It has been 4 years since the last time I posted about Migraines. I am sorry to everyone who kept waiting for new content, and it never came. It is easy to say "life got in the way", or "I was too busy". But those are just excuses. I was dealing with a lot in my life at that time, a divorce, a lost job, a husband who wasn't working either; and on top of it all I had so many therapies for my migraines and other multiple conditions the doctors have recently diagnosed me with - that I was depressed and exhausted. I actually stopped writing for these past 4 years.
Recently, things in our life have turned around from the dark place I was 4 years ago. My husband and I got married in July 2018, we bought our first house in April 2020, and with the freedom and space to make our own, I have rediscovered my joy in writing.
I will be reposting my old migraine blogs here with updates. I hope it helped many people and I hope it continues to do so. I have created a different blog for my writing and book reviews now. You can find them on my website.
This is the first post in my Migraine Series. It is about how I am finding a way to overcome my pain through literature.
Overcoming
Living with a disability is a very difficult thing to do. I would not recommend it to anyone. However, some people are unfortunate enough in the genetic lottery to be forced to live this way. My husband and I are included in this select group (more about that later).
I find that one of the best ways to get away from my pain, is to escape into someone else’s imagination. It also helps to get away from the stresses of the life we are currently living.
There are many wonderful new and established authors on Twitter and Tumblr, and they are always looking for new readers to experience their work. I am beta reading for a few friends, and doing some book reviews as well. (You can find my reviews here.😁)
According to everyone I have read for, I am a very fast reader, and I can find more errors than a paid editor. So I figured, why not get paid? I looked at what most editors charge, and the prices showing, according to a blog on Reedsy, are $0.01 or $0.02 per word, that may not sound like a lot, but if you do the math, at two cents a word it comes out to $420 for a 21,000 word manuscript (my YA fantasy is the basis for my word count).
Another option, from Freelance Writing, is to charge by hours billed, that is anywhere from $10 - $85 per hour. I can edit a book in a week. I finished a 60k word count edit in 4 days. Most of the time was spent waiting for the next set of chapters.
I believe that Proofreading, and copy editing are my strengths. I easily find the misspells, and sentences that don’t flow (they just jump off the page for me).
About the pain, I live with chronic intractable migraines, and the hypermobile version of EDS (Ehlers–Danlos syndromes). Chronic Intractable Migraines, according to the National Headache Foundation, are “severe migraines that have continued for greater than 72 hours and have been refractory, [or unmanageable,] when it comes to usual therapies for migraine.” Mine are triggered by many different situations and substances. Some I can control, like diet and some stress; while others are beyond me, like thunderstorms or fluorescent lights, and stress...😉. My migraines are powerful and there aren't many medications out there that can help with the pain. I live at a constant pain level of 5-7 if not higher. Aimovig is helping and so is Medical Marijuana (life saver).
H-EDS or Hypermobility-Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, according to Web MD, “is a [genetic] disease that weakens the connective tissues of your body.” It can affect the heart, skin, and joints. Mine is centered in my joints. The connective tissue, ligaments and tendons, holding my body together are loose, and don’t always know when to stop. It makes for some pretty interesting party tricks, but at this time in my life (I’m almost 40), I am paying for showing off my ‘double jointed weirdness’ in my youth. Every ball and socket joint, both hips and shoulders, have been dislocated at least once, and they partially dislocate (or sublox) often. It’s hard to walk when your hips aren’t seated right in your pelvis. My knees, elbows, and ankles bend way beyond what is considered healthy or normal ( I can walk on my ankles). There aren’t many medicines out there for EDS that I know of, but the Medical Marijuana helps there too.
Because of my pain, I am a voracious reader. I know fiction. That is my preferred genre. I will read almost any sub-genre too, sci-fi, thriller, mystery, romance, fairytale, fantasy, and any others I didn’t mention.
I will be reducing my beta reads, (I am a bit to much of an editor to feel comfortable with the beta reader limitations) but @ShellyH43722284 will still be reading, if it is a horror novel or something that will give her nightmares, I will be reading it, but otherwise I would like to concentrate on developing my editing and story writing abilities.
If I am already beta reading for you, don’t worry. I will continue. Instead of pointing out how to fix any errors I find, I will just be notifying you if I find any.
Please subscribe to my website for up to date information and sneak peeks here. Feel free to message me on Twitter @DeLong252L, or contact me via the link above if you have any questions. I would be happy to discuss prices and times with you.
Happy reading!
~Lynn~
~4💜 Keep your eyes to the skies~