I've moved!

Hi there and welcome to another moment of the mania! I'm Ann Shannon, the manic writer. I blog about PTSD and encouragement and write book reviews and romantic fiction. My passion is the military, soldiers, and veterans, especially those with PTSD. I love that you stopped by, grab a drink and make yourself at home. Leave a comment or find me on social media, I'd love to meet you and get to know you.

Come join me at my new site.  

Click here and don't forget to change your bookmarks!

I've moved! 

Come join me at my new site.  

Click here and don't forget to change your bookmarks!

It is my goal to end the stigma that comes with PTSD. I blog about PTSD once a week, searching the mountains of information out there and bringing you the best of what I find. I review a book on PTSD every other week and I publish a weekly encouraging reflection and tweet encouraging quotes for PTSD survivors daily, follow me to be encouraged. Together we can make a difference.

When I'm not blogging about PTSD or trying to encourage those of you living with it. I'm an author. I write romance. I just finished my first book and I am revising and editing it. With any luck, it will be published later this year, in the meantime you can get a sample of my work on the web. Original work can be found here, and fanfiction can be found here. Let me know what you think, and tell me how you found me!

PTSD Treatment Options- EMDR

Courtesy of Sami Shannon

Hi there and welcome to another moment of the mania! I'm Ann Shannon, the manic writer. I blog about PTSD  and encouragement and write book reviews and romantic fiction. My passion is the military, soldiers, and veterans, especially those with PTSD. I love that you stopped by, grab a drink and make yourself at home. Leave a comment or find me on social media, I'd love to meet you and get to know you.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve covered the common treatments for PTSD, self-help, CBT and medication. I don’t mean to say these are the best or only treatments, but they are the typical ones, in my opinion. They are the infantry in the treatment army, the first to go in and fix things. Hey, infantry is important, they are the initial surveyors, they head in, get the lay of the land and report back to headquarters with their assessments. Without these important tools, we would be overwhelmed with ways to handle and heal PTSD.

Once someone with PTSD has been triaged though, and the initial threats have been handled, it is time to look for healing because so often someone who is struggling with PTSD doesn’t seek help until their life is falling apart. They have serious depression, or they’re trying to mend themselves with alcohol or drugs, or the worst of all, they’re considering suicide. It’s important to triage them and handle those initial problems, help them get back on their feet because you can’t heal someone who is still hiding from the trolls under their table.

Over the next few weeks, I want to talk about some of the methods that are used to heal PTSD because I believe there is healing available. Will you be the same man or woman you were before your trauma? Of course not. Life is about change, both the good and the bad, but you can find relief from the fear, anxiety, flashbacks and depression. You can heal your mind to some degree and live again.

I believe in you.

Please remember that I am a writer and researcher, my key role is to filter through the mountains of information available and bring the best of it to you. I do not and can not offer medical advice if you suspect that you or a loved one is dealing with PTSD please seek professional help immediately. If you are considering suicide, or you believe a loved one is considering it, please call for help now. As I've said before, we can't let the trolls win this battle and 1 suicide is 1 too many.

This week I’d like to talk about EMDR. Most of the therapies I’ve talked about before last week are common, you’ve probably heard about them and are familiar enough to at least give a simple description of them. And I’m willing to bet that when you read my blog post about Prolonged Exposure Therapy you hadn’t heard it called by that name, but it sounded familiar and made sense to you. The therapy I’m going to discuss today probably won’t snag any memory bytes at all, and it won’t make sense to you either but it has many studies and a record of being very effective. That’s why I’m here writing about it.

Courtesy of flickr

EMDR is short for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It was discovered by Francine Shapiro in 1987 by chance. She realized that as she was walking her eye movement was helping her process some difficult thoughts she was having. She realized there was much more to her discovery though and devoted the next few years to studying what she had discovered and creating the therapy that is known today as EMDR.

Initially, it was received with skepticism but she forged ahead and encouraged clinicians to look into it. By 1995, the experimental skepticism had been dropped, there had been multiple studies confirming its effectiveness and it was accepted as a viable psychological treatment option (reference). In 1987, PTSD was a new diagnosis and there was little information or research on how to treat it. Some clinicians gave EMDR a chance and found that it worked very well.

So what is EMDR anyway? How does it work? What does it involve?

Trigger warning, this video has footage of Vietnam combat in it.

EMDR is an 8 phase treatment option but that doesn’t mean it is a long-term treatment option. In fact, you can be treated in just a few sessions depending on your symptoms and your reactions. In phase 1 the clinician will take a complete history, identifying and targeting memories for treatment. This will not require you reliving your trauma, you can simply say “I was attacked.” That’s enough. Phase 2 involves the clinician ensuring that the client can handle emotional stress. The client will be taught how to relieve their stress during and between sessions.

The real work begins in Phases 3-6. During these sessions, the clinician identifies a troubling thought process or memory and targets it in treatment working through it until it is no longer troubling for the client. This involves three steps, recalling a memory, understanding and identifying the negative belief that arose because of it and recognizing the related physical reactions to it. The clinician will then help the client associate a positive belief with that memory and move on.

The final phases, 7 and 8 involve the clinician guiding the client through closure, both between sessions and at the end of treatment. When both the clinician and client feel that treatment is complete they will discuss the progress they made and what the client can expect in the future.

That’s it, in a nutshell.

EMDR has been shown to be accepted and helpful in the treatment of trauma, serious loss, and PTSD. It has been studied and discussed widely. The NYTimes  did an article on it in 2014. More information on the research can be found here  and the theory for how and why it works can be read about here. It’s some pretty deep and scientific stuff so I felt like you were better off reading it yourself than having me botch it up trying to explain it.

I hope that you learned something here today. We don’t know all there is to know about how the brain and mind work. We don’t understand the process of making, keeping and processing memories, but we do know that they affect us. It seems that Dr. Shapiro stumbled upon a way to help us process the memories that seem to haunt us and it seems to work. If you think it might be an option for you, read about it, talk to your practitioner and look into it.

This Thursday, in conjunction with this post, I will be reviewing Francine Shapiro’s book Getting Past Your Past which discusses the discovery and development of EMDR and some of the ways it can be implemented. Come back and read the review, learn what I’ve learned.


It is my goal to end the stigma that comes with PTSD. I blog about PTSD once a week, searching the mountains of information out there and bringing you the best of what I find. I review a book on PTSD every other week and I publish a weekly encouraging reflection and tweet encouraging quotes for PTSD survivors daily, follow me to be encouraged. Together we can make a difference.

When I'm not blogging about PTSD or trying to encourage those of you living with it. I'm an author. I write romance. I just finished my first book and I am revising and editing it. With any luck, it will be published later this year, in the meantime you can get a sample of my work on the web. Original work can be found here, and fanfiction can be found here. Let me know what you think, and tell me how you found me!

A moment in the mania

Hi there and welcome to another moment of the mania! I'm Ann Shannon, the manic writer. I blog about PTSD, encouragement and write book reviews and romantic fiction. My passion is the military, soldiers, and veterans, especially those with PTSD. I love that you stopped by, grab a drink and make yourself at home. Leave a comment or find me on social media, I'd love to meet you and get to know you.

It’s been another busy week, although not as busy as last week. I am trying to dedicate 40 hours a week to blogging and writing and, it seems, the world is trying to prevent that. I haven’t traveled this week, which was nice. I am very much a homebody and like to be there. I have been busy with family obligations though and it’s kept me from my computer.

If you follow me then you know that I have kept up with my blogging schedule, I am committed to that, I want to make a difference. I added the Youtube Tuesday to the schedule this week, but I’m not sure how I feel about it. It seems a bit too lighthearted to me and I am still considering whether or not I want to include it in my regular schedule.

I have also been writing, and revising, but not as much as I’d like to be. For my JunoWriMo goal, I have written just over 15K words which is not enough for it being almost halfway through June. If I am going to achieve my 50K goal in the next 18 days then I need to step up my game.

I have been working on the anthology, but it’s going slower than I expected. I am also working on revising Catch a Falling Star and have come to the conclusion that it needs a heavy revision to make it worthy of publication. I will start on that today or tomorrow. It’s a great story, but I see plot and point of view errors in it that I want to fix. When I fix the first chapter I will be updating it on FictionPress, removing the rest of the story and also posting the first chapter here.

Here is an excerpt from the first short story in the anthology- it is unedited and unrevised.

“Hello, I’m Chelsea Price. I guess we’re table-mates tonight.” She smiled as the men at her table rose to welcome her. 

Louise looked at her from under the weight of her heavy eyelids, painted with blue eyeshadow as if it would hide their weight. Her smile didn’t leave her mouth as she spoke, perhaps her eyes couldn’t smile with all the added weight. “Hello Mrs. Price. I’m Louise Olmstead, you can call me Louise.”  

“Nice to meet you Louise, thank you.” 

Louise’s husband who was still standing waiting for Chelsea to seat herself smiled broadly. He was tall and thin where Louise was not. “Mrs. Price, I’ve heard so much about you but never had the pleasure of meeting you. The rumors are true, you are a lovely young lady.” 

Chelsea’s face warmed at his compliment, Jack Olmstead career in finance had been very lucrative and his specialty must have been customer service. “Thank you Mr Olmstead. I’ve heard a lot about you as well. Thank you for the compliment.” 

Louise looked at her husband as if he had cavorted with the enemy for a moment. “Chelsea, may I call you that?” She didn’t wait for the affirmative nod. “I heard you recently had your youngest graduate college. It must be a relief to have them all taken care of now.” 

Chelsea flexed her back imperceptibly but kept her face still. It would seem Mrs Olmstead wanted the fine specimen of a man sitting beside the seat she was about to take to think that she was old enough to be his mother. She brushed it off, she wasn’t here to flirt, she was here to fund raise and with that in mind she turned to him and held out her hand. “I’m Chelsea Price.”

One final task I’ve been working on is my new domain. I’ve purchased my own piece of the web and I’m working on building my new blog there. You can check out the beginning of it by clicking here, the main domain is a shared site, my daughters also intend to have author platforms at some point in the future and we wanted to work together. My actual blog site will be a subdomain of that one.

I have also signed up for the July CampNanoWriMo. I was on the fence about doing it, but my friend asked me if I was joining and I jumped in with her feet first. Why not?

I guess that’s all the news this week. Nothing really exciting to tell. I was a JunoWriMo featured author this week and you can check it out here. Have a great week!

It is my goal to end the stigma that comes with PTSD. I blog about PTSD once a week, searching the mountains of information out there and bringing you the best of what I find. I review a book on PTSD every other week and I publish a weekly encouraging reflection and tweet encouraging quotes for PTSD survivors daily, follow me to be encouraged. Together we can make a difference.

When I'm not blogging about PTSD or trying to encourage those of you living with it. I'm an author. I write romance. I just finished my first book and I am revising and editing it. With any luck, it will be published later this year, in the meantime you can get a sample of my work on the web. Original work can be found here, and fanfiction can be found here. Let me know what you think, and tell me how you found me!

I usually blog about PTSD and if you come here for that don't be discouraged by the different topic, this is what I do when I'm not talking about the subject that fills every corner of my life. I will be continuing to blog even while I write. It helps, a lot, to have something that I love to do and for me that's writing love stories! Even my husband gets in on the action, discussing books ideas, plots, and characters with me for hours. My work is available for free right now, just check out my links to the right. And make sure you make time for fun too!

YouTube Tuesday

Hi there and welcome to another moment of the mania! I'm Ann Shannon, the manic writer. I blog about PTSD, encouragement, and write book reviews and romantic fiction. My passion is the military, soldiers, and veterans, especially those with PTSD. I love that you stopped by, grab a drink and make yourself at home. Leave a comment or find me on social media, I'd love to meet you and get to know you.

I love these guys. They are hysterical to watch. In this episode, they are doing a blind taste and identification of juices. They did this once with bottled water and that one is worth watching also.

I love the faces they make when they don't really like what they are tasting and the camaraderie that occurs between them. It's clear that they are good friends and have been for a long time, their friendship shines through.




I included the water one just for fun.

I usually blog about PTSD and if you come here for that don't be discouraged by the different topic, this is what I do when I'm not talking about the subject that fills every corner of my life. I will be continuing to blog even while I write. It helps, a lot, to have something that I love to do and for me that's writing love stories! Even my husband gets in on the action, discussing books ideas, plots, and characters with me for hours. My work is available for free right now, just check out my links to the right. And make sure you make time for fun too!

Hi there and welcome to another moment of the mania! I'm Ann Shannon, the manic writer. I blog about PTSD, encouragement, and write book reviews and romantic fiction. My passion is the military, soldiers, and veterans, especially those with PTSD. I love that you stopped by, grab a drink and make yourself at home. Leave a comment or find me on social media, I'd love to meet you and get to know you.

 If you are a regular reader then you know that I use Fridays to update you a bit on the mania in my life.  It’s been a busy week, full of research, travel, catching up and JunoWrimo and I have a lot of catching up to do with my real work.

Champlain College

Last week I brought my daughter, who also aspires to write, to the CCYW, Champlain College Young Writers conference. It was amazing. Not only was it set on the banks of Lake Champlain in beautiful Burlington, VT but the people there were great as well.

My daughter learned a lot and not just about writing. She made new friends and had a three-day college experience. Which is to say she avoided me all weekend. Just as it should be.

I also learned a lot. There was a workshop for the chaperone's and I very much enjoyed not only the instructor but the other students as well. We were challenged to write a bit of a memoir and then share it. It was the first time I’d shared something so deeply personal to people sitting in the same room and it was moving. I loved hearing their stories, the way they described them and the emotion they conveyed with mere words on a page. Memoir and biography are not fields I ever intend to delve into, but I learned a lot from working with them, about myself and about writing.

I also learned that it is a long ride from my house to Burlington. Very long. It is, however, a beautiful ride and I am looking forward to returning with my younger daughter next year. She doesn’t intend to be a writer per se, but a Mangaka and I think the experience would open her eyes to more within the writing world.

Courtesy of JunoWriMo

In the meantime, JunoWriMo has begun and I have hardly worked on my books at all. I had planned to write the anthology and I have three of the five planned stories for it outlined and one begun. Unfortunately, when I started to write it I just wasn’t feeling it. I got roughly 3K words of the expected 8-10K needed and felt like it was flat. I’ve decided to change strategy, for now anyway and work on my final revision of Falling Star. Maybe I’ll pick the anthology up later in the month when I can focus more fully on a completely new project.

I’ve written or revised 4700 words so far this month which is disheartening because I’d like to move faster, but it just hasn’t been possible yet.

In other news, I purchased my very own domain! I’m so excited that I can hardly sit still. I am working on building my WordPress blog there and a few other things and then I will migrate everything over and leave a link for redirection. It will probably be July before I can launch it but next week I may have a preview link of the new site and my place-holder post.

I usually blog about PTSD and if you come here for that don't be discouraged by the different topic, this is what I do when I'm not talking about the subject that fills every corner of my life. I will be continuing to blog even while I write. It helps, a lot, to have something that I love to do and for me that's writing love stories! Even my husband gets in on the action, discussing books ideas, plots, and characters with me for hours. My work is available for free right now, just check out my links to the right. And make sure you make time for fun too!

It is my goal to end the stigma that comes with PTSD. I blog about PTSD once a week, searching the mountains of information out there and bringing you the best of what I find. I review a book on PTSD every other week and I publish a weekly encouraging reflection and tweet encouraging quotes for PTSD survivors daily, follow me to be encouraged. Together we can make a difference.

Attitude

Courtesy of Northern Exposures

Hi there and welcome to another moment of the mania! I'm Ann Shannon, the Manic Writer. I blog about PTSD, encouragement and write book reviews and romantic fiction. I love that you stopped by, grab a drink and make yourself at home. Leave a comment or find me on social media, I'd love to meet you and get to know you.

Courtesy of Flickr

A positive attitude is the filter that shapes how we interpret and respond to people and circumstances. Attitudes are habits, and since we become our habits it's important to choose them wisely.

Credit

A positive attitude can change everything. When I was in my 20's I was a single mom and I worked very hard to make ends meet which meant that I often drove a car on the verge of a breakdown. This trained me to have a positive attitude. Once upon starting up from a very long red light my car chose to make a sound that would have rivaled the coming of the apocalypse rather than move forward. The grinding, grating and other offensive noises coming from underneath my feet told me I was staying put for the moment. Where I could have cried I chose positivity instead, I climbed out of my car and cheerfully exclaimed “At least it's not raining!” That's when the volunteer fire alarm rang out for all to hear and I realized I had broken down directly in front of their driveway.

Ah well, positivity will get us part of the way. I made it through that day because I chose to be positive regardless of how dark the circumstances looked.

I know that a car breakdown is nothing in comparison to the challenges we face when we are dealing with mental illness and I do not want to belittle or disparage the pain that we feel when we have PTSD.

I do think there are valuable lessons in my story though. I had several ticks against me that day. I was broke, during that time in my life I rarely had two dimes to rub together. I was alone, I had no one to share the burden of a broken down car with me. I was miles from home, where I broke down I still had a 30 minute drive on back roads before I got home and with a broken car I had to figure out how to do that with a 6 yr old in tow. Finally, I was one step away from a crisis, with no car I had no way to get to work which would have started an avalanche that would have ended with me jobless.

These are all moments that we experience everywhere. If you suffer from PTSD, or love someone who does, then they are all points that, with attitude, you can adjust.

Are you broke? Struggling with PTSD can lead to employment problems but there are resources out there. If you don't have the strength to find them find an advocate who can help you. Be brave and ask for help. I know it's hard but in the end it's worth it.

Are you alone? You may feel very alone but look up and look around. I may not have had a partner at the time, but I had family and when I reached out they were very supportive and helped me while my car was repaired.

Are you miles from home? I've been there. That day I was a mere 20 miles from my home but I've been farther and I know how it feels. And you might just feel lonely in a room of people who love you. Be brave, reach out. I got a ride home and you can too.

Are you one step away from a crisis? Granted me being jobless and potentially homeless is different from the crisis you may be approaching if you have PTSD and again, I recognize that there is no comparison here, just life situations that crop up everywhere. If you feel a crisis coming on, or are in one please, please, please get help. Talk to a family member, a trusted friend, a doctor or call the crisis line. Don't let the trolls win this one.

All this to say that when we look on the positive side we often find a lot more going for us than we originally thought there was. Step back and ask yourself what's good about this situation. Is the sun shining, enjoy it! Do you have a full belly, revel in the feel! Are you surrounded by loved ones who care? Give them a hug and thank them.

courtesy of Flickr

Stay positive my friends.

Please remember that I am a writer and researcher, my key role is to filter through the mountains of information available and bring the best of it to you. I do not and can not offer medical advice if you suspect that you or a loved one is dealing with PTSD please seek professional help immediately. If you are considering suicide, or you believe a loved one is considering it, please call for help now. As I've said before, we can't let the trolls win this battle and 1 suicide is 1 too many.

It is my goal to end the stigma that comes with PTSD. I blog about PTSD once a week, searching the mountains of information out there and bringing you the best of what I find. I review a book on PTSD every other week and I publish a weekly encouraging reflection and tweet encouraging quotes for PTSD survivors daily, follow me to be encouraged. Together we can make a difference.

When I'm not blogging about PTSD or trying to encourage those of you living with it I'm an author. I write romance. I just finished my first book and I am revising and editing it. With any luck, it will be published later this year, in the meantime you can get a sample of my work on the web. Original work can be found here, and fanfiction can be found here. Let me know what you think, and tell me how you found me!

Manic Moments and Quiet Moments

Hi there and welcome to another moment of the mania! I'm Ann Shannon, the manic writer. I blog about PTSD, encouragement and write book reviews and romantic fiction. I love that you stopped by, grab a drink and make yourself at home. Leave a comment or find me on social media, I'd love to meet you and get to know you.

I usually blog about PTSD and if you come here for that don't be discouraged by the different topic, this is what I do when I'm not talking about the subject that fills every corner of my life. I will be continuing to blog even while I write. It helps, a lot, to have something that I love to do and for me that's writing love stories! Even my husband gets in on the action, discussing books ideas, plots, and characters with me for hours. My work is available for free right now, just check out my links to the right. And make sure you make time for fun too!

Halfway through May today and I've been typing my little fingers away as I prepare for JunoWriMo. I am coming up on a very busy week and I wanted to be well prepared for a week off. This Sunday I will attend a local event here called CloverCon with my family. Three of us will be leaving from there for a field trip to Washington DC and returning later in the week. All that to say that I will be taking an enforced week off of writing as I don't own a laptop and I think I'd find it difficult to write away from home effectively.

We are looking forward to CloverCon. The girls went last year and had a blast. This year they will be cosplaying, both as characters from Naruto Shippuden. I will probably tweet pics of them so follow me on twitter and Instagram to see them.

Courtesy of Flickr

Then we will leave with friends of ours directly from the convention and head down to DC for a homeschool field trip. My husband will be home taking care of the dog and working, poor him. We are looking forward to our trip, but I think I will find it hard to not work.

One aspect of my writing mania is that I am compelled to write. I see a lot out there about making yourself make a habit of writing, and writing every day. Writing for me is like breathing, I can't not do it and taking almost a full week off will be challenging for me. As it is I take the weekends off and feel guilty despite working almost an 8 hr day Monday through Friday, all writing or writing related.

In the meantime, I've been preparing blog posts, editing my WIP and pre-writing my JunoWriMo project as when I return from DC I will have slightly more than a week before it begins. And another trip to prepare for before it.

Courtesy of Flickr

Ahh, the life of a writer! So romantic! Don't I wish?!

It is my goal to end the stigma that comes with PTSD. I blog about PTSD once a week, searching the mountains of information out there and bringing you the best of what I find. I review a book on PTSD every other week and I publish a weekly encouraging reflection and tweet encouraging quotes for PTSD survivors daily, follow me to be encouraged. Together we can make a difference.

Camp NanoWriMo

April 1 will host many events for me. Most obviously it's April Fools day. In my house this can be serious business as we try to outdo each other in pranks.

It will also be the day our new health insurance kicks in. A collective sigh of relief may be heard coming from my house as we've been a month without due to a job change. My daughter still thinks it's a joke and we'll have to wait longer for it. I hope not!

The best event that will occur on April 1 is the start of CampNanoWriMo.  I am really looking forward to this camp experience. CampNanoWriMo is a spin-off of NanoWriMo which happens in November. It is an online event meant to encourage us as writers.  We group up into "cabins" and set ourselves a word goal for the month and then write away, encouraging each other as we do.

My goal for camp is to edit my novel Catch a Falling Star and prepare it for final editing and publication. I've set a 75,000 word goal for the month but the book itself is 90,000 words as it stands and while I see some of it falling off the chopping block I don't truly believe I'll lose 15,000 words so I may hit higher.

I won't be working on anything else, other than the blog during Camp so many of my projects will be put on hold. I hope the voices in my head realize they need to wait as I have a character currently telling me his story and asking me to write it down. He needs to be patient. (And he needs to tell me his name!)

I will update here, weekly, on Wednesdays with my word count and progress. The novel is currently up at FictionPress and can be read there in it's entirety. The chapters will be updated as I finish them. When it's ready for publication I will most likely take it down from FP.

My first goal with CaFS will be to rewrite the first chapter. On FP I've had good reviews and views for this story. The one weakness I've noticed is that, as of this writing, 662 people have clicked on chapter 1 and only 118 have moved on to chapter 2. After that the numbers are fairly steady so once they commit they love it but obviously that first chapter sends many running. I want to fix that. A spreadsheet with my goals set for each day can be seen here. I will highlight each goal as it is met and relink to my progress reports weekly.

After that it will be wording that I work on. Apparently, according to my reviews, I use the term "tears pricked at her eyes" excessively. I will also work on content, tightening up the story and being sure it makes sense.

I'd love it if you, my reader, would read along with me and tell me how I'm doing. Subscribe to me and get the updates when I fix a chapter! Post a comment here, or a review on FP and let me know how I'm doing!

And, if you're a writer, come join CampNanoWriMo! Either way I'd love your support as I work through editing and publishing my first book. This has been a dream of mine since I was young and only recently have I found the road to making it happen. Send me words of encouragement, like my page, or me, on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. If you want, you can make a donation to CampNanoWriMo in my name and support me that way. And read my work, tell me, truly, if you loved it or where you think I missed the boat. The only way I'll improve is by being challenged.

Toodles!

Manic Mondays- Four from the Web

So today I'll take a look and offer my thoughts on four articles that caught my eye. This is a sort of current events but not really since it is opinion and pop-culture more than news.

I hope you enjoy and don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss a moment of the madness!

Lingerie Model speaks out against the term "plus size"

Credits

 The full article can be found here but the gist of it is that she feels it's unfair for the fashion industry to continue using the plus size term when the  average woman's size rests around a 14, which is considered plus. She says it's harmful to women, especially young women, and their body images.

I have to say I agree with her and, of course, I have my own thoughts to add.  Let's also stop making plus size it's own department and line of clothing at the store.  I am, myself, a plus size. I can't shop at many stores because of this and it's not because I'm about to be featured on "My 600 Lb Life." A show that I love for the empowerment it gives to those who are struggling to lose weight and regain their health. Their stories encourage and uplift me when I take the time to watch them.

I hover slightly above a size 18. For those of you who are unfamiliar with shopping for women's plus size that means that if I were about 3 inches smaller I'd still be able to shop in the "Misses" department. A "Misses" size 18 is a little tight, a plus size 18 falls off of me and the 16's are very hard to find.

Additionally, the plus sizes, when I do find one that fits right, often look like tents or sofa prints. I don't know who decided that a paisley print stolen from my grandmothers drapes and fashioned by Paul the tent maker would make me look thinner because it doesn't. It does, however, help me blend in when I'm sitting on the couch in a old hotel, something my introverted self likes to do often.

Finally, lets discuss plus size exercise wear. Or the lack of it. If anyone needed exercise wear it would be me but, alas, it's not available in my size, XXL. I guess only skinny people work out. I am currently squeezing myself into the XL and hoping I'll shrink enough that they'll look less like an accidental and very colorful scuba suit and more like gym wear soon. Am I self-conscious at the Y? Of course I am but oh well, I turn up the music and dance anyway.

Meghan Trainor says it best and I love her for standing up for us.

Men's Standards of Beauty Around The World

While I'm on the topic of fashion lets not forget the men. Men used to have it easy, show up, open a door, smile, pay for the meal and he was a keeper.  Things are changing as this Buzzfeed Video showcases.

Lets give the guys a break too! I realized, watching this, that even I do it. My main male characters are all tall, trim and sexy. Is that the reality? Hardly, look around you, just like women, men come in a variety of shapes and sizes, lets love them for their uniqueness. I'm going to work towards changing my thought patterns and if you read my work let me know how I'm doing.

 Images of PTSD

This article caught my eye, in a way it's related to my manic musings above. If you just did a double-take and reread that statement stay with me for a moment. 

PTSD is rapidly becoming a widespread phenomenon and not just among soldiers, although they do weigh heavily in the statistics. Add to that the fact that we lose 22 soldiers a day to suicide, usually PTSD related and that means, "Houston, we have a problem."

What is the cultural idea of who a soldier is? Strong, tough, independent, brave? Those are all words that can be used to define our soldiers. They willingly step up and do what our country asks, no orders, them to do, be it peace keeping missions or other. Now I don't want to start a conversation on the missions, this is not a political piece. They signed up to serve in the military, it's a job and someones got to do it, after that they are simply following orders, they don't get to choose where they are sent or what they do.

Twenty percent of the men and women who are serving our country today are likely to develop PTSD when they get home. Lets stop demonizing it, lets stop pushing it under the carpet in the hopes that it will go away on its own and lets offer them the support they need to heal. Healing is possible. Sure they may never be the same but they can live. How do I know this? I live with a soldier who has PTSD and I have walked beside him over the last ten years as we've come to terms with what it means for us and watched him heal. Is he done? No. Will he ever be completely healed? I don't know, I hope so but I'm going to love him where he is, no matter how hard and never compare him to some unattainable, fairy-tale ideal that doesn't exist.

Lets start the conversation today! Check out these images, you may be surprised at the humanity you see in them. And lets remember that in PTSD everyone suffers.

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 Dogs by the Hour

Finally, I'm going to log off with a slightly less serious topic. If you've made it this far through my manic ranting then this is your reward.

A Japanese company, in response to crowed homes and busy lives has started a pet rental service. For a fee you can rent a few hours of puppy love and then go home. This is almost better than grandchildren! I mean, no pooper scooper duty, no last minute trips, and I might add very expensive, trips to the pet food store because you didn't notice you were opening the last can of food, and definitely no chewed shoes when you're late because Banjo got bored waiting for you. I'm kind of wishing I'd thought of this first!

Now, if my granddaughter is reading this which I highly doubt, she's smart but she isn't reading just yet, I hope. I am not saying I'd rather rent a puppy for a 1/2 hour then spend time with her but the payoff is essentially the same. You can rile them up, feed them lots of junk and then send them home for someone else to deal with, that's playtime you can enjoy. I wonder if this will catch on anywhere else?

Oh well, it's unlikely to become a part of my life since we own a dog who is my hubby's best friend and when he passes on to that playground in the sky we will seriously consider a service dog trained to work with PTSD since that would be amazing for both of us.

I hope you've enjoyed my Manic Musings for this bright and shiny Monday morning. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

So here we are at another challenge, this time it's White Day Challenge. White day is a holiday celebrated in Japan on March 14. In Japan Valentines day is typically celebrated by women giving the men who are important to them a small gift. On White Day the men reciprocate by giving a gift to the women who are important to them. In the spirit of White Day we challenged ourselves to write a story that reflected this tradition of the man repaying a gift he was given by someone important.

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Enjoy the Roundup.

This is the result of our latest challenge- it was set up by the group organizer WinnifredArtemis, thank you for feeding my madness. She chose the time-frame and the prompt for our group Writers Challenge.

The rules were simple, you had to write within the timeframe she'd set aside for it, and use the prompt, otherwise you were free to follow the voices in your head, I mean your own creativity. It could be a fanfiction, original work, poem, song, anything the voices in your head told you to write. In the case of the White Day challenge we had one day and the prompt was White Day itself.

I thought it might be cool to share what others had done, they were all good entries and I encourage you to check them out.  The names are linked to their profiles or blogs, the story titles will bring you to the madness. Our group meets on facebook and is open to any writer who wants to join. The submissions are listed in no particular order.

WinnifredArtemis started us off with an Attack on Titan fanfiction. Her entry is brief but engaging. I'm not familiar with the anime but based on WinnifredArtemis's entry I think it must go on my 'to watch' list. Thank you WinnifredArtemis!

Andre is our next submission with a Naruto/Fairy Tail crossover fanfic. For those who don't know a crossover will incorporate the authors favorite parts of both stories. I think Andre did a great job of slipping Naruto into the Fairy Tail world and pairing him up with Lucy. I am familiar with both these anime's and, although I don't currently have any cross-shippings myself, I think the NaruLu is a great one.

Gjalt rejoined us this time around with a No Game, No Life fanfic. He refers to his submission as an attempt at romance but I think he did an great job, and I have another anime added to my 'to watch list' thanks to his story that I now want to know more about.

Isis submitted a fanfic based onProfessor Layton but she assures her reader that they don't need to be familiar with the game to appreciate her story. It's a cute little one shot about a procrastinating boy named Luke. It will leave you smiling and wishing there were more.

Mohit rejoined us this time with another little humorous slice of life called, appropriately, WhiteDay. His plot twist will leave you chuckling and hoping you don't identify with his character too closely.

Finally, I wrote a quick little piece that I called Stepping Out. It is an original work that takes a peek into the romance of a couple trying to find their way in this busy world.

I hope you've enjoyed this little wrap up of our challenge. Follow the links, read their stories and let them know what you think! Writing is our passion, it's what feeds our souls but the reviews are oh so encouraging! And look for our next challenge which will come at us during the busy busy month of April while some of us will be hammering away at our word goals for Camp Nanowrimo. But hey, the picture says it all.

Credit for the lovely picture portraying the madness we give in to goes to my lovely and talented daughter who understands it all too well. 

Of course in the case of fanfics the characters belong to the original creators but the story's all stem from the madness in our heads. Our original works are ours and must be referenced as such if you share them, thank you.

Writing Challenge Roundup

I needed proof that I wasn't the only one. Compelled to write, no matter the topic. So I joined a group, either their all mad like me, or they're very tolerant of me and my madness. I'm not sure.

This is the result of our first challenge- it was set up by the group organizer WinnifredArtemis, thank you for feeding my madness. She chose the time-frame and the prompt for our group Writers Challenge.

The rules were simple, you had to write within the week she'd set aside for it, and use the prompt, Do Not Enter, otherwise you were free to follow the voices in your head, I mean your own creativity. It could be a fanfiction, original work, poem, song, anything the voices in your head told you to write.

I thought it might be cool to share what others had done, they were all good entries and I encourage you to check them out. The names are linked to their profiles or blogs, the story titles will bring you to the madness.

Gjalt wrote the opening of an original story, Terror Siblings, that I'm sure I want to read more of...I only hope he intends to finish it. Just for the record I want these two on my side if anything goes down. 

Lia wrote a fanfiction about NCIS:LA called Do Not Enter This Room that I almost mistook for our valentines day challenge it was so sweet and romantic. Great job Lia! I have a soft spot for romance anyway and this one made “awww” at the end.

Gina also wrote a fanfic about NCIS:LA called Do Not Enter.  I have to admit I haven't watched this show in years but I enjoyed the story's regardless. Hers was not a romance but rather about the inner struggle Callen has dealing with his history and the memories he carries with him.

April posted a great original story, And the Sign Said, that will keep you at the edge of your seat waiting for the next line. She offers an amazing plot twist at the end that will leave you begging for more.

Caroline posted what I hope will be the beginning of a great book. She draws you in and makes you feel her main character. I'll be looking for more of this one..

WinnifredArtemis herself posted a teaser for a fanfic she's working on based on The Originals called Do Not Enter. I'm not familiar with the story but her teaser leaves me wanting more, is he werewolf, vampire, addict? Inquiring minds want to know!

Mohit wrote a bit of original humor about the Do Not Enter topic. It left me wondering what I would do if I found myself in a similar situation.

And of course my own entry which was an original work Do Not Enter, with a touch of mystery. I decided to leave my usual romance aside for this one and try something new. The madness spreads, who knows where it will end.

I hope you've enjoyed this little wrap up of our challenge. Follow the links, read their stories and let them know what you think! Writing is our passion, it's what feeds our souls but the reviews are oh so encouraging!

Of course in the case of fanfics the characters belong to the original creators but the story's all stem from the madness in our heads. Our original works are ours and must be referenced as such if you share them, thank you.

Manic Monday Musings

Good morning! And welcome to Manic Monday Musings, a place where you can glimpse into the rambling madness within my head. Each week I will offer you a peek into my thoughts, my madness goes far and deep though so be prepared to read about daily life, anime, news and pop culture, and whatever else pops into my head. Consider it an affirmation of your sanity.

Here we go:

Plant Serial Killer

I have a confession to make. It's a serious one, even though it won't sound serious when you first hear it, so don't laugh at me.

Well, I guess that kind of sets you up to laugh at me, doesn't it? I mean, I'm asking to be laughed at simply by asking you not to. Because either you'll laugh at what I have to tell you or you'll laugh at me for thinking you would.

But I digress...

I have a confession to make and it's not a pretty one. I'm a serial killer...of plants. I'm not kidding about this. If you give me a plant you are pretty much resigning it to death. If I buy one my kids take bets on how long they'll last.

It's not like I don't try to keep them alive. I water them, sometimes too enthusiastically which is often the beginning of the end for them. Sometimes though, I forget to do even that... poor things.

It's not as if I intentionally kill them. And sometimes they last a really long time for me. I have a spider plant that I inherited from my grandfather when he died. I've had it for almost 14 years and, although it has come close, it's not dead, yet. It's siblings however have not been so lucky... oops.

It's gotten to the point that when I bring a new plant home and announce the end of my reign as a plant serial killer my kids tell the plant their sorry. As if they know there's no hope for me.

This will be the year...I will end my reign of plant killing.

I hope.

Writing Challenges

Hi there blog readers from the web.  You've come back for another taste of madness I see.  This was written in response to a challenge prompt that a friend of mine put out this week.  You can check her blog out here.  The prompt was do not enter, and the only requirement was that the work be centered around that theme.  I hope you enjoy!

Pic obtained from

DO NOT ENTER

The four friends sat and stared at each other, unsure what their next step would be. They had expected immediate freedom when they'd been released from the cell they'd been trapped in for what seemed like forever. Now they sat in a circle trying to decide their next move.

Florence tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder, she was glad she'd had it up in ponytail. “I think we should go for it.”

“What if it's a trap?” Stanley, the cautious one of the group, asked with fear evident in his voice. The experience had been the hardest on him.

“It can't be. Why would they do that? Release us just to recapture us?” Helen countered his argument with her usual sensible logic.

“We all just need to be calm.” The final member, the quietest one, added his opinion. “Either it's a trap or it's not. We have to decide and then stand behind our decision.” He stood and walked away from the group recalling the events of the past week in his mind and trying to make sense of them.

They had been walking home from their usual Friday night pizza when it had started to rain.

“That's odd. There's no rain in the forecast.” Helen was looking at the sky in wonder.

“We could take the shortcut through the forest. It would get us home in half the time.” Doug watched his friends knowing that Stan would be the holdout.

“They say you should stay away from the forest on the night of a full-moon.” Stan's voice was shaking and frightened.

“That's just an old wives tale!” Florence laughed at him. “Besides the trees are thick and will keep us from getting too wet if we hurry.” She ran into the forest leaving the others no choice but to follow.

That had been the beginning. They'd walked through the forest for less than five minutes when they'd been surrounded by a circle of shadows that slowly closed in on them. Doug watched as Stanley fell to his knees with a cry and then collapsed, unconscious on the ground. Flo was next, she cried a little in fear. Helen followed her to her knees with an unbelieving look on her face and the words “Run Doug!” before she passed out. The last thing Doug remembered was watching the ground rush up to meet him before he woke.

He opened his eyes and noted that Flo was the only other conscious one amongst them.

“Where are we?” He looked at her grimly.

“In some sort of cell I think.” She looked around them. “I've only been awake a few minutes longer than you.”

“I see.” He looked around the dimly lit area noting the hardened dirt floor under them. It appeared to be some sort of cave with bars at the front. “Have you called out?”

“No. I was afraid of making whoever caught us angry.” She glanced down in embarrassment.

Doug rose, steadying himself against the head rush it brought on. Standing at the bars he hollered loudly, “Is anyone there? Let us out!” The echo of his voice was his only answer.

“Stop making such a racket. My head hurts.” Helen held her head as she moved to stand.

“Yeah. Let's not attract any attention if we don't have to.” Stan cowered on the ground.

“Obviously someone put us in here, and we need to get them to let us out.” Doug gave his friend an annoyed look.

“I agree.” Helen joined him at the bars and yelled as well. “Hey! You won't get away with this! Let us out!”

They had spent the next few hours arguing amongst themselves as to whether they should attract the attention of their captors or not. Doug and Helen had both felt it was their best chance, Flo agreed with them but was afraid, and Stan was completely terrified of the idea.

“What if they want us to demand our release?” Helen argued with the two hold outs. They had agreed to be quiet until they'd reached a group decision.

“What if they want us to be quiet?” Stan had countered.

It was true, they didn't know their captors reason for trapping them and so they didn't have any idea what the terms of release would be. They all sat and stared at each other wavering in their resolve and how to escape.

“Look Stan.” Doug tried to calm his childhood friend. “If they were going to harm us they'd have done it by now. We've been in here for hours. We have to try and get their attention so we can get out.”

“I agree.” Flo nodded her blonde head, pony tail bobbing up and down behind her.

“I don't know.” Fear danced across Stan's face as he looked into the shadows beyond the bars. “What's out there might be scarier than what's in here.”

“True.” Doug nodded. “But you'll never know if you don't try.” He smiled reassuringly at the redhead. “It's like life. You have to keep taking risks. You have to trust yourself and your strength.”

Stan looked up at his friends as they stood around him. “If you say so.” He stood shakily to his feet and approached the bars with them.

All in unison they hollered. “Let us out!”

As if that had been the key to the cell the door drifted open. They all looked at each other in amazement and walked through it, wonder filling their eyes at how easily it had opened. They squinted in the dark and found a corridor leading off the open room their cell had been in. Now they were at the end of that corridor facing a door with an ominous sign on it.

DO NOT ENTER

And in smaller letters under it.

Entry offered only to the one who can see what is around them and not be ruled by it.

“I say we open it.” Doug ran his hand through his short black hair. “So far we haven't been hurt for acting on our own.” He rose from the group, striding over to the door.

“What do you think it means?” Helen joined him at the door, squinting at the enigmatic message.

“I'm sure I don't care.” Doug shook his head and reached for the handle.

“NO!” Stan stood and ran to him. “It's a trap.”

“I don't think so.” Flo joined them. “I think it's a riddle and whoever solves the riddle can open the door for us.”

“Whatever.” Doug shrugged and twisted the handle. Click, click, but the door didn't open.

“How can you be ruled by what is around you?” Flo scowled at the sign. “What's around us? Darkness, I'm not afraid of the dark.”

Helen looked at her and smiled. “How can you see what's around you when it's dark?”

Stan looked at the words, light dawning in his eyes. “It's me.” He smiled at his friends.

“Who is?”

“I'm the one that can open the door.” He reached for the knob with a new strength in his hand and confidence in his eyes. “I can see the world around me and not allow their lousy opinions of me to keep me trapped any longer because I have friends to lean on and keep me strong when I need them to.”

Doug, Flo and Helen gasped in unison. “Stan!”

“It’s like you've been telling me for years,” he looked Doug in the eye, “don't let the idiot's get you down.” He grinned broadly. “I see it all so clearly now. I can see the idiots that make fun of me and cut me down but I don't have to let them decide who I am anymore. I can let my friends do that with me.” He chuckled. “I should have seen it so much sooner.” Reaching for the door he paused at Doug's inquiry.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why should you have seen it so much sooner?” Doug held him back with his hand on his forearm.

“Because it's been staring me in the face since our cell opened.” He smiled confidently up at his lifetime friend. “When we worked as a team our prison opened. When I stop looking to the world for who I am and instead look to my friends the cell opened, I trusted you to be there with me when things went wrong. It's time for me to stop being ruled by the bullies and start living.” He crowed like a rooster. “Here I come world, watch out!” He gripped the handle of the door and twisted it.

Light poured in and washed over them as they tumbled through the doorway into Flo's backyard.

“I don't get it. This is where the shortcut through the woods brings us.” Flo looked around them in surprise. “Hey, where's the door?” She was looking behind them in disbelief.

Stan put his arm around her shoulder and shook his head gently. “It's all in my mind, Flo, all in my mind.”