Category Archives: romance author

Andrea Downing- author of Loveland

17 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by in Andrea Downing, Co, love story, Loveland, romance, romance author, The Wild Rose Press, western, western romance

≈ 14 Comments

Happy Friday! Today I’m interviewing romance author Andrea Downing.

Welcome, Andrea!

1- When do you do your best writing? Morning? Evening? Or mid-day? And how do you organize your writing time?
I’ve never been a morning person and because I live in New York but am in touch with people in Mountain Time, 2 hours behind, I tend to stay up quite late at night.  So I don’t really warm up to writing until the caffeine has set in, in the afternoon.  I’m probably at my best early evening.  And because I travel a lot I have no organized writing time.  It’s a horrible thing to admit, I know, but I grab the time when I can.
2- Are you a reader as well as a writer? What have you read lately?
I’m an absolutely voracious reader.  I must have a book with me at all times, cannot bear to be sitting doing nothing in a waiting room or on the subway or whatever.  And I read just about everything from western and romance (which of course is what I write!) to biography and history.  I just finished Jenny Cockell’s Across Time and Death:  A Mother’s Search for Her Past Life Children.  Fascinating stuff and I recommend it.
3- How do you spend your free time when not reading or writing? Do you even have free time?
I make free time because I think it’s important to get away from the computer and get out.  After all, if you have no outside experiences, what do you know to write about?  As I said, I travel a lot.  These days it’s mostly out west where I visit ranches and go riding and do “western” things!
4- Since I love to travel and seldom do, I like to hear about other places. It’s one reason I love to read and write. I get to travel in my head. Much cheaper that way. Lol!  So, where do you live? What’s the it like?
I live most of the year in East Hampton, NY, and the rest of the time in NYC.  I guess everyone knows what New York City looks like.  East Hampton is near the very end of Long Island, about 100 miles from NYC.  The place I live is approximately 4 miles from the Long Island Sound with its harbors and boats, and a similar distance from the Atlantic Ocean beaches.  The town was incorporated in the 1600s and it has tried—not always successfully of course—to keep its Olde Worlde charm with a village pond, windmills and some of the original houses, all clapboard of course. Aside from the beach and the sand dunes there are Pine Barrens—it’s a very flat area. Nowadays, however, the roads are a huge traffic jam in the summer and the village has shops such as Tiffany’s, Ralph Lauren and Gucci.  I prefer it in the winter!   We get 4 seasons here but the winter is pretty mild being near the sea and the summer’s much cooler than in the city.


5- Where is the most exotic place you’ve ever visited?
Tough one, Lilly!  I lived in Nigeria for a while, in Kano near the sahel (just below the Sahara) so that was pretty exotic.  But so was Ecuador where I got out on Lake Titicaca (I believe it’s the highest lake in the world) and visited the Uros Islands, which were fantastic.  They are man-made, woven in fact—fascinating.  


6- Was it vacation, business, or research? And, have you ever combined travel and research?  Ecuador was vacation—my daughter’s university graduation present in fact– but I have combined travel and research.  I went out to Loveland, CO for my book of the same name and visited that, as well as Cheyenne, WY and the Pawnee Nat’l Grasslands to get a feel for what the prairie was like.  


7-So, tell us something about your latest release set in Loveland, CO and aptly titled: Loveland
It’s a western historical romance, and the background is the ownership of the large cattle companies by British aristocrats.  My heroine, Lady Alex, returns to the ranch where she spent some happy years as a child.  She is trying to develop a career in art but loves life in Colorado and, more particularly, one of the top hands, Jesse Makepeace.  Unfortunately, her family places demands on her and the relationship between Alex and Jesse undergoes numerous complications while problems also beset the ranch.

8- Lastly, what are you working on now?
It’s a double romance—two for the price of one, folks! There’s a mother and a daughter, and a (separate) father and son.  The mother is a successful writer of romance who cannot let romance into her life; her daughter has just lost her fiancé to leukemia and is trying to get on with her life.  The father blames himself for the death of his oldest son in Afghanistan while his younger son holds a secret that can blow them all apart.  But it’s also about the relationships between parents and children. And about the lies we tell ourselves to get by each day and, of course, it’s about finding love where—and when—you least expect it. 

When Lady Alexandra Calthorpe returns to the Loveland, Colorado, ranch owned by her father, the Duke, she has little idea of how the experience will alter her future. Headstrong and willful, Alex tries to overcome a disastrous marriage in England and be free of the strictures of Victorian society –and become independent of men. That is, until Jesse Makepeace saunters back into her life…

Hot-tempered and hot-blooded cowpuncher Jesse Makepeace can’t seem to accept that the child he once knew is now the ravishing yet determined woman before him. Fighting rustlers proves a whole lot easier than fighting Alex when he’s got to keep more than his temper under control.
Arguments abound as Alex pursues her career as an artist and Jesse faces the prejudice of the English social order. The question is, will Loveland live up to its name?
Get your copy at:
Sounds like a great story, Andrea. Thanks so much for sharing it today. I’m definitely adding it to my TBR list!

The End is Near–Or is it?

20 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by in Colorado, faith, historical crimes, history, hope, Lilly Gayle, Mayan Calendar, romance author, romance novel, The Wild Rose Press

≈ 20 Comments

Will there ever come a day when we turn on the television or open a newspaper without seeing horrific headlines?

This morning’s news brought tears to my eyes: Gunman kills 12 in Colorado movie theater: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/us/colorado-theater-shooting/index.html

The story is everywhere, as well it should be. People need to hear about such tragedies. They need to know the world isn’t always a beautiful place. They need to be aware. And they need an opportunity to pray for their fellow man.

But are we getting bombarded with tragic news too often? Is it warping our minds, warping our children? Is a constant diet of death and destruction eroding our faith and creating sadistic killers?

Are they Mayan’s right? Are we headed for the inevitable destruction of mankind? Is the Mayan calendar accurate?

Inarguably, there seems to be an increase in violence throughout the world.  Murder and mayhem are everywhere. So much death and tragedy.

Is it any wonder some believe the world is coming to an end on December 12, 2012?

Or is it just the numbers that make it seem as if the world is a more violent place?

In 1350, the world population was only 370 million. By the early 1900’s it had exploded to 2 billion people. Today, there are over 7 billion people living on our planet from 196 different countries.

With more people, comes a greater need for news. Countries are divided and subdivided into smaller cities, towns, and provinces.  Each of those smaller divisions has news outlets in the form of television, newspapers,  radio and the internet.  And each of those outlets is competing for its share of the public audience.

So, is there more violence in the world? Inarguably.  But is that violence disproportionately greater than in the past when compared to the current population?

News-grabbing headlines are nothing new. More people will pick up a paper to read about a tragic event than about a man saving a child from drowning. It’s like a train wreck. We don’t want to know, but we can’t look away. It’s been that way since cavemen painted the news.

Crimes against humanity have been occurring since those caveman days. Per capita, there may not be more crimes, but there are faster and better outlets for spreading tragic news.

In 1807, a London headline read: Murder and Indecent Mutilation of Young Harlot.

Ann Webb had moved to London from the country and found “the streets of Convent Garden are paved with bawds waiting to entice woud-be servants into a life of shame.”

It enticed Ann. She changed her name to Elizabeth Winterflood and accepted “protection” from a carpenter named Thomas Greenway. a cruel, abusive man. When Miss Winterflood attempted to leave him, he tracked her down to her favorite street corner where the two got into a heated argument.  Around 2:00 a.m. Miss Winterflood was found raped and beaten on the sidewalk. Her breasts had been cut off and tossed under a cart.

Mr. Greenway was charged but later acquitted of the crime because the jury was more appalled by Miss Winterflood’s occupation than by the untimely death she’d met.

On December 7, 1811 around midnight, Timothy Marr sent his maid to buy oysters. When she returned home, she found the door bolted. No one answered her knock.  When a watchman helped her break in, they found Mr. Marr beatened to death by a seaman’s maul left on the counter. His throat had also been cut.  His wife, apprentice, and infant child were killed in a similar manner as they slept.  A week later, a landlord and his wife were also viciously attacked and killed.

In 1812, a British Prime Minister was assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons. And an 1820’s headline read: Conspirators Kill Constable after Bombing Plot. 


A headline story from an 1828 Edinburgh paper read: “The hanging of William Burke in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket two days ago made Christmas merry for the citizenry. When his body was taken to Surgeons’ Square for dissection, there was almost a riot as it seemed the multitudes who wished to see him served like his victims would be unable to gain access.”

For more than a year, William Burke and William Hare had killed 16 people and sold the bodies to the local surgeon’s porter. Hare ran a boarding house and when one of his tenants died of natural causes, he sold her body to the local surgeon for dissection practice. He made so much money that he and Mr. Burke devised a plan where they enticed the poor into Hare’s Inn for food and libations. When the victim was too drunk to stand, Burke suffocated the unsuspecting victim with a pillow. Hare then sold the body to the surgeon’s porter who in turn, delivered the body to the surgeon who believed the victims died after an evening of imbibing too freely of intoxicating spirits.

Despite such a gruesome crime, I doubt anyone in this day and age would recommend hanging and subsequently dissecting the body as appropriate punishment. Then again, we’re more civilized now. That’s one less strike against humanity.

In 1879, a London maid murdered her mistress and put the body in boiling water. After stuffing the boiled corpse into a trunk, she tossed it in the river. She sold the fat as drippings.

The crazed housekeeper was caught after she moved into her mistress’s home and attempted to take over her life.

The past is filled with gruesome tales and horrific crimes. Besides Jack the Ripper and Lizzy Borden, there were the notorious Gangs of New York and Wild West Crimes committed by Billy the Kid and The James and Younger Gangs. Not to mention the atrocities committed in Kansas in the years leading up to the Civil War.

War is hell and there have been wars since there has been man. But now people are committing crimes against strangers and their own children without remorse. Is this the end?

Matthew 24:6- “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

The end is not yet. Maybe there’s still hope for humanity. I like to think so. I’d like to think there’s still beauty and goodness in the world. I firmly believe there is. I take joy in a baby’s cry and a breath-taking sunset. I wish the media felt the way I do.

I’d love to see more positive, heartwarming stories in the news. I think humanity needs affirmation that all is not lost—that there is still goodness in the world.

If violence begets violence, then why can’t goodness beget goodness? Why must the media concentrate on news of the worst tragedies man can inflict?

Wouldn’t it be nice if Good news was on the front page and every news cast ended with something uplifting or positive?

Would that make a difference? Would it give us hope?

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, families, police, and hospital workers dealing with the tragedy that occurred in Colorado last night. May they find peace, comfort, and the faith to hold on.

Goals – Helpful or Hurtful?

15 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by in historical romance, Impetuous, Katherine Grey, Lilly Gayle, Love Letters, romance, romance author, The Muse, The Wild Rose Press

≈ 11 Comments

Have you ever picked up a book by an unfamiliar author and knew from the first chapter that you were going to love his or her work? That’s what happened when I read Katherine Grey’s Regency romance, Impetuous. It’s the type of Regency romance I love but with a unique twist. The hero is Spanish. And oh so sexy.

Now, Ms. Grey has another book out and she’s agreed to guest blog with me today. So, please welcome romance author Katherine Grey as she weighs the pros and cons of setting goals.

Goals – Helpful or Hurtful?
When I first starting writing, I set the most unbelievable goals for myself though I thought they would be achieved with ease.  One of them was that I would write 10 pages of new material a day, 7 days a week all while holding down a full time job, long standing commitments 2 nights a week, and another long standing commitment from 8:30am to 3:00pm on Saturdays, and keeping the majority of my Sundays for family time.  I don’t think I ever wrote 10 pages in one day during that time, or wrote 7 days a week.  As each week passed that I didn’t meet that goal, I became more and more depressed.  I questioned my desire to be a published author.  If I wanted it so badly, then I should be able to meet that goal right?  Wrong. 
A very wise friend and fellow writer pointed out that it wasn’t that I wasn’t committed to getting published, I just had too much on my plate to enable me to devote that much time to my writing.  She suggested that I not set goals or to focus on smaller goals that would fit around my scheduled commitments.  
I sat down and looked at my schedule.  I decided I needed the time to devote to my writing so I gave 3 months notice to the proper people on those long term commitments that at the end of the 3 months, I would no longer be able to do them.  During that time I tried to write whenever I could but I missed the structure goal setting gave me.
I’ve come a long way since then.  I still like to set goals because they keep me on track and help me stay focused.  I set yearly goals, quarterly goals, and weekly goals.  But one thing that has changed is now-a-days my goals are very fluid.  For example, one goal is to write 20 to 25 pages a week.  By not nailing down a set page count per day, I give myself room in my schedule if something pops up and I can’t write on a certain day.
I also set goals in my non-writing life for things I want to accomplish by a set time or date though for some reason it doesn’t work when it comes to dieting.  I wonder what that says about me…probably that my weakness for ice cream on a hot summer night is greater than my desire to lose those unwanted pounds.  LOL.
Do you set any type of goals?  Do you find them helpful?  If you don’t set goals, why not?

Katherine,
This is such a timely topic as I’m having trouble with this very issue. I set goals I can’t possibly reach and then feel like such a failure that I stop writing for weeks at a time. Then last weekend, I attended an awesome meeting of my local chapter. The topic was Brainstorming but one of the things the speaker said that resonated with me is this: “You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time.” Writing is like eating an elephant. There’s more there than you realize and the only way to achieve success is to set goals you can live with.

Check out Katherine’s newest release:

The Muse
by
Katherine Grey
Blurb:
Noted poet Blaine Hobson counts the Prince Regent among his patrons. But ever since the socialite he wished to marry took her life, he has been unable to compose a single line of poetry. With a sonnet commissioned by the Regent due in a few weeks, Blaine spends his time alternating between trying to write…and wishing he had the courage to join his beloved in the grave.
Raised in an orphanage with her sister, seamstress Emma Tompkins lives with the guilt of her sibling’s death. Accidentally finding a suicide note penned by Blaine, she resolves to keep him alive at all costs. Vigilant, she returns each day, pushing her way into his home–and losing her heart.
Can Blaine forget his beloved and return the affections of the seamstress? Or once finished with his work, will he cast Emma out of his life forever?
Excerpt:
He had to know if she felt as uncomfortable
in his presence as he did in hers. He strode down the
hall, telling himself his eagerness had nothing to do
with seeing Emma herself. His steps slowed. Odd.
The door to the parlour was closed.
He gave a quick rap on the door, although he
didn’t know why since it was his house, turned the
knob, and opened the door. And came to a complete
halt. Bolts of cloth lay in haphazard piles on the
settee and chairs, a stack of paper and the stub of a
pencil lay nearby. In the midst of it all was Emma.
She sat on the floor, her blue gown tucked around
her, a swath of light green fabric in her lap as she
worked pins into the material.
 “Did you find more pins?” she asked without
looking up.
Blaine cleared his throat, struck once again by
her unconscious beauty.
Emma rushed to her feet, one hand still
clutching the cloth. “Yes, I know. A lady does not
crawl about on the floor.” She blew at a loose curl
that had fallen over one eye. “But I never claimed to
be a lady.”
Blaine heard the tired frustration in her voice.
He moved closer and tucked the wayward curl
behind her ear. “You may do anything you wish in
the privacy of this room.”
He tried not to let it bother him when she took a
step back. She laid the fabric aside and began
straightening her hair. He didn’t want her to redo it.
He liked the way she looked, with the wayward
strands curling about her face and neck. His fingers
itched to linger in it, now knowing it was as soft and
silky as it looked. Realizing he was staring at her, he
clasped his hands behind his back and rocked back
on his heels.
 Buy Links:
The Wild Rose Press:  http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=176_138&products_id=4863
Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Muse-Love-Letters-ebook/dp/B0086VMJFE/ref=la_B005PMMHUO_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1338749833&sr=1-2
You can contact Katherine at her blog – http://katherinegrey.blogspot.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Katherine-Grey/265375626827267?sk=wall

Decoration Day to Memorial Day

25 Friday May 2012

Posted by in Decoration Day, Lilly Gayle, Memorial Day, romance author, The Wild Rose Press

≈ 4 Comments

Decoration Day was a Federal holiday created in 1868 by former Civil War Commander and Chief John A Logan. Logan issued General Order Number 11, designating May 30 as a day of Memorial to honor those who died in defense of their country.
The first celebration was held at Arlington National Cemetery. There’s some controversy as to when Decoration Day became Memorial Day. In 1882, the name was changed to Memorial Day to honor all soldiers who died in service to the United States, but most people still called it Decoration Day until sometime after World War II.
Lyndon B. Johnson declared the official holiday to be Nationally observed annually the last Monday of May in 1966. The nation was divided then too. North wasn’t fighting South, but there was much controversy and protest surrounding the Vietnam War. 

Today, the national observance of Memorial Day still takes place at Arlington National Cemetary. A wreath is placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and every grave in the cemetery is decorated with a small American flag.
Memorial Day is not just a day to honor those who fell in battle but all soldiers of all wars who are no longer with us. Some came home heroes. Some were never recognized as such. But they all fought for their country and made sacrifices. 
The brave men & women who served in Iraq & Afghanistan 
Memorial Day is a day to remember former service personnel from all branches of the military who served in any war and are no longer with us. Whether they died in battle or peacefully in their sleep, they each made sacrifices for their country.
Members of the Coast Guard who served
at the US Lifesaving Station on
Portsmouth Island at the turn of the 20th Century
Not all who served were Americans.
My father-in-law in Athens, Greece during the Korean War.
So this Memorial Day,don’t forget to remember a deceased soldier,sailor, airman (or woman) or marine.
The USS Coral Reef 1952-1954: The Korean War

My Granduncle Vincent who served in WWII

Thank you to those who served and are no longer with us. You will never be forgotten.

Unexpected Journey

10 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Germany, historical romance, Matthew Perry, Munich, paranormal romace, romance, romance author, romance novel, The Wild Rose Press, Weiden, Werewolf

≈ 10 Comments

Earlier this month, I made an unexpected trip to Germany to visit my daughter. She was having some minor surgery and needed her mom. So, off to Europe I went.

I flew out of RDU in Raleigh, NC the last Friday in January for a week-long vist. It was 70 degrees that day, which is unusual, even for North Carolina. But we’ve been having a mild winter. It’s not uncommon to have wild temperature swings in February and March. During those months, it can be sunny and 70 one week and below freezing and snowing the next. But I’ve never gone from 70 to 17 degrees in less than twenty-four hours before. I did that day.

My connecting flight was in Philadelphia where I expected it to be much colder than in NC. Apparently, Philly is having a mild winter this year too. I arrived at the airport in the City of Brotherly Love late in the afternoon and the temp was still hovering around 58 degrees. Not bad. I had on a sweater so I didn’t even put on my coat when I stepped off the plane and rushed through the airport to make my connecting flight to Munich. But when I arrived in Germany nine hours later, I was in for a real surprise. It was snowing.

As we circled the runway, the pilot announced the current time and weather. The time was 8:00 a.m. and the temperature outside was 17 degrees Fahrenheit with snow flurries.

Flying over Munich
Munich Airport

Flurries? I could see the snow covered fields from the sky.
I about froze the moment I stepped off the plane.

 Luckily, my daughter had warned me about the bitter cold so I was prepared. And my son-in-law’s car has heated seats.

It’s 193 kilometers or approximately 120 miles from Munich to Weiden, where my daughter was recovering from surgery at the hospital there. But thanks to the autobahn and no speed limits in sections, my son-in-law made the trip in just under two hours, despite the snow. Than again, the snow plows and brine trucks had started clearing the snow the moment it started falling. Despite the somewhat scary speed at which we traveled, I was able to enjoy the beauty of the Bavarian countryside. 

(Left)Hops field covered in snow.Windmill in background.(Right) German Village outside Munich.

I’ve been to Germany twice before but this trip was different. It wasn’t a vacation, and I hadn’t planned for it. I’d gone to be with my daughter after her surgery, which turned out to be less invasive than originally expected and with a much better outcome. While I was there, I got to visit a German hospital which isn’t something I’d normally do on a visit to another country. But it was educational.
In the US, I work in a hospital, but it’s nothing like the one I visited in Weiden. For starters, US hospitals don’t sell beer in the hospital cafeteria. The hospital in Weiden did! 

The rooms look similar, but the beds looked more like glorified stretchers. Some of the equipment looked the same as in the States but in the US, most hospitals use IV bags. My daughter’s IV was in a plastic bottle the hospital recycles. 

Thank God, my daughter’s hospital visit was brief and she recovered quickly–more quickly than anticipated. So, what started out as a visit to take care of her turned into something fun. We got to spend quality time together without her having to stay in bed.

near my daughter’s neighborhood.
View of Rauher Kulm from Eschenbach

 By the middle of the week, we were able to get out and take a walk through her neighborhood and town.

Downtown Eschenbach
We ate at a nice Chinese restaurant where I enjoyed a nice, dark Dunkelweizen. We visited some of my daughter’s friends, went to a German deli, and on the last day of my visit, we went shopping in Weiden.

Although this wasn’t my first trip to Germany, it was the first time I’d every traveled alone. I was a bit intimidated at first, but on my international flight to Munich, I slept with a handsome 31 year old man. Just kidding!

My “seat mate” on the plane was a cutie from Texas and we did sleep a bit on the plane. He was traveling to Munich on business. He’d previously spent two years in Germany while working for the same management firm. The woman who’d taken his place when his work Visa expired was taking some time off for maternity leave and my handsome seat mate was going back to Germany to fill in for her.

Although we never exchanged names, he was a nice young man. He was also quite handsome. Standing well over six feet tall, he reminded me of Matthew Perry from the Friends TV series. We had a nice chat and I thought of several ideas for a possible romance novel that could start on a plane. Imagine falling in love on an international flight and getting separated in the airport only to realize you’d never exchanged names or information to help you find that person again.

I was intrigued by the concept of writing such a story. But I write historical and paranormal romance. Perhaps I could change the plane to a coach. Or, my handsome Matthew Perry look-a-like could be a werewolf returning to Germany in search of a cure. Since the first recorded Werewolf sighting was around the countryside of German town Colonge and Bedbur in 1591, I could incorporate some of the sites I’ve seen in Germany. Or, maybe I’ll have to try my hand at writing romantic suspense.

What do you think?

The Importance of Cancer Support Groups

04 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in american cancer society, breast cancer, breast cancer survivor, cancer support groups, David Haas, Lilly Gayle, romance author, romance novelist, The Wild Rose Press

≈ 4 Comments

Please welcome today’s guest blogger, David Haas. 

The Importance of Cancer Support Groups
Cancer is one of the scariest words in any language. Even with a support network of friends and family, fighting cancer can feel like one of the loneliest battles a person can undertake. This is in part because only someone who has had cancer can truly relate. Cancer survivor networks allow the person with cancer to talk to someone who understands what they are going through.
Although friends and family mean well, people with cancer often feel a need to discuss what they are going through and what they will be going through with someone who knows. Cancer survivor networks offer that information from people who have been there. There are many ways for people with cancer to find a support group. For those who feel like getting out and meeting people face to face, many cities and towns have groups not only for people with cancer, but for their families too. Doctors often know of support groups and can recommend a group.

For those who either cannot or choose to not get out and meet people, there are many discussion boards and websites that offer support. These websites usually have a place for family members so that they can get support for the fears and feelings they have, as well as learning what they can do to support the patient. The American Cancer Society hosts a website that has discussion boards for nearly every kind of cancer. If a patient is suffering from breast cancer, there are many different links that offer guidance and support for patients going through treatment. The American Cancer Society website lists support groups for cancers whether it is a common cancer like breast cancer or a rare disease like mesothelioma.

Support groups can be an important part of fighting cancer. Support groups can help patients make it through the physical trials, such as pain and fatigue. Support groups can also help deal with the psychological aspects of dealing with cancer by offering emotional and stress support. Studies have found the belonging to a support group can reduce anxiety and depression. These groups can also help the patient while undergoing treatment, and patients tend to cope better with all of the issues of treatment by understanding they are not the only ones to go through those issues.

Belonging to a cancer support group can be instrumental in fighting cancer. These support groups give the patient a sense that they are not alone in their battle, and it gives them a belief that the battle can be won.

David, 
Thanks so much for sharing this valuable information. As a breast cancer survivor, I know the importance of not just family support, but support from other survivors. After I was diagnosed, the mother of one of my daughter’s friends volunteered to go with me for my first chemo treatment. Before that day, we were merely acquaintances. But we shared a common bond. Cancer. She’d come through the other side of the same dark tunnel I was about to enter. And she knew what I was feeling while my family knew only what I was willing to share.
If you’re fighting cancer, remember you don’t have to fight alone. There are support groups out there.

Toni V. Sweeney’s Breast Cancer Message

28 Friday Oct 2011

Posted by in breast cancer, breast cancer awareness month, breast cancer survivor, romance author, romance novelist, romance novels, The Wild Rose Press, Toni V. Sweeney

≈ 6 Comments

It’s still breast cancer awareness week and today’s message to women is from fellow author and breast cancer survivor, Toni V. Sweeney.
Good to Go for Another Year
Dear Ms. Sweeney:
            The radiologist has interpreted your recent mammogram and/or breast imaging study, and we are pleased to inform you that the results are normal or benign (no evidence of cancer).
            As you know, early detection of cancer is important…
Okay, so I can breathe easier for another year.  Had my yearly oncology check, my mammo, and I’m A-OK and good to go.          
It’s been ten years now since I had the mammogram that wasn’t benign, or normal.  Ten years since I detected that small lump during a self-exam.  Ten years since I sat in an exam room, waiting for the confirmation of what I was afraid I was going to hear.
When I found what I thought was a lump, I didn’t delay making an appointment and going to a doctor.  I’m usually a wait-and-see person but this time, I decided to meet the problem head-on.  Surprisingly, it was my doctor who dilly-dallied around.  Perhaps it was because I was unemployed and uninsured at the time, I don’t know, but after the biopsy confirming his diagnosis, I was told to “go home and wait,” that he’d call me with a referral to a surgeon.
Four weeks later, I was still waiting, and becoming panicky.  After several phone calls which weren’t returned, I tried to think what to do.  I was a stranger in a strange city in a new state, so I turned to the only place I could think of:  the American Cancer Society.  Three days after speaking to someone on the phone, I was on a gurney, being wheeled into surgery for a lumpectomy.  I didn’t know that a few hours later, as soon as I walked through the door of my apartment, in fact, I would get a phone call asking me to come back—right then!—because they needed to do a second one.
Everything went well.  I proceeded through radiation therapy, driving myself to the sessions each morning for six weeks.  Then, I was started on Tamoxifen therapy instead of the traditional chemo.  I gained 60 pounds on that route, going from a svelte 109 to a lumpy 165.  Never going to lose it, they tell me, but—hey! You’re alive, so stop your complaining that you’re not attractive any more.  (Forgive my sarcasm here.  That has been, and always will be, a source of psychological upset to me.)
As to the rest of that letter…”early detection…is very important.”
Don’t I know it! 
The year before I was diagnosed, I saw an ad on TV, stating that very thing, and the man I loved made me promise I’d do those self-exams and have a mammogram each year.  I assured him I was already doing that.  Soon afterward, he died, but my promised stayed in place.
The point of all this rambling is that, no matter what the AMA or any other medical association says, I personally think self-exams are important.  Early detection counts.  Train yourself to do the exam at the same time every month.  After your period is a good time, because then the breasts are sensitive to touch and you’re able to find lumps easier.  Some women prefer to do them in the shower, using soap and water to aid sliding fingers over surfaces; some prefer to lie prone; some stand in front of a mirror…but all do them, and that’s what counts.  Even if you find what you think is a lump and it turns out to be simply a swollen gland…well, that’s good, too, because you found something and you had it checked.
Keep doing just that, and let’s head off breast cancer at the pass!
 
Toni, your story is similar to so many stories I hear as a mammogapher. I’m so glad you did NOT ignore the lump. Too often, women ignore those lumps and the warning bells in their heads. They justify not going to the doctor because they assume it’s just another cyst or feel secure because they don’t have a family history of breast cancer. I didn’t have a lump or a family history but I was diagnosed with stage 1 (sneaking into the stage 2 category) invasive carcinoma and DCIS (ductal carcinoma insitu) on a screening mammogram.
So, please ladies, don’t ignore ANY changes in your breasts. Do self breast exams. Know your breasts. If you feel a lump, see your doctor. If you are under 35, he may not order a mammogram because of your breast density, but please insist on a breast ultrasound. Breast cancer in women under 40 isn’t common. But it happens. EVERY day. So be aware. Get informed. And if you’re over 40, schedule an annual mammogram. 
And now a bit about Toni~
AUTHOR BIO:
Toni V. Sweeney was born some time between the War Between the States and the Gulf War.  She has lived 30 years in the South, a score in the Middle West, and a decade on the Pacific Coast and now she’s trying for her second 30 on the Great Plains.  Her first novel was published in 1989. An accomplished artist as well as writer, she has a degree in Fine Art and a diploma in Graphic Art.  Toni maintains a website for herself and her pseudonym Icy Snow Blackstone, and has been associated with the South Coast Writer's Association, the Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers, several other writer’s loops, myspace, Facebook, and YouTube. Her latest novel is Runaway Brother (Class Act Books, http://www.classactbooks.com/Runaway-Brother-by-Icy-Snow-Blackstone-Trade_p_308.html) and her next book, due for released November 15, is Blood Bay, a thriller, also to be released by Class Act Books.  It will be her 27th novel.