Little Man Heart Update

I thought I'd post a quick update on how little man's hospital appointment went on Wednesday when he went for an echocardiogram.

Firstly, everything was fine. His heart is fine. The issue is, with him being stretchy - with the Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, it's possible heart valves can be a little stretchy so not work as well. He doesn't have this issue, though they did say it is likely they will check him again at some point in the future.

Secondly, little man was really good about the whole thing. He loved seeing his heart on the screen and the blood flowing through it in blue and red and he loved hearing it beat. He listened intently as he was told that the animal with the longest pointiest heart is the giraffe with a three foot long heart.

Below is a picture of little mans actual heart.

Why I'm no Longer Writing Short Stories

In my blog bio and my twitter bio for that matter, I have the information that I write short stories.

I have had a couple of short stories published and have been listed in the Brighton Cow short story competition. I was thrilled with this. What writer wouldn't be? To do a piece of work that is loved and have someone validate it in such a way. I know many writers who have taken the love of the short story and done really well with it. They have multiple pieces published and been listed or won writing competitions. It really is a great feeling.

I however, have stopped writing short stories for now. My dream from childhood has been to write a novel. As a full time worker in a day job with two children I just don't have the time to work on my novel and write short stories as well. I had to make a decision. I have taken the decision that I will focus on my novel.

I'm not snubbing the short story or it's writers. I love short stories. In fact I really love flash fiction. Pushing the ability to tell a story in so few words. I love a good short story. You get a quick fix with the ending so close, but I'm now in for the long haul and my nose is to the grindstone of the novel length story.

I have a dream to write and have published, a series of crime novels with a female protagonist. What I'm working on at the moment is my first step towards that dream. I intend to work hard at it which is why the time I have for writing, has to be given solely to the novel.

Maybe I should change my biography. Not completely. I'm proud of my short story work, but I think I just need to alter it a little to show my main focus as aspiring crime writer novelist.

Why I Love Chick Lit

It's very obvious from my blog design alone, without the need to read my profile information, that I write crime. No it's not wine running down my header, it's the delightful stuff crime novels are usually made about and that's blood.

I love crime thrillers. I love the darkness of them - though I haven't opted for the use of a dark theme for my blog as many crime blogs do - I love the thrill and the chase, the speed and the unknown. I love the good guys in a crime thriller, those good guys who by default of dealing with the darker side of life, usually have their flaws. And I love a bad guy who gives it their all. I think you get my drift now on why I read and write crime thrillers.

Now here's my admission, if you didn't by chance read the title of this post. I love reading chick-lit. It's a very recent guilty pleasure I've come across.

It really has been a recent development in my reading world. Two things happened at the same time which took me from my thriller to-read list to, to this other previously unknown place of chick lit.

One - I was clearing out my teenagers wardrobe when I came across a Meg Cabot book. Size 14 is not fat either. Well I absolutely loved the title. I'm not giving you any guesses as to why.

Two - being an active twitter user and a new starter writer, I have connected  with or followed (read stalked) some authors who write in this genre so I have read their books.

When I read them I actually found myself laughing out loud and then thinking I was glad I didn't travel on public transport or I would look rather odd.

So, the thing I love about chick-lit is the very real feel good factor about them. I love how I'm made to actually laugh out loud or even cry with real emotion and I love how devastatingly easy the words just seem to flow from the thoughts and minds of the people within the book yet I know how not true this is. It's not easy to write a novel. Yet the words just flow giving a realistic impression of the jumbled thought processes that go on in our heads at times. That's the real thing I love about chick-lit. The authors who make it sound so easy in my head when I know it very probably took a lot of blood (not that I'm obsessive about that) sweat and tears to make it that way.

I now have as many chick-lit books in my waiting to be read pile as I do crime thrillers.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Little Mans Echocardiogram

Following on from our Ehlers Danlos Syndrome diagnosis last month, little man and I have had various referrals to multiple hospitals for tests and support. The first of these is Wednesday when little man goes for an echocardiogram.

At first the prospect of this upset him. He said he would close his eyes as he didn't want to see inside his body. After explaining how cool it would be and showing him an old ultrasound photo of himself he seemed happier with the idea. (he's a little scientist in the making).

He's ok. Did I say I was ok? Nope. Not very ok. It's my little man and they're looking at his heart. I'm his mum though, it's my job to worry. If I don't worry I'm not doing my job properly, right?

I know it's just precautionary. They do this for everyone with this diagnosis. The odds are good that he won't have a problem, but then I wonder what the odds were we'd have this crappy genetic thingy anyway.

Once it's done I will be fine. There's just one problem though. I don't know when we get the results or who we get them from. The referring consultant was from the diagnostic clinic and they don't do follow ups. I hate waiting as well. I just want to know.

Once this is out the way I will wind back the neurotic mother routine.

New Haircut and Photograph

Today's blog post is a short one. My head is pounding and I have arranged to meet a friend that I haven't seen for a while. The two things don't go well together but I'm not cancelling on her.

Anyway - short blog post - I had a change in style last weekend. I dyed my hair and had a fringe put in. I thought I'd share the results. I'm really happy with them. I can't believe it took me so long to do.

Here's the new look me.

Google Blog +1

I've recently noticed a new feature that has appeared at the bottom of blog posts and that is a new colourful button with the phrase +1 at the side of it. It confused me at first and I didn't dare click on it to see what it would do for fear of making my blog implode or something.

I wasn't the only one who had been wondering about this new colourful addition to the blog and as someone posed the question on a writing group I use on Facebook. The question was then very kindly answered and the mystery has been solved. So for anyone still wondering, you can find a full explanation here on the google blog, but basically it's like a Facebook "like" button and will bring posts up the google ladder in search terms.

I hope this helps *thinks I may have confused more than helped*

Writing is.....

This blog meme has been handed to me by the lovely Patricia from Journey Through the Pages. It's simply, Writing is.....

I'm not sure where to start with this. I've never really considered where I stand with writing or what it means to me. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love doing it. I'm adoring watching my novel progress and I can't imagine walking away from it, or any of the future ones that are already invading my head space.

My head is constantly filled with thoughts and ideas about where to take my characters next or what their personalities are like. But saying that, I'm not one of those writers who say they would die if they couldn't write.

I suppose Its that I haven't thought that much about not writing, so I don't come out with such dramatic sentences. Writing is something I do and something I love doing. I will continue to do it. Even if this book doesn't make it, I will write the next one. I don't feel compelled to write them, it's just there. I have laptop, will write. Simples.

I now have to pass this Meme on to three fellow bloggers. They are;

Talli Roland 
Lindsay at Tiptoe Kisses and
Katie at Reading, Writing and Life