Archive for Health
My Oxford Knees
Posted by: | CommentsPosted Dec. 17/05 and now moved to my new blog … Much has happened since my last post … my moonbeam travels (a term I use because of my Moonbeam Series for kids) have taken me to many interesting places … one of which was the hospital. I may have mentioned that both my husband and I were waiting for knee replacements. Well, on November 18th I received my first Oxford prosthetic Knee – the name given to a fairly new innovation here in Canada … a partial knee. I was amazed with how quickly I was out of the hospital (less than 48 hours) and walking on it, too. It soon became obvious that it would be the ‘bad’ knee that I was going to have to baby, the one that will be done later.
Being bow-legged in one leg is only slightly better than being bow-legged in both and it certainly is a strange phenomenon almost having to teach myself to walk again. Now, 4 weeks after surgery I am riding my stationary bike, having physio 2x a week, driving (after 3 wks) and generally doing more than I should be doing! But enough of that, I may write a book about it!
Robert also has a date for his surgery (January) which will be much more intrusive than mine being a normal, full replacement. However, he is a tough one and used to injuries and surgeries since he was a kid which you would know if you have read his bio. So that will be my next moonbeam adventure, dealing with him so he can return to the market in April, and the rest of our commitments as I am still recuperating myself. Life is never boring!
Good health became instrumental to the success of our books …
Posted by: | CommentsBefore publishing and writing, I was interested in health beginning about 40 years ago. Few people realize that before my husband became a bestselling author he had a 4-year fight with Staph infection in 1994-1998. At the time, Robert was a Live Blood Analyst and he helped what became a relatively small group of people who found us mainly by word of mouth.
Once we published our first couple of books, their success soon overshadowed all other activities in our life … writing and producing new books became our focus and literally took over every aspect of our lives 24/7 for the next twelve years. I still miss the quick ‘suggestion’ (we couldn’t use the word ‘diagnosis’ as he wasn’t a doctor!) he gave, however, simply by looking at a drop of my blood. It was all quite remarkable and went a long way to helping him regain his health much quicker and me to monitor my thyroid, etc., saying goodbye to all those necessary female pokes and prods by my physician. We still visited our doctors yearly or when a more serious situation arose but otherwise he was quite amazed with our superior health having some idea of our hectic schedules.
I must search out someone in the area who can read the older blood that now courses through my veins! There was always an explanation for how we felt, sometimes more serious than others. Live Blood Analysis is a wonderful tool but sadly many practitioners now couple it with other dietary etc. services and charge exorbitant fees for their service. The days of helping people for affordable fees with basic services have all but disappeared. If I find one in my area of Victoria, BC, I will let you know!
One of my first blogs was aHealth Blog where I shared my discoveries of various wonderful alternative health products.
Look after your health and it will look after you for a long time.
Editing novels – my fav pasttime between surgeries!
Posted by: | CommentsReposted and updated from my old blog – May 2, 2006.
It’s been awhile since I posted my last entry as my recent travels took me to a fascinating place to which I hope I never return – my husband and I have had 3 knee replacement surgeries between us since November and I had 2 of them! Ouch! Needless to say between the pain and reactions to drugs, which my body is not used to, I ended up taking too much of the last 5 months off and traveling solely between the rooms of my house and not able to get to my downstairs office … and my computer! Not such a bad thing you might say, but when you love your work, and the computer, it’s a real sacrifice not to be able to use it!! Amazing how you can appreciate something like writing an email when you aren’t able to do it for days.
Robert’s fans (author, J Robert Whittle, my husband) will sigh with relief when they hear I am actually editing a new book – if you checked out our website once in a while, you would have known this months ago!! These fans count themselves extremely lucky when he has a new book published, so we are hoping the schedule for this one will include publication around Oct/Nov – just in time for Christmas buying.
Loyalty’s Haven is the 3rd book in the historical adventure series (Victoria Chronicles) set in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1900s and featuring all real history. Even about 75% of the characters are real! This volume features the ending of WW1 and the horrific Spanish flu pandemic that swept the world as the soldiers returned home from Europe. Actually, Robert discovered that Victoria, BC (where story is centred), in an effort not to panic its populace, kept details of the influenza out of the newspapers, not even reporting deaths to any extent. So his job of research became quite a challenge utilizing books and videos featuring other areas of North America to give him insight into dates etc. With this knowledge he was able to gain knowledge of where to look in local archives etc. I haven’t got to that part of the book yet as the flu has only begun to strike Seattle, Washington. (2011 Note: Loyalty’s Haven won us our first Gold Medal in the IPPY Award in 2007.)
I love editing Robert’s books because it never ceases to amaze even me what a talent he has and how lucky we were to discover it. How he comes up with his story lines is wonderful and he doesn’t plan it beforehand either. If you don’t know the story of how he began writing, you may like to read his bio (written by me!). He’s far too modest to write about himself and actually that’s how he came to write novels – he didn’t do as I asked, which was to write his memoires!!
Actually, I should be glad that he didn’t! It wouldn’t have been near as popular as his novels! (It may be now in 2011 though.) We later got a smattering of his life story on audio (Laughing Through Life – Tales of a Yorkshireman). If you’d like to find out more about Robert and his books see the link below.
In the meantime, if you live in or near Victoria, or are planning to visit our beautiful city, look for Robert in downtown Victoria at the Bastion Square outdoor market, Wednesday-Sunday but only until the end of September in 2011. His booth is opposite the Irish Times Pub right off Government Street. If he has time, he loves to talk history with passers by – any sort of history. Check out our Events Page if you’re wondering where and when we are at the markets.
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