Good day, and welcome to the October edition of My (Mostly) Monthly Author Newsletter!
While I have had health challenges over the past year, I’m not the only one. My autistic teenaged son has struggled for 14 months with behavioural issues that were originally diagnosed as increased seizure activity. Since then, Natalie (my wife) and I have worked with doctors to arrive at the right mix of medications to help, but to no avail.
Finally, earlier this week, we were able to get the kid into the hospital for 24 hours wired up to an EMU (epilepsy monitoring unit). The conclusion? His challenges are not seizures at all, but most likely stress and anxiety related. In fact, the proclivity for seizures that he had demonstrated in the past are now gone.
Given the stresses of going back to school in person, and his concerns about his dad, this comes as no surprise. But the poor kid, who never could express himself well, has been venting his angst in physical ways that appear seizure-like.
The good news is now we understand what is really happening, and we can get him off of a cocktail of seizure medications that were the wrong fix an onto anxiety meds that will be, along with other emotional supports.
The moral of this story? Parents of children with special needs or mysterious conditions must constantly, but with polite insistence, push-push-push to get action taken. You can never stop being a squeaky wheel.
As for the business of being an author …
After a two-year pandemic hiatus, my local con, CAN-CON (The Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature) returned on Oct. 14-16.
It was a much-needed mental health lift for me to see my peeps en masse and in person again after so long apart. To keep it safe, in-person attendees were required to wear a mask and to show proof of vaccination. As well, the program wisely went hybrid, with a mix of in-person and virtual events, to be as inclusive as possible for those who could not or chose not to attend in person.
Speaking of virtual, in two weeks I will be attending, from the comfort of my home, the World Fantasy Con in New Orleans. Bane of All Things will be on-site, included in grab bags for in-person attendees at the registration desk. I am also volunteering to help manage and moderate logistics for WFC’s virtual program.
Upcoming readings and signings
Thursday, Oct. 27, 6 to 7 p.m.: I will be at the Perth & District Union Public Library southwest of Ottawa in lovely Perth Ontario, to do a reading, sign copies and just generally chat.
I will also have copies of Bane of All Things on hand for purchase for the flat, tax-included price of $25. This includes a sexy bookmark! Anyone and everyone is welcome.
Saturday, Oct. 29, 11 am to 3 pm: I will once again be at Chapters Kanata in Kanata Centrum to sign books and visit.
The store is renewing its stock of Bane of All Things just for this occasion, so if you are in the area and have the time, be great to see you! And as before, if you already have a copy of BoAT, you can bring that into the store for me to sign (as well as get one of those bookmarks 🙂 )
That’s all for now. As always, stay safe and keep reading!
(P.S. about libraries: For those of you in Eastern Ontario, in addition to the Perth Union Library, BoAT is now also being stocked by the Ottawa Public Library, Bibliothèque Champlain Library in Vankleek Hill and the Smith’s Falls Public Library. It’s also available at the Toronto Public Library.)
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