Virgil Anderson's Story

Hello Friends. I was recently contacted by Mr. Virgil Anderson, and he asked if I would be willing to share his story with you, my lovely readers. I agreed, so here it is . . .

Mr. Anderson was born and raised in Williamson, WV.  His father, a coal miner, passed when Virgil was 8 years old. Virgil worked in demolition work and excavating since high school. This required the physical tear out, and hands on removal of asbestos containing insulation in walls, ceiling, attics and heating and cooling systems. To remove this required saws and sledge hammers all of which sent the asbestos fibers flying into the air. Unfortunately for Virgil the material had to not only be freed from its location but also picked up and carried to the disposal area. Once asbestos is disturbed it can stay in the air for 5 days. On some occasions there was a haze of dust and debris that you could actually taste in your mouth. He also came in contact with asbestos while working on his family’s farm. Virgil was recently diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

When he was diagnosed with mesothelioma he needed immediate medical attention. He found a few websites on the internet that are supposed to help people with mesothelioma cancer but nobody got back to him.

Then he found Mesothelioma.net. Even though he contacted them on a Sunday one of their patient advocates gave him a call back within minutes. They gave him a great deal of helpful information on doctors and resources available to him.

As a result of their website, he is now being treated at the national cancer institute and the patient advocates have even provided him with financial assistance so he could afford a place to live during his chemotherapy. If he had not reached out to this website he would likely be homeless and more importantly in Hospice waiting to die. These people gave him his only chance at survival.

* * * *

Thank you for sharing your story with us, Virgil. Thank you for your bravery and I know my readers will agree, we all wish you well for the future.

Happy 2017!

Happy New Year! It is indeed a new year with new opportunities and challenges. Nevertheless, I wish everyone a year filled with good health, well deserved wealth and lots of happiness. I think you all are so deserving of it.

May 2017 be the year you accomplish all your goals.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays my friends. Thank you so much for the love and support during 2016. It has and is still helping me. Thank you for your friendship.

Wishing everyone a good time and as always, be safe. 

Making a few changes

I haven't really been sure what I wanted to blog about. I feel like I'm always just going on about myself and I know what most people want is useful information:) Unfortunately, today I am once again prattling on about myself;)

So, one of the things that bothered me for months was the print version of my book, because it didn't come out as the online previewer promised. My awesome cover artist, Jennie Bennett made me a new one, for both the e-book and print. The print book came out just like I had always imagined. I am very happy:)

E-book cover 

Print cover

These covers are exactly what I had always dreamed of. It is drastically different from the original, but if it makes any sense, it is a lot more "me" and closer to my vision for the series. 

Book two is still waiting patiently in the wings to be completed, but I am chipping away at it word by word, everyday, so to my Thelum Series fans, do not worry. It will get done.

* I have decided to offer my freelancing skills to the public and one of the tabs on my blog above, indicate that I am can now write for you, my dear readers as well. If you don't want to write your own blog posts, or if you want someone to help write your novel, or short story for you, I am available:) Hint-Hint. It is definitely scary. But my next step in therapy is to find a part-time job. So, I chose to take a shot at freelancing. Fingers crossed.

* Also, I've joined the Amazon Associates program to see if I can use that as a means to support myself. So, my blog does use affiliate links, but at no cost, (additional or otherwise) to you my friends. It just means that if you make a purchase by using one of my affiliate links, that I make a few pennies too, at no cost to you of course.

I really don't want to go back to an office job, which is why I started doing the above two things. If it offends anyone, I do apologize.

Please, to all that are traveling, do so safely. If your roads are as busy as ours in South Africa, I wish you all to get to your destinations safely, regardless of the rush and impatience on the road. My family and I always prefer to be home during the busy seasons. 

Stay safe everyone. Wishing you all well. 

Hello Again

Hello again my beautiful friends. Thank you so much for all the love and support I have received the past few weeks. I appreciate it a ton.

I am seeing a therapist every week for my anxiety and chronic depression (dysthymia), and a psychiatrist as well (she is also very good), but only every other month. I am still a long way from where I should be, but it is a work in progress and I am doing much better. Basically, all the crap I had been running from for most of my life has finally caught up to me and now I have to deal with it. I’m not ready to talk about what my issues are/ were, but I know one day I will be able to.

One of the reasons I adore my therapist is that she gets me. The other reason is that she has treated other writers before, which helps. Trust me, it can be hard to explain the complexity of writing to non-writers. But my therapist understands, and she is so patient and supportive. She even encouraged me to keep on blogging, as the awesome friendships and relationships I have built up over time, is so important and valid. A friend is a friend, whether you only communicate online or not. I know that now, and I don’t care that other people think I’m nuts for only having friends online. I haven’t kept on blogging as my therapist suggested, but hopefully I can get back into it now.

All week last week one of the TV channels had all the Harry Potter movies on, so basically I spent all of last week really immersing myself into Hogwarts and all things Harry Potter. It was so much fun. It was the first time in a long time that I really enjoyed something. Depression sucks the enjoyment out of everything. But not last week:)

Thank you so much again, my wonderful friends. I hope all is still well with everyone. Let me know how you are in the comments. 

Mâtowak Woman Who Cries by Joylene Nowell Butler

Congratulations, Joylene! Welcome and wishing you lots of success. 

Author Joylene Nowell Butler is on tour this month with MC Book Tours featuring her new novel, Mâtowak Woman Who Cries, being released Nov. 1 by Dancing Lemur Press L.L.C.

You can follow Joylene's tour schedule HERE for excerpts, Q&As,  chances to win copies of her book and more.

A murder enveloped in pain and mystery...

When Canada's retired Minister of National Defense, Leland Warner, is murdered in his home, the case is handed to Corporal Danny Killian, an aboriginal man tortured by his wife's unsolved murder.

The suspect, 60-year-old Sally Warner, still grieves for the loss of her two sons, dead in a suicide/murder eighteen months earlier. Confused and damaged, she sees in Corporal Killian a friend sympathetic to her grief and suffering and wants more than anything to trust him.

Danny finds himself with a difficult choice—indict his prime suspect, the dead minister's horribly abused wife or find a way to protect her and risk demotion. Or worse, transfer away from the scene of his wife’s murder and the guilt that haunts him...

Excerpt

Chapter 16

A telemarketer called this morning. She wanted to know what products I favour. I said I didn't know and tried telling her that my husband had just died, but she interrupted and spouted a list. “How many children do you have, ma'am?” I'm wondering what this has to do with advertising when she says, “Do you know millions of parents in South Africa have seven children and they're all dead before the age of five?” Instantly, a bottomless wail sprang from my mouth. It shocked me as much as it must have shocked her. I didn't hear what she said next, just the sound of the dial tone after she hung up. More than five minutes passed before I grew quiet. I set the phone back in its charger, and then plopped down at the breakfast table. I've been here ever since.

How many children do I have? After Declan and Bronson died, I practiced saying, “None,” until I no longer choked over the word.

“None.” But really, who says none?

The one good thing about being in the public eye is everyone had heard of our tragedy long before we returned to Ottawa to finish Leland's term. I practiced saying, “It's just Leland and I,” but it was an exercise in vain. No one until this morning has asked.

My chest hurts. So do my eyes. The microwave clock is blurry. Nine-forty already?

I press my hands to the table and slide the chair back as I rise. I've begun a bad habit of staying in my housecoat far too long into the day. I must stop. I shuffle from the breakfast room through the house and towards the stairs. There are things to be done for tomorrow's memorial service, but after that? I know from watching all those educational programs on the health network and from my volunteer work at the hospital and the United Way that an effort must be made to fill my day. My relationship with God is iffy, some days I believe in Him, some days I don't, but regardless I'll stay in contact with the ladies from church. Maybe I should have a few over for tea and cookies next week. No, I'm not ready for small talk right now, maybe in a few weeks. I'll go through my jewellery first. The ladies deserve at least something of value from me.

Flash of movement on my right—my hand flies to rest against my heart, which now pounds through my palm. I inch closer. Outside the window next to my front door, he appears inside my porch. I move towards the door. He smiles. Leland?

Oh my god. I catch my breath. Smile. “Good morning,” I say once the door is unlocked and opened and I can see it really is Killian. The winter air rushing in behind him is refreshing but chilly. It bites at my ankles. I shiver and glance down at my housecoat and slippers. “You've caught me at a disadvantage.” I pull my robe's belt tighter.

He stomps the snow off his boots, and then does a strange thing, he slips off his boots and stands in his stocking feet. My eyes drift from his toes to his face. He sees my bewilderment and blushes. “Sorry, ma'am. Guess I left my manners next to the snow blower this morning. May I come in?”

Mâtowak Woman Who Cries is available in eBook at the following sites:

Amazon.ca 

Amazon.com

Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C

The print copy is available at: 

Amazon.ca

Amazon.com.

When Joylene's father died in 1983, she wrote her first full–length manuscript to channel her grief. The seven-year process left her hooked and she began Dead Witness within a few weeks of finishing Always Father's Child. Today Joylene is the author of three suspense novels: Dead Witness, Broken But Not Dead, and the steampunk collaboration Break Time. While she'll admit being published didn't fix all the wrongs in her life, she wishes her parents had lived to see her success. Dead Witness was a finalist in the 2012 Global eBook Awards. Broken But Not Dead won the 2012 IPPY Silver Medal and its sequel Mâtowak Woman Who Cries is due for release November 1, 2016.

Joylene lives with her husband and their two cats Marbles and Shasta on beautiful Cluculz Lake in central British Columbia. They spend their winters in Bucerias, Nayarit, Mexico.

For more on Joylene and her writing, visit her website and blog then connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and her Amazon
Author Page.

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I'm visiting with Mason Canyon today

Hey friends. Today I'm over at Thoughts in Progress with Mason Canyon, talking about my debut novel The Amaranthine. You are welcome to come and check out my guest post, here.

Have a great day everyone!