What a week… actually… what a month!
Now… those who know me are aware of my medical condition, M.E. Aka C.F.S, (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), here in the US. A name I HATE as it implies that is all there is to the illness… I can tell you, it is not.
[If you don’t know what it is and are interested to find out, THIS SITE explains it best]
I have had a few relapses before, but in recent times, and for a good long spell of about 6 years, the M.E., although still “somewhat” symptomatic, had been in remission… until a few weeks ago, when I began to feel more tired than normal. In fact, exhausted. Especially in the evenings, which ruled out critique group for a few weeks. I knew what that meant – a relapse – and made the necessary adjustments to my life, (like the example above RE: critique group), meanwhile to kicking said relapse’s arse.
Well, I’m happy to say, (tentatively, don’t want to jinx myself!), I have been feeling a little better for the past few days – as far as the fatigue goes, anyway – so I shall be making a cautious return to critique group this week, and see how I fair from that. I still hurt, but that is pretty much normal for me, and still waiting for my concentration to improve again, so that I can get on with rewriting The Blue Door Trilogy, (perhaps for submission to a publisher, finally). I’m not going to change the story any, but I would like to improve the writing quality and tweak the style in line with what I have learnt since first finishing it back in 2008.
A few weeks ago, just before the relapse as a matter of fact, I decided to upgrade my computer. I went with an HP Stream x360. Mine is “Blizzard White”, like those in the pictures.
If you have not already been made aware of this fabulous little machine, let me tell you how wonderful it is. I had an HP Pavilion G6 notebook, running Windows 7 – and I LOVED it! It never gave me a day’s grief in its long, productive life, I just needed something more up to date.
Sad as I was to say goodbye to my beloved Pavilion, this Stream more than takes its place. Not only does it do everything the Pavilion did, it does it better, faster, and with a touchscreen – not to mention the 360 keyboard, turning it into either a laptop, or a tablet, or anything in between. I also love the smaller size. My old HP was a 15 inch screen and rather heavy. The Stream’s screen is a petite-but-adequate 11.6 inches, and it is feather-light, compared to the Pavilion.
Now, for Windows 8.1. First, let me say; I will NEVER get a laptop with Windows 10. A previous blog post will explain why. 8.1, however, is fantastic. I really like how it keeps the best bits of 7, (not that there was anything remotely wrong with 7 at all), and melds them with new features. As a result, I could not be happier with this little darling.
And now the VERY BESTEST EVER news. Today, my completed publishing contract arrived in my mail box – signed by both parties. Now it’s REALLY official!! And I am so very thankful to have Snow Leopard Publishing as my publisher for “That English Lady” :)
I’m looking forward to receiving my first editing draft from them soon :)