Home Sick

All three of us have a cold. Blech.

Not much going on around here. I got a couple of critiques back on a short story. This morning I think I came up with a way to fix the broken parts.

Unfortunately, I'm not going to get a lot of writing time for the next couple of days. Caitlin has doctors' appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday is her big swallow study. She gets to eat by mouth for the first time in five years. While she eats barium-laced food (yum), they x-ray her to see if she's still aspirating. If Caitlin shows that she's made some progress, our appeal for Oral Motor/Speech Therapy should be successful. Please keep your fingers crossed.

Other than that, I'm reading Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint for the first time. This is the book selection of the month for our public library's SF/F/H book club. For some reason, it's making me very nostalgic for high school.

Here's Caitlin and Her Papa!

I want to say hi to all of my new friends. stillnotbored just reminded me that I should probably tell you all a bit about my daughter, Caitlin.

Caitlin is an amazing six-year-old girl with a wicked sense of humor and a great deal of love for the world around her. Caitlin has an extremely rare congenital condition called Aicardi syndrome. The syndrome is characterized by brain malformations (ACC), eye malformations (retinal lacunae), and severe epilepsy (infantile spasms). Caitlin has major physical delays and communication problems. She is also a silent aspirator who is unable to eat or drink by mouth (she has a feeding tube that goes directly into her stomach). Caitlin by the standards of the disorder has thrived. She can sit for an hour, stand with assistance, and communicate with sign language, choice cards, and her device. Caitlin is at age in cognitive abilities and can read at a second-grade level.

I am her full-time caregiver. I coordinate school, doctors, insurance, and therapies. I also do a lot of local volunteer work with different agencies that help people with disabilities. When Caitlin is at school, I'm a writer and associate editor for Mad Norwegian Press, a small press that specializes in cult television guidebooks. I am currently co-writing Fluid Links: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who Novels and Audios. When I'm not working on that project, I write SF short stories and novels.