So it's been a year

Oddly I got til noon before thinking about it. By this time I would have been lying on a cot in the local hospital probably just about ready to be put out and him to reposition the leg. Honestly part of me still wants to scream about that.

the fall is still very clear in my mind. Not how it happened mind you. It was like in slow motion. I remember seeing my legs go up in the air. I hit arms first which is why I still don't get how I did that much damage to my leg but I knew it was bad from the moment I saw it.

( cut for the details )

It was a blur. I remember my neighbor rushing over to give me her number to come get me. I remember the EMS worker joking about the morphine he was giving me (ah morphine) I remember the doctor and nurses teasing me after I was put out to reposition the knee because that anesthesia makes you hallucinate and talk (I was on kitty island with Lou Diamond Phillips)

And I remember him telling me you'll be going home in a few hours. Think on that and realize why I want to scream. GO HOME. I broke all three bones, tore out the meniscus and all the tendons and ligaments and if my blood supply to the foot didn't go bad (probably helped along by his restrictive dressing) he was going to send me home alone.

Life flighting me to the trauma center was the best thing he did. I have nothing but praise for the trauma center and the care I got there. It even had decent food.

I tell my nursing students the horrors of the nursing home. I don't need to repeat them here. I documented them as I went. Can't say it enough, if you have someone you love in a nursing/assisted living home check on them and go on random days so they can't predict your pattern.

I can walk again which seemed so unlikely last year. I go in a couple weeks to see the surgeon again. I am having pain not in the knee but inferior to it (as I've been saying for a year) I can feel a divot in the bone. I have decided if he doesn't take an x-ray of it then I'll go to my brother's clinic in May and have them do it and switch my care (which I don't really need much of now) there or maybe back here. whatever. I want to know is did the tibia heal because it doesn't feel like it and now that most of the swelling is gone you can see where the issues are.

I haven't been out to the woods yet. I might go next months with friends. I might not ever get to go alone again. We shall see. Lake Alma is where I'd like to start as it's relatively flat.

This is still impacting where I might wander off to this year. Honestly the best vacation I could have taken was my work con and play on the beach but it's Florida and so nope (sorry Floridian friends) It's most likely going to be a history/museum sort of trip wherever it is i go.

And I can't end this anniversary post without another big THANK YOU to all of you. So many of you stepped up to text/email/DM me over those long weeks in the hospital. You sent me little gifts to lift my spirits. I am so happy to have you all in my life. I am lucky.

Writerly Ways

Before I get into that, in case something happens with LJ I've long been at DW as my main, same user name. Feel free to friend me.

So I'm almost through a 450 page book that I would love to give 4 stars but I can't because there are such issues with worldbuilding? pacing? both. So let's talk about this. in the case of the book, there is magic but it's mostly used for performances ala Las Vegas. 350 pages in we find that it used to be used for war and women used to wield it but now it's all but forbidden on stage for women (they're relegated to the circus) the whole point of the book is basically American Idol with magic but not learning of it's importance, why women can't use etc until nearly the end of the book is majorly distracting for me.

How do you know about your pacing? Sometimes you can feel it. I know I can at least. I'm pretty sure I have pacing/world building issues in the new nano novel. Certainly having outside eyes helps. Having an alpha or beta reader is great. But how do you get them?

I've asked others. They often said they get theirs via their newsletter but that leads me to how do you get a newsletter out when you have no publications? Who wants to join that mailing list? I wish I had some for the nano novel but at the moment I do not. And I get that. It's harder to commit to a novel.

I have a short story i could use one for too. Speaking of which I DID send out my Welsh monster story for consideration today. If they say yes, yay, if they say no I hope it's in time to send it to another folk horror open call next month (or I could send the aforementioned short).

Speaking of open calls, I finally signed up for Horror tree's newsletter. It's mostly horror and/or spec fic tons of open calls

Here are my two favorites that whispered stories in my head even before I finished reading the call

There Used to Be a House Here (raises money to combat homelessness in the UK)

From the Ashes: An Anthology of Elemental Urban Fantasy (for Burn Survivors) only 1000 words to work with

Links from around the web

Delilah S. Dawson: Ten Ways To Torture People (In Fiction)

Rob Hart’s Research Toolbox.

Managing Your Editor When You’re Writing On Assignment

Why Is Editing So Expensive? Indie Author Minute.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

From Betty

9 Ways to Approach Relationship Dynamics in Fiction.

How to Survive Book Marketing Burnout

Tools of the Trade

5 Tips for Social Media Detox

5 Fresh Ways To Interact With Your Readers

Plan your content with an email marketing calendar (free template included)

Five Common Weapon Mistakes in Speculative Fiction

Using Animals for Transport and Labor

How to Realistically Depict Evil

Five Ways to Make Multiple Viewpoints More Engaging

How to Write Three Types of Friendship Arcs

When to Kill a Character

Spinning a Yarn out of History: How to Craft a Plot from your Historical Obsession

Fear Thesaurus Entry: Leading

Know your rights as an author


George Saunders on Overcoming Uncertainty in Writing

How to craft a great mystery in a novel