It's 2021 and time for the monthly fun Flash Fiction Challenge Draw. This year, it's hosted by author Jeffrey Ricker! For January, we had to write a 1000-words max story that was a fairytale set in a studio apartment in a big city, and there had to be a potted plant in the story. Here's …
I feel my characters in these microcosms are always trying to tell me something about myself. When I was drafting Life in the ’Cosm, I was #DisabledAndAlone, so not in community with other Disabled folks. I was frightened, completely unsure about my future. I had been a runner and worked out regularly. Then fibromyalgia pummeled …
Continue reading Noola schooled me in ’Cosm. Xax did in The Stealth Lovers!
Changing gears from booky things, I wanted to discuss why I've recently had to make a decision about receiving physical affection from friends, family, as well as folks I meet at cons. I have fibromyalgia, and its symptoms are getting worse for me each year. To put it simply, hugging people who aren't my husband …
After years of needlessly suffering, I finally bought a rollator, which is a walker with a seat and wheels. I named it Noola, after the feisty character in Life in the 'Cosm. Fellow author Jamieson Wolf said he was glad I named it that because, as he stated, "Noola would roll!" Noola and I have been …
Because I am a published author, there are conferences I must attend for learning and for self-promotion. I want to go to these things. And with this rollator, I can! Always having a seat with me is an enormous thing. Last year at Can*Con 2016, people suggested I sit on a window sill while waiting in line for a panel. That was a solution, I guess, but not a very good one. Also, I kinda hate asking people for chairs all the time. It's going to be nice to just chill and be independent.
In 2014, things were so bad for me, I was sure we needed to move. I couldn't get up and down the stairs without wanting to cry. The thought of me once run-walking five days a week to now barely being able to take steps without a cane freaked me out. I felt panic-stricken. My sleep was atrocious because of experiencing pain levels 8 and 9 on a frequent basis. All my activities had come to a halt. I was practically house-bound. And since I am an extrovert, the loneliness was unbearable.
Cait Gordon—author and editor 