Life Changes Update VI

You know, I had expected to be blogging more than I actually have been doing.  I had a big burst of energy right after the Stage 4 diagnosis came in and added several passionately written items in fairly short order.  And I have a newspaper friend out east who’ll take anything I write that makes a decent point.  As the Walter White of bloggers, I expected to be even more vocal than before.  But my energy levels have been in the toitie since the chemo began.  I find that I have about enough in store to prod my existing book projects along, with not a lot left over for bloviation here.

Not that I don’t still get worked up.  The upcoming expiration of the Taliban Five travel ban is pissing me off, and would have rated several days worth of coverage on the radio program if my cancer had allowed me to hold on to it.  It’s not news, really—which the White House was quick to point out this week.  The Obama administration (if you can use that word to describe what this regime does) said one year ago that the Taliban’s five worst terrorists would be free to move about the planet one year after we got our man back.  At least they were honest about that, although they described Bowe Berdahl at the time as someone who had served with honor, which we knew at the time was not only an artless lie but an artless g-d lie.  But at least the process did set a value on the manpower for the various sides when it comes to this sort of thing:  The best men the Taliban have to offer are worth zero point two American deserters a pop.  (Excuse me, make that accused deserters).  Imagine how they’d stack up to real American soldiers—many of whom died to put them in cages to begin with?

But enough of that.  I’m going back to quiet observer mode for a while.  There is something comforting in watching the train wreck from afar, without participating.  There’s nothing to say about the competence of the Obama regime that I haven’t said before, and that other pontificators aren’t already saying.  (How’s that middle east “strategy” working out for you, First Dude?  About like I predicted, I’d say.  Okay, I’m done).

First the blog news.  I’ve been uploading, more or less as promised, my comedy routines and still have quite a few to go.  I’m going to organize them a bit differently going forward.  Instead of each bit getting its own posting plus a duplicate posting on the audio page, I’ve decided to create several categorized skit pages, and will be posting the new bits them there as appropriate.  I’ll announce each posting on Facebook as before.  So, check those audio pages on my blog often or visit my Facebook pages (my books page is here).   The list of all pages including the new audio ones is down the right hand rail on this screen.

Now the medical news.  I’m halfway through the radiation treatments.  A rescan today showed that my colon obstruction had eased, as they were hoping.  We’ll adjust the size of the radiation field and continue on for another two weeks, as previously anticipated.  I have at least one more chemotherapy session ahead to go with that, maybe two.  I’m in very little pain except when I try to sleep at night.  Sleeping is an issue and that contributes to my poor energy levels, but I do catch a lot of catnaps during the day.

People continue to reach out to me and it’s been gratifying.  Just when I think folks have forgotten me, here comes another letter or call.  Earlier this week—at the behest of a mutual radio fan—Coast to Coast AM host George Noory gave me a call, right out of the clear blue.  You may remember I spent a couple of hours on his program a few weeks back touting A Journal of the Crazy Year.  I was floored that he did this and the call really made my day, as did the suggestion from our mutual friend-of-the-show that he do so.  Other calls and emails continue to come in and I have a prayer shawl in my office that someone with whom I worked many years ago sent me.  It was so unexpected and so very welcome.

My latest novel, The Dark, will be available for the Kindle June 1 (you can pre-order it now) and the print edition will be enabled for publication the same day, although it may take a week or two to show up in your favorite online retailer’s queue.  I’m very excited about this one and will have more to say on publication day. You can still sign up with Goodreads to win one of ten free autographed copies if you do it by the close of business Sunday.  Here’s the link for that.

What’s next?  I’m working on a personal memoir documenting the strange experiences I’ve had throughout my life with what some might call the paranormal—culminating in the premonitions that led me to quit my news director’s job two years ago to write fiction and pursue radio instead.   That book is going to surprise, if not shock, a lot of people who thought they knew me.  Look for it in about 90 days.

And watch this space for more updates!

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Find out the full story of my medical travails here.