Wow. Have I been lazy or what?

Just noticed my last post was in December. While Novel Launch Day was pretty spectacular--thanks to all my friends and the two sites that hosted me and my NEWLY PUBLISHED novel (Gibson's Bookstore in Concord, NH, and MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH)--a few things have happened since.

Mainly, my step father-in-law has transitioned from our home to an independent living facility across the street from the hospital, which is handy when it is necessary (like all day yesterday when I went with him to a last-second doctor visit to help solve a suddenly painful issue). It is supposed to be a win-win situation: a win for him since he is so social and now has tons of friends to hang out with.

Some really cool wallpaper in an exhibit at MASS MoCA.
We were there last weekend to see the Punch Brothers
in concert. My life isn't entirely about taking
care of others, after all. :)

It's a win for me since I can again--in theory--return to my writing since--again, in theory--I will be less exhausted taking daily care of his needs. That hasn't quite happened yet, but it's only been two weeks, so my frequent trips in to see him are only because we have been setting up cable, nursing visits, dropping off medicines and medical necessities that are still shipped to our home, and accompanying him on his myriad of physician visits.

I'm not complaining. Just recording daily life as a Lyme warrior who has a few other co-infections off and on, and a plethora of autoimmune disorders. To make matters worse for myself, when January and February became especially stressful (did I mention my mother has moved in with us too--meaning I am also driving her and her little dog to the dentist, doctors, and vet), I stress ate. Don't judge me. When I'm harried and exhausted, white carbs appeal to me: especially popcorn and butter toast.

I'm still making plans and canceling them. I have only a couple friends left who seem to understand this bizarre condition of mine. But at least my husband completely gets me, or at least supports me and loves me despite my being prone to needing about 48 hours of rest for every handful of hours of activity.

And I plan to return to Anna McGrory's exciting life as a Lyme warrior and amateur sleuth. When I last joined her in unlocking her journey into Book Two of my Lyme Murder Mystery Trilogy, she was about to identify a body. She's afraid it's Frank, which should be just bones by now since it's been over a year since he was murdered. She wonders if there's a real-life Dr. Brennan (on the TV show Bones) who could be called in to make a more accurate I.D. But maybe it's not Frank's remains, after all. I left off just as she and her nephew were approaching the morgue, so I don't know who's in the drawer either. I can't wait to find out!

This rambling post is to say that I'm back. The writer me, that is. I've actually never gone anywhere. I simply got distracted by real life duties that have landed me on the sofa for far too much recovery time. But look at me now: a new post. Maybe the next will be to update my progress on the next novel. I can only hope so.

Tackling Flaws of Lyme Disease Tests & Treatment in Fiction

What do you do when your journey down the rabbit hole that is Lyme disease likely began with a misdiagnosis of ringworm, led to a possibility of advanced bladder cancer, morphed into several autoimmune disorders that required visits to a myriad of medical personnel, and finally, nearly a decade later, was correctly diagnosed as Lyme?

Perhaps, like many, you write a memoir.

Or you turn to the wisdom of Albert Camus and tell your story in a novel since, "Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth."

Protagonist in I Cannot Play With You Fights for her Health

I've given my 50-year-old protagonist, Anna McGrory, a state director for a U.S. Senator from the Berkshires of Massachusetts, all of the exhausting, perplexing, and often painful symptoms of my own Lyme disease and its co-infections.

Anna travels from her home in Concord, NH, to the Berkshires, into Boston, and up to the islands off the coast of Portland, Maine, in this tale of intrigue. The story, which begins and ends on idyllic Cliff Island, Maine, features favorite local businesses such as Casco Bay Lines in Portland and Angelina’s RistoranteItaliano in Concord.

Cultural attractions also appear, including MASS MoCA and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which are spotlighted in end-of-chapter summaries with links to Anna McGrory’sPinterest pages. Also featured is the Trustees of Reservations’ Field Farm in Williamstown, Massachusetts, which serves as the fictional U.S. Senator’s home.

I Cannot Play With You is scheduled for release Dec. 13, 2018, by Texas publisher Black Rose Writing. For more information, please visit the author’s website at GreenChairPictures.com.

Find I Cannot Play With You at these bricks-and-mortar stores: Gibson’s Bookstore, Concord, NH; Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shops, Bar Harbor, Boothbay Harbor, Camden, Damariscotta, Freeport, & Portland, Maine; Cliff Island Store, Cliff Island, ME; MainStreet BookEnds, Warner, NH, and--thanks to the New Hampshire Writers' Project--at Toadstool Bookshop of Milford, NH.

Borrow the novel from the Pillsbury Free Library, Warner, New Hampshire, the Concord Public Library in Concord, NH, or the Cliff Island Library in Maine when it opens again in June 2019.

Online, I Cannot Play With You is available via the following retailers: Indigo (Canada); Barnes and Noble; Amazon; Black Rose Writing (Publisher)