Are Any of My Readers Under Quarantine?

I know that the Wuhan Coronavirus has shut down areas of the world. 

So some people may only have online websites for entertainment and human contact. If would like me to entertain you with daily postings, you can let me know via my Facebook page, by Liking or commenting on this article's post... or just have all your online friends jack up my stats and I will get the message.

My hard drive died and I lost three nearly complete novels. I am going to start from the beginning and write them all over again. I cannot guarantee senility as I rewrite scenes, but you can at least follow my writings like a weird soap opera. 

If you are game, then so am I. 

I am disabled by illness so self quarantine is a daily occurrence for me and has been since 2007. Good thing, I am an introvert who loves cats, or this situation could have gone wrong years ago. Even with brain inflammation, I am still sane.

Crazy to boot, but sane nonetheless. 

Who's up for a good story? 300 to 2000 words a day? I may even ask for audience participation... you never know.

Let me know. I'll keep you entertained so you don't have to worry so much. Believe me, I understand. 

 

_____

*Update: all workshops and special engagements have now been concluded, and new projects are now under Undawnted's Substack.

A writer at heart, Undawnted's own creative spark, DL Mullan, began writing short stories and poetry before adolescence. Over the years, Ms. Mullan has showcased her literary talents by self-publishing several collections of her poetry. She also writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. Ms. Mullan‘s creative writing is available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. As an independent publisher, she produces her own book cover designs as well as maintains her own websites. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet. This year, DL Mullan has begun sharing her knowledge via A Novelist Idea Newsletter. If you too want to become a Fearless Phile, then subscribe to her newsletter on Substack.

Her innovative style teaches writers how to reach their creative potential, and write more effectively.

Learn. Grow. Master… with Undawnted. 

One of those Days

I hate being chronically ill.

It is like breathing through a straw with bubble gum stuck on the end. There is no way around it. You've been served by mother nature. In my case, work and family added to the complications. 

Still there are some advantages to being dog sick: sleep, more sleep... and well, sleep. 

That also means putting my hopes and aspirations on the back burner. I have to do business first like cooking, cleaning, bills. If I have enough energy at the end of the day, I might get in a television show on my rabbit ears or write a few pages over a weekend.

Right now, I have a headache that wishes to be a migraine. 

Joy. 

Well,  I am off to nurse my poor head.

Have a great and wonderful day.

Chronic Illness and the Apathetic Sect

When people do not understand chronic, disabling illnesses, they tend to say the stupidest phrases.

"If you take a shower and exercise, you'll feel better."

That sentence is one that was thrown at me several times. If you have chronic fatigue, neither one of those suggestions are going to work very well, now are they?  So my family forced me to exercise by cooking my own food and doing chores. God forbid I was disabled by a terrible illness. I should get up and do for the household since I no longer could bring in a wage. 

That is the most irresponsible, immature attitude ever. 

I do not know how people justify this type of behavior on people who are ill. I have lived through some horrific experiences that I will not soon forget. How can I when the nightmares wake me? 

People believe that if you do not strike a person that no abuse has been committed.  That is not true. Some people believe what you have endured, you should just get over it. Stop throwing yourself a pity party. 

Yet, these same people will be upset if someone does them wrong. In cases like mine, my life was threatened and placed in danger on a continual basis. It is quite different then a perceived slight.

I may never be well and never "get over" my traumatic experiences with apathetic caregivers, but the drive to find well being will always be in my mind. For the best revenge is living well. I still have years to go before I reach that apex, but I have hope and determination to reach that goal.

What I like to do to diffuse the negative impacts of the past is to help others, educate others about how not to behave toward the chronically ill. I also like to take those emotions and dedicate them to writing, not the pity party people would like to foment.

After a nightmare or situation that manifests those terrible memories, I like to create digital art, write the back story to some evil foe, or write an emotive and engaging poem. 

Just because I have been abused and left for dead does not mean I have to carry the burden. Yes, I have low times and I do not trust others as I once did, but I do not run around with a pity party sign either. As a human, I have to touch the world a few times a month for food and supplies. I have had to learn to deal with others as compatriots and not combatants. 

I may have survived the battles, but does anyone truly win the war? 

Be kind to those people with a disability or illness if you understand or not. Sometimes the best support you can give someone is being present of mind and body. Would it harm you to have a board game night with your home bound neighbor? 

Have a wonderful but thoughtful night.

What's Cookin'?

Cooking... it's what's for dinner.

I like to cook a large pot of brown rice. I just have to boil water, clean the rice, add some seasoning and let it cook for 45 minutes. No fuss, no muss. 

After the rice cools, I can freeze it in portions. Now I don't have to cook until I run out of rice. So when I have reactions, have bad days, have no energy to get out of bed, or just hate the world, well at least I don't have to cook. 

When I have to fix a meal, I make more than I am going to eat so I have enough to freeze. 

That makes life so much easier. 

So what's cokin'?