Hi friends! I skipped a few months of this newsletter because time got away from me. So this newsletter will summarize September, October, and November. (What’s your favorite season? I really like spring and fall – the transitional seasons – even if my allergies go a little nuts.)
What’s Up In Life
Since we last spoke, I went to France! Oh my gosh! I can’t believe I can write that! It was seriously a dream come true. You can see all about it on my Instagram, where I posted about our adventures. I still might blog about it more in-depth sometime, but I haven’t decided. It was just such an amazing experience that I wanted to soak it all up instead of worrying about documenting everything.
When we got home from France, we had a flea infestation in our apartment. I had one of the best weeks of my life followed by one of the worst weeks of my life. From France to fleas. Ugh. We had to bomb the fleas into oblivion not once, not twice, but three times, and by then I was convinced they were immortal. It was a decidedly unpleasant way to come home from one’s honeymoon. But it demonstrated that me and my husband make a good team, and we’re in it for the long haul, not just when things are fun and easy.
The flea infestation wasn’t even the worst thing to happen to me this fall, but more about that later in the health section. (Yes, that’s very clickbaity of me, but I want you to keep scrolling.)
What I’m Reading
At my friend Julie’s suggestion, I read Fourth Wing and instantly got obsessed with it, much like half of the reading world. I know lots of people are sick of hearing about it, but I love that people are getting so excited about reading. Julie and I went to the sequel Iron Flame launch party at our local Barnes & Noble and had an amazing time. I even made some new friends. One person brought an honest-to-God sword. I love fandom culture. Right now I’m reading Iron Flame but I’ve been so busy this month that I’m only 150 pages in (and it’s like 600 pages). I’m going to do a post about the launch party where I show you the outfit I put together.
What I’m Writing
This is where I get to share super exciting news! I am participating in NaNoWriMo* and am writing a medieval fantasy novel in verse. It’s called The Girl in the Northwest Tower and it’s part of the Goose Creek Cycle. I will be posting the cover, blurb, and release date soon. I’m so excited about this book. I’ve written 250 pages so far (it’s going to be between 400-500 pages, but 400 pages is my goal for NaNoWriMo this year).
*NaNoWriMo has an investigation going on right now into how they were not properly protecting minors on the forums. I am still using the site to track my work (the stats are really helpful to me during the writing process), but I am not a forum user and haven’t been in years. Me using the website should not be interpreted as me defending them in any way. I just want to finish out the month of November and then decide whether or not to leave the website for good. Just wanted to give that disclaimer because in no way do I condone mistreatment of minors.
I have a short story coming out in an anthology next year, and I’m so excited about that. I am also working on some other short stories that I plan to publish next year.
I have briefly unpublished my poetry collection Left Sock, Right Sock because I’m expanding it for the second edition. This edition will have more poems, edits on some of the existing poems (because I have OCD and just can’t leave it well enough alone), and some of my own drawings. I am far from the world’s most skilled artist, but I really like to draw and think pictures in a poetry collection go a long way. Keep an eye out for the second edition to drop. I’ll send a newsletter when it does!
If you’re eager to read my new book, make sure you’re caught up on the Goose Creek Cycle by reading The Lost Girl of Goose Creek! My new book is a companion rather than a direct sequel, but you’ll still get more out of it if you’ve read the first one. Plus, I’m just really proud of that book.
Health
I don’t even know, you guys. Long Covid is just kicking my butt. I now have a specialty doctor just for Long Covid. People come from all over the state to see him, and he happens to be just about 20 minutes away from where I live. Which is extremely fortunate. Last newsletter I told you that he suspects I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or another hypermobility disorder that existed before I had Covid and made me higher risk for developing Long Covid. Well, my primary care doctor also thinks this is the case (and literally anybody who has seen me hyperextend my elbows is inclined to agree), so she referred me to another doctor to get further testing. (Do I have enough doctors yet?) Unfortunately this testing will not take place until at least June because it’s booked so far out. Loooove it.
In the meantime, my doctor wanted me to get autonomic testing, because I have all the symptoms of POTS. I thought this would be an easy test but it actually wasn’t and it was mostly the preparation that sucked. I had to stop taking almost all of my prescription medications for 2-5 days (depending on the medication) before the test. That’s because my psychiatric medication affects the autonomic nervous system, which is what they were testing.
I have so much more sympathy now for people who are going through drug withdrawal. Because that’s basically what happened to me. And this was a totally legal prescription medication – I can’t imagine what withdrawal from hard drugs would feel like. It was honestly one of the worst weeks of my life. My medication for OCD is duloxetine, also called Cymbalta. If you look up Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms you will find such gems as nausea, dizziness, headache, shivers/chill, brain zaps, diarrhea, and sleep disruptance. To which I can only say: Yes. All of that. Constantly. For five days. It’s some of the sickest I have ever felt. And I couldn’t even take other prescription medications (or some over-the-counter ones!) to relieve the symptoms.
The test itself was fairly unpleasant (it involved an electrical current being run over my skin), but the most disappointing part was the results: I don’t have POTS. Whaaaattt? My heart beats super fast and I get dizzy when I stand up. That’s pretty much textbook POTS, as far as me and my doctor thought. He thinks I do have some form of dysautonomia but right now I don’t have a diagnosis.
What’s confusing to some able-bodied people is why I’m disappointed that my results came back negative. They say, “It’s good that you don’t have POTS!” The thing is, I’m sick and I want to know why. It’s not good when a test result comes back negative because it means I still don’t know what’s wrong with me. I can’t fix it until I know what it is. Of course I don’t want to have POTS. I’m sick and I want to put a name on it. All of this is very frustrating.
I want to thank everyone who has reached out to offer support, commiserate, pray, and share their stories with me. The reason I talk so openly about my health is because connection goes a long way. I’ve connected with many of you who share these health problems, or if not exactly, then similar ones. It makes me feel less alone. And maybe it will help someone else feel less alone, too.
That’s why I write books, after all. To help people feel less alone.
I realize this health section involved a lot of complaining, but I’m not about toxic positivity. It’s okay to be honest about how you’re feeling. If you squash your negative feelings down and try to cover them up with happiness, they will just fester and probably erupt at an inopportune time. Writing helps me process things. I appreciate anyone who read this far.
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Thank you for sticking around and being my friends. I will be back soon with a super delightful cover reveal. I am looking for people to be on the cover reveal team, so if you would like to help me reveal it, please let me know. You will receive my gratitude as well as a place in the acknowledgements.