My life took an enormous turn. Recently, I was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer. In the end, I’m going to be all right, but it’s a bumpy road getting there, and it’s harder than I believed it would be. My entire life has become doctors’ appointments, chemo treatments, and dealing with the side effects of chemotherapy. What I thought would be a nuisance has become all-consuming.
I can’t think straight. My eyes have trouble focusing. My tongue is numb and my hands cramp. I’m jittery and can’t sleep. I can’t sit. I can’t lay down. I can’t do much of anything. I manage to work my full-time job three and a half days a week, but it wears me to the bone.
My author business is definitely taking a hit during all this. Not only does cancer rob me of time and energy and thinking, it’s taking all my financial resources, too. My business funds have been diverted to pay medical bills, and I still can’t keep up.
The 9th book in the Backworlds series is mostly written, but needs a few more edits to be at its best. I want to continue putting my books into audio and making them available in print. I want to finish the Rifters series, the Squad 51 series, and the Hetty series. I want to write new stuff. I don’t just want to, I need to. I have so, so, so many ideas that want to come pouring out. And, I’ll get them written. In time.
I escape by creating original stories for you. You escape by reading them. Our world is better off with creativity and imagination. Without it, it’s just cancer and treatment and work, which is really, really boring and exhausting.
I write what I love — outer space and secret worlds within our world with quirky characters. My characters have the odds stacked against them and they go out and kick the galaxy’s ass. Those are the characters I want to read about and root for — the average person who finds a way to matter. We all need to matter, and we’re all heroes. That’s what I want you to feel when you read my books.
My treatment is a long one. Currently, I’m in chemotherapy. There’s a total of 16 weeks of it. The first drug regimen is 1x a week for 12 weeks. The second regimen is 1x every 3 weeks for 3 months. Then there’s surgery and radiation before I’m done. The chemo is brutally hard. I’m not getting anything done, and I’ve been unable to work a full week. My job is important. It pays my living expenses and gives me medical insurance. But I’m not earning a full paycheck anymore. Which is where my author business is stepping in. I can’t support myself and the business at the same time. I need a certain amount each month to maintain my business expenses.
Soon, I’ll have to let things go, which will make it harder to come back to publishing, and will then take longer to publish the next book in the Backworlds series and finish the Rifters series. I could use help with keeping the website going, my store, the book distribution, and the mailing list. It costs me about $80 a month to run my business. You certainly could help. Here’s how!
Buy some books. Or, if you already have the books, buy them as gifts for someone else. Or you could also make a straight donation.
You can buy my ebooks at all retailers, but I make more if you buy direct from me. Here are the links:
Any support will get me back to publishing faster. And, I will be back. This will not kill me, but losing my dream of being an author might. Thanks for whatever you’re willing to give.
