Graduate School and Me

I am very excited - I just completed my very first graduate course at Towson University. What a great college, by the way. The course is called "Writing Short Fiction" and that's exactly what I did - I wrote short stories.

This was my first experience with short story writing and I must admit, I found it quite challenging. Now, that's not to say that I haven't tried reading short stories in the past, I have, but honestly, I never understood them. Now I do. Professor Downs rocks!

One day I hope to link my short stories to this blog so that anyone who would like to indulge me can. Although they still need lots and lots of work (I tend to write with too much exposition and no dialogue), I promise to keep plugging along and revising until I can't revise no more!

Oh, and here is a recommendation for a great anthology of 99 short stories - three stories apiece by thirty-three different short story writers. Give it a try - maybe you'll find one you love.
3 X 33: Short Fiction by 33 Writers (Mark Winegardner)

"I can't write without a reader. It's precisely like a kiss - you can't do it alone. " John Cheever

Happy New Year - Here's To Good Health

Well, I must say I sure know how to kick off the New Year - get really sick and spend 6 days in the hospital! Doesn't sound like tons of fun, now does it? Seems I developed a nasty blood infection, quite possibly from a dental implant that I had removed 6 months ago. The bad news is, the dentist neglected to prescribe antibiotics! Jeez! Now I'm being treated for endocarditis, a very serious infection of the heart valves.Currently I am on a pretty powerful antibiotic called vancomycin which can only be administered intravenously. I have a PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) in my upper right arm by which I receive my medication. From my upper arm the PICC Line runs up and then across my chest where it sits in a large vein just above my heart. My homecare nurse has instructed me on how to “hook myself up” so I am able to administer my meds at home or work. I have to give myself the antibiotic twice a day for 30 days. Each session takes approximately 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Just imagine giving up 6-7 hours of time per day. I am currently on a 9:00 am/9:00 pm schedule. Twice a week, my homecare nurse visits to take blood samples in order to measure my vancomycin troughs – too much vancomycin can effect my kidneys and hearing and too little won’t fight the infection effectively. The blood tests must be given just prior to my 9:00 am dosage. It took days for my body to adjust to the initial side effects of such a strong antibiotic – some too personal in nature to discuss here! Let’s just say that mornings were the worst. Oh, and I can’t lift anything over 5 lbs. Now, the good news. Frankly, I am grateful to be alive! My cardiologist encourages me to get back in the swing - to ease back into my normal life as I start to feel better. I am all for that! If only my physical self agreed with my inner-enthusiastic self. Although I deplore being sick, I’m learning to care for myself first. My equipment and medications are portable and light-weight and while everything may look menacing it really is not.This has been a real eye-opening experience for me and I think it has changed me forever. I look at things much differently now. I hope I never go back to taking things for granted or forgetting to be grateful for all of life's simple pleasures. Cheers!