Tremor Warnings

Two recent events have shaken my routine. One a post and one
a game. Nothing earth shattering, more tremors – warnings of what might or will
occur.

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This post about ‘diversity’, Social Justice Warriors, and the withdrawal of Amélie Wen Zhao’s Blood Heir set me thinking about my current WIP, Fevered Few and what I was attempting.

I’m a WASP hetero male trying to write a novel with a female
queer protagonist in the North Wales Police. Am I heading for the pillory or
worse – even if I am trying to use diversity readers?

I had already realised I needed to tread carefully after a
somewhat different controversy arose over the sexuality choices in the game Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.

It probably doesn’t help that I’m making my protagonist
Welsh with a deaf sister, since I’m English and I’ve never even committed a
crime – other than parking illegally or speeding. Okay, I’m disabled, with
Quaker abolitionist ancestors and splashes of Latin and Scottish blood. But none
of those are qualifications.

Okay, SF writers write about aliens but aren’t from another
planet. However, we don’t see the aliens protesting; or is that why there are
abductions and experiments?

Is the solution to stop writing my Welsh police procedural series
and tackle a topic that I know about? Horses?

Dang, I’ve done that and got criticised for my lack of
knowledge.

Falling? My life-story could be fictionalised, but who is
inspired by that? Not me.

Insecurity 1. Meltdown imminent.



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Later the same day, I went into Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate and got thrown into a quest that
required me to press/punch/mash keys in quick succession.

Fail. Retry. Fail. Retry.

Fail. Retry. Fail. Retry.

Fail. Retry. Fail. Retry.

The fingers on my left hand locked up, and my hand became a
useless claw while my head thumped.

Insecurity 2. Meltdown imminent.

That was not the first time that my hand and my reactions
failed.  I had the same problem in Shadow of the Tomb Raider last week. Plus,
it occurs when I type so when I’m working on a novel or a post – like now.

Meltdown



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The harsh reality is that my multiple sclerosis is
threatening to disrupt my life again – if I let it. I need to amend the
rules…move the goalposts. Or change rackets.

Well, keyboards.

Step One – A New Keyboard. I’ve ordered a GameSir GK100 Wired One-Handed Mechanical Gaming Keyboard for Windows PC and GameSir X1, LED Backlit Portable Mini Game Keypad – arriving later today. It’s the left-side of a keyboard designed for gaming so might resolve part of the problem.



But not the typing element as half the keys are missing.



Step Two – Dictation software. I’ve ordered Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 13 – arriving on Saturday. However, training my Dragon will take time, especially as my speech is slurred – MS side-effect. It will mean that in a few weeks, I might get to write as fast as I talk.

Even after spending this money, I still need to decide if
I’m writing the right novel – the one that will cover all these extravagances.

MS is a frustrating MonSter, and I must learn to roll with
its punches and fight back. There will be other rounds, but I’ve got this one.

Yes, I need to consider Audible
as my eyes are at risk – not just from reading. Double vision was my initial
symptom back in 1999, so the warning is there.

More rabbit holes beckon.