Just a few things going on this week. Got one or two more rejections from agents on my queries regarding “Darkness Before the Dawn”. Not unexpected but a tad disheartening. There are still several queries floating around out there and I’ll be sending more. Gotta keep trying.

Revisions are still on going with “Dragon Magic”. I’ll admit that’s moving a lot slower than it should. My fault. Fatigue tends to put a dent in productivity.

However … I did start my urban fantasy. Got a good jump on chapter one and so far am very pleased with it. I’m going to enjoy writing this book.

Something else I’m pleased with is the four or five new urban fantasy authors I’d trying out. That would be Barb Hendee, Amy Resch, Kat Richardson, Kelly Meding and Chloe Neill. I’d broken down and went to the local Barnes & Noble. Not my favorite place to go but I wanted to get hubby Charlie Chan DVDs for Christmas and I knew they had ‘em.

While checking out in the CD and DVD section of B&N, the clerk was rhapsodizing over my selection of books. She then mentioned that Chloe Neill was a wonderful author and would be coming to this B&N for a signing in January. Fantastic. I’d never read Chloe’s books before and in fact had to order the first in the series since B&N didn’t have it in stock. I can’t wait to check out her writing and to meet her when she comes in January. At that point, the clerk (can’t think of her name) mentioned that they “loved” having authors for signing. Naturally I mentioned I was a twice published author, local and made sure I left my promotional stuff with this clerk. I’ll follow up at a later date to see if I can get my foot in for a signing.

First off … I want to announce some good news. I got my tumor markers last week and my numbers are dropping. What started out at 580ish several months ago, is now 380. This is after about five or six treatments which included the Avastin … so this is good. This particular chemo cocktail is a little rough on me, but hell — if these numbers continue to drop, screw rough. I’ll handle it. Needless to say I was dancin’ around the office after I got the phone call from Dr. D.

On to my fun filled day. This past Wednesday I had a full day of scans. Dr. D. wanted me to do a whole battery of tests … mostly because the last ones were done awhile ago and he wants to see exactly what’s going on inside. Of course, it pretty much shot the day all to hell. On the plus side, bossman was out of town.

Began with a 7:15 arrival at St. Mary’s Hospital to drink the nasty gunk they give you for the CT scan. Hung around there for about an hour (note to self — “self … smart of you to bring a good book”) before getting the actual scan. After that — 9:30, prep for the bone scan. Hour wait and then the scan. The PET scan was at 2:00 with the prep time at 1:00. Love it when they give you that radioactive shot and then put you in the dark room. Personally, I think its to see if you glow in the dark. The good thing was with the gap between the bone scan and the PET scan, I was able to go to the office for about three hours. Less guilt. Then I was back at work by 3:00. So the day wasn’t as shot as I thought.

Yep, I was one tired unit by the end of the day. I seem to recall the last time I did back to back tests that I was a total mess by evening. It’s probably dippy of me to do this all in one day, but I really prefer to get it over with.

And remember to repeat after me …“YOU ARE A CANCER WARRIOR”

Well, if you live in the Midwest like I do, you’re probably gearing up for the winter season. This will involve shutting down the gardens, making sure the storm windows are secure, and digging out the snow shovels from beneath all the junk in the garage. I won’t even get into car preparation. There are a ton of other things to be done (of course), but these are just a few.

Then you have to winterize your body. This goes beyond digging out the heavy jacket, boots, gloves and hats. Don’t know ‘bout you, but it generally takes a month or so for my body to adjust to the colder weather. Not sure if the body just gets used to the colder air or if my cellulite readjusts itself and becomes denser. Isn’t that a nasty thought? Anyway, it seems like after about a month, I really don’t have much of a problem with the cold weather. Either that or I’ve learned to ignore it.

Always had to wonder how the folks up in Canada or Alaska handle such biting cold, but I guess it’s the same as adjusting here in Wisconsin. Its all a matter of degrees — no pun intended. I have friends in Alaska who absolutely love it up there … despite the extreme temperatures.

Either way, the winter season is ‘pon us and all we can do is adjust, endure and wait for spring to come.

This past Saturday our local writing chapter – WisRWA — had a guest speaker join us. Leanna Renee Hieber was in town from New York visiting her fiancé/boyfriend/main squeeze. I’m not quite sure what the exact relationship is, but Leanna very graciously agreed to speak at our meeting.

Before 9:00 a.m., I was heading toward the meeting rooms at Mayfair Mall when I noticed the sound of tapping heels behind me. Now, at that time in the morning, the only people at the mall are the mall walkers (complete with soft sole tennies) and those of us going to our meeting. So high heels are not the norm. I glanced behind and saw a woman dressed in a fabulous black outfit, frilly with a vaguely Victorian style. Certainly not your average mall walker. And looking a little lost.

Figured it had to be Leanna and introduced myself … after calling her Renee, of course. I’m horrible with names. I was able to lead her into the bowels of Mayfair Mall where we hold our meetings. Leanna’s talk was terrific and inspirational. She drew on her experience with the theater to make this lecture interesting and inspirational. I thoroughly enjoyed her talk and only wished I could have dashed home to put some of her suggestions into practice. Unfortunately, I had a couple of previous obligations … i.e., my niece’s birthday celebration, complete with movie and dinner. By the time I got home, I was exhausted and had to hold off for another day.

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to read the ARC of Leanna’s debut book “The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker” which has just been released Dorchester Publishing. This was one of those books where you don’t want to put it down until you reach the end. Loved it.

So … if you get any opportunities to attend guest lectures held by a fellow writer … go for it. Doesn’t matter whether that person writes in your genre or not. There is nothing more inspiring than listening to someone who has beaten a few of those odds and has a published book in hand.

While sitting through treatment yesterday, I was reading the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel and got an eyeful of the new guidelines being recommended by the “U.S. Preventives Task Force”. My first reaction was WTF? You have GOT to be kidding me.

Evidently the Task Force is saying that its unnecessary for women ages 40 to 50 to bother with a mammogram and then (once you hit fifty), getting one every other year. The Task Force’s reasoning is that in a study — 1,904 women (ages 40 to 49) would have to be screened in order to extend the life of just one woman. Whereas, for women ages 50 to 59, 1,339 women would have to be screened to save one life.

Do you feel like playing Russian Roulette with your life and take the chance of being that “one” woman whose life could have been saved if you’d had the screening before you were 50? I know I wouldn’t. I was diagnosed when I was 35 years old. Mine was detected when I noticed a dimple on my right breast. A clear sign that somethin’ was cookin’. But what would have happened had I not had that dimple, or ignored it? What would have happened had I waited until I was 50 to have gotten my first mammogram. I’ll tell ya … I’d be worm food by now.

Where are these people coming from? Mammograms can lead to early detection of breast cancer, which can then be addressed and in many cases, a full recovery and/or remission once follow up treatment is complete. One of their bonehead justifications is that women will worry — a false positive reading may result in psychological harm. Duh! There are a lot of things that women worry about. What’s one more? Then there’s the added worry and/or expense of follow up tests and biopsies that may turn out to be negative. Again — duh!

The research being quoted shows that 98% of abnormalities found in women in their 40s turn out to be false positives. This can be caused by cysts, dense breast tissue that doesn’t give a clear picture or … whatever. Evidently this number of false positives drops to 95% for women in their 50s.

I don’t think these people are giving women enough credit. Sure there will be those who will freak out and start their own funeral arrangements, but by the same token, I’m willing to bet that the majority will suck it up, wait for the results and then deal with it. There will be either a massive sense of relief when it turns out to be negative or, if it turns out to be positive, then she (or he) can decide whether to panic. Believe me … I’d much rather go through the worry and uncertainty than to find out ten years down the line that my life could have been saved had this been caught earlier.

For women at the age of 40, a ten year risk of breast cancer is 1 in 69; the numbers jump to 1 in 42 at the age of 50 and 1 in 29 at the age of 60.

Nancy Brinker, the founder of the Susan G. Komen organization views this report in a positive light … as another opportunity for activism. “If current screening is imperfect, then why not make it better?” I like her attitude. The Komen organization funds over 1,900 education, awareness and screening programs around the world. They’re not changing their own recommendations for annual mammograms and self-examination for women 40 and older. Kudos to them.

What’s your take on this? Personally, I’m outraged and pissed. They can take their recommendations and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. I’ll have to Goggle this Task Force to see how many of their “specialists” are (1) men; and (2) who has never had the personal pleasure of dealing with breast cancer.

And remember to repeat after me …“THE TASK FORCE ARE BONEHEADS AND YOU ARE A CANCER WARRIOR”