Things to do - DECEMBER 2016
-> Write chapters 59; 60; 61; 62 of Lights Out
-> Write chapters 59; 60; 61; 62 of Dying Thoughts - Eighth Ending
-> Finish Lights Out
-> Start Planning Lights On
-> Start editing Dying Thoughts - Fifth Secret
-> Reach out to 25 book bloggers RE: Reviews
-> Record December booktube Video (Topic: Looking Back on 2016)
-> Record December Random Booktube videos (1; 2; 3)
-> Make 2017 Book Goals
-> Do Review of Book Goals 2016
-> Write 1; 2; 3; 4 blog posts
-> Post 1; 2; 3; 4 blog posts
-> Update FB as often as possible
-> Post in ASR RE: Reviews
-> Do 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 ASR
-> Do JoWriMoGo December 2k16
-> Do Year in Review post on LJ
-> Go geocaching at least once
-> Watch 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10 TV shows of choice
-> Read 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8 books & post reviews on GR/Amazon
-> Heart Scan Tuesday 13th December @ 14:30
-> TERM ENDS Friday 16th December @ 14:00
-> Port Flush Tuesday 20th December @ 09:00 on Saturn
-> CHRISTMAS Sunday 25th December
-> Christmas w/ Libby Thursday 29th December @ 12:00
-> Miss Penne at Dentist Thursday 29th December @ 17:00
-> Kim's birthday Friday 30th December
-> NEW YEARS EVE Saturday 31st December

LONG TERM GOALS ONGOING:
-> Design & order Book postcards (WAM; DTSD; LO; DTEE)
-> Design & order bookmarks (WAM; LO)
-> Chase B RE: Cover (WAM; DTSD; LO; DTEE)
-> Arrange Book Signing at Library
-> Work out display for convention (SWAG; Books; Misc)
-> Design & order banner RE: Convention (3ft x 2ft) [BY JULY 2017]
-> Buy stand for banner RE: Convention [BY JULY 2017]
-> Order 20 copies of each book RE: Convention (DTTW [March]; DTFW [April]; DTFS [June]; INAR [August])

BONUS STUFF!
BONUS: -> Write chapters 63; 64; 65 of Dying Thoughts - Eighth Ending
BONUS: -> Finish Dying Thoughts - Eighth Ending
BONUS: -> Start Lights On
BONUS: -> Start Cramping Chronicles: The First Twinge
BONUS: -> Read 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 books & post reviews on GR/Amazon

It seems that a monthly one works well for me right now so a monthly one it is. I may go back to the fortnight, or I may just add extra chapters to bring up my productivity...not sure yet! So here it is, my new list of goals for June!

Things to do - JUNE 2015
-> Write chapters 27; 28 of Walk A Mile
-> Write chapters 27; 28 of Dying Thoughts - Seventh Death
-> Do PF edits for Dying Thoughts - Second Sight
-> Do PF edits for Dying Thoughts - Third Wish
-> Do PF edits for Lynne & Hope
-> Chase B RE: covers
-> Chase Page RE: PF edits
-> Chase Kim RE: Edits
-> Chase Toni RE: PF edits
-> Do teasers for Dying Thoughts - Fourth Week 1; 2
-> Organise cover reveal event for Dying Thoughts - Fourth Week for July
-> Write 1; 2; 3; 4 blog posts
-> Post 1; 2; 3; 4 blog posts
-> Update TSU/FB as often as possible
-> Contact up to #100 RE: blog reviews
-> Chase up blogs who promised reviews
-> Post in BD RE: Review Swaps
-> E-mail event ppl RE: #livintheindielife
-> Plan #livintheindielife event for August at latest & contact more people
-> Pay Toni for PF edits (DTSS; DTTW; L&H; TFT)
-> Find 100 geocaches
-> Go geocaching 1; 2; 3; 4 times
-> Release Rosetta the mobility travel bug
-> Watch 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 TV shows of choice
-> Read 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8 books
-> Post 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8 reviews on GR/Amazon
-> Book Port Flush (Phone Weds 3rd June)
-> Do vape coil & juice order
-> Order Flea stuff (June 6th)
-> Order presents for Bro/Mum/Dad
-> Phone TM RE: Phone Insurance
-> Pay fortnightly for new tablet
-> Start wiping old tablet ready to list and sell
-> Psych appointment Thursday June 4th @ 10:00
-> Port Flush Thursday June 11th @ 09:30 on Saturn
-> Daniel's birthday Saturday June 13th
-> Mum's birthday Thursday June 18th
-> Dad's for Father's Day Saturday June 20th @ 12:00
-> Dad's birthday Wednesday June 24th

BONUS STUFF!
BONUS: -> Write chapters 29; 30 of Walk A Mile
BONUS: -> Write chapters 29; 30 of Dying Thoughts - Seventh Death
BONUS: -> Read 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 books
BONUS: -> Post 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 reviews on GR/Amazon

1. See Darla (missd007) start school - Completed September 2nd 2009
2. Finish the Dying Thoughts series - Completed December 17th 2016
3. Write twenty books
4. See all twenty books published and on other people's bookshelves.
5. Pass my first year at the OU - Completed August 3rd 2010
6. Do ADIML once a month for a year - Completed November 26th 2010
7. Pass my second year at the OU - Completed November 29th 2011
8. Pass my third year at the OU - Completed December 3rd 2012
9. Date someone for more than 4 weeks - Completed January 22nd 2007
10. Meet Kim - Completed November 9th 2015
11. Pass my fourth year at the OU - Completed November 29th 2013
12. Release and sell copies of "Light's Out"
13. Pass my fifth year at the OU and graduate w/ a degree - Completed September 19th 2014
14. Release and sell copies of "Dying Thoughts - Eighth Ending"
15. Write two books at the same time and finish them - Completed January 2nd 2010
16. Sell some copies of "Dying Thoughts - First Touch" - Completed 21st January 2012
17. Release and sell copies of "The Friendship Triangle" - Completed February 20th 2012
18. Release and sell copies of "Dying Thoughts - Second Sight - Completed February 20th 2012
19. Release and sell copies of "Lynne & Hope" - Completed July 9th 2012
20. Release and sell copies of "Dying Thoughts - Third Wish" - Completed July 11th 2013
21. Finish DTTW before uni - Completed August 14th 2007
22. Get a first on one OU course - Completed August 3rd 2010
23. Pay off my debts - Completed August 10th 2013
24. Lose enough weight to fit back into my cool clothes - Completed September 26th 2006
25. Release and sell copies of "Lights Off"
26. Find 100 geocaches - Completed August 3rd 2015
27. Find 250 geocaches
28. Pass my first year at uni - Completed July 25th 2007
29. Release and sell copies of "Cramping Chronicles: The Second Pang."
30. Go geocaching on holiday - Completed August 3rd 2015
31. To make sure those I leave behind do not hurt too much
32. Finish the letters for those who are left behind - Completed July 3rd 2006
33. Find 500 geocaches
34. Release and sell copies of "Lights On"
35. Hide my own geocache
36. Find 1000 geocaches
37. Go abroad with B and Darla
38. Go on a proper holiday w/ B & Darla - Completed January 6th 2012
39. Release and sell copies of "Waiting On You" - Completed July 26th 2014
40. Sell 10,000 copies of all my books total - Completed March 5th 2012
41. Release and sell copies of "Dying Thoughts - Fourth Week" - Completed August 30th 2015
42. Release and sell copies of "Destination: Unknown" - Completed July 9th 2016
43. Do an interview with a national newspaper about my books
44. Raise awareness of Brittle Asthma and how it affects sufferers - Completed June 25th 2008
45. Let my hair grow back to it's natural colour for at least a year - Completed January 1st 2012
46. Meet John Barrowman - Completed December 4th 2008
47. Release and sell copies of "It's Not Always Rainbows" - Complete June 30th 2017
48. Release and sell copies of "Dying Thoughts - Fifth Secret" - Completed May 15th 2017
49. Get a new car - Completed 5th September 2011
50. Survive 20 years as a type one brittle asthmatic - Completed January 6th 2009
51. Outlive both my parents
52. See Darla into secondary school - Completed September 6th 2016
53. Get up at 8am and work every day for a week - Completed September 9th 2009
54. Give up smoking - Completed February 18th 2014
55. Release and sell copies of "Dying Thoughts - Sixth Change"
56. Sue the NHS and win for the fuck ups - Completed January 15th 2008
57. Release and sell copies of "Walk A Mile"
58. Release and sell copies of "Dying Thoughts - Seventh Death
59. Release a book about the illnesses I live with
60. Finish my office cross-stitch - Completed January 16th 2010
61. Finish the "Lights Out" trilogy
62. Eat three proper meals a day for a week to see if it helps the M.E/FMS - Completed September 26th 2006
63. Write 12 original songs - Completed September 26th 2012
64. Keep my flat clean and tidy for a week - Completed September 26th 2006
65. Release and sell copies of "Cramping Chronicles: The First Twinge"
66. Go six months without a hospital admission - Completed September 14th 2006
67. Finish 10 books consisting of five stand-alones and five of the Dying Thoughts Series - Completed April 20th 2013
68. Be the first to find a geocache
69. See Helen's daughter Evalyn into school - Completed September 1st 2011
70. See Helen's daughter, Ava, into school - Completed September 3rd 2013
71. See Helen's son, Archie, into school - Completed September 2nd 2015
72. Have a book launch party at a posh hotel with all my friends
73. Finish the "Cramping Chronicles" series
74. Do a book tour
75. Do a book signing
76. Walk from my house to town without crutches or a wheelchair (approx. 1 mile) - Completed September 2nd 2011
77. Live to see 30 - Completed January 6th 2012

I've done a whole heap of research and have just finished reading through everything I have and highlighting what I'll need to mention or know. I just have a few questions about the Muslim faith and writing about it. I don't want to be disrespectful, and so I was hoping someone here would know someone or they themselves would be willing to answer a few questions about how I can use the name of The Prophet (peace be upon him) without offending people who practise Islam. That is the last thing I want to do.

So you can comment here, or PM me, or email me @ bugbooks@virginmedia.com Thanks!

(I'll make this public for people to see)

Thanks to those who have emailed me already, I really appreciate the help.

I’m not going to make a long post. If you want to read the whole story, here it is.

Basically, I’m a writer and would like to hear personal experiences of being a teenager and being LGBT. Preferably for the UK and preferably in most recent years, but at this point I’ll take anything. I’m especially looking for people from a minority ethnic background i.e Black, Middle-Eastern, Eastern European. As well as those who are religious and/or have religious parents for both Catholic and the Muslim faiths.

I promise that everything will stay confidential and nothing will be used without your consent. I want to do the story and characters justice and there is only so much you can learn from Google and Wikipedia.

You can contact me through PM or email me @ bugbooks@vriginmedia.com

I'll leave this entry public for those who want to share with friends, or point them in my direction. Thanks!

No, don't worry, I haven't written another four chapters in the few hours since I posted my last update. I'm fast, but not *that* fast! I have, however, been working on the plot line and character notes for books 11 and 12. Up until yesterday I knew what book 12 would be about, I just hadn't gotten round to planning it yet, but I had no idea what to do for book 11.

When we were clearing the boxes in the house and shredding things, I found the first few pages of a book I had started after the first Dying Thoughts and I read it over, laughed at my writing and realised that had I completed the book it would have just been another book about teen pregnancy. I liked the idea of super religious parents having to deal with something outside their comfort zone and then I started to think. I have a number of gay, lesbian, bi and trans* friends. I am bi myself and I realised that there are not that many books on how a teenager can deal with that. Now, I don't know enough to write about a trans* character and not end up offending so many people and I was going to make the main character - as in written from her POV - black, but after some thought and discussion decided to switch it round so that I wrote from the POV of the only white major character. I didn't want to do the same with a black character that I would ultimately do with a trans* character. I am bi and I was a bi teenager, but I was a WHITE bi teenager and I have no idea what black bi/lesbian/gay/queer/trans* teenagers go through and again, I didn't want to offend people.

I have my plot, I have my story line, I have my character cards and I will have to do A LOT of research to do the story justice. I've written a post on my tumblr asking for help from people going through it in 2013, with the promise to keep everything confidential and I wanted to reach out here too.

I will be writing about a white, bi 16 year old girl, a black, lesbian, 16 year old girl, a middle eastern, gay, 16 year old boy and a eastern European, 16 year old boy. All the families come from a different culture. I will mostly be including Christianity, but will need to do some research on Islam. All the families have different views on homosexuality and will be reacting differently. The Islamic family are more traditional about the culture, but not actively practising the religion. I plan to google a lot of things, but I would like to know more about the cultures I will be writing about, here's some more information if you're interested.

( More about the minority ethnic charactersCollapse )

So thanks to anyone who read all of that and is able to help, or knows someone who might be able to. The last thing I want to do is write it badly and offend a bunch of people. I want it to be as real as it can be, being that's it's fiction and I have some artistic license. So thanks :D If you want to direct people here, I'll make this entry public and can activate anonymous commenting if you all think that would help get a better response.

Thanks for reading.

Just did a delete of old journals and people who I never see post. However, if you felt that I removed you accidentally, please comment here and I'll re-add you. Some of the names I didn't recognise, but it could be just my memory is crap or I haven't had you on my list long enough to remember who you are. Sorry if I made an error!

Do you want to help spread awareness of this dreadful condition? Do you, or someone you know have Fibromyalgia? The Fibroduck Foundation is a UK based charity with the aim of raising awareness and funds to pay for research into Fibromyalgia. If you are interested in helping to spread the word, you can read on.

My name is Joey, and I have Fibromyalgia. I have recently started to volunteer for The Fibroduck Foundation. The idea started with the plan to send one million ducks worldwide to raise awareness of Fibromyalgia. They were the plain yellow ducks that had spots to highlight the tender points people with Fibro have. In 2011, The Fibroduck Foundation was launched and the plan to raise enough to fund a research program into Fibro was started. They need £26,000 and have raised over £1,000 so far. My band - The Rocking Dodars - released a single on May 12th 2012 with 100% of the proceeds going to The Fibroduck Foundation. However, I want to do more to help raise awareness. This is where you all come in.

Would you like to appear on their website? To be interviewed about what it’s like to have Fibro and how it impacts your life? You don’t have to use your name, you can use just an initial or even an alias - no one will know how to contact you but me, and I will not share that information with anyone without your prior consent. If you’re interested in being interviewed, please email me at joeypaul@fibroduckfoundation.com

Do you find that people see you as a disease? As a person with Fibro? Do you wish they would also see who else you were? If you’d like to take part in another way to raise awareness, please read on. I will be starting to do graphics with the term "I have Fibro, but it’s not who I am” to feature on the Fibroduck Foundation website. If you want to use your name, you are welcome to, again you can use an alias or just an initial. You can chose to include a photo of yourself (please resize to 150 x 150 pixels) but it is not required. You will need to supply me with SIX ways in which you identify yourself. In my case, it would be as a writer, a student, a musician, a friend, disabled and an aunt. You can choose whichever ones you want and again, any identifying information will be kept confidential unless you say otherwise. If you wish to take part in this please email me your list at joeypaul@fibroduckfoundation.com

Although The Fibroduck Foundation is based in the UK, please do not think you need to be based here too. In the time of the internet and raising awareness, nationality does not matter. We’re looking to raise awareness all over the world. Please feel free to share this with anyone you feel would be interested. And if you have any questions, you can email me at the above address.

Thanks for your time

Joey

[It's a day late because I'd forgotten I'd done it until now]

I have been trying to think of what I could say that would be different from the last eight years. Every year on May 12th, I write a post, usually containing "The Spoon Theory" and ask you to read that. This year, I am dictating my entry because the pain is bad and I don't know if this flare-up will clear in time to allow me to type it.

So, what am I going to say this year? Well, I could tell you about the level of pain I'm in, but if you read my journal and know me, you know that already. I could tell you about the crushing fatigue, the cramps that twist my legs and hands into unnatural positions and don't let up no matter what you do. I could tell you about the pain killers I have to take every day, but again, most of you already know that. I've made you all as aware as you're going to be to what it's like to live with M.E and Fibromyalgia.

Some of you are all too familiar with that, some of you have the same conditions, others have some different ones as well and all I can really say is, hey world...it HURTS to be us!

This year though, I wrote a song, I'd decided to give it a go and my muse was nice to me and gave me the words and tune and everything. I played it for my friend, Kim because I wasn't happy with the chords I'd chosen but couldn't work out better ones and she transformed it into a beautfiul, poignet song, with help from her husband, Anders. This year, I released that song and have donated 100% of the profits to The Fibroduck Foundation to aid them in their research. Why? I'm tired of hurting, I'm tired of being sick and I want a cure and if they can't give me that, I want to know *why* I hurt and give me a useful treatment. I mean, sure I've seen the YouTube videos of people claiming they were cured and part of me wants to think that people aren't that evil, to pretend they had a disease, found a cure and then wave it in front of the sufferers and say they too can be cured for $199.95 in five easy installments. I *want* to believe that doesn't happen, but the sad part is, it does.

That's why we need research. REAL research into the cause, the treatments and the cure, it may take five years, it may take ten, hell it could take twenty, just tell me that SOMETHING is being done and with The Fibroduck Foundation, I know it is.

So, yeah, read The Spoon Theory>. Educate yourself about what it's like to be us, not just Fibro and M.E sufferers, but people with ANY chronic pain condition. Also, if you feel so inclined, buy the single "It Hurts To Be Me" from iTunes or Amazon. Help a spoonie, help a fibromite, help someone who's hurting so bad it's enough to make you wince in sympathy.

I never dreamt I would release a song one day, nor did I dream I'd release books and have them sell. Both of these dreams are realities. One dream of mine is to live to see a cure, maybe you can help that one come true too.

Thanks for reading.

My name is Joey,

I am thirty and have had Fibromyalgia and M.E since I was nineteen. I have a bunch of other conditions, but they are not relevant here. If you want to know what Fibro is, here's an explanation - life is like a game of kerplunk - Basically, I'm in a lot of pain, every day. My pain scale runs from one to ten, every day it sits at least at a five, that's even with painkillers. My five is about your seven or eight. I'm not alone, Fibromyalgia affects millions of people world wide and we're all desperate for same things...the cure, a treatment that works, people not to say we're faking it, people to be aware of what it's like for us....Our lives back.

Every year on May 12th, which is M.E and Fibromyalgia Awareness Day I make a post in my blog and try to raise awareness in the small circle of friends who read it. I think my friends are as informed as they are ever going to get so now, this year, I decided to do something different. I started playing the ukulele back in August 2010 and have since written nine songs, the latest being the single “It hurts to be me.”

I played the song for my friend Kim, I wasn't happy with the chords I'd chosen, but she already had a tune in her head and it all fit together beautifully, and then the possibility was it could raise some money for The Fibroduck Foundation. So despite the fact that it scares me silly, that people may hate it and all of that. I decided to release it and from there, any profits made could go to the foundation.

The Fibroduck Foundation started as someone wanting to raise awareness by sending 1 million rubber ducks out into the world to show people that Fibromyalgia exists and something needs to be done. Everyone could order a duck, and you could take photos and post them on it's website On it's second birthday back in September 2011, they launched the Foundation, which is committed to providing funds to aid research, to help to find tests to prove it exists, treatments to aid the sufferers and maybe a cure.

I wanted to something more than just write a post, I wanted to say what a lot of fibromites are thinking that, it hurts to be us and so, while sleep was evading me one day, I wrote the song and Kim and her husband added Ukulele, guitar, bass, synth and she produced the whole thing and made it into the beauty it is today. Every penny of profit will go to the Fibroduck Foundation. It will be on iTunes and Amazon as well as other places around the web and hopefully, it will sell enough copies that it will not only raise awareness of what it's like to be a Fibro sufferer, but it will also raise funds for their first research project.

I didn't want to just write a post and hope it made people aware, I didn't want to make money off my pain, I want to make a difference. I can only hope it will.

Please buy the single from Amazon, or iTunes or even from The Fibroduck Foundation website.

Thank you.