Hi,
Medical and Literary Updates:
I guess I have a lot to report.
The writing has stalled somewhat. I was on pain pills (Tramadol, about the only pain medication I can take), so I was a bit fuzzy-brained and sleepy most of the first couple of weeks. I’m using less Tramadol now, so that’s getting better, and so is my hip.
After using a walker for a while, I graduated to a cane, and I use that mostly for things like climbing stairs and walking outside. My physical therapists have all said I’m doing very well, and might even be able to drive again after my next follow-up with my surgeon on July 2nd. I’m not ready to do The Twist or The Hippy, Hippy Shake just yet, but I’m moving around pretty well (a bit of pain is involved, but it’s all okay).
Hippy, Hippy Shake, by The Swinging Blue Jeans
https://youtu.be/1Ke8mzgex4U
The Twist, by Chubby Checker
https://youtu.be/-CCgDvUM4TM
I *did* try to work on Flood and Fire a little yesterday (6-12-2025), but wasn’t able to focus for very long. I’ll keep trying. Also, my right hand/thumb is healed enough that I tried to use my mouse with my right hand again this morning. I’ve been building muscle memory with my left hand since October of 2024, so I figured I needed to get back to “normal” while I still can. I’m adapting fairly quickly, but the tendons on the back of my right hand and wrist tire and start to hurt after about ten minutes. I’ll keep working on it.
One more literary item. On June 21st, I’ll be one of the writers at AuthorFest 2025 in Tomball, Texas (a town not too far from my home). It’s a big meet and greet where authors can sell and sign their books. Forty of us will be arranged at tables in a local library, and the public will wander through, having conversations with us about our books. It’s been fairly heavily advertised, so I’ll take my cane, and hobble in and out, dosed with some tramadol (moving around a lot is usually accompanied with a fair bit of pain). I’ve got copies to sell of both Butterfly books and of Aggravated, the book about my brother Steve’s incarceration, so we’ll see what happens.
Speaking of my brother, he was released from prison on June 2nd. That’s 18 years, 9 months and roughly 15 days after he was sentenced. He’s back in Deep Springs (yes that’s a synonym I used for the actual town in Aggravated), and is living with his son, Beau, and getting used to the free world again. We’re all very happy for him.
Michael
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