Brodie has given me nothing but good things and I’m grateful for every one of them. I love a list, so here goes. .. There was the initial idea and all the fun I had playing with the notion that I could actually write a novel narrated by an inanimate object. This was made allContinue reading “For the Love of Brodie”
Tag Archives: writing
365 Days in 365 Words
I’m not normally big on reviewing the years of my life… 1975 – Started primary school. 1982 – Finished primary and started secondary school. 1988 – Finished secondary school and started university. 1992 – Graduated with my first degree (there would be more) and began a one-year sabbatical as President of the Glasgow University Students’Continue reading “365 Days in 365 Words”
Day 218
It’s 218 days since I first walked along the corridor to the Macmillan Day Case Unit at The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. 214 days since I was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital with neutropenic sepsis. A day since I last walked along the corridor to the Macmillan Day Case Unit. InContinue reading “Day 218”
it is what it is
It’s been a while. A while of not writing. A while of having nothing to say. Except certain phrases: Don’t get cancer. It’ll be fine. It is what it is. I say them often. On a loop. Not to the same people. I seem to reserve Don’t get cancer for friends. People my age, orContinue reading “it is what it is”
Illness: A Narrative in Four Parts, Part Two
My four-part hybrid essay is a piece of memoir that explores my experience of being diagnosed with, and living with, multiple sclerosis. In part two: I’m moved from the emergency receiving unit to the skin ward (because there’s a bed in the skin ward); I have to break bad news to loved ones; I spendContinue reading “Illness: A Narrative in Four Parts, Part Two”
Illness: A Narrative in Four Parts
I’m a fiction writer. It’s what makes me happy. But sometimes I write fact. A case in point is an essay I’ve written for my doctoral project entitled Illness: A Narrative in Four Parts. My essay is being serialised this week in the brilliant medical humanities journal, The Polyphony. If you’re interested in following along,Continue reading “Illness: A Narrative in Four Parts”
Filling the Days
A friend sent me a message yesterday to ask if I could offer any tips on “the craft of keeping to a routine and filling your days whilst maintaining good well-being in all its forms” during this difficult time. I presume her reason for asking me is that in March 2007 I found myself inContinue reading “Filling the Days”
