Chosen to attend the prestigious Riddlebane Academy, Kylie Lockmore soon learns secrets that turn her world upside-down.  From the drug her grandmother invented to control the populace to the missing sister she never knew she had, Kylie is forced to question the truth and decide where she stands.

As I’ve been writing this novel I’ve been thinking lately about how I define myself.  So much of my life revolves around and is affected by my illness that it can sometimes feel that that is all I am.  But that is not how I want to be defined.  I am more than a sum of doctors appointments and hospital stays, symptoms and side effects, walkers and wheelchairs.  There are so many other things that define me.  And it occurs to me how important it is that I remember that.  I am a creative thinking feeling being.  I am a graphic and web designer, a scrapbooker, a novelist.  I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, a child of God.  I am so much more than just a “Novel Patient”.

But how do others see me?  Do they see just a “sick girl” with a walker?  Or do they see the real me?  I think that the more I define myself as I want to be defined the more people will see the me I want them to see.  If I focus on being a patient that is what will define me.  But if I focus on being a Novel PERSON…  well that is what I will be and radiate to the world.

Here is an excerpt from the first draft of my novel:

The Alone Elevator Chapter 1 Excerpt

Recent Comments:

• Deborah Anderson commented on 10 Ways To Stay Organized With A Chronic Illness As a professional organizer, I can offer these tips in helping you be organized while managing pain.
• KatieM commented on Visualizing Symptoms Hi Lauren, thanks for this. I am working on a similar project and would love to talk to you about st
• Meditours commented on Scrapaganza Meditours is committed to providing medical treatments of the highest medical standards today by wor
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Freedom is something that is often taken for granted. Freedom comes in a lot of different varieties and all are often taken lightly until you don’t have that freedom anymore.  Until I got sick I took so many very personal freedoms for granted.  I especially took for granted the freedom to move around  where I want unassisted by a wheelchair and the freedom to drive to any place I wanted.

Now that I can’t walk and I can’t drive, those are things that are no longer taken for granted.  And now I am constantly searching for ways to increase my freedoms once more.

Soon I will be getting a specially designed wheelchair that will allow me to be up out of bed in it without being in pain like I am in my current wheelchair.  However, this new wheelchair can only be transported by a wheelchair accessible vehicle, something I cannot afford.

So today my sister Danielle started what we are calling my Freedom Drive – a fundraiser to help me buy a wheelchair accessible vehicle (as well as help with my other medical expenses).

Please consider donating, and, if that isn’t an option, please share this link with as many people as you can.  Please post it to Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace,  email it to your friends and family, or even blog about it!  Thank you so much for all your help and support!!!

http://www.giveforward.org/freedomdrive/

Join the Facebook Freedom Drive Fan Page!

Recent Comments:

• Deborah Anderson commented on 10 Ways To Stay Organized With A Chronic Illness As a professional organizer, I can offer these tips in helping you be organized while managing pain.
• KatieM commented on Visualizing Symptoms Hi Lauren, thanks for this. I am working on a similar project and would love to talk to you about st
• Meditours commented on Scrapaganza Meditours is committed to providing medical treatments of the highest medical standards today by wor
• 68mu79d commented on Fear
• anna y commented on An Update and a Big THANKS!!! you inspire me. i have no idea how i came across your blog… probably through some of my crazy goog

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