Month July 2018

Scattered Thoughts

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Do you ever lay in bed, trying, trying, TRYING to get to sleep and then suddenly you realize your fan’s off? That’s what happened to me last night. So, I got up, turned on my fan, and shortly after I was asleep. Anyone else unable to sleep without a fan going?

A TURN OF THE PAGE

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Hello! Today I want to give you a little peek into my book, Murderous Masquerade. Below this note is the prologue to my novel. Please take a look and I hope you enjoy!

Prologue

THEIR EYES FASCINATE ME.

As they lay there, with their bodies strapped down and voices caged by the chemicals I injected, it’s their eyes that speak. Usually, it’s the self-same tale. Rage. Regret. Sorrow. Pain.

Always pain.

I take my time, making sure I get to revel in all their stories. When the end comes, I see the final burst of emotion. Acceptance. They now acknowledge that I am god. Their god. I can give, and I will take away.

My heart thunders, the moment draws near. Any second and I will find it.

The young man on the table glares at me. The anguish swirling around his iris is a glorious sight to behold. But it’s not what I’m waiting for. I hold off just a little longer.

In the years I’ve been doing this, there have been those that resist the inevitable. He must be one of them. Strong-willed. Stubborn. It will make his surrender all the more delicious.

Here it comes.

I watch the muscles of his face go slack. Then I stare into his eyes, waiting for the recognition to light in a final flicker before they go dull. Come on. He doesn’t have much longer.

My eyelids narrow, the nerve at my temple twitches. His eyes show acceptance, but not the one I was searching for. He isn’t regarding me as a god—his reverence is elsewhere. His eyes go dark.

As with all the others I proceed through the motions to prepare the body for disposal. My enthusiasm always wanes once they’re dead. But now I have anger fighting for dominance of my mind. How dare he.

I can’t stand it. His vacant gaze that didn’t give me my due.

I seize a sledge hammer from the tray beside me. With a vicious swing, I bring the heavy metal down to his skull. A satisfying crack echoes against the walls. I bash his face in again and again until every bone shatters. His once healthy, boyish face now looks like a discarded Halloween mask.

I cast the tool aside and brush the splatter of blood and brain matter off my face and clothes with a gloved hand.

I must mislead any investigations. He’ll need to be disposed of in such a manner that explains his physical state. I know the perfect spot: the sheer drop off at the mountain ridge. An ‘accidental’ fall from that distance would undoubtedly cause such severe facial trauma. I grin as I take in my work. Another productive day.

If you’d like to purchase the book, or read for free on Kindle Unlimited, please click here. Available in Paperback and Kindle.

FINAL ebook cover

EDS Today – Fundraiser

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Zebra Strong-header

I’ve set up a fundraising store with several shirt options. Each one sold will have ten dollars donated to EDS Today. If you’d like to order an amazing shirt that helps others click here. 

If you haven’t heard what EDS is, you might have some questions. Or maybe you’ve seen something on the news about it, and have a general idea, but don’t really know what all it effects. If so, I have some questions you might be asking and some answers down below.

“What is EDS?” Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS for short) is a collection of connective tissue disorders. This means that people who have EDS have problems with their collagen, which is a protein that adds strength and elasticity to connective tissue. This effects the skin, muscles and ligaments. As you can imagine that causes a lot of issues for people with EDS.

“What kind of problems or issues does EDS cause?” There are different types of EDS and it depends upon the type, and severity of it, as to what kind of issues a person will have. Since there are many problems that arise with EDS I won’t list them all, but here are several. Heart valve problems, fragile skin, loose joints, muscle pain and fatigue, easy bruising, fragile blood vessels, highly elastic skin, chronic pain, joint dislocations, and more.

“What causes EDS? Is there a way to prevent it? How is it diagnosed?” Unfortunately, EDS is genetic and that means there isn’t a way to avoid it. Also, it isn’t a common thing to be tested for and doctors don’t often think that it’s the cause of their patients symptoms. In fact, the reason the ZEBRA is the symbol of many EDS charities, and what I use for my fundraiser, is for that very reason. The saying is, “When doctors hear hoofbeats they think horses, not zebras.”

“Is there a cure?” Again, the answer is no. There is no cure for EDS. Doctors can prescribe medicine to help with pain. Physical therapy to rehabilitate join and muscle instability. And perhaps surgery to repair damaged joints. But, another thing doctors consider when contemplating surgery is that some people with EDS will have issues with healing. They could be slow to heal and/or have excessive scarring.

“Has EDS affected you?” Yes, it has. And that is why I have started this fundraiser to donate to EDS Today. Everyone needs to know more about EDS, especially doctors. They need to think outside their box and at least consider those hoofbeats come from a zebra.

One of the reasons I strongly feel that even doctors need more education on this, is because my sister is the one who figured it all out, not her doctors. For years, and years, she had been having so many issues. Migraines everyday. Muscle and joint pain. Odd neurological type problems. And all she ever heard from her doctors was ‘we don’t know what it is… but it isn’t that.’ after one of her many tests and exams. Then one day she was driving home from visiting our grandma and she dislocated a rib. The chiropractor set it back in place, no answers from them on the how of it all. So she did some searching and came across Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

She went back to her doctor, explained what she found and they scheduled her an appointment with a geneticist. Finally. An answer. Not a happy one per say, but at least a reason for the pain. At least, a direction to go towards managing the problems that are and will happen. It turns out that both of our parents have EDS. One showing signs of hypermobile and the other as classic. My three sisters and I show symptoms of EDS and we know how important support and education is for this cause.

Thank you for reading my message and I hope this helped at least one of you understand more about EDS. If you’d like to see more about EDS Today please click here. If you’d like to get an awesome shirt that will help out their cause, then please check it out here.