Falling Through the World, by Rachel Clarke, Reviewed.

I read this novel as part of the research I’m undertaking before writing an account of my own experience of ME/CFS. The book is written from the point of view of a teenage girl brought down by this dreadful condition. It’s an honest, funny, moving and, at times, harrowing account of the life of a sufferer.

The reader is exposed to the prejudices of the ignorant, the helpless ignorance of the general medical profession, the casual cruelty that can come from friends and relatives, and the total lack of understanding that so frequently accompanies this much-misjudged condition.

Although this is a novel, it’s also a work that encapsulates the reality of ME/CFS. At the same time, it captures the fears, hopes, dreams and sorrows of a teenage girl and, to some extent, those of her family and friends.

A well-written story, full of hope, questioning, self-doubt, frustration and ambition, it carries the reader on waves of emotional ups and downs as the narrator describes what’s happening to her. Not a long novel, it nevertheless manages to incorporate most of what it’s like to live with ME/CFS, and provides readers with useful clues as to how sufferers, their families, and their medical helpers can best be approached.

There is the strong possibility that all readers will have some contact with either a sufferer or a member of the family of a victim. Because of this, I recommend the book to all. It’s punchy, accessible and short enough for all to read. Please do that, and educate yourself about this condition that attacks and ruins the lives of so many people of all ages.

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Four Weeks in: How Are You Doing?

Been a funny week for me. As many regulars will know, I’ve suffered from ME/CFS for around 10 years. It’s a weird condition, coming and going, fooling you into believing you’ve recovered when things are going fine for a while, and then returning to bite you on the bum when the stress increases. That happened this week and I had to take the last day of my day job, Friday, off. It drains my batteries and makes everything much harder to do. It also means I have to take more frequent and longer rests in order to recharge those batteries. Today, Tuesday, I’m feeling as though I’m back on the road to recovery, so I hope to be up to normal speed shortly. At any rate, I managed an hour’s ballroom dancing with my wife last night and I’m not suffering too much this morning.

So, what have I managed this 4^th week of the year?

I’ve edited 2 chapters of the fantasy, written a new short story, started another, edited another 2, submitted 2 contest entries and sent 2 stories off to magazines, thereby catching up on last week’s targets. I’ve reviewed my 6^th book of the year and started reading the 7^th of my target of 52, and written and posted another blog post.

All in all, not bad. I’d have liked to have completed the story I’ve started (maybe today I’ll manage that). I’d like to have done a couple more chapters of the fantasy. But one thing I’ve learned over the last 10 years is that I can do so much and no more. Once I try to exceed the work my batteries will power, I simply become drained and then have to spend more time recovering than I’ve used in producing. In the end, it’s not worth the wasted time and energy. So, I have to pace myself in order to get at least something done. I have a theory, which will shortly be either borne out or shattered, that it’s my day job, the part-time employment, that causes the ME/CFS. I cease that work in late March and retire from the wage-slave arena in early April. We’ll see then just how correct have been my suspicions.

So, that’s me for this first month of the year. How about you? Keeping those resolutions? Reaching your targets? Enjoying what you’re doing?

The pie chart, explained:

'Writing' - initial creation of stories, blog posts, reviews and longer works.

'Editing' - polishing of all written work to make it suitable for readers.

'Research' - discovery of info for story content, market research, contests and blog posts.

'Reading' - books and writing magazines.

'Networking' - emails, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook activity.

'Admin' - story submission, blog posting, marketing, organisation and general admin tasks.

(You’ll note, if you’re a regular visitor, that I’ve substituted ‘Networking’ for ‘Emails’ here; it seemed a more accurate label.)

Share your triumphs and disasters here, so your fellow writers can commiserate, congratulate or simply empathise.

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Writing: 1500 Words Again

The burning question is this: will I manage to get book 2 of the epic fantasy finished as a first draft before I go on holiday for 2 weeks? It would be a shame to have a break of that length before the whole story is down on paper, but it would be excellent to have the break once the story is complete in its first form. So, I'll have to consistently turn out enough words to complete book 2 by 6 July. That's 39 days to write enough words to take me to a proposed total of 200,000. I have around 120,000 at present. 80,000 in 39 days is a little over 2000 a day. Looks like I'll have to really knuckle down to this.
Today, in spite of my current bout of fatigue, I managed 1500. Tomorrow I'll have to start on the target and allow other things to slide a little. Less time on the groups and posts, more time on the story. But I'll continue with the Daily Word Spot and any author interviews, of course. I'll also do a short post on the WIP to keep you informed of progress.
Wish me luck. I'm going to need it!

Writing: 1000 Words & Room Not Organised.

'The Main Street in Staithes.'

The intention was to strip, clean, tidy and re-organise my study today. But, as these things do, health got in the way and my ME/CFS returned with a reminder that I can't always do what I want these days. Past experience has taught me to respond with caution when my body tells me it's not going to co-operate. So, I did some more of the epic fantasy, turning out 1,000 new words and expanding on an idea that came to me during the night. I'd placed one of my heroes into a corner that was almost too tight for him to escape, but the idea provided a plausible solution and, as intended, he lives to fight another day.
Much of the remainder of the day has been made up of frequent rests and some new blog posts that I've scheduled for June, including a couple more author interviews.
So, in keeping with my situation, I'll close for the evening and hope to be better able to do the cleaning job tomorrow.