Tag Archive for: health

Things Change

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Things Change

By Cathy Perkins
Hi there from New Mexico, where Covid-19 caught up to us and changed, well, everything. 

I hope you’re hanging in there as life changes moment by moment. I don’t know about you, but I feel thrown for a loop by a global pandemic that involves a virus which seems to have even the most learned scientists unsure what to expect next.

Things certainly have changed as a result, though! 

(That’s Dripping Springs in the picture.)

We’re lucky to be healthy, so our changes seem minor compared to what other people are facing. Our kids are working from home, but one son-in-law is a small business owner. He’s struggling to balance the needs of customers and employees, while maintaining financial stability in the chaos. 

Our bucket list trip to Ecuador with National Geographic has been cancelled and we have all our fingers and toes crossed that the rumored domestic travel lock-down doesn’t happen until after we get home tonight. Okay, that’s a bit selfish but after a week in a rented condo where everything in the region is closed, including even the state parks for taking a walk, I’m not sure how people are managing this for fourteen days!  

I don’t have any words of wisdom (other than wash your hands!). The only thing I can say is we’re all in this together. I may be an optimist, but I believe we’ll all hang in there and do the best we can. Keep everyone healthy and the medical community will have a chance to catch up and deal with the most serious cases. Grit and determination go a long way—and here’s hoping the grocery stores restock soon! 

How are you doing? Shoot me any suggestions I can use or that I can share with others. (Add it to the comments below!) 

If you’re sick of television, a group of authors got together and set up a heavily discounted sale (my Kindle has saved my sanity the past few days!). Go HERE


I included CYPHER, an award-winning  suspense that I’ve never put on sale before. Go here for CYPHER.




Blessings to all. Hang tough! 

An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, which was recently presented with the Claymore Award.

Clicking Our Heels – Charities and Social Issues We Care About

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Clicking Our Heels – The Charities and Social Issues We Care About
The Stiletto
Gang members have lives outside of writing. Today, we tell you about some of
the charities and social issues we are
passionate about.

T.K. Thorne– Maranathan
Academy, a non-profit school in Birmingham, AL that gives critically at-risk
children a second chance, because I get to see faces turn from despair to
excitement with learning and hope for a better future.

Dru Ann Love
– The New York Blood Bank – because when I needed blood for a transfusion, it
was there for me.

Shari Randall – I’m very interested in literacy issues (you
can take the girl out of the library but you can’t take the library out of the
girl!) I volunteer with my local libraries in book sales and book nooks. So
much research has shown how libraries play a big role in leveling the playing
field for less-advantaged children. Many parents cannot afford books for their
children and it’s vitally important to keep libraries open to help those families.

J.M. Phillippe – LGBTQ Rights, because of how much people in
my personal life are impacted by being denied the same basic rights of other
people. And reprodctive rights, because again of the impact they have, not just
on women, but on entire communities.

Judy Penz
Sheluk
– Canadian Cancer Society — I’m a
breast cancer survivor (10 years and counting)

. I’ve done volunteer work for
Golden Rescue (golden retrievers) and support them — I’m on my fourth purebred
Golden and had a Golden mix as a kid.

Kay Kendall
– I support the Sierra Club in all it stands for. It’s the oldest and most
influential environmental organization in the U.S., amplifying its 3.5+ million
members’ voices to defend our right to a healthy world. Helping the Sierra Club
keep fighting for Earth’s natural resources is important to me.

Mary Lee
Ashford (1/2 of Sparkle Abbey) – As
Sparkle Abbey, we are involved with several local pet rescue groups and
contribute a basket of goodies (and sometimes a chance to have your pet in a
book) to their Raise Your Paw Auction. These groups do great work to rescue
animals that are abandoned or in bad situations and find them forever homes.
The other cause near and dear to my heart is literacy and I donate, speak, do
whatever I can to support local literacy groups. 

Debra H.
Goldstein – I have a special interest in
issues relating to women and children. Consequently, I support the YWCA of
Central Alabama’s domestic violence and pre-school programs as well as programs
sponsored by the Girl Scouts.

Bethany Maines – The Pacific Northwest has a higher percentage of Multiple
Sclerosis than any other spot in the nation and they don’t really know
why.  MS causes deterioration of the connections between the body and the
brain and there is no cure. I can count at least five people I know
personally who have MS or have died from MS and that is at least five too
many.  If you would like to donate or help in some way the National
Multiple Sclerosis Society is a great organization that is BBB accredited and
is dedicated to curing MS and helping those have MS live better
lives.  https://www.nationalmssociety.org/

Julie Mulhern – I worked for ten years for a not-for-profit
that helped individuals and families manage the challenges posed by serious or
chronic illness. It remains a cause dear to my heart.

Linda Rodriguez – I’ve been a member of Amnesty International for many
years. What they do for political prisoners around the world is tremendously
important work. I have long had a recurring donation going to Doctors Without
Borders because their work in the locations where violence and war are
devastating people is critical. I also have long had a recurring donation that
goes to the American Indian College Fund, which provides funding for tribal
colleges and Haskell Indian Nations University, the only four-year university
for Native Americans. Ironically, my son now teaches at Haskell Indian Nations
University, but my involvement with the American Indian College fund goes back
to his grade school days. I have a recurring donation that goes to the ACLU,
who are doing yeoman’s duty at this time in this country as it has become,
defending our Constitution and our law against all of the attacks which are being
waged against our kind of liberal democracy. And there are others, but those
are the ones I’ve been involved with for a long time.

A.B.
Plum – The
Health Wagon operates in West Virginia and serves people without health or
dental or vision care. Mostly run by volunteers, THW manages its money and
resources in an amazingly frugal way. One day I hope to join them on site—in
addition to supporting them with $$.  https://thehealthwagon.org/hwwp/

Cathy Perkins – While my husband and I have offered financial support for numerous charities over the years, my volunteer time has gone to The Sexual Assault Center. The agency recently extended their services to all crime victims but the mission remains one of support and healing. In today’s political environment with the constant attacks on women’s rights, I find it vital to stand up and give back and encourage everyone to pick your passion and support it.

Writers Need to Stretch

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by J.M. Phillippe

I’ve been hitting the keyboard hard lately, and even though I have adjusted  my set up with cushions and things like that, there is still no escaping the fact that extended time writing is hard on the body.

Healthy body movement is one of the things I struggle with most. I have a tendency to treat my body like a last minute project — I suddenly feel a pain or ache and then break out ALL the moves I should have been doing all along, as though one marathon session of stretching will undo months’ worth of damage.

So, this is as much about helping me take accountability as it is to help anyone else with their own stretching goals. My goal is not to do ALL the stretches, but to start by picking five I will attempt to integrate into my daily life.

Fortunately, there are a ton of articles and videos about the best kinds of stretches for people who spend too much time sitting in front of computers. For writers, of particular note are things to help  maintain hand health and back health, since both take a beating with lots of writing.

This article talks about carpal tunnel signs, symptoms, and prevention: https://thebodymechanic.com/active-release-technique-blog/carpal-tunnel-syndrome/

And this article has great stretches to do in a (sturdy) office chair, with gifs on how each one should look: https://www.healthline.com/health/deskercise#head-and-shoulders

To be a good writer is to be a whole person, and I have to regularly remind myself that means taking care of my body as much as my imagination.

Here’s to stretching for writer health!

***

J.M. Phillippe is the author of Perfect Likeness and the short story The Sight. She has lived in the deserts of California, the suburbs of Seattle, and the mad rush of New York City. She works as a clinical social worker in Brooklyn, New York and spends her free time binge-watching quality TV, drinking cider with amazing friends, and learning the art of radical self-love, one day at a time