Bye Bye NaNoWriMo 2014

This year has been a great one for writing so far for me: I have won not one , not two, but  THREE events hosted by The Office of Letters and  Light (the organisers). I won  April's Camp NaNoWriMo with my novel The Spellbrooke Trilogy Book Two: Return to Spellbrooke  :A Wintter Curse. I won July's Camp NaNoWriMo with my novel The Secret Dreamworld of a Disabled Shopaholic. I also won this year's NaNoWriMo with my novel The Spellbrooke Trilogy Book Three: The Legend of Spellbrooke. I'm so proud of all the novels I have written  so far, and always really enjoy NaNoWriMo. 

I'll be participating next April with my novel Disabled Shopaholic Tours The World. 

WINNER'S VIDEO LINK : http://nanowrimo.org/winners/youwon

My Winner's Certificate For NaNoWriMo 2014 

My Final Graph For NaNoWriMo 2014 

When a Patient Really Matters to a Doctor.......

Today, I had a doctor 's appointment but I didn't go because of feeling tired from all my recent work on my book for NaNoWriMo. Alfredo sometimes  goes for me, especially if it's just to get my medication. The appointment was at 1 in the afternoon, and he got there in good time he told me afterwards. My GP (family doctor) is really nice and laid back. She said that for all patients with chronic illnesses or disabilities were going to have electronic perscriptions from now on. She was talking to Alfredo and she was filling in my electronic prescription whilst talking to him. She usually always gives me a couple of boxes of Baclofen so we don't have to go back so often . He  noticed there was something wrong with the prescription  when he was in the chemist and the pharmacist pointed it out to him. She said there was just one box altnough the doctor swore she put more on the prescription. 

He told me that he went back to the medical centre and luckily found the doctor who was talking to another doctor and hadn't left  yet (she only works mornings.) 

She wasn't sure what had happened......so, she ended up going to the chemist, this time with Alfredo, and she said she was my doctor and talked to the pharmacist. She even looked at the screen on the computerised till to see where the error was. She and Alfredo left feeling confused. Alfredo said why didn't she give me a handwritten prescription? She said that she wanted me to have an electronic one so that we don't have to go back to the medical centre every time I need more medication, and that we must get annoyed with having to wait our turn in the waiting room just to get a new prescription for the medication she knows  I always take. She knows what other kinds of medication I need too, and she seems like she really wants to help us sort this. 

I'm so happy I have a devoted and helpful partner and doctor.It's great to have people like this in my life, as too often, I have been misunderstood  by doctors, and not taken seriously . I'm lucky to have a great neurologist, too. I've had very few doctors in my life who are as interested in trying to help me as the ones I have now. 

The result of today is Alfredo will go back to see my doctor tomorrow, and we both hope this is sorted out soon. 

NaNoWriMo 2014 day 18: Finishing Line Post

Today, I dictated my last 6,000 words.....and crossed the finish line! During this year's NaNoWriMo, there were times I thought I would not have the time to do it, but I found the time in between working on my other writng projects, and I'm proud I did. That means I have now completed my second NaNoWriMo. Validating starts on Thursday so I'll validate as soon as I can, and I may keep writing if I have more to add to my novel. Now I have to choose a cover image:) 

I'm so proud of myself for writing this novel although it was using Dragon dictation software. I bet that i the OT who  assessed me for 12 and a half years of my life were alive now, she would be really proud of me. 

Doing NaNoWriMo is not always about making proud of me, it is nice for me to hear and know people support me, but I am doing this more for me and to get more practice and to get bettter at dictating my novels on the road to success as a writer and published author. 

I noticed that I finished NaNoWriMo on exactly the same day as I did last year, and it was just as great a feeling seeing the status bar  turn from blue to green as it was this time last year. 

Good luck to those of you who are still going strong and trying to reach the finish line! 

Happy World Prematurity Day 2014

Today, the 17th of November, is always a special day for me.

Today is also a special day anyone who was born prematurely as it is prematurity day

32 years ago I was born with my twin sister Natalie in Kingston Hospital in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey UK. When we were born, we were not breathing, and had to be on ventilators from that moment onwards. We both had a heart attack on the third day of our life, and were  baptised in hospital because we were so ill that nobody thought we would make it, and if we did survive we would both be a vegetable. 

Natalie lost her fight when we were nine days old, and passed away, leaving me to fight for my life in hospital. I had a whole host of infections including jaundice and conjunctivitis as well as heart  and lung problems. Lack of oxygen caused me to have a brain bleed on both sides of my brain which caused spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and Hydrocephalus, and I have a VP shunt.

My shunt is a pressure valve attached to a long tube (catheter) which goes down into my abdomen. My shunt drains off the cerebral spinal fluid I cannot control or absorb because of my Hydrocephalus. This liquid protects the spine and brain. The buildup of the liquid because my brain bleeds  caused my brain to swell which caused brain damage. My optic nerve is damaged, and there is damage to my  movement and sight areas of my brain.  I also have PVL and  spina  bifida occulta. 

BUT i have a degree, am bilingual in English and Spanish. I have written 4 books and am getting my first ready to publish. I am also engaged.

NaNoWriMo 2014 day 17: 46,159 words

Today I reached 46,000 words for NaNoWriMo and  I will be crossing the finish line tomorrow. :) I'm really surprised how quickly it has gone, but I am glad my second time went well, and that I managed to finish the last book in the Spellbrooke trilogy.

More tomorrow

NaNoWriMo 2014 days 15 and 16 :42,000 and 44,000 words

I decided to post my progress for the weekend in the same post. I reached 42,000 words yesterday and 44,000 words today. 

Here's my progress graph for today.

NaNoWriMo 2014 day 14: 40,000 words

I worked hard today and am now at 40,000 words. I am way past 100 pages of my novel. Only 10K to go and I'm done with NaNoWriMo 2014! The ideas for what to include in my novel are still coming thick and fast, and I hope to get a lot more done over the weekend :) 

Have a great weekend and good luck if you are doing NaNoWriMo!