonie Writer: Writing During Attacks

One thing you have to get used to when you're chronically ill, is that sometimes you'll need to do things, like write, when you really don't feel well. Such as when you're having a flare or an attack from one (or more) of your conditions. For instance, right now, I'm working on a chapter whilst sucking away on my nebuliser. It comes with the territory and it's not something that you ever really get used to.

A friend of mine asked me once how I managed to be so social when I wasn't well. Their reasoning was that when they felt crap, they didn't feel up to talking with or doing anything work related. My reply was simple - when you feel like crap all the time, you have no choice but to keep doing stuff, to keep talking to people, or you'd live in a hole and never do anything or see anyone. I'm not trying to be a martyr here, quite the opposite. I'm trying to say that when your "normal" state is one of ill health, you learn that the new normal is to keep ploughing through even though you may not feel up to it.

There are of course, times when that's just not possible, and I'll discuss the majority of that in another piece, but for now I'll just focus on the fact that life does not stop, the world does not stop, just because your pain level is through the roof and you only got two hours sleep last night. For some people, it is easier than for others and while I am not here to make judgement, nor do I suggest that you pass judgement on others either, sometimes you just have to keep going. Sometimes what may seem as really sick to an healthy person may just seem to you as a bit of an annoyance.

So, as a spoonie writer, I have learnt that in addition to making sure I take the right things along with me for hospital stays, I sometimes have to work through my sickness and ill health to make sure that I meet my own self set goals. As I've mentioned before, I set myself four chapters a fortnight and generally I meet that goal. Other times I'll go beyond it and sometimes I won't manage it at all. The fact of the matter is that I have been told by many health professionals in my years as a spoonie that pacing is a big thing for people who are chronically ill. Their argument is that when you have a good day, if you attempt to do nine things off of your constantly growing to-do list and push yourself, then you'll have a string of bad days where nothing gets done and the list grows longer. The answer, I'm told, is to pace yourself. Do only three or four of those things and then manage to do a little more the next day. The idea is that you don't overdo it and end up with more manageable and good days than the bad and bed-bound ones.

I have experimented with this over the years and have found that as long as I am not stuck in bed and completely unable to work on my computer (a piece about that will be coming soon), I can usually do some work towards my writing. Whether it's a paragraph to a chapter or a small blog piece, an email answered or a review request sent, all these things add up to be part of my livelihood and that allows me to do about the same every day, sometimes a little more when I'm feeling up to it and other times a little less. I have yet to find the exact balance, and that's after nearly thirteen years. I'm sure the words "balancing act" in a piece like this do not surprise you, but you'd be amazed how much of my work and life is just that. Finding the sweet spot takes time, but when I get there, I'll let you all know!

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Sometimes Book Research Isn't Enough

 
The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Sometimes Book Research Isn't Enough

If there's one thing I've learnt from my years as a crime writer, it's that research is the key to all the wonders of the book world. You need to know exactly how certain things work and sometimes there comes a time when looking a subject up online or reading about it in a book just isn't precise enough for you to find the words to convey what you mean and leave no doubt in the reader's mind. So, sometimes you have to think outside the box and do a little practical research.

Now, before you get worried, I'm not suggesting that you commit a crime of any kind to check and see how it would work. Nor do I suggest kidnapping someone to play out your nefarious plot. Yes, there are some things that you will just have to use the internet and books to find out about - like murder, rape and other inhumane crimes. What I'm talking about is when you get to the point in the book where you plan to have someone escape from capture, or link the killer via some kind of forensic evidence or other such plot device.

I know it's pretty hard to work out forensic evidence transfer and there are other options which I'll cover shortly, but for the moment I'll focus on the rescue from capture because I can speak from personal experience. When you have your character tied up and trying to look for a way to flee you can find that some hands on experience will work best. You can look at how the criminal mastermind would tie them up, get a friend to do the same to you and work out what is possible to do from that situation whilst bound. You can do the same with breaking the bonds of a zip-tie - it is possible, but it does take some know how and it's not something that easily explained so may require you delving into your own little practice session.

You also have to be careful to be clear how your character knows this stuff. If you've got a teenager who has never come into contact with zip ties in that way before, then it's unlikely that they'll be able to break them apart in minutes and escape. The same can be said for anything with a lock such as handcuffs. Sure if they're the crappy ones from the Pound store then it's likely that they'll be easy to get out of, but you still need to have some experience with how easy, and how obvious it would be to the captor. After all, why would they be using something that is obviously easy to escape from?

Now, back to the forensic evidence that provides the very clue that will link your perpetrator to the victim and the crime. Whether it's something like a stray hair, or a fingerprint lifted from what was thought to have been a wiped down surface, or even DNA from a drop of blood. Whatever you choose to be the smoking gun, the procedure needed to link it back to your criminal may not be as straight-forward as you think. After all, while there are some centralised DNA databases, there isn't just one for everything, and not everyone will have their fingerprints/DNA/etc on file. While the internet is handy for those little facts that you need, sometimes you need to be sure that what you're writing is correct and that's when your next piece of research comes into play. Real life experience.

Wait, I don't mean you, I mean people who work in the field. I know that there are numerous associations you can join once you've been traditionally published (and some for Indie authors as well) that will give you live access to people in your chosen field to help you with those pesky titbits of information that will make your story all the more credible. After all, it may not be obvious to the average reader, but it will be to those who have some knowledge of the inner workings of the forensics lab. For me, not having access to those sites, I have used real people who have worked in real labs and had real experience with similar cases. I have been lucky to have been able to track down sources through people I've met online. It's not just what evidence you will need to solve your case, but also how you get a sample to compare the two. For that you will usually need a warrant of some kind and depending on how things work in your own country (as it will vary from town to town, state to state and country to country) will depend on how much information you need to be able to get one of those lovely pieces of papers that will allow you to take blood, samples or fingerprints to compare to the ones you have.

Basically, try to branch out. Not everything can be found online, and not all options are available to all writers. A lot of the writer's guilds for crime writers I've come across have excellent resources, but unless you're traditionally published or making x amount of sales a month/year, you won't be allowed full membership and access to their information. Make connections in the writing community and you'll find yourself with real life people to compare information with, and that's the easiest way to solve a riddle that isn't covered in reference books.

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

An important update

Hey Guys!
So, this is a scheduled post that I wrote a while ago, but have only posted now because I wanted to be sure how things were going to go. As the majority of you are aware, I have several chronic conditions. I have never hidden this from any of my readers or other author friends, indie or otherwise. However, one of my conditions has gotten progressively worse and I am now on a new trial drug that is making it hard to keep up with my daily jobs. The trial will last sixteen weeks and I'm on week five right now. There are no guarantees that this will make my breathing easier, but it has showed promise in other patients with my lung issues.

I have sat my final exam for my degree in the past few days and am now able to concentrate solely on book work and a few other hobbies. I have written over the past few weeks a whole heap of blog posts that I will make sure post over the coming weeks. I don't know how long it will take for the side effects to subside, or if they will completely. All I plan to do now is take my time, grab each day as it comes and do what I can. No one can expect any more than that.

I'm writing this because I know that Facebook are limiting who sees my posts, and while this also gets posted to my Tumblr, Goodreads, Twitter and Google+ pages, I want you all to know that I am focusing on the best thing for me, which is to keep breathing so I can keep writing. I plan to do as much as I can to keep you guys in the loop in regards to my upcoming release, as well as let you know how I'm doing. However, I won't be doing as much as I was because the side effects are brutal. So, if you don't see me post on my Facebook or elsewhere, don't think I've disappeared, I'm just taking some time off that day.

As always, if you want to reach me, you can email bugbooks@virginmedia.com and I'll respond when I can! Thank you ALL for your support during this time and I promise that I will be back :D

Joey

The Trials Of An Indie Author: 24hrs Isn't Enough

The Trials Of An Indie Author: 24hrs Isn't Enough

I know one big thing for me as an indie author is finding enough time in the day to get everything done. It's one part of it that I really struggle with, not just because I'm disabled and chronically ill, but also because sometimes there is SO much to do and so little time to get it done. Like, right now it's four in the morning and I needed more time to write, I was in the "zone" and I didn't want to stop in case I couldn't pick my thread back up when I'd had some sleep. And now that the chapters are done, I'm left with the thousand other things that I'd been putting off.

One of the big differences between indie and traditionally published authors is that for indie authors, we pretty much end up with a lot of the jobs landing in our laps. I can't speak for those who are with small presses, but I know that those with the Big Six have other people to do some of the smaller jobs for them. Marketing has its own department, as does PR and all the other little things that, as an indie author, I just don't have access to.

I made the conscious decision to become an indie author, and while I don't regret it, it does leave me wishing some days that I could squeeze in a few extra hours here and there without having to worry too much about not getting enough sleep! Right now, for instance, I have about six other blog posts that need writing, four more chapters to do for a new fortnight and a few other jobs that need my attention. There just isn't enough time to do it all and still get my required twelve hours sleep a night.

It makes me wonder how people with a full time job manage it! To me, being an indie author is a full time job! I have spoken in the past about all the different hats we have to wear (found here) as well as how at times it seems that sleep is optional (found here). However, working through on your bad days isn't always an option either and so there is always a serious deficit in time. I know it's not just me either, one part of being an indie author as well as a spoonie is learning not to stretch yourself too thin and learning that saying no occasionally is not a bad thing.

However, when you need to market yourself and sell your brand, as it were (a piece on which is coming soon!), you then find that you do need to work things out and stick to a schedule. Mine is never set in stone because I have other issues that prevent me from spending x amount of hours on one thing at any given time. With a job such as writing, it becomes a case of working when you can and doing the best you can with what you've got. While I didn't plan to spend the night happily typing away at my computer, that's the way it's gone, so why not make it work for me?

Writing, for me at least, is my passion. It's something that I wake up in the morning happy to do, but sadly, sometimes life gets in the way and I find myself scurrying around trying to find an extra ten minutes here or there to be able to get what I need done at the right time. Your mileage may, of course, vary.

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her work.

Spoonie Writer: Writing In Hospital

Spoonie Writer: Writing In Hospital

I have always said that one of the good things about being a writer in addition to having conditions that mean I spend time in the hospital is that I can pick it all up and take it with me. I have my book notes, I have a tablet (and before that, I had a laptop) and as long as I'm feeling well enough, I can write from anywhere. The same can't be said for many other professions. As someone who spends a lot of the time stuck in a bed attached to a variety of machines, it's a blessing on its own that I can write because it gives me something to do to fill the monotonous hours of plain old boredom.

I have become quite the expert at preparing my entertainment during hospital visits. Due to the severity of my conditions and the fact that things can change in a heartbeat, my carer and I have developed a good plan for what needs to be packed into my hospital bag and taken along with me whether I travel by car or ambulance. Here are my four tips for things a spoonie writer should try to take with them when they have to spend time in hospital.

#1 - HAVE TABLET, WILL WRITE
I know that when I first go into hospital, I'm usually not well enough to even think about writing, but having a tablet that is highly portable and loaded up with all my files and information means that when I finally do feel better, I can write bits and pieces here and there. It also means that I can play games when I'm bored and stay connected to the outside world with Facebook and Tumblr. I have a bag that is solely for my book stuff and has a special padded tablet section which means I can keep it all to hand, plus those over-the-bed tables are perfect for such a reason.

#2 - BOOKS, BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS
Before I had a Kindle, I would have to limit the number of books I could take with me, and my carer would be in charge of replenishing my supply during her daily visits. Now that I do have a Kindle, I can read as much as I like without the worry of not having something to turn to when I finish the last one. It's also a good way to take a break from all the stuff happening surrounding you and it gives you a chance to slip into another world where you don't feel awful.

#3 - CONNECTION WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD
Other than the obvious reason, having a phone with a 3G connection is essential for when you're in hospital. You need to be able to call a friend when you're having a bad time, but you also need to keep up to date with everything else happening beyond the hospital perimeter. As I said in a previous piece, the world does not stop because you're sick. In terms of writing, it means that you're able to fact check pieces as well as update your Facebook page, and keep in touch with other writers and groups that you're a member of.

And finally, #4 - THE MUNDANE CAN BE DONE
If you're too sick to write, but not so sick that you just sleep all the time, you can get some other, more boring parts of writing done. You can do some research that's easy to dip in and out of. You can compose emails (though don't send them until you're sure they're not full of gobbledygook!) and you can think about plot lines that you've yet to use or that may be coming up in future chapters. All of the stuff that you wouldn't normally have time to do because you're too busy actually writing!

Of course, all of this is dependant on how sick you are, how long you're going to be in hospital and loads of other variables, but this is my essentials list. I also have a portable DVD player and some DVD box-sets that I have seen over and over but can still enjoy because when I'm too sick to concentrate it's nice to have something to fill the quietness without needing me to engage my brain too much. If you have any of your own tips, add them to the comments :D

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

Review Post - Cedar Woman by Debra Shiveley Welch

I was asked to review Debra's book CEDAR WOMAN, a story about a Native American family and thought that I would include my review here as well. Here's a bit of info about Debra:

Debra is an Amazon Best Selling Author of four books and the recipient of the Faith Writer’s Gold Seal of Approval and Books & Authors Award of Excellence recipient, Books & Authors Best Non Fiction Book – 2007, All Books Reviews Editor’s Choice 2010 and Books & Authors Best Native American Fiction 2011. Her books include:

Cedar Woman, winner of Books & Authors Best Native American Fiction 2011; four time award winner Son of My Soul – The Adoption of Christopher soon to be available in audio; A Very Special Child, an award winning Best Seller on Amazon America and in English at Amazon Japan, and Jesus Gandhi Oma Mae Adams, Debra’s first novel, co-authored with Linda Lee Greene, an Amazon Best Seller as well.

Currently Debra is working on Woman Who Sees in Both Worlds – Ista Numpa, a sequel to Cedar Woman.
Christopher Meets Buddy, a children’s book about the proper care of a pet bird, will be available soon. Debra can be reached at DebraSWelch@aol.com
Winner of the Best Native American Fiction Award 2011, Cedar Woman is a powerful book filled with courage, romance and the beliefs, ceremonies and language of the Lakota Sioux.

Travel with her to Columbus, Ohio as she rebuilds her life, and the lives of her family. Join her in the sweat lodge as she follows Zitka Mine to the fifth step of the edge of the world to find her father's soul.

Join her at powwow where she meets her half side. Consultant Julie Spotted Eagle Horse, descendant of Chief Spotted Eagle and Crazy Horse.

My review is below:

CEDAR WOMAN is a romantic tale of a young Native American travelling through life to find her other half, her soul-mate. The story starts in the current time and then takes you back through young Lena's life, even further back to her parents story of how they got together. It is an interesting book which uses Native American words (and gives you phonetic spelling and the meaning) and an insight into the culture of the people.

The story is both sad and happy, with tears of joy you see Lena meet the man she thinks makes her whole, and then tears of sadness as he is taken away. You meet all the people relevant in Lena's life from her childhood friends to the people she meets at her first powwow. There is exquisite detail in the rituals of the Native American's and their history and culture.

The book is well written and is, I think, the first in the series, which means there will be more! Something I look forward to very much! Well-written and includes recipes for Native American foods and drinks. Highly recommended to anyone who has an interest in this culture or loves an historical romance. Great book and I hope there will be more!

You can get your own copies of Cedar Woman on Amazon in Kindle or Paperback! You can also follow Debra on Facebook or on her own blog.

Spoonie Writer: Writing Whilst Sick

Spoonie Writer: Writing Whilst Sick
 
The term "spoonie" was first coined by Christine Miserandino when she wrote The Spoon Theory. It's a term used by many people who have chronic illness to describe what life is like for people like us. I embrace the term as it's a great way to explain the way I live my life whilst being sick. I am, by definition, a spoonie writer.

In recent pieces on my blog, I have written about what it's like to be a writer and be chronically ill (found here, here, & here). I have never really talked about what it's like to have to write whilst being sick. I've talked about writing whilst having chronic pain or chronic fatigue (found here) but I haven't yet touched on what it's like to be a writer, chronically ill as well as "normal" sick and still having to write.

Right now, I am having a few issues with my chronic illnesses that mean that I'm not having a good time health-wise. I'm having to use my nebuliser to keep my breathing under control, pain meds to keep the pain monster at bay and have just started with a different kind of CPAP machine to help with both the fatigue from sleep apnoea as well as the general fatigue from the M.E. To make things all the more hilarious my body seems to have decided that now would be the best time ever to have a cold/chest infection...again! It's a dance I am very familiar with and one that many people with chronic illnesses will be aware of.

However, the world does not stop just because I'm feeling crap. There are still emails to write, blog pieces to compose and books to start, plan and finish. I can take a few days off, but knowing my body, it wouldn't just be a few days, but more like a couple of weeks. So, if I want to get my books finished and all of that jazz, I have to adapt and write even though I feel bloody dreadful! I don't tell you this to garner sympathy or to win awards (though I did win Gold at the Sick Olympics!) but to show people who may not have seen this side of me, or any chronically ill person before.

I had a friend ask me recently when she was feeling particularly crap, with a cold and chest issues of her own, how I managed to be social even though I sounded, and was feeling pretty bad. My response was simply that if I stopped talking to people when I didn't feel well, then I'd never talk to anyone! There does come a point though when you can't just barrel through it all and I'll touch on that in another piece, but suffice to say, when those times happen, you literally have no other choice.

As a spoonie writer I have had to learn when my body has had enough, when it can literally do no more and is holding up the white flag in defeat. One thing many spoonies are told by doctors and nurses, physios and psychologists is that we MUST pace ourselves. They say that there is no point in spending all your spoons on one day because you feel kinda okay and then spending the next few days stuck in bed with a deficit of spoons because you overdid it. As someone who has been battling chronic illness for all of her adult life, I can say that it's true. Once again I utter the words, it's a balancing act.

On any given day I can wake up and not know how many spoons I'll have. I can start with a good number and then do the wrong thing, eat something that doesn't work for me or push myself a little too far in my wheelchair and BAM! My spoons are into the minus and I need to stop and rest. I can also start the day with so few spoons I don't know how I'm going to get anything done, and then be surprised by how rested I feel after a nap - though that rarely happens. It's hard to hold down any kind of job when you don't know from one day to next - hell, even one hour to the next - how you're going to feel. It's one of the reasons that being a writer has worked so well for me. I can work when I feel well enough to, and I can take time off when I don't feel well enough.

Hang on, I hear you cry, didn't you just say that you have to keep going even though you feel awful? Yes, I did and I wasn't lying. Sometimes there are things that can't be put off. Either a blog post or a book signing or a promotion or a deadline and no matter how understanding people are, you can't just pull out. It's times like those that you do have to weigh up the options and decide if the payback is worth the risk. The majority of the time it isn't, but sometimes you have to do it anyway, just as you would if you were a healthy person who had a cold or infection. The world does not stop or even slow down if you're sick and when you're sick all the time it seems to speed up slightly.

So yes, it's a balancing act and writing whilst sick is something that's somewhat more manageable than other jobs, but still there are so many times when I sit at my desk and all I can think is "I feel crap, I wish I could go to bed!" but deadlines and commitments mean that it's not possible. Your mileage may, of course, vary.

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