Release of my novel etc

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So my first novel Marian ilmestyskirja will be coming out from Muruja next month. The taboo-breaking cripfic has already got about 10 reviews in book blogs, including a few absolutely glowing ones (I couldn't have come up with better ones if I tried!). I made an English info page about the book which includes a sample. Still hoping to find an international publisher for it! Disabled people deserve a voice in fiction outside of Finland, too. The amazing cover artwork is by another Deviant, the amazingly talented anubis46. Thanks to the book I also scored a paid blogging gig at a Finnish disability magazine (I've done paid blogging before, as early as 2005, but never about a subject I feel so passionate about).

I have just finished writing my next novel, another cripfic titled Makuuhaavoja (Bedsores). It's a very different book - while Marian ilmestyskirja is quite shocking and many have said it left them speechless, this is a more subtle story playing more on nuances and especially with parallels/mirroring/contrast. It's a story about bedbound Kai whose imagination is spurred by his severe hyperacusis (sensitivity to sound) and a lot of it happens in his imagination.

I am working on my second medical textbook now, for which I got a grant. I never got the letter about it for some reason and hence assumed I didn't, but turns out I did. The book is about misunderstood chronic illnesses and should be out by the end of the year. I have been reading source material like crazy, still got more than a dozen books to read. I am also working on a food-related book, which will be published next year. Yeah, sadly both of these are in Finnish only. :-/

We have now been living in Amsterdam for almost seven months. To be honest, it's been better than I expected. The only real problems have involved doctors and getting medications I have already been on for four years, without which I cannot function at all. So far I have already made six doctor visits (in Finland I'd make 1-2 a year). I have had to make two seven-hour trips to see a doctor (which is pretty much the maximum amount of travel you can even make in a country of this size). Frustrating, but not entirely in vain, as he diagnosed me with whiplash (two misaligned vertebrae) which I may have had since childhood(!) and fixed it. It will take a few more months to fully heal, so only then will I know if it has helped.

The spring is well underway here (in Finland it's still very much winter). My birthday is on Sunday and and on Saturday we'll be going to Den Bosch for Sencity, a multi-sense techno party also visited by loads of deaf people. My first party in 1.5 years! I'm also hoping to attend some demoparties, still not sure about Easter party aka Revision, but at least Outline in June.

Not much time for short fiction/poetry/visual art recently, but now that my novel is done, hopefully I will get to focus on that, too. My first fiction publication (since it should be out before my novel) will the cripfic short story Timeless in the Breath & Shadow magazine in a few weeks.

Current works

Works in progress
:bulletblue: six short stories
:bulletblue: four haiku
:bulletblue: some other poems
:bulletblue: my sociomedical essay series

Works finished but not yet submitted
:bulletblue: a haiku
:bulletblue: three scifi drabbles
:bulletblue: four pieces of 55-word fiction
:bulletblue: four longer short stories
:bulletblue: nine ASCII pictures
:bulletblue: an acrylic painting
:bulletblue: a digital painting
:bulletblue: a whole bunch of photos

Works I wish to start in the near future
:bulletblue: several poems
:bulletblue: some crafts
:bulletblue: henna tattooing
:bulletblue: molding clay sculpture

Non-art/DA TODO (inconclusive)
:bulletblue: promoting my novel
:bulletblue: translation/transcription
:bulletblue: a food-related article
:bulletblue: a medical textbook
:bulletblue: a food book
:bulletblue: medical articles
:bulletblue: studying Dutch
:bulletblue: studying Spanish
:bulletblue: an LDN brochure
:bulletblue: some query letters and pitches
:bulletblue: some guest blogs
:bulletblue: content for my Finnish CFS/ME site

My preliminary schedule for the following months

15th April work deadline
16th April my book release party
22nd April friend's birthday party
22nd-25th April Revision demoparty
30th April Queen's day
1st-9th May friends visiting
5th May doctor visit
12th May CFS/ME awareness day

1st June-31st July blogging gig
2nd-5th June Outline demoparty
11th-12th June family visiting

I was interviewed by :iconmattgallan:, read the interview in <a  href="radicalpuppy4.deviantart.com/j…">his journal.

:iconobenson: wrote a poem dedicated to my ASCII art. It's quite good too!

I've set up a discussion thread for my sociomedical essay series on my forum, please read it and contribute if you have any  opinions.

My stock diamondie-stock
Member of critiqueme fi
Supporting photo-class suture onewordatatime Lit-Source poeticks Reporters Activists ArtistsForCharity fotoFRIDAY WordCount LineCount litNEWS DisabilityArt fm-me-club

Website :bulletblue: My CFS/ME/FM book :bulletblue: Flickr :bulletblue: YouTube :bulletblue: Wishlist :bulletblue: Articles on Suite 101 :bulletblue: My novel: The Atlas Moth :bulletblue: Vegventures food blog
© 2011 - 2024 diamondie
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Retoucher07030's avatar
Congrats! Hope it's a huge success :)

BTW - Do you know if there have been any documented cases of medication induced CFS? I met with two of my doctors last week and there's a very good chance my CFS is caused by an antihypertensive drug I've been taking for 10 years. It's an alpha-blocker that alters the affect of two hormones produced by the adrenal glands. Of course, I had to figure it out on my own and bring them the research to validate it.