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Skye Savoy | The Healing Power of the Written Word
November 26, 2011
Surgical complications happen to everyone else, not to cosmically blessed people
who work for the hospital where they're having the surgery done. At least that's
what I thought before I woke up from elbow surgery with a wrist as limp as a
month-old celery stalk. I went back to sleep immediately. I woke-up to a nightmare. I went in for surgery to repair a Nirschl Lesion
(tennis elbow) and ended up with a stretched radial nerve. I could
concentrate as hard as I wanted, but I couldn't lift a finger on my right hand.
Bad and double bad: Bad because I did everything with my right hand. Double bad
because my left hand was about as useful as my pinky toe. My arm was numb. I felt, but not in the tactile sense. I felt almost every
emotion in the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and
acceptance. I got stuck in "denial" and never made it to acceptance. I had a
busy healthcare marketing career where I spent seventy percent of my time typing
and the other thirty percent on the phone or in meetings. My first published
novel, FINDING HER PERFECT
MASTER, was just released. I couldn't sign the books. Six chapters of my
second paranormal romance percolated on my hard drive. Most of all, my young
daughter needed a mother who could cradle her with both hands. With a lot of determination mixed with a little trepidation, I went to physical
therapy every day. Every day, I came home depressed when I didn't do as well as
I wanted. Why couldn't I be like the people I read about who triumphantly
overcame physical distress with superhero-like prowess? I wanted their lives.
The need to escape reality drove me into the pages of a book. I found I couldn't
actually turn the pages—especially not in a doctor's office balancing my
bum arm and purse precariously in my lap. Fortunately, my techno-savvy husband
gave me a Sony Reader for my birthday. My tastes gravitated to more "fluffy" paranormal romance by Katie MacAlister, MaryJanice Davidson and Dakota Cassidy. Because I
vacillated between the anger and depression stages, I decided to walk on the
dark side. I loaded Larissa Ione's Demonica
series, Jennifer Estep
and Gena Showalter onto
my eReader and lost myself. When I read SIN UNDONE, I was tough and
impervious to pain like Ione's Seminus demon heroine, Sinead Donnelly. I didn't
need to use both hands to command the four elements like Belle Jamison in
Showalter's PLAYING WITH
FIRE. And, I could tell granite rocks to crush the doubts that plagued my
self-esteem like assassin, Gin Blanco in Estep's SPIDER'S BITE. These gutsy novels offered me more than escapism. They empowered me to do
something—to be something more than what life threw at me. Not only did I
approach daily physical therapy with a renewed passion, I became compelled to
write again. My characters, like me, were tired of being passive. They demanded
that I make an attempt to negotiate the computer keyboard. I slowly pecked away at the keys, even though it was painful and only my pointer
finger worked. WAKING UP
DEAD, re-awakened. My heroine, Ava Lowery, transformed from a 51-year-old
newly divorced small town caterer, to a feisty spirit who refused to go quietly
with the sexy fallen angel, Suriyel, who appeared to collect her soul. She
demanded a second chance at life in order to find her killer. Suriyel gave her a
chance and trained her to be a kick-butt assassin to avenge her death. A healthy sense of humor helped pull me through. I infused my characters with
the same wittiness and put them in some outlandish situations—the heroine
battles a possessed Elvis impersonator and her deceased mother comes to her aide
riding a tricked-out Hoveround®. As avid readers, we know the power of the written word. I read for emotional
rehabilitation and ended up physically rehabbing myself by typing the rest of WAKING UP DEAD. The inspiration I received from the strong heroines
in the books I read reminded me of the strong women in my own life and helped me
find the inner strength I'd buried. The names of those who comment will be entered into a drawing for a free copy
of WAKING UP DEAD. www.skyesavoy.com
Comments
37 comments posted.
Re: Skye Savoy | The Healing Power of the Written Word
This looks like a great book! Thank you for the opportunity to possibly win it! Happy Thanksgiving!
[email protected]
(Barbara Battaglia 2:58am November 23, 2011)
Can't wait to get a chance to read your book! :)
(Hyunjin Jeon 4:02am November 26, 2011)
It is so great that you can do something you loved and at the same time spent so much time with your family. I hope to continue to read more of your book =D
(Or Xue Hong 4:50am November 26, 2011)
Thank you for nopt giving up and for listening to your charactors who needed to be heard.
(Barbara Hanson 8:51am November 26, 2011)
Definitely a book I want to read while curled up in a nice warm blanket next to the fire as the cold weather approaches.
(Shirley Younger 9:20am November 26, 2011)
I really like the premise for the story WAKING UP DEAD.
Jacki
[email protected]
(J. Lee Chase 11:44am November 26, 2011)
This book sounds like a Must Read and that is exactly what I have to do...I must read Waking Up Dead!
mom1248(at)att(dot)net
(Patsy Hagen 12:14pm November 26, 2011)
I'd love to win a copy of WAKING UP DEAD. Congratulations to
you on being so determined to regain the use of your right
hand! I've faced quite a few health challenges over the past
20 years or so & can attest to how much a positive outlook can
get someone through really trying ordeals.
(Kay Martinez 12:47pm November 26, 2011)
Wow! This has intrigue for the reader. I love all of the premise for the Great Read and can hardly wait to get a copy.
This is a Way over the Top Winner offering good charactors to keep you hanging on to keep going...such excitement and fun.
Hope I get lucky here. Thanks for all you wonderful books.
(Shirley Sego 12:56pm November 26, 2011)
So glad you did not give up... thank you for sharing with us...
(Colleen Conklin 1:32pm November 26, 2011)
Never giving up is what it is about. I would love to read this.
(Carla Carlson 1:58pm November 26, 2011)
I have read your book. It was wonderful. I can not wait to read your next book in the series. Keep up the great work you do.
(Roberta Spencer 2:16pm November 26, 2011)
I am trying to get my daughter, age 23, into reading this looks like something she would be interested in. Good luck to me, and everyone else too!
(Pameula Henson 2:41pm November 26, 2011)
I'm sorry you went through such a painful ordeal after your surgery (which is certainly depressing), and that you never gave up on getting your book written and it sounds like the end result is really good, from what I've read so far. I've been through surgery hoping for a miraculous outcome, only to be in just as much pain, if not more, for years afterwards. I would love to read this and your following books.
(Linda Luinstra 3:57pm November 26, 2011)
Dr. Norman Cousins has a book, The Anatomy of an Illness, in which he laughed his way to health and moved beyond a wheelchair. I do know the power of laughs and enjoy watching funny movies especially Lucille Ball and the convey belt at the candy factory. I'm glad you're on the mend.
(Alyson Widen 4:18pm November 26, 2011)
I can totally relate to what you've been going through!! An injury I suffered at work destroyed the nerves and muscles in my "good" hand, and my doctor decided the best course of action was to put my hand and wrist in a cast for 3 months. After the cast was taken off, things didn't improve, so the cattle call with doctors began. Needless to say, I lost most of the feeling in my arm and hand, and being a knitter and crocheter to boot, I sunk into a deep depression. My husband came up with ways to help me out of it, which helped a lot. After a few years, and a lot of pain, I decided to test myself and try my hand at knitting again. Although I'm still limited to the amount of time I can work at it, I am able to knit and crochet again, although I still don't have the feeling back in my hand and arm. I'm thankful that my work still comes out looking as good as it does, and without being able to do it, I wouldn't be able to be in my knitting groups and be able to teach and help others the way I have. Reading has also helped me through a lot of rough spots. I feel such a connection to you now, and can't wait to read your book. I'm glad that you changed the plot to your story as well. Congratulations on the book, and a great cover.
(Peggy Roberson 4:41pm November 26, 2011)
You are an inspiration that is for sure! Congrats on the new
release! I'm so glad you are doing so much better!
(Ashley Applebee 5:28pm November 26, 2011)
Your book definitely sounds like one I'd like to read and am happy you got through writing it, with what you've been through with the recovery for use of your right hand. The book cover is awesome!
(Rich Cook 5:30pm November 26, 2011)
love the cover, it's beautiful and the book sounds like a wonderful read. i love stories that reflect the author's experiences and emotions,they often become my favorites that i read over and over again.
[email protected]
(Tammy Ramey 8:16pm November 26, 2011)
love the cover and it sounds like a great read cant wait to read!!!
(Jennifer Beck 8:49pm November 26, 2011)
It sounds really great! Can't wait to read.
(Judith Mor 9:17pm November 26, 2011)
I think it is amazing to be able to actually sit down and get the whole book down and published. It sounds like a wonderful book and I can't wait to sit down and read it.
(Denise Boyd 9:20pm November 26, 2011)
Physical therapy is the hardest as you have to motivate yourself much like the heroines we love. Keep at it!
(Renee Brown 9:38pm November 26, 2011)
I would love to read the book. I've had eight surgery's to my back and neck and had spinal meningitis......I've woken up twice on life support and am only 52. So the book is interesting to me, I've had everything just about that they could do to a person happen to me other than losing a limb or my life. LOL Please enter me. dancealert at aol dot com
(Brenda Rupp 10:04pm November 26, 2011)
I have gravitated between some of the same authors you have read. Sometimes "light and humerous" is just what I need. Other times, more angst. But I do love paranormal, of whatever stripe.
(Elizabeth Krentz-Wee 10:10pm November 26, 2011)
I'm glad you regain the use of your right arm otherwise we would have missed most of your books.
Waking Up The Dead has a eye-catching bookcover. I wouldn't be able to miss the book in the bookstore.
Happy Thanksgiving
(Kai Wong 10:20pm November 26, 2011)
For once I can actually empathize with a writer. Most of them write about how their characters talk to them, how willful they can be, how they steer the story in directions the author never expected. This time, however, I experienced something very similar to you. It happened about 12 years ago that I woke up one morning. I'd been sleeping on my right arm, and the right arm wasn't working very well. After about an hour I felt all right again. About a week later, I woke up again lying on my right side. This time my upper arm felt clumsy, but from the elbow down, it wasn't functioning at all: I couldn't pick up anything, my fingers wouldn't move, the lower arm hung from the elbow and my hand from the wrist. In short, I felt like you: scared and wondering what was wrong. That week I was supposed to drive 200 miles round-trip to meet a friend. Since I didn't want to be told: "You can't drive," by the doctor, I decided to go to the doctor's after my little trip. Well, I made it to the meeting and back. The next day I went to Emergency. In the course of the next 10 days I was examined from all aspects. But nobody could tell me what caused it. They stopped short of an MRI, but they had done a test that would have shown much the same as an MRI. With daily exercises, training and therapy, I was pretty well healed in a little over a month, and so far I've been fine. I hope your problem doesn't recur either. At least you seem to have gotten an interesting book out of it.
(Sigrun Schulz 10:27pm November 26, 2011)
Scary,makes you think twice before going under the knife. Looking forward to your book, sounds great.
(Sheila True 11:03pm November 26, 2011)
I would love to read WAKING UP DEAD thank you.
(Mary Preston 11:42pm November 26, 2011)
Thanks so much for sharing your story Skye. I've felt the same way after reading a book with a heroine who doesn't let anything keep her down. Good for you, to take that feeling of empowerment & take the reins of your life back.
drainbamaged.gyzmo at gmail.com
(Kathryn Merkel 11:42pm November 26, 2011)
Isn't it wonderful that a simple read can do so much more than
simply entertain!
(Lisa Richards 11:46pm November 26, 2011)
My son has inoperable tumors. After his last surgery, the doctor removed the tumor and many nerves that had been stripped of their mylon covering because of the tumors. Unfortunately, he is now in more pain because of the surgery. It didn't help. He has the tumors in both calves. He is in pain constantly, the doctor doesn't want to remove any more tumors because of this.
I would love to read your book.
(Debbie Penny 6:26am November 27, 2011)
What fun--I really do like finding a book with an older heroine from time to time. Can't wait to get my hands on this one.
(Janet Martin 9:26am November 27, 2011)
I hope the physiotherapy worked and that your hand is now
usable :D Mind you, if having a gammy hand helps you write
great stories then I hope it didn't *tongue in cheek here*
(Ilona Fenton 12:53pm November 27, 2011)
I am terrified of surgery in all forms. It never goes well for me.
(Lisa Kendall 10:37pm November 27, 2011)
Wow! What an inspirational story! I would love to win your book but I am putting it on my Amazon.com wish list for sure.
Coolness!
(Heidi Durham 5:23am November 28, 2011)
Wow I am so sorry you had to go through so much. I agree that the written word has power. It can cheer me up when I'm having a bad day and remind me that love is possible.
Thank you for sharing your story.
(Patti Paonessa 1:39pm November 28, 2011)
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