#14 Wielding a +3 Skill Saw
April - May 2008
In this issue we won't have the normal SFF short stories, but rather a sample of our authors Christine and Ethan Rose's blog from their site http://www.christineandethanrose.com/. The chosen blog actually goes quite well with last month's story "The Saw."
Ethan had a run in with a Skill Saw and nearly lost his thumb. So what does a writer do but write about it! Believe it or not, he's already back to work!
Christine shares her worried thoughts while waiting for Ethan to go into surgery and offers advice to Catholics over the New Seven Deadly Sins.
We are interviewing outside publicists for our "Rowan of the Wood" campaign, so if you know of a great publicist, please send them our way!
We're happy to announce that the release date for "Rowan of the Wood" is set! August 2, 2008 we'll have our opening party at Austin's famous BookPeople at 3pm. Everyone is welcome, so mark your calendars now!
Please forward this to your friends and family inviting them to join our newsletter list and to submit their stories, poems, jokes, photos, etc. If you've missed our previous newsletters, you can view them at Archived Newsletters.
We need story & poetry submissions for #15!!!
Please visit our Social Media Newsrooms for the latest information and press coverage here: rowanofthewood.com/newsroom & bluemoosefilms.com/SMN
Speaking of Web 2.0, please remember to link to our blogs/vlog and bookmark them on sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon, De.licio.us, and Techorati. Subscription links at our website.
See you in cyberspace...
Allison Willows
Blue Moose Press
OH THE HORROR!
by Ethan Rose
Common advice for would-be writers is "write what you know." All very well, but what if you're writing speculative fiction? How often have you set out on a quest to destroy the evil Dark Lord of Whateverland battling Orcs along the way? Losing hit points is all very well, too, but how do you equate that with looking at bits of bone actually sticking out of your flesh? I ask because I have recently acquired a new perspective. Last Thursday while wielding my +3 Skill Saw, I hit a reversal spell trap which turned the blade back onto my left hand. Rather than cutting my thumb off, it plowed a furrow on a parallel path, breaking the bone in interesting ways and leaving it poking out at an add angle. Fortunately, the only other person there was an ally, rather than an evil enemy bent on mayhem. The saw dropped from my hand with a rare but well-placed outburst of profanity. I assessed the situation with a quick glance and summed it up with a terse "OK. Hospital."
.
Walking briskly to my truck, I grabbed my cleanest dirty rag and pressed it hard to my hand. In the same time, Willard had gotten the keys to his truck, informed his wife of the situation, and we were off to the nearest hospital, a new branch of the Scott & White hospital of Temple (here in Round Rock). To truncate, I was treated well, whisked right into a doctor, and they generally took great care of me. The problem (or opportunity/challenge for those of us on the high road to insufferability) was that I really needed a hand specialist. The Skill Saw had cut all the way through the bone. The top and bottom halves had also split down the center. One tendon was cut, but the other was okay... and, the best news, there appeared to be no nerve damage. It was likely that I needed surgery. Here is where things get interesting.
.
It is well known that doctors think they are God. What is less known, but every bit as true, is that the average patient things he knows better than his/her doctor. The doctors themselves deal with this in the same way God does, by requiring free will. My doctor told me the situation and explained my options, gave me no recommendation, yet some how made it obvious which course he wanted me to take. I could go to the hospital's Mothership in Temple 45 minutes North, or I could go to the other Round Rock hospital which may or may not have a hand specialist. I elected to go North.
.
I have no medical insurance or coverage of any kind. After all, I'm self-employed in the USA. So this entire experience, delightful though it was, would be paid for by my own labor after-the-fact. I did not want to pay for a second visit to the ER to have the same things done again to no good purpose. To avoid the cost of an ambulance drive, which I assumed could only be counted in the thousands since no one could even estimate the cost for me, I had my lovely wife drive me up in her Prius, which probably cost about $3 in gas (about one gallon). The down side of this is I entered through the wrong doors at the new hospital. In any ER, there are two entrances. One for people who can get there on their own, and the other for those who come by ambulance. It is an automatic selection process well recognized by the staff. If someone comes in through the ambulance entrance, it's an emergency. If someone walks in they only think it's an emergency, but the hospital knows better. So they are put at the end of the line, especially if they don't have insurance.
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Since my paperwork and X-rays were sent ahead, I assumed I could avoid this. I was wrong. I sat with bones sticking out of my flesh for 3 hours in a room full of people who thought they might have the flu. I couldn't even get something for the pain until I saw a doctor, all of which were too busy dealing with real emergencies to bother with a cut on the thumb. So, what have I learned from all this? What do I now know which I can write about? Only what I already knew: There will come a time when the impression I formed during this event will weave themselves into my fiction in a form unrecognized by anyone but myself.
.
If you're searching for a moral, then how about this: There is no situation so bad that it can't be compounded by bureaucracy.
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Read more of Christine & Ethan's blogs at http://www.christineandethan.com/ - including Christine's thoughts while waiting for Ethan's surgery and her advice on the New 7 Deadly Sins, as defined by the Catholic Church.
In This Issue
christineandethanrose.com is now live! Visit the authors' official website for the latest news of their forthcoming book and entertaining blogs. We love to hear your comments about the book and the blogs, so please don't hesitate to do so!
AUGUST 2, 2008
is the official release date for Rowan of the Wood. Their opening will be held at Austin's famous BookPeople at 3pm. Everyone is welcome! Mark your calendars!
ethanroseconstruction.com is also live. If you live in the Austin area and need someone both talented and trustworthy, hire Ethan Rose for your remodel or repair work. The new website has customer quotes and Ethan's impressive portfolio online.
MySpace
(1st 3 Chs)
on Google Video
on Google
Fleeting Moments in Time
by C. Schweizer
Fleeting moments in time
pass by
silently
echo
against
the far
inner walls
of our lives
Whispers
swallows
flying
high
Soft
like light
dancing away into the sky
then
vanish
Smoke hung upon the
stillness
night
a sliver drape
flickering in the lost candle light
consumed
by the televisions angry glower
wraps itself into everything
And I
sitting among it all
scoop tiny pieces of life
brittle feathers
-or a windowsill sun eaten moth
Fragile to a powder
all the care is lost and
with the wind
a giggle rides from inside
the dust falls away
between my
broken and trembling hands
grasping for the thread
to what
Life
once
was…
©2004CSCHWEIZER
May 10 2004
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Our oft printed poet
has some videos available
on Google Video.
Check them out!
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