Book Status

I have completed eleven interviews so far, transcribed all but one, and drafted seven of them. I mention this because a friend asked me today how the book was going. It is going, but very slowly. I am working a paying job again, that uses my skills of art and writing to design training. There is nothing as nice as working at something you enjoy, and being able to do it on my own terms. I work as a consultant, from home, and for the most part, set my own hours.

As a whole, life is good. Despite the warm winter, I am skiing and racing. This gives me plenty of opportunity for fresh air, exercise, and good friends. But there is also a very stressful side to my life. I am caring for aging parents, one of which has a lot of health problems. This is the reason I became interested in writing about fibro. The last three years consisted of moving elderly parents out of the home they lived in for 40 years and becoming their home health aide. This has taken quite a toll on me.

Before this time, my fibro was a mere inconvenience. I paid little attention to it. As the caregiving began, the stress it created in my life intensified all the symptoms. It became much harder to ignore. I was exhausted all the time. Dealing with my parents in good times is rocky at best. When I am exhausted, I don't deal well with all the drama. The more exhausted I get, the more I start to ache, and the less able I am to cope with my parents.

This set me to wondering, how do others do it? That became the starting point for my book. Now, I need to focus on what I want to accomplish. What is my ultimate goal, and what are the objectives for achieving this goal? That's the instructional designer in me. The artistic side of me wants to know "what is my slant?" "How do I make this interesting for others?" "Do I need to do more interviews?"

While I grapple with these issues, I will continue to blog as the muse strikes me, and plug away on the last transcription.