Thank you, Delilah, and thank you everyone for stopping by.
When Delilah agreed to host me back in December, I had something completely different in mind as my topic. However, on December 24th I received an early Christmas present…a positive biopsy result for breast cancer. What makes this suck even more (and yes, as a writer I should find a more eloquent word than ‘suck’…but simply put…it does suck!) is that this is my second time.
I’m not going to get into all the ugly and crappy (another under-used but perfectly descriptive word) things that surround this diagnosis, because that isn’t me. Fourteen years ago, I had to delay my first chemo appointment by a week because I was going through a divorce, moving out of my marital home, and celebrating my 36th birthday. But through this all, I stayed positive.
…And that is what I want to write about.
Yes, being diagnosed a second time with the dreaded “c” sucks and is crappy, but I’m not going to let it get me down or hold me back. I’ve had a few friends…which is a ‘few’ too many…that were diagnosed with breast cancer after my first experience. I told them all, I can’t guarantee that a positive attitude will help, but a negative one will certainly pull you down.
This time around, I have to say, I disagree. A positive attitude does help! I know my husband and many of my close friends were devastated to hear this news. My daughter didn’t know what to do…she was only 4 the first time through, and once this Christmas vacation was done she was heading back to university, a 2.5 hour flight away. And my mom, well this should never happen to your children—certainly not twice—and it doesn’t matter if they are 5, 15 or 50. But I am keeping a positive outlook that things will go as smoothly this time as last. I’m hoping to fly to Nova Scotia at the end of February, between what I believe will be my first two chemo appointments, to see my daughter play in her first university volleyball finals. And while I took time off from work last time, I have actually decided to work through my procedures this time (as long as my health or my doctor doesn’t say otherwise.) My point here? NONE of my friends have given me the weepy face that often occurs when you tell people you have cancer. How can they think or act negative when I refuse to be brought down by it?
So whether it’s an illness, writing a book, or just living your life…stay positive. Think about the good things that lie ahead, or what’s the point? And whether you believe in God or chocolate to help get you through, surround yourself with positive things and positive people….because negative will definitely pull you down.
p.s. My 3 inch tumor was bigger than expected but my nodes were clean which means no spread. I don’t get the final results until 02/05…when I also get my chemo schedule, but in the meantime I have signed another contract with Wild Rose Press for a fantasy short, Love Supernaturally, and am waiting on a 2nd contract from my YA publisher, Boroughs, for my Young Adult novella, California Blue. I continue to work, write, craft, dream and plan.
REAL LOVE (A Candy Hearts Story)
Her eyes and heart are open to new worlds and new possibilities.
As a young girl, Monda was placed into the tutelage of Mistress Teevac. Trained to use her empathic skills and educated in the ways to please a man, Monda is on her way to her new mate and master when her spaceship crashes. Rescued by a handsome space lieutenant, who literally makes her heart race, Monda’s eyes and heart are opened to new possibilities.
When Lieutenant Patrick Lancaster looks at the exotic Monda, he sees beautiful not alien. With an instinct to protect her and the desire to have her, he’d be honored to call her his own, but the starts have something else in mind. Or do they?
Excerpt:
Her face more angular than most. Her lips, thick. A constant pout, like she waited to be kissed. When he looked at her big blue eyes and long blue eyelashes, he thought exotic, not alien.
“Monda.” He reached to wipe the tear. No, it was not his place. He shoved his hand into his pocket. “I didn’t mean you. I don’t think of you as alien. I meant other aliens, like the green guys from Salvador. Have you seen them? About a meter high with pointed teeth. You can’t tell the males from the females except when they have their armor off.” He wanted to pull her into a hug. To comfort her and show her how sorry he felt. But she was promised to another, and while he might be an idiot, his mother also raised him as a gentleman. “Really, Monda, I’m sorry.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“What I mean is you’re an alien but not an alien. You don’t look like an alien. Of course any guy would be honored to have a girlfriend like you.”
“Any guy, but you.”
Buy Links:
Wild Rose Press: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=6593
About the Author:
Charlotte Copper lives in Stouffville, Ontario – that’s in Canada, eh. When she isn’t working at her full-time job, Charlotte likes to craft, read, go to movies, and, of course, write. Charlotte hopes to have all of her stories published some day because, as a romance writer, she believes in happy endings!
Contact Information:
Email: charlottecopper.author@gmail.com
Website: http://charlottecopperauthor.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/charlotte.copper.52
Twitter:: @charlottecopper https://twitter.com/CharlotteCopper
