I'd like to answer your ten questions. My book, TIME WILL TELL is science-fiction. It is scheduled for release by Musa Publishing Co. Mrch 9, 2012.
1) A short paragraph on what you write about and the genre, please? (don't forget your web page address!) In TIME WILL TELL, earthling Mona Stewart finds herself in another world of warring factions. One group, the Svarians, holds the key to cures for fatal diseases and immortality. In the inner space of outer space, Mona discovers that living almost forever in idleness, and without challenges, is much worse that having too much to do. The only reprieve from boredom for the Svarions is outwitting their enemy, the Aliens.
2) What is a typical writing session like, in 300 characters or fewer? A typical writing session for me may be several hours long. When I begin to develop plots or characters, I become intensely involved and I don't stop writing till I've used all of my ideas. Otherwise, they're gone forever.
3) Men: boxers or briefs? Women: underwire or banded? (apparently people want to know this!)Underwire (This question surprises me because I don't see how it's relative to writing). [note from Telling Tales: this was just for fun. A humorous call out to the young person who very famously asked The President of The United States Bill Clinton "Boxers or briefs?" taking him totally off kilter.]
4) If you use a pen name, why? If you don't, do you worry about stalkers? I use my real name. I don't worry about stalkers. People can find out who you are anyhow.
5) What is the oddest thing about your writing or the way you write? The oddest thing about the way I write is what I write about. I like to jump genres. I've written and published biographies, mysteries, crime stories, historical screenplays, poetry and now, science fiction.
6) Give us a glimpse into how you choose the names of your chracters, please? I try to choose characters' names that are not too common but not difficult to remember, unless I want a name that is allegorical.
7) Any thoughts on staying healthy while pursuing such a sedentary career? Since I do sit at a computer a lot, I try to get exercise. Walking is my favorite. I have a treadmill and make it a habit to walk around the house whenever I talk on the phone. I also love to travel. I've been to all 50 U.S. states and to every continent except Antarctica. When I take trips, I walk and only take taxis when absolutely necessary.
8) Dogs or cats, and why? (don't say "neither" because even if you don't have one, choosing is informative!)I don't currently have a dog or a cat. I prefer dogs but I don't feel I have enough time to spend with one right now.
9) If you research, what's your method? If you don't, how do you get away with that? When I research, I exhaust every avenue. I use primary sources whenever possible, such as contacting a person who knows about an event or place or reading old letters. I was writing about Johnny Reb once and found letters from Confederate soldiers in a museum to quote from. I feel that setting should be authentic and often travel to places to see exactly what is growing there or how the sidewalks are laid out or what statues are in a particular park. It goes without saying that I also use the internet.
10) What is the most interesting or outrageous comment you've heard/read about your writing? I think the most outrageous comment anyone made about my writing was that they didn't like it "because it didn't have a happy ending."
I have another book entitled TO CATCH A FISH, coauthored with David Wilton, which is scheduled for release April 6, 2012. If you like, I can send information on it a little later.
Mary S. Palmer
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Sleep apnea and the writer.
I used to say I wrote novels because I didn't sleep much. That was true. I have a power job as a Federal executive for a tense agency in the Department of Defense and I raised two boys to be responsible adults. Plus, I wrote novels. Okay, I never watched much TV, but honestly, there should be only so many hours in a day! The truth is, I've never been a great sleeper and I'd get up in the night and write some scenes, maybe crash for awhile, then get to the intense day job. But as the years went on, this lifestyle took its toll. The older I grew, the more I realized my sleep habits could kill me. Plus, my husband's sleep was being disturbed by my crazy, often loud, breathing when I was attempting to sleep. I say "attempting" because people with sleep apnea don't actually get the healing sleep normal people get. And that lack begins to catch up with you. Succinctly put, sleep apnea can be on your death certificate.
So here is my sleep apnea saga:
We moved to rural Pennsylvania in October of 2010. We love it here on our six acres of nature. But running a place like this while commuting two hours one way to work began to affect me in unexpected ways. I became desperate for sleep. I thought I could just tough it out until I retired in two mor years, but the tanking oconomy began to put that time frame in doubt. So, before I endangered someone on my long drives to work, I started to explore my sleep problems. First, i tried a mandibular advancement retainer in my mouth. That worked for awhile. But then it pulled my front teeth so far back that my back teeth could no linger touch. I had to have orthodontics at 52 years old! They made me another one that wouldnt allow my teeth to move out of alignment, but which gave me excruciating TMJ after a few months. I had to choose between wearing it or chewing food. Could not do both. About the time I stopped wearing the mouth piece, I also began staying over in a hotel near work sometimes, to give myself a break and to let my husband have an occasional night of peace.
Yes, I snore. But that isn't necessarily apnea. You have to STOP BREATHING more than 15 times an hour for insurance companies to find you suitably in trouble to agree you have apnea. My first sleep study was hard, but I managed to sleep enough to get some results. At first glance, I did not qualify. But my wonderful doctor noted that if you took my episodes from when I was on my back, I qualified for severe obstructive sleep apne (OSA). He told me there were devices to keep me on my side as I sleep, but having had two back disk fusions, that idea sounded awful. I need to change positions in the night or wake up crying. So the doc moved on to the idea of a CPAP. We were both eager for this to work. I knew others who'd used them with great success. So he set me up for another sleep study, this time with the CPAP. I was very sure this was the answer to my prayers and went to the study center with a very positive outlook. Four hours later, I was on my way home sobbing. We tried a variety of masks and pressures and the people were so nice, we all wanted it to work. But my heart raced uncontrollably for the entire four hours I tried. It was basically torture. I couldn't catch my breath or calm my heart for long enough to actually sleep. And the air kept going into my stomach and choking me, making my heart race faster. Finally, the kind attendant came in again and asked if she could do anything else for me. Frankly, I think they were terrified of what my heart rate was maintaining. I begged to be set free. This felt like defeat and like the end of all hope as I drove home in the wee hours of that morning before dawn.
But my doctor wasn't defeated. He said my reaction is called phobic - like claustrophobia almost. It can't really be controlled or managed and isn't all that uncommon. He suggested I'd be a good candidate for OSA surgeries. Two parts, one for my severely deviated septum (yup, broke my nose in a couple of places during college) and swollen sinuses, the other to de-obstruct my throat. Sounds as awful as it has been. The nose surgery was first and quite awful while the packing was jammed inside. Surgery on Friday, packing out on Monday. It was just like giving birth out of each of my nostrils, the packing felt like golf balls, but the migraine left me after that so I could keep my eyes open and swallow without suction pressure making my ears pop. A few weeks out from that and I could tell I was sleeping more soundly. So worth it!
But not soundlessly. Still snoring and breathing inconsistently, so one more surgery to get through. This was to remove tonsils, uvula, and harden palate and base of tongue. I'm now a week post-op from a UPPP and improving. I only got fluid up my nose from the back of my throat one time - funny how adaptable we are. They tell you plainly how much this will hurt, but until you do it, you just can't imagine. I took everyone's advice and answered 10 whenever asked what my pain level was at the hospital. Funny, though, the morphine didnt do much and so i stopped asking for it. Vicodin worked best, but the elixir is alcohol based and like red hot fire going down. Plus, if you take too much, other parts of the body start to hurt. Or maybe it was the oxycodone that gave me the muscle spasms after awhile. Got off all the pain meds by day three and have stuck to Tylenol and occasional vicodin since. Seems to be working. As long as I don't swallow, I'm feeling okay. But who cannot swallow for long? And the liquid diet is no fun at all, except for the lost weight I hope to keep off. My OSA wasn't from weight, but the less weight, the better, say the docs. Now that a week has passed, things should improve quickly. Looking forward to the annoying stitches dissolving in a few more days, but they don't really trouble me as much as I'd feared.
The jury is still out on whether the snoring is gone. It takes awhile for swelling to go down. But I'm hoping. And I'm looking forward to writing for the love of storytelling and not because I just can't sleep. Plus, it would be lovely if my commute felt safer through my improved alertness. Doubtless I will comment on my progress as things develop. Meanwhile, if you're not sleeping well, figure out why. No one should have a death certificate that gives sleep panes as the cause.
So here is my sleep apnea saga:
We moved to rural Pennsylvania in October of 2010. We love it here on our six acres of nature. But running a place like this while commuting two hours one way to work began to affect me in unexpected ways. I became desperate for sleep. I thought I could just tough it out until I retired in two mor years, but the tanking oconomy began to put that time frame in doubt. So, before I endangered someone on my long drives to work, I started to explore my sleep problems. First, i tried a mandibular advancement retainer in my mouth. That worked for awhile. But then it pulled my front teeth so far back that my back teeth could no linger touch. I had to have orthodontics at 52 years old! They made me another one that wouldnt allow my teeth to move out of alignment, but which gave me excruciating TMJ after a few months. I had to choose between wearing it or chewing food. Could not do both. About the time I stopped wearing the mouth piece, I also began staying over in a hotel near work sometimes, to give myself a break and to let my husband have an occasional night of peace.
Yes, I snore. But that isn't necessarily apnea. You have to STOP BREATHING more than 15 times an hour for insurance companies to find you suitably in trouble to agree you have apnea. My first sleep study was hard, but I managed to sleep enough to get some results. At first glance, I did not qualify. But my wonderful doctor noted that if you took my episodes from when I was on my back, I qualified for severe obstructive sleep apne (OSA). He told me there were devices to keep me on my side as I sleep, but having had two back disk fusions, that idea sounded awful. I need to change positions in the night or wake up crying. So the doc moved on to the idea of a CPAP. We were both eager for this to work. I knew others who'd used them with great success. So he set me up for another sleep study, this time with the CPAP. I was very sure this was the answer to my prayers and went to the study center with a very positive outlook. Four hours later, I was on my way home sobbing. We tried a variety of masks and pressures and the people were so nice, we all wanted it to work. But my heart raced uncontrollably for the entire four hours I tried. It was basically torture. I couldn't catch my breath or calm my heart for long enough to actually sleep. And the air kept going into my stomach and choking me, making my heart race faster. Finally, the kind attendant came in again and asked if she could do anything else for me. Frankly, I think they were terrified of what my heart rate was maintaining. I begged to be set free. This felt like defeat and like the end of all hope as I drove home in the wee hours of that morning before dawn.
But my doctor wasn't defeated. He said my reaction is called phobic - like claustrophobia almost. It can't really be controlled or managed and isn't all that uncommon. He suggested I'd be a good candidate for OSA surgeries. Two parts, one for my severely deviated septum (yup, broke my nose in a couple of places during college) and swollen sinuses, the other to de-obstruct my throat. Sounds as awful as it has been. The nose surgery was first and quite awful while the packing was jammed inside. Surgery on Friday, packing out on Monday. It was just like giving birth out of each of my nostrils, the packing felt like golf balls, but the migraine left me after that so I could keep my eyes open and swallow without suction pressure making my ears pop. A few weeks out from that and I could tell I was sleeping more soundly. So worth it!
But not soundlessly. Still snoring and breathing inconsistently, so one more surgery to get through. This was to remove tonsils, uvula, and harden palate and base of tongue. I'm now a week post-op from a UPPP and improving. I only got fluid up my nose from the back of my throat one time - funny how adaptable we are. They tell you plainly how much this will hurt, but until you do it, you just can't imagine. I took everyone's advice and answered 10 whenever asked what my pain level was at the hospital. Funny, though, the morphine didnt do much and so i stopped asking for it. Vicodin worked best, but the elixir is alcohol based and like red hot fire going down. Plus, if you take too much, other parts of the body start to hurt. Or maybe it was the oxycodone that gave me the muscle spasms after awhile. Got off all the pain meds by day three and have stuck to Tylenol and occasional vicodin since. Seems to be working. As long as I don't swallow, I'm feeling okay. But who cannot swallow for long? And the liquid diet is no fun at all, except for the lost weight I hope to keep off. My OSA wasn't from weight, but the less weight, the better, say the docs. Now that a week has passed, things should improve quickly. Looking forward to the annoying stitches dissolving in a few more days, but they don't really trouble me as much as I'd feared.
The jury is still out on whether the snoring is gone. It takes awhile for swelling to go down. But I'm hoping. And I'm looking forward to writing for the love of storytelling and not because I just can't sleep. Plus, it would be lovely if my commute felt safer through my improved alertness. Doubtless I will comment on my progress as things develop. Meanwhile, if you're not sleeping well, figure out why. No one should have a death certificate that gives sleep panes as the cause.
Ten questions answered by Sara Daniel!
I love that Sara uses an Alphasmart - a tool that should get far more credit.
Ten Questions for Authors:
1) A short paragraph on what you write about and the genre, please? (don't forget your web page address!)
I write contemporary romance fiction--irresistible romance with captivating family drama. Not only do I aim to entertain, I also want to give people hope and a belief that everything can and will turn out happily ever after. So, if you're looking for a warm fuzzy feeling and hoping to come away a little less cynical about the world, visit my website at www.SaraDaniel.com.
2) What is a typical writing session like, in 300 characters or fewer?
I sit in front of the computer and catch up on my email and social media with a cup of coffee. Then I open my writing file and stare at the screen. I write for a while, then wander the house, reheat my coffee and find some food. I write some more, rewarm the coffee, get another snack, etc., etc.
3) Men: boxers or briefs? Women: underwire or banded? (apparently people want to know this!)
Who wants to know this??? Okay, I admit to being totally curious about the boxers/briefs quandary, but that's different, right?
4) If you use a pen name, why? If you don't, do you worry about stalkers?
I don't use a pen name, except for my children's books to avoid confusion. But honestly, with the internet, I'm convinced anyone can find anyone if they really try hard enough. And I'm too transparent to keep my name a secret.
5) What is the oddest thing about your writing or the way you write?
I've found lately that I'm most productive sitting at my children's extracurricular activities with my AlphaSmart. Yes, I really still use one. There are no email or internet distractions, and the screen only shows four lines of text, so it's too small to edit. I can only write. So I do!
6) Give us a glimpse into how you choose the names of your characters, please?
I think about the type of person my character is supposed to be. If a name doesn't pop into my head, I pull out "The Baby Name Survey Book: What People Think about Your Baby's Name" and use that as my Bible. And I work very hard to make sure I use a different letter to start each name, and they don't rhyme or end the same or anything corny like that.
7) Any thoughts on staying healthy while pursuing such a sedentary career?
Sometimes I'm really good about taking a break to exercise. Lately, not so much. But my eyes definitely need a rest from staring at the computer screen. When I take time to exercise, I also free up my brain to consciously think of nothing and let my muse start mulling over fresh ideas.
8) Dogs or cats, and why? (don't say "neither" because even if you don't have one, choosing is informative! )
Cats. We have one cat, and I like that she's around but does her own thing. I feed her and scoop her litter, but I can leave for the weekend without thinking twice about leaving her alone. I have enough demands on my time, and frankly, dogs and I have never mixed well.
9) If you research, what's your method? If you don't, how do you get away with that?
If I could get away without researching, I would! It's the reason I've never written a historical. I'd have to do a massive amount of research to get the details right. What I need to learn for my contemporaries is usually only a keystroke away on the internet.
10) What is the most interesting or outrageous comment you've heard/read about your writing?
My grandmother constantly laments that she can't get my books for her friends because they have -- gasp! -- love scenes in them. Fortunately, my other grandmother was a voracious reader of romance and had no such qualms about sharing my books with her friends.
www.SaraDaniel.com
www.facebook.com/SaraDanielSaraShafer
www.facebook.com/SaraShaferDaniel
www.twitter.com/SSaraDaniel
Ten Questions for Authors:
1) A short paragraph on what you write about and the genre, please? (don't forget your web page address!)
I write contemporary romance fiction--irresistible romance with captivating family drama. Not only do I aim to entertain, I also want to give people hope and a belief that everything can and will turn out happily ever after. So, if you're looking for a warm fuzzy feeling and hoping to come away a little less cynical about the world, visit my website at www.SaraDaniel.com.
2) What is a typical writing session like, in 300 characters or fewer?
I sit in front of the computer and catch up on my email and social media with a cup of coffee. Then I open my writing file and stare at the screen. I write for a while, then wander the house, reheat my coffee and find some food. I write some more, rewarm the coffee, get another snack, etc., etc.
3) Men: boxers or briefs? Women: underwire or banded? (apparently people want to know this!)
Who wants to know this??? Okay, I admit to being totally curious about the boxers/briefs quandary, but that's different, right?
4) If you use a pen name, why? If you don't, do you worry about stalkers?
I don't use a pen name, except for my children's books to avoid confusion. But honestly, with the internet, I'm convinced anyone can find anyone if they really try hard enough. And I'm too transparent to keep my name a secret.
5) What is the oddest thing about your writing or the way you write?
I've found lately that I'm most productive sitting at my children's extracurricular activities with my AlphaSmart. Yes, I really still use one. There are no email or internet distractions, and the screen only shows four lines of text, so it's too small to edit. I can only write. So I do!
6) Give us a glimpse into how you choose the names of your characters, please?
I think about the type of person my character is supposed to be. If a name doesn't pop into my head, I pull out "The Baby Name Survey Book: What People Think about Your Baby's Name" and use that as my Bible. And I work very hard to make sure I use a different letter to start each name, and they don't rhyme or end the same or anything corny like that.
7) Any thoughts on staying healthy while pursuing such a sedentary career?
Sometimes I'm really good about taking a break to exercise. Lately, not so much. But my eyes definitely need a rest from staring at the computer screen. When I take time to exercise, I also free up my brain to consciously think of nothing and let my muse start mulling over fresh ideas.
8) Dogs or cats, and why? (don't say "neither" because even if you don't have one, choosing is informative! )
Cats. We have one cat, and I like that she's around but does her own thing. I feed her and scoop her litter, but I can leave for the weekend without thinking twice about leaving her alone. I have enough demands on my time, and frankly, dogs and I have never mixed well.
9) If you research, what's your method? If you don't, how do you get away with that?
If I could get away without researching, I would! It's the reason I've never written a historical. I'd have to do a massive amount of research to get the details right. What I need to learn for my contemporaries is usually only a keystroke away on the internet.
10) What is the most interesting or outrageous comment you've heard/read about your writing?
My grandmother constantly laments that she can't get my books for her friends because they have -- gasp! -- love scenes in them. Fortunately, my other grandmother was a voracious reader of romance and had no such qualms about sharing my books with her friends.
www.SaraDaniel.com
www.facebook.com/SaraDanielSaraShafer
www.facebook.com/SaraShaferDaniel
www.twitter.com/SSaraDaniel
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