Updates on Life, Health, and Other Fragile Things

Hi Everyone! Happy almost-holidays! I hope everyone is enjoying seasonally-appropriate weather. It’s been pretty nasty around here the past couple of days, but such is life, especially in December. The very exciting news is that earlier in the week I WALKED ALL THE WAY AROUND THE BLOCK!! (!!!!) If you’ve just joined us, here’s a […]

Checking up on Chekhov, Part II: Other People’s Suffering (Plus free books to cheer you up afterwards!)

Happy December! Yes, it’s the last month of 2018 already! How did that even happen? Somehow it seems like this has been such a long year…and at the same time, such a short one. Have I really accomplished anything in the past year? Have any of us? What are we doing with our lives?!?!! (howl […]

“A Girl Behind Dark Glasses” by Jessica Taylor-Bearman

A Girl Behind Dark Glasses Jessica Taylor-Bearman Being a teenager is difficult. It’s a lot more difficult when you’re suddenly saddled with a debilitating illness. For those of you who’ve seen Jennifer Brea’s award-winning documentary “Unrest,” “A Girl Behind Dark Glasses” is the story of Jess, the English ME sufferer featured in the film. It […]

Tripping Out: Writing About Altered Perceptions

I’m currently reading Jessica Taylor-Bearman’s A Girl Behind Dark Glasses, about her experience as a teenager with severe ME/CFS. I’m interested in her story not just because, as someone with a chronic illness, I’m interested in the stories of other people with chronic illnesses, but because, like most people in her situation, she has to try […]

“Lyme Madness” by Lori Dennis

Lyme Madness: Rescuing My Son Down the Rabbit Hole of Chronic Lyme Disease Lori Dennis Lori Dennis’s story is crazy–unless you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole into Lymeland, as she calls it. Then it all makes sense. She was transported to Lymeland when her son Matt became mysteriously ill after graduating from college and starting […]

“Sick: A Memoir” by Porochista Khakpour

Sick: A Memoir Porochista Khakpour Porochista Khakpour has always been sick. But why? Her story will be familiar to anyone who knows the standard Lyme narrative: years of mysterious ailments, frequent diagnoses of mental health problems, the treatment of which only made her problems worse, the growing worry that she was either crazy or dying […]

“Bite Me” by Ally Hilfiger #LymeDisease #Lyme #ChronicLyme

Bite Me: How Lyme Disease Stole My Childhood, Made Me Crazy, and Almost Killed Me Ally Hilfiger “Bite Me’ is one of a growing group of celebrity memoirs about their terrible experiences with Lyme disease. Some commentators have wondered how so many people rich people are getting Lyme disease, to which the answers might be […]

“Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic” by Pamela Weintraub

Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic Pamela Weintraub It’s hard to fathom, especially from the outside but also from the inside, the madness surrounding the Lyme epidemic. How could such a widespread, debilitating, and potentially deadly disease have been allowed to flourish not only unchecked but untreated and unresearched, even actively denied, for so many […]

“Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change” by Mary Beth Pfeiffer

Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change Mary Beth Pfeiffer An ancient monster has been awakened from its unquiet slumber by the arrogant foolishness of humans, and is now coming to feed on you and your children, while scientists and government officials sit back and do nothing, or actively distribute misinformation. The plot of the […]

Why Aren’t You Writing V: Overcoming Illness and Disability

Last time we talked about different writing tools you can use. This time we’re going to talk about something particularly close to my heart: writing when you’re dealing with some kind of physical infirmity. Even healthy people will experience physical and mental fatigue, eye strain, and neck/back/hand pain if they spend too much time writing, […]

E. P. Clark: Author, Book Reviewer, and All-Around Literary Handiwoman

Chronic Illness