My Journey of Writing and Autoimmune Disease

August 30, 2018 | By Charlotte Blackwell | Reply More

It’s been almost a decade since I began writing to share with others, I was blessed, I was offered two different publishing contracts and within six months became a best-selling author. I was living my dream. After only a few years life had different plans. I began getting sick and didn’t even realize it. I was tired and wasn’t motivated. I couldn’t concentrate and couldn’t write the next book in my series. Fans emailed me asking when it would be out. I kept saying soon but couldn’t write.

I decided to take a job outside of the home, it was great for about a year until I got sick and was confined to bed for eight months and had surgery. I thought I was better, so returned to my job as a special needs learning assistant. The first few months were amazing, and then things started to go downhill again. I took some time off and then became bedridden again, no one knew what was wrong with me. I felt like a failure as a writer, a mom, a wife and an employee.

One year later, I decided it was time to take my life back. With the encouragement of my family, I began writing again, my true calling and something I thought was lost. I recently got a diagnosis of Lupus, but it was then changed to undifferentiated connective tissue disease. This is similar to Lupus, a autoimmune disease, it has the same symptoms, extreme pain, fatigue, brain fog, hair loss, painful rashes, arthritis and more. Thankfully it’s not as damaging to the body. I begin treatment right away and I should be feeling great in a few months. Until then I still have my writing.

Writing through illness can be difficult. I experience extreme joint pain, especially in my hands. This can make typing difficult. It slows me down and even at times, I need to stop. The hardest part is my memory issues. I like to call it sometimes-heimer’s. I sometimes remember things and I sometimes don’t. This makes it very difficult in writing. I have to be careful for plot holes and confusing characters, storylines, you name it. I started a system of colored cue-cards. I write out details for each and every character, every plot and anything else you can imagine. This helps keep me organized. When I question myself on something, I refer back to my cue-cards.

As writers, we get through our stories numerous times, editing, revising, making sure that everything is perfect. I just have to do it a few more times. When doing any changes to my story, I turn on track-changes. This allows me to see the changes I’ve made, and I can compare it to my notes to ensure its fluid. It might take me even longer now, but I believe this helps me to be a better writer, it’s improving my craft and I’m learning so much. Not just about writing, but also about myself, my strength, my determination, and my family. I know many people that deal with disease on a daily basis, they inspire me to do the same. I’m grateful to have answers and a treatment plan and now I plan to get my career back.

It’s not easy starting over, I was away from writing for five years. I started out my writing career with a fantastic publisher, dedicated fans, and amazing friends. When I got sick, I let them all down. Now I need to rebuild their trust and support. I got my rights back from my publisher, I’m revising my Embrace Series and started to re-release it in July as an indie author. One book in the series a month that means before the year is over I will be releasing the newest book in the series.

I love my paranormal romance story, and I’m excited to be back at it and ready to share it with my readers and hopefully some new readers too. I also have a new and exciting romance to share with you all soon. The Climb is my newest book and will be released in August/September. I have many stories planned for my future and I hope that you will all be as excited to join in this journey with me.

It might be hard to write when in pain, when tired or when my memory is failing, but it’s my career, my life, and my dream. Writing helps me feel better, it helps me push through whatever is ailing me, it helps me feel productive and inspired. I hope my story inspires some of you to push through your struggles. We all have them, albeit different, we can forge through them together. I

If you’re interested in following my journey, I’d love to have you follow me on various social networks. I hope you all enjoyed my story and have a wonderful day.

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Blog/website: https://charlotteblackwell.blogspot.com/ (has newsletter sign up link)

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CharlotteBlackwellAuthor/

FB fan group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/charlottesembraced/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CharBlackwell

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charblackwellbooks/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/charblackwell/

Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+CharlotteBlackwell

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4836172.Charlotte_Blackwell

All-Author: https://allauthor.com/profile/charblackwell/

Amazon: amazon.com/author/charblackwellbooks

Book Bub: https://partners.bookbub.com/authors/4599004/edit

Booksprout: https://booksprout.co/author/2971/charlotte-blackwell

Bio:

Charlotte Blackwell, author of The Embrace Series, is delighted to have the opportunity to follow her dreams of writing. She would love to share a little bit about herself with you now.

Charlotte was born in October of 1976. She was raised in Edmonton. Alberta. On the day of her birth, Charlotte’s father was racing stock cars, while her two older sisters watched from the stands, their father crashed through the wall of the racetrack. Within moments, the stock car he was driving came back through the wall, and he won the race. He took his two daughters and hurried to the hospital for the birth of his third daughter, Charlotte.

Charlotte and James married in 2005 and completed their family of five, with a son, Lucas, in 2006. Lucas was born six weeks early and had three surgeries by one-month-old. Today, all three of their children (Jorden, Shawnee, and Lucas) are happy, healthy and very active.

Charlotte and James live with their children and their many animals, just outside of Calgary, Alberta. They cherish every moment they have together as a family and hope to soon travel the world. James and the children have been great supporters of Charlotte from day one, and continue to cheer her on along the way.

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