Dearest J-, R-, G-, S-, C-, P-, and M-,
So, uh, this candle and letter are for you. Or your memory, more accurately. I just want you to know that I desperately wish I could give you all the monument you really deserve, something commensurate of what you mean to…
I was recently asked to discuss my survival with an online advocacy/survivor support group, Buddhi. And I experienced something I never, ever thought I would, the obvious question that’s somehow the wrong question. First of all, I should point out that I have absolutely no complaints about everyone involved, and…
Q: I love this support group, even though there’s never any major breakthroughs or epiphanies or miracles.
A: That’s more of a statement than a question, but I always, always encourage people to find an in-person support group. There’s a dual benefit to this, the first, most-obvious one, is that…
2021 is shaping up to be a massive improvement over 2020 in many ways for most of us. I mean, statistically, it would have to, but it’s looking to be a superb year for the nerds out there. We’re getting another Dune adaptation, and, despite my trepidation at the thought…
Dear Reader, I’d like you to do something for me. Take out a pen and a piece of paper; this won’t take long. Now, on that paper, I would like you to write a dollar value that accurately captures your loyalty, integrity, and interpersonal relationships. Before you do; I’d give…
So, to reiterate an oft-repeated line I heard at a recent writer’s conference; traditional media isn’t interested in unknown quantities, they want big, well-known names that can sell books long before those books are published. I guess I understand that; nobody enjoys taking risks, especially with money. …
A friend of mine recently asked how I write. Like everyone else who just sits down in front of the keyboard and hacks away, I was kind of dumbfounded as to how to answer this one, but a lot of it is being in the right place at the right…
For the past 300 years, since COVID hit, my usual (and favorite) in-person cancer support group went on hiatus, because an unpredictable disease mixing with immunocompromised people is a terrifying prospect. We’ve recently started meeting, again. And I am incredibly grateful, both because it’s always a treat not to have…
So, I’d like to describe a place for you. It’s a part of the world where women and minorities have a disproportionately tiny amount of socioeconomic influence, the age of consent is 15 (de facto), treatable, preventable diseases are unchecked, there are very few restrictions on firearm ownership, extremist militias…
The hardest, most painful adjustment to life, post-diagnosis, is to your mental health, especially in the context of your social life. A major pillar of 21st century life is the grand delusion that illness is the exception to the rule, not the rule. I suspect this instills the proper sense…
