Monday 28 October 2013

Hello, hello, let me introduce myself (again), so good to know you....

So, it's fair to say that it has been a while since I last touched base and, by now, many of you who regularly follow my Blog have probably long given me up for dead and abandoned any hope of me ever returning. No such luck!!

In my defense, it has been a very busy year!

Firstly, because of a nice little return on a P.P.I claim I received back in January I was able to take myself, my wife and my daughter Emilie off to Disneyland, Paris. We were there for five days and had an absolutely awesome time that was quite simply out of this world and that now feels like a beautiful dream I had except for the fact that I have bucket-loads of photos to remember it all by! I even had my photo taken next to Darth Vader which, for a Geek like me, you can well imagine was like all my Christmases rolled into one! If you haven't been and can afford it I can recommend it- it was an experience I will never forget and I was just glad I could treat Emilie....especially in light of what has come more  recently!

 Since then, I have been concentrating on my new writing career that I started to tell you about in my last Blog post. I now have an Amazon Author page here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mark-Woods/e/B00F5ZCMAG/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_11?qid=1382973066&sr=1-11 where you can easily locate all the Anthologies my short fiction appears in. I have a piece of Flash (very,very short) fiction and another story appearing shortly in yet another Anthology that will be appearing soon but that is not yet published and am working on my first of three intended novels; the first of which will offer something Zombie related but very, very different from anything else out there! Just to whet your appetite, my newest short story to be published soon is called Dairy Of The Dead (no typo) and features Zombie Cows. The anthology it will be appearing in will be called MIDNIGHT REMAINS.


I also have a Facebook Author Page so you can connect to me here too: https://www.facebook.com/markwoodsauthor?fref=ts  and keep updated on all my latest writing news and projects. There are too many to mention here but I have at least two more projects in the pipeline that are set to be published by year end! One is currently in Editing, the other is a collaboration with FIVE other authors and will be ready in the very near future!

Something else I have been doing is Editing for my good friend Catt Dahman at her Publishing Press http://www.jellingtonashton.com/ 

This is lots of fun and not just a little bit hard work at times trying to fit it in with my already hectic, busy lifestyle but we have some truly great authors on board and you should really check out the website for some brilliant reads from likewise up and coming authors. Some, if not all of these names, will be BIG!

In between all of this, me and my family also went back to Lego land this year (you may recall we went there way back in this Blog's early days) - this time for two days, staying in a swanky hotel for a couple of nights between visits! This again was lots of fun and Emilie could enjoy it more now she is older so that was all good!

So you see - I haven't exactly been resting on my laurels. I do have SOME justification for never writing, not calling etc, taking my readers for granted but I am willing to make a change and be here for you more often...but on one condition. I want you to be here for me.

Remember when I blogged openly about my depression? Well, something else has happened recently that has thrown all the good things that have happened to me this year firmly against the wall and, once again, I want to share with you my most recent experiences frankly, openly and honestly. I will talk more about this in my next Blog Post but my young daughter Emilie was recently diagnosed as a Type One Diabetic. 

This may not sound too serious to some of you but that is why I want to share. The last three weeks have been a tense, frightening and tough period of time to cope with and have required a lot of readjusting and reassessment of our lives. Many people don't realize just how tough living with Type One ( or Type Two Diabetes either for that matter) can be. Not just for those affected but for everyone around them too...

In my next Blog Post, I will be sharing just how we found out and what we have had to deal with in the last three weeks. If you read it, please share it with your friends and family or with any others you may know who are in a similar situation. I will not be going into medical details or offering any medical advice (I am not a Doctor and that would be both remiss of me and wrong!). All I will be doing is sharing my wife's and my own experiences of Living With Type One in order that maybe just maybe I can help someone else in the same situation or maybe help somebody be diagnosed earlier by explaining the symptoms and events that lead to Emilie being diagnosed...

Until next time (soon), keep your chins up guys!

xxx Your mate, Sparky 

1 comment:

B Reading said...

Great to have that Disney trip earlier in the year. Also pleased to hear the writing is going well too and that you are getting published. Very sorry your daughter has Type 1 diabetes and I hope they can get the balance right with insulin. Hoping things look up for you from now on :)