Carey Burns

Hello, blog world. I've been absent a while, huh? Well, last month, I learned that my feet aren't just arthritic, they're pretty messed up. Dislocated bones and bone spurs have been adding to my pain all along. Who knew? I decided to skip the conservative route in regards to treatment because I'm tired of the pain interfering with my life. Phase One of The Right Foot Fix happened September 13. I had my big toenail and the sneaky bone spur that lived underneath it removed. Painful? Yep. Gross? Indeed. Worth it? So far, yes. It'll be nice to (hopefully) be free from ingrown toenails and all the pain they bring and it'll be nice to not have pain from the spur when I walk. Recovery is going well and I only cried (we're talking ugly cried) twice. The first time was when I couldn't put any weight on it and had to use crutches for the very first time to get down steps and a sidewalk to our car. This girl has no upper-body strength and no skills with crutche...

So, I've started a new job and the first couple of weeks of January were so insanely busy, I didn't have time to even announce the availability of my book. Here she is, in all her glory. Right now, she's available at Amazon , but I'm nearly done with the Kindle files, so stay tuned!   This new year has inspired me to step out of more comfort zones and I'm waist-deep in writing a screenplay...for a romantic comedy. Yeah, I have no idea what possessed me to start this project, but it is fun. And life should be fun! Here's to trying new things and having fun!

If you've been following my blog *pauses to listen to the crickets* you know I'm big about doing new things and being 'brave.' In keeping with this quest of mine, I agreed to read my poetry in front of someone other than my cats and my husband.  And it was fun!  The initial quivers I had over reading my work to strangers with my...unique voice just melted away after the first poem.  I think it might have been the intimate atmosphere that really helped.  If you're a writer and/or poet, I would recommend finding small poetry readings in your area as a testing/proving ground for yourself. Also in line with 'new things,' I mowed our grass last night.  No big deal, but I haven't mowed a yard in over twenty years.  I think I surprised the heck out of the hubby by stepping up and offering to do it and I did a very mediocre job of it, at best.  But, I tried.  Will I mow again?  Hmm...the hives I'm enjoying today make me say no, but you never know...

Okay, so recently I posted about being brave and now I'm really walking the walk.  I've schedule an author/artist event at a local book store for the end of March and I'll be contacting the local newspaper for an interview regarding the event.  I am now an official member of The Horror Writers Associaton (at the affiliate level).  I decided to query several small presses to see if they would be interested in publishing my collection "Hair Baby and Other Weird Tales."  If they are not, I'll be self-publishing that.  Now, I challenge you to do something that scares you.  Write a story.  Send that story out to publishers.  Sing in front of a group.  Teach a class.  Skydive.  We spend too much time worrying about what will happen IF we do something.  Sure, we might get rejected or sing off-key or students may tie you up and lock you in a closet or your parachute might not open.  But wha...

Each year, one thing I put on my "To Do" list is to be braver.  If you would meet the me from 10 years ago and have her stand next to me, I think you'd see she was horribly shy and timid.  She would never dream of sending out any of her stories or talking to new people or *gasp* starting a blog to talk to people she didn't even know.  I'm pretty proud of how far I've come and how I've dealt with setbacks along my journey.  Each day I try so hard to be the girl I want to be and live the life I want to live.  Yesterday and today, I did some pretty brave things.  I participated in Neil Gaiman's #KeepMoving and tweeted some pretty personal things.  Things I think I've been trying really hard not to express.  One thing, I miss my dad quite a lot and cry more often than you can imagine.  I've been filling my last 4 months or so of my life with so much activity that I don't really have time to dwell and grieve.  But I'm getting tired and wor...