In a game I used to play – long ago when the world was young – we had the ability to bring back someone from the dead. This spell was called “Resurrection” and was generally shortened to “Res!” as soon as someone died. An accommodating priest would arrive, res the person, and be on their way. Coming back to life in this fashion was always preferred, as the “other way” was loaded with penalties and loss.

I have not posted anything new to this blog since August of last year. At this point, I hope I’m a high enough level priest-y type character to res myself!

The shade of Kambry Ellis shimmers and takes on corporeal form. Your crops grow to record harvests, droughts resolve, floods recede, the ice caps are made stable, and forest animals take over household chores!

Well, alright, maybe it’s not quite THAT great. I am back though!

Where have I been?

That’s a very long story and I will shorten it dramatically. Last year, a degenerative disc disorder became aggravated by what should have been a minor injury. My C5-6 and C6-7 (the last two discs in the neck) started breaking down. I tried medication, rest, and physical therapy, but things just got worse. If I used a computer for more than a couple of hours, I was crippled for at least the day following, and often two or more days. I pushed through the release of my third novel, Claiming Salvation, finished my degree (I graduated Magna Cum Laude!), and tried to recover my life, but to no avail. The symptoms continued to worsen.

I left work on medical leave at the end of October after the orthopedic specialist told me that the discs were on the verge of rupturing and I could become paralyzed if they did. Finally, after months of waiting, I had a dual disc replacement done on February 5th. The lower disc was so broken down they didn’t even have to cut it to remove it. Within hours of waking from the procedure I could turn my head to the right, which I hadn’t been able to do since August of last year. I still have several weeks of recovery to go, but the initial pain that crippled me up was gone instantly, and I am no longer at the edge of being disabled for life.

So now what?

Now that I’m functional again, here’s the plan!

1. Res! I’m bringing all my social media back online. I’ve put a lot of thought into what to do while I was all crippled up. Mental health is a topic that is very important to me. I’ll make another post about why either later today or in a few days. What this means for this blog is that I’ll be posting, daily, about mental health. The exception will be Wednesday when I’ll post about writing, whether it’s updates on my work, or resources for those who are writing. On my OTHER social media outlets, I’ll be posting additional resources, comments for discussion, and so on. If you want to follow me elsewhere, you can find me on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and my newsletter, The Command Center.
2. Jason’s Story: (Working title) I’m going to finish the Salvation Triad’s prequel novella. It will, just to let everyone know ahead of time, be written as erotica.
3. Plus/Minus: I will be working to complete all the short stories designed to inspire and give hope to trans teens. I still have interviews and contacts to make before I write. Then I will run the entire set through a specially constructed beta team of readers who are primarily trans-gender. When it’s done, I’ll be distributing the electronic copies to resource centers for trans-gender people throughout the US. (If requested, and if legal to do so, I am willing to arrange for the stories to be available internationally as well.)
4. Half-Life of a Soul: What started as a single book idea has grown to a series of five books and possibly more. I have so many notes and pieces to stitch together. I won’t, however, be releasing this set until it’s finished. I want to do a rapid release on it, and that will require having the books ready to load so I can release one every few weeks. I think, barring anything else keeping me offline for another 9 months, I should be able to finish these within two years.
5. Submissions! I’ve decided to submit my poetry and short stories to various literary publications. I may even enter a contest or two. I always feel sorry for my shorter works. They just sit on the computer and no one gets to see them. When people DO see them, they like them very much, so I think it’s time to do this thing.