Tag Archives: book

General Posts

Tuesday Morning Ramblings

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There’s one annoying aspect of my neurological symptoms that’s still lingering.  When typing, I have difficulty timing how long I hold down the shift key to capitalize certain letters.  Slowly, it’s getting better, but with as much as I type, it’s fairly annoying.  The letter “T” seems to be the worst.  I have to retype it several times to get it capitalized.  I never really noticed just how often I begin sentences with a word that begins with this letter until I started having the issue.  Now, I’m more aware of just how often it occurs from the sheer volume of retypes I have to make.

Another lingering issue is getting my fingers to land with precision.  Before the illness, I was a fairly proficient, self-taught typist who could average about 60 wpm.  Now, I often miss the key I want.  I’ll think “E” but my finger strikes “F” for no apparent reason, and some letters I have a hard time pressing fully, mostly “A” and “O ” it seems.  Again, it’s getting better, and typing today is much easier than just three months ago, but it’s still frustrating to be slowed by something I can’t really control.  Hopefully, as I continue to heal, these issues will eventually fade away entirely, but there’s always the possibility that I’ll have to deal with this for the rest of my life.

In the grand scheme, it’s a minor nuisance, but for a writer, it’s pretty frustrating.  I’ve always prided myself on my command of the language and efficiency with getting my thoughts down on the page, whether typing or handwriting.  Now, I’m having to adjust and reread everything more closely to make sure I didn’t type the wrong letter or reorganize letters or completely miss one.  One positive from this adjustment is that I am paying a lot more attention to what I write as I write it, so I guess I should focus on the positive and not just accept the inconvenience as my current reality.

So if you’re reading an entry one day and see something I’ve completely mangled, please don’t judge me too harshly.  I really do know the language fairly well; it’s just that my fingers and brain aren’t completely back in sync yet.  As I’ve been typing this entry right now, I’ve had to make at least a hundred typo corrections along the way, and this one is less than five hundred words long.  That’s how frequently I’m still missing keys.  However, compared to just three months ago, that’s a big improvement.  Then, it seemed like I had to correct every single word as I typed.  At my worst, I was down to about 20 wpm.  Now, I’m back up close to 40, so I’ll accept that progress and hope that the healing continues.

General Posts

Sunday Afternoon Ramblings

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It’s been an exciting couple of months on the writing front.  Ever since the relaunch of the series by Seventh Star Press, there has been a palpable upswing of momentum, and for the first time in a long time, I feel as if all of the hard work has been worth it.  From two strong convention showings to some solid reviews, the series finally seems to be garnering a little respect.  I’ve always believed in the quality of the work, but there’s no substitute for hearing positive feedback from others, especially people who read vast quantities of books.  As if all of that weren’t enough, this blog has seen a huge increase in readership and interaction.  I’ve grateful to all of you who stop by to read my Ramblings.

Here are links to two recent interviews, one with Daniel Cann and the other with Sean Taylor:

http://www.danielcann.com/index.php/blog/q-and-a-with-d.-a.-adams#.T29SsGE7X4u

http://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/2012/03/d-adams-and-lot-more-than-seven-dwarves.html

And here are links to reviews of the first three books by Daniel Cann:

http://www.danielcann.com/index.php/books/the-brotherhood-of-dwarves#.T29TG2E7X4s

http://www.danielcann.com/index.php/books/red-sky-at-dawn#.T29TE2E7X4s

http://www.danielcann.com/index.php/books/the-fall-of-dorkhun#.T29Su2E7X4u

Thank you to everyone for all of the support and encouragement.  Whether you’ve been with me for years or just a couple of weeks, I appreciate your time, feedback, interaction, and friendship.  Without you, I couldn’t continue to share my writings, and I’m grateful for all that you give to me.

General Posts

Thursday Morning Ramblings

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Repairs along the front wall.

After my illness last fall, I had nearly lost hope of ever launching the farm.  With my left hand nearly useless and my balance all but gone, I knew that I couldn’t do the physical labor necessary to get it off the ground.  Not knowing if I would ever feel normal again or if I would continue deteriorating compounded the problem because I didn’t want to pour a bunch of time and money into a project that I physically might not be able to sustain.  Those feelings only added to my sense of helplessness and despair as I contemplated my future.  At that point, I had no answers as to what was wrong with me; all I knew was that I felt terrible and seemed to be losing control of my body.

Today, I feel much better.  Removing gluten from my diet has all but eliminated the vast majority of my symptoms.  I still have some trembling and twitching in my left hand, and my balance is still a little suspect, but overall, I can do virtually everything I could before the onset of the illness.  When I read the journal entries I wrote back in October and November, I’m astonished by how much healthier I feel today.  Then, I wouldn’t have given you a nickel for my future because I was deteriorating so rapidly.  Today, I honestly feel as if I could live a healthy, productive life for another 40-50 years.  It’s an amazing turnaround.

So with that in mind, my attention again returns to the farm.  I still believe in its potential to provide a long-term, sustainable method of not only providing food and revenue for my family but also for providing a blueprint for others in this region.  Because of the efficiency of energy use and inherent purity of the produce, long-term hydroponic farming has many distinct economic advantages over traditional farming.  Instead of being dependent upon the conditions of nature for sustenance, the plants receive consistent levels of full-spectrum light, water, and nutrients, therefore allowing for multiple crop cycles in a given year.  Instead of losing 90% of their water to soil absorption, their roots are immersed in water and thus require much less total resources.  Because of the use of liquid based nutritional supplements for each stage of growth, there’s no need for harsh fertilizers, and because of the indoor growth, there’s no need for dangerous pesticides and herbicides.

So again, I’m turning my attention and energy towards the farm.  The wonderful thing I found the last couple of years, before the illness, is that working on the farm actually boosts my creative energy and allows me to write more than teaching does.  After a full day of lecturing and grading, my brain is spent.  After a day of hard labor, my mind is fresh and teeming with ideas, so long-term, if I can get the farm off the ground and operational, I believe it will improve my productivity as a writer.  It’s a good feeling to once again have hope for a brighter, healthier future, and I plan on taking full advantage of my rebounding health to create not only entertaining books but also a viable, sustainable farm.