I've had a number of folks ask me how my new books are coming along. I guess it's time for another update.
Let me start by reminding readers that I've been dealing with greatly increased pain levels over the past year or more. This stems from a disabling injury I suffered in 2004, which left me with a fused spine and nerve damage, and greatly restricted my mobility. I've been living with permanent, 24/7/365 pain since then; and as I've gotten older and my spine has deteriorated (including arthritis above the fusion site, which is apparently a known side-effect of such surgeries), that's gotten worse.
I wrote about it a short while ago in connection with the suicide of another blogger due to long-term, uncontrollable pain. Here are some relevant excerpts.
That's been particularly frustrating to me, because it's interfered with my ability to write and produce more books. I'm still able to do so, but only when the pain level is low enough to not distract me from being creative. When it gets too high, a lot of things grind to a halt. Creative writing is one of them (at least for me). Pain gnaws on you, like a dog gnawing on a bone. It grinds, it tears, and it rips you in mind as well as body.
. . .
I'm not suicidal at all (I have a very strong religious prohibition against it to sustain me), but there have been bad pain days when I've understood very clearly - experientially! - why some decide to check out rather than carry the burden any longer. I've never taken that step, and please God I never will: but I'm here to tell you from personal experience, pain can come to dominate your outlook on life to the point where it removes almost all hope, unless one has a very strong will to live. It's no surprise to me that many people in that situation say simply, "I've had enough. I can't take any more."
. . .
I'm still trying to re-balance my life in terms of the increased pain I've experienced over the past year. I have to keep on writing: it's almost the only way I have to earn a living, given my physical limitations, but the pain has certainly slowed me down. I have multiple books very close to completion now (over 75%), and I hope to publish several this year if my body backs off a bit and lets me finish them. I hope my readers will forgive the delay. I really don't want it, but there are times when I simply can't produce quality output that meets the high standards I set for myself. I'm doing my best. Unless I find a literary sugar-daddy (a critter I don't think exists), I'll have to continue to earn my bread by the sweat of my brow in the old-fashioned way.
There's more at the link.
I'm doing something drastic to try to counter the overall deterioration in my health, including pain levels. I've recently started a liquid-only fast Monday-Friday every week, with strictly limited food intake (mostly carnivore, i.e. meat-only) at the weekends. It's helping me to lose weight (a lot of which piled on since my injury, thanks to my inability to exercise much due to pain and physical limitations), and I hope it'll also have the effect of a "hard reset" on some of my bodily problems. It has for some (not all) others, so I'm hoping it'll benefit me too. Results won't be verifiable for some months, so watch this space for details in due course. (Yes, I'm doing it under medical supervision, to try to avoid some of the problems others have encountered. I'm following the general guidelines provided by Dr. Jason Fung of Canada, with a number of variations on the theme tailored to my needs and abilities.)
I'm hoping this will help me become more productive in the writing field as well. I'm trying to finish Volume 6 of the Maxwell Saga right now, titled "Venom Strike". Tentative publication date is sometime in April (i.e. next month). I also have the first volume of my Civil War Union naval trilogy almost ready, and hope to publish it by mid-year. There are another 6 books in varying stages of preparation, and I'd like to publish at least two of them in the second half of this year. That all depends on my progress in dealing with pain and physical debilitation, so please say a prayer for me if you're so inclined. Every little helps!
I apologize to those who are frustrated by my slow output level, but I hope they understand it's not deliberate. I'm fighting an uphill battle against my body, and sometimes I can't win for losing. Hopefully, this year, I'll do more of the former than of the latter!
Peter
Best of luck BRM. Glad to hear you are under medical supervision for this. Being around the edges of the lifting/strength community has given me the appreciation of the fact that bodies respond to changes in eating patterns like anything else, individually. What works for one may not work for others - here is wishing you nothing but success!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your health problems and your diet!
ReplyDeleteMy wife is on pain management. It is no fun. Too much stress and her system stops filtering excess meds, so she can OD. Too little and she goes into withdrawals. No pain meds at all after withdrawals and she's just in miserable pain.
ReplyDeleteIt literally sucks the fun out of life. A life controlled by careful clock-watching and made even worse by having to deal with federal regulations as to when and where we can buy drugs. Like if our pharmacy is out and won't get in a supply before we're out, we cannot just transfer the prescription to another pharmacy in the same chain. Nope, gotta call the doctor's office and hope someone is there who will send a new script.
Get as well as you can, Mr. Grant.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you may assess how much time in Purgatory you are skipping.
I have a severe impact injury I have been dealing with since military service. I cold turkey the morphine and after numerous surgeries have found some relief in the book The Pain Relief Secret By Sarah Warren TCK Publishing Hope this help my friend. Peace Be With You MP
ReplyDeleteYou are in my prayers already, but more won't hurt. I can wait, even if not with a lot of patience, for your to be able to finish more books - and then I can help you properly, as a satisfied repeat customer!
ReplyDeleteOuch!
ReplyDeleteGetting old isn't for the faint of heart and does demand a bit of courage.
I've not read most of your books, (fantasy is my preferred genre) but Taghri's Prize was excellent. Anything else along those lines in progress?
ReplyDeletePeter,
ReplyDeleteTry the Potato / Potassium diet, too! You can just start adding more potassium chloride (Nu-Salt) into everything you eat.
https://slimemoldtimemold.com/tag/potato/
You have nothing to apologize for. I'm a big fan of your books, but can wait patiently as needed. I hope the fasting helps. I shall offer some prayers for you.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes on your weight loss and pain management.
ReplyDeletePraying for you, sir. May God give you relief from the pain, and grant you His peace!
ReplyDeletePrayers, Peter. You know where we are...
ReplyDeleteI am not interested in your literary output satisfying my needs.
ReplyDeleteMy best friend suffers from constant pain, such that there are times he throws up from it. He cannot work.
He's former Force Recon and former pastor.
He struggles.
My wife recently got shingles and it's been four months of that and now she's torn a rotator cuff.
I only mention these to say that I see how it impacts others.
My torn meniscus is nothing.
May or Father in Heaven grant you healing, strength and recovery in the mighty Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May He give you sudden recovery, wellness and strength.
I pray also that He helps you with your literary output, such that you can provide for you and yours.
Amen.
I'll keep praying for you. I'm glad you keep fighting.
ReplyDeleteMajor weight loss will almost certainly alleviate many of your medical problems. That you're doing it under medical supervision is even better. I speak from experience.
ReplyDeleteHang in there, Peter, more people than you imagine are rooting for you!
I am a long time reader of you blog. I check it every day. My prayers are with you.
ReplyDeleteI watched my son deal with chronic pain for years - it put him in a wheelchair. A broken back and surgery left him in extreme pain.
My son found a drug free solution and spent years learning how to helps others ease chronic pain. Check out his Instagram for success stories: @PostureMonsterJon
I hope you can beat this pain and get back to writing soon.
Congratulations on starting weight loss, it is the first step. The next step is to increase your range of motion and physical strength, both of which will increase pain tolerance. What I see often is someone eating to dull their pain, whether it be physical, mental, or emotional. I wish you peace in all those realms, and my prayers are with you.
ReplyDeleteFind a chro who treats nuerologyic healing. I know of some peo0le on these plans that could not get out of bed.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and cat wait to see what you have as new books. Have all the old ones. Good reads all.
As someone who has been in chronic pain for most of their life I sympathize. Old age helps me find other pains to go along with the main one. People who aren't there have no idea how exhausting and wearying the pain is. I have always just pushed through it to the best of my ability, but it is like trying to walk in knee deep mud. Hope your solution works for you.
ReplyDeletePeter, I'd rather have you here and not producing books than not here. Simple as that.
ReplyDeleteWe keep you in prayer, Brother.
ReplyDeleteYou should look into changing to a plant based diet. Removing dairy and meat have been proven to reduce inflammation in the body.
ReplyDeleteSome good documentaries out there: Forks Over Knives, The Game Changers are a couple. Books by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. John McDougal and Rip Esselstyn are recommended.
I changed my diet to plant based, lost 30 pounds in 4 months, my cholesterol and blood sugar all fell into normal ranges.
As far as your books, I just recently read the westerns. I'd certainly like to read more of the Ames saga and the Annals of Ash, but your health is more important than my reading enjoyment.