It’s been over a year since I released a book.
It’s the longest I’ve ever gone between releases. At first it just started out with a case of writer’s block. It took a few months but I pushed through and finished the first draft of Raise the Dead. The very next day, my father had a massive heart attack. He nearly died during his open heart surgery and spent 18 days in a medically-induced coma. He didn’t get to come home until 6 weeks after he was rushed to the hospital.
It was such a scary time. And the following few months were a blur of doctor’s appointments, dialysis treatments, and helping my father handle the details of everyday life from grocery shopping and paying bills to helping him dress and cooking him meals. And still taking care of my six-year-old daughter.
It wasn’t easy, but we made it through. He had his final dialysis treatment in June and life got a little easier.
I haven’t talked much about what was going on, here or on social media. I couldn’t. During that time, I felt like I was drowning. I just…couldn’t share. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t handle writing about it or talking about it too much. Or even thinking about it. If I did, the stress would overwhelm me and I would break down.
The rest of summer was much easier. I was able to start working again. I managed to finish rewrites on Raise the Dead and write the first draft of a small-town romcom. I set a release date for Raise the Dead and my dad’s health was so much better.
Until last week.
He went in to have another surgery that was supposed to be fairly simple and require a 4 to 5 day stay after. He was on the table for 10 hours and wasn’t released from the hospital until Tuesday of this week. Within hours, he ended up in the ER because he couldn’t breathe and now he’s back in the hospital that is about a hundred miles away from our house. They aren’t sure what’s causing the issues, so it’s likely he’ll be in the hospital for a little while longer.
The reason I’m telling you all this is because all this adversity of 2019 has made me reflect. And I realized that I’m incredibly grateful to you, my readers. Those of you who’ve stuck with me in the year since my last release and those of you who’ve discovered me more recently. It’s because of you that I’ve been able to be home with my dad and take care of him as much as I have been. The release of Raise the Dead is still set for October 28 and I’m trying to get some work done on the second book in a romcom trilogy I’m planning to release early next year. I appreciate your patience and I hope you enjoy Raise the Dead.
Much love and happy reading,
C.C.
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