My Diet Begins...

Tuesday. 16 April, 2024

Second day back at work, though an early finish allowed me to do a little extra writing on my next novel, Familiar.

Also, I started my much-needed weightloss program today with an official weigh in. Gonna make it public in the hope it encourages me to make good progress on it. I'm healthy again, and back in work, so should hopefully be a lot more active again. I just have to keep off those addictive crisps!

As I finally left work, I couldn't help but take another Shadowme pic with this interesting shadow:

A Seeming Standstill

Thursday, 21 March 2024

What can I say? Two weeks on, countless thousands of £££s worse off, and we are in no better position.

We are still at the caravan, but the prices are rising dramatically as Spring draws the holiday-makers to the site. The landlord is still unsure what his insurance will pay for our temporary accommodation. We also found out we should not really be clearing the house, given all the toxic soot, which apparently gets worse as time progresses. But there is still a lot for us to do despite the conditions being unhelpful to my already compromised health. Right, I got that out of my system. Let's move on...

Chilling by writing about fictional drama

At least the day ended on a brighter note than it began 🙂.  God bless the sunshine. The drive home towards our temporary accommodation:

 

A Neighbourbood Walk

Saturday, 02 March, 2024

Unfortunately, the wonders of my fortnightly meds have worn off now (apparently it takes 16 weeks for them to build up in your system so that their effects last the full two weeks between injections). And so I am in a bit of a pickle again. At least the return of sleepless nights means I can increase my work on my Cold Comfort novel.

In the meantime, I am just going to try and keep myself as busy as again and try and take my mind off physical discomfort. With that in mind, I forced myself out of the house this morning and took a short walk around the neighbourhood:

The magic of a Spring sunshine

Last Christmas

The weathered paintwork reminded me of an atlas of long-lost continents

Winter's End (2024) Update

Friday, 01 March, 2024

It is Spring at last! That was one harsh winter, wasn't it? Anyway, we are through it now, and it is time to look forward to better things...

Healthwise, I am hoping for a fantastic season ahead. My new meds, seen as a wonder drug by my consultant, have proved as good as promised and I officially return to my day job next Thursday.

Over the past winter, I have managed to progress my Cold Comfort novel and it is just a matter of formatting the thing now prior to its publication, which still has its official release date of March 31 intact - although this may stretch into April if anything gets in my way of progress it this month.

Progress of my Guy N Smith book is also going well, with all my Lego photography completed (I still don't know what to do with all the GNS Lego dioramas I've created over the past few months). I have one field trip lined up before completing this particular book. This was originally going to involve a visit to Hopwas Wood, the scene of The Sucking Pit and numerous other GNS tales, with Knighton being a reserve alternative should the weather prove too wet for woodland walking. With the continuing uncertainty surrounding the location of the bomb crater in Hopwas Wood (whose rain-filled depths inspired The Sucking Pit), I have decided to delay this visit for another day (and probably another year). Instead, I have now decided that my field trip will be to Shell Bay, the location of GNS' classic Night of the Crabs. This change of location came as a relief to my wife and son, who will accompany me on this field trip, as there is far more to occupy my family's time on the coast of North Wales than a meander through a single woodland. Knighton remains in reserve if the weather forecast proves too gloomy for beach camping at the time. The GNS book is still scheduled for a close of June 2024 release.

Prior to the above field trip, the three of us (and hopefully my daughter if she can find the time) have another trip planned, this time to Glastonbury so I can take photographs for Issue 2 of Glastonbury guidebooks, Avalon. This should be my third publication of 2024, scheduled for the end of September.

After that, I will be working on my fourth Gower guidebook - Tidal Gower. 

After that, my prospective 9th novel, about a girl's unusual friendship with a toad - Familiar - should lead me nicely into 2025...

Here's hoping the nice weather brings good times for myself, my family and all my friends, readers and site visitors. Have a love Spring :)

D-Day!

 Tuesday, February 20, 2024

D-Day! After 4 years of ill-health, today I finally get my first 2 shots of the miracle drug, Dupilumab. Fingers crossed. Here goes...

A Change of Meds

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Time for another health update. I am now on sick leave from work, enforced by my consultant, who said, "Health is more important than work", which, when it comes to the crunch, it surely is. Anyway, it has now been nine days since my last dosage of Methotrexate, which strangely stopped working for me this past month or so. I now have to have a flu and covid jab and await a home visit from "the Biologics Team", who will give me my first of forever-more fortnightly injections of the expensive and, apparently, miracle drug Dupilumab. After being instructed in its storage and use, future injections will be administered by myself (or, more probably, my wife, lol). If this medication is as fantastic as all the consultants and nurses say it is, the future looks 🌞...

Health Update

 Friday, December 15, 2023

Good news during my hospital visit to see my consultant today. She is taking me off the methotrexate and putting me on biologic injections instead. Hopefully, these will be a godsend. Got some nice pics as I made my way home too 😊

Liver News

 Friday, 17 November 2023

My liver scan at the hospital gave me good news so I can continue on my low dose chemotherapy to help my condition. The walk to hospital yielded some nice view too. Even the waiting room in the hospital was cool. 

Wall Art outside Three Corners Orchard, Sketty 

Singleton Church

The last remaining leaves of Autumn

A nice coastal view from the hospital waiting room

A quick foto grab from the bus into town

Relaxed in the evening with a good book (Guy N Smith's Nightspawn):

The sun is shining

June 08, 2023

Been a rough week health-wise, with the side effects of my meds wrecking me. Got another blood test next week to check how my body is holding up with them. But my last book is published, and my next one will be complete in a few weeks, I have a long weekend, the sun is shining, and our garden is looking absolutely gorgeous...

 

Read, write and cwtch the cat day

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Well, this is the last day of my two-week break from my day job. But, instead of getting all down in the dumps, I will look back on how I have used this break from the grind and what I have achieved from it.

Since this post, written at the start of my break, my meds seem to be slowly aiding my condition, and I am at last starting to see an improvement in my health. Fingers crossed, Methotrexate is finally the drug to get me back on my feet again...

Reading-wise, I have slowed down a little these past couple of weeks. But the current book I am reading, Guy N Smith's Death Bell, is one of my favourites of his so far. And I want to savour it, especially as I am so far ahead in my reading schedule this year :)

My biggest achievement over my two-week break from the day job is the progress I have made on Cold Comfort. I have now ploughed through most of the second draft of this, my longest novel, and am now a whole three months ahead of schedule. Instead of completing this second draft by the end of June, I now aim to get it completed by the end of March 2023. I will then take a few weeks break from Cold Comfort to work on the second draft of the vampire novel I wrote late last year. I hope to get the second drafts of both of this year's novels completed by the end of June. This will give me a solid six months to complete the third and final drafts of both novels, as well as produce my third Explore Gower guidebook.

So, all things considered, today is not a day to dread the coming of tomorrow and my return to the drudgery of earning a living. Instead, it is a day to celebrate the hard work I have put in these past few weeks to not only keep my creative spark alive, but to turn it into a blazing bonfire! 

Time to chill...

Cold Comfort Update

February 15, 2023 

With thirteen days off work from my day job, I have cracked on with the second draft of my 150,000+ word horror opus, Cold Comfort. I have divided the book into five parts and am currently working on section 4. Whilst I have given myself until the end of June this year to complete the second draft, I am hoping to make enough progress over the next couple of weeks to hopefully get this edit complete a lot sooner than that. 

Two days into my much-needed break from the job that keeps a roof over my head I have already completed the work I had given myself two weeks to complete so I am pretty happy with my progress thus far. Unfortunately, I have to have my first blood test tomorrow to check how my body is coping with my methotrexate medication. This will take up much of tomorrow morning so I won't be able to get so much writing done on day three of my holiday. Oh well.

Talking of my health, I have suffered a few side effects from my medication  this week, most notably stomach upsets and certain tingling sensations inside my lips and tonsils. So far, I haven't had any ulcers actually break out but I definitely have that tingling associated with a impending breakout. Fingers crossed I can stave off an actual breakout as I think that would signal my consultant stopping the medication. Anyway, so far so good, but the methotrexate dose increases on Friday so it's definitely a case of wait and see...

Taking my mind off things

February 02, 2023

Had to take a day off work today as I was no good to anyone. Hoping to see my specialist again tomorrow and maybe starting my next treatment early...

The UVL Room

My hospital treatment is now well underway. Three times a week for up to the next three months...

Hope...

 January 21, 2023

After being told by my GP last week that there was no more he could do for me and that I required specialist medication, I finally got to see my consultant at the hospital yesterday. I am now on a heavy dose of oral steroids and antibiotics for a week. I will start urgent phototherapy sessions at the hospital next week and will have that treatment every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next few months. I will be seeing the consultant again in six weeks when I will start taking the immunosuppressant Methotrexate. After three years of absolute misery, I finally have hope of getting my life back 🤞

Epsom Salts and Nag Champa

Having a nice long epsom salt bath in the hope that it eases my continuing back pain. Burning some nag champa incense to soothe my soul...