I sit here tonight at 3am drinking a hot buttered not-rum, because I can’t drink alcohol but they are still good with coffee in place of the hot water, and I’m thinking, “Man, I really wish I could drink alcohol…” Nah!

As I sit here tonight in this beautiful home, surrounded by blinking lights and presents under the gorgeous huge Christmas tree, with the smell of apples and cinnamon wafting in from the kitchen (an apple crumb pie in the slow cooker – I’ll have to share the recipe some day)… I shiver, and I think about turning up the heat, cursing the storm that blew in earlier today and flustered over whether I should start the ham tonight or not, and cursing about how much I have left to do before everyone gets here…. and…. and… I just finished wrapping the second to last present but have one more to go… And  I have a paper cut and my back hurts, and I’m tired and… and… and…

Wait a second!

Walk Down Memory Lane Read the rest of this entry »

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So the battle rages….. what’s wrong with Michy?

One doctor says I have Lupus, that I’ve had it all along, and my symptoms are ‘classic autoimmune’, regardless of the fact my ANA is always negative. Another doctor doesn’t disagree that I have the symptoms of Lupus, but she’s not quite so willing to give up with a ‘possible’ diagnosis and wants something more definitive, though she admits, “We do have some patients who are serum negative…” the research I’ve done indicates about 35% of all Lupus patients are serum negative.

Here’s what I know: When I take steroids, the pain goes away, or at least greatly diminishes.

What are steroids a treatment for? Lupus. Read the rest of this entry »

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Okay, in my last post, I talked about some of what’s going on with me and medical stuff. The last thing the doc did after prescribing the steroids was to get me registered to do thermographic imaging. I’d never heard of this type of testing before. Apparently, they use an infrared thermographic camera to find ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ spots on the surface of your skin, and these spots correlate to conditions under the skin (you know, in your body). It’s actually been used a lot for diagnosing breast cancer, because it can, presumably, detect and diagnose suspicious vascular activity indicative of cancer in women literally decades before mammography can find it. It can detect the increased blood flow around the breast area that is typical of cancer before I lump can even form! It’s unreal!

But it has other uses too, such as detecting nerve damage. With nerve damage, the body shows ‘cold’ spots that shouldn’t be there, because the blocked or pinched nerves block flow into those areas. It can show inflammation by showing ‘hot spots’, so it can diagnose injuries, inflammation, swelling, and yes, even shows pain – it can show areas where a person is hurting, and prove the pain is real. Read the rest of this entry »

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I wanted to take a moment today to talk about something. We had discussion on the forum earlier today with a gentleman who has been interested in finding a manuscript marketing service. This isn’t the same, mind you, as a book marketing service. There are many wonderful and legitimate book marketing and promotion services out there for writers who have already had a book published or who have self published. What I’m talking about is a service that helps you market your manuscript prior to publication.

Literary Agents?

You’re probably thinking, “You mean a literary agent?” Nope, agents are legit (as long as you find a good one; there are some bad ones out there). I’m talking about a company that promises to market your manuscript TO agents and publishers alike, trying to help you get representation or publication. These services claim to be similar in scope to what a literary agencies does, except they also query and submit to literary agents too.

Manuscript Marketing Scam Premise: Read the rest of this entry »

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Hi, guys!

I wanted to briefly update that Unsent Letters is alive and kicking. If you haven’t stopped by the blog recently, why not start with today’s Unsent Letter, which comes from an anonymous writer:

http://ourunsentletters.com/blog/?p=434

More coming soon!

Enjoy,
Michy

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jennifer Walker / Windswept Destiny Publishing
Jennifer@authorjennwalker.com

FOLSOM, CA December 6, 2009 — Windswept Destiny Publishing, an imprint of Twin Trinity Media, announces the pre-launch of the novel Bubba Goes National, by Jennifer Walker is due to be released in early January 2010. This is the debut novel by Walker, who has worked as a freelance writer and editor for several years. Read the rest of this entry »

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I was taking an online survey today and there was a line in it that tickled me: “Please do the needful thing and click forward to proceed…”

I realized then that it seems clear the survey creators probably didn’t speak English as a first language, and this was a translation. That’s cool. But it struck me first as funny and then as poignant, in a way. Please do the needful thing. Isn’t that what we should all do, every day, the needful things?

Yeah.

So when you go about your day, please do the needful things…

Love and stuff,
Michy

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I’m not feeling well at all. Got crud spewing from orifices and achy and a fever and chills and sweats and sleepies… ugh. I have a doctor’s appointment in a little while and so I’m going to have to make this super short. I’ll come back and add links and other info later, but I wanted to announce the winners really quick for those who have waited patiently for results.

We only had 21 entries this time, but the competition was super fierce. We had several new entries from folks who had never entered before and I was honored to read their work and impressed with the quality. I’ve removed all entry fees from the contests between now and the end of the year, so I do hope more of you will go here and consider entering a short story for one of the two remaining themes.

This is also last call for erotic submissions to the erotic short story anthology – must be received by Dec. 15th!

So here we go! Read the rest of this entry »

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