I was just wandering (nostalgically - there is a reason for this that will become apparent in the next few weeks, I hope) through my old threads and came across this one, one of my first and probably most important threads on the Chrons. There's been a lot of time and water under the bridge since I first posted here.
A lot has happened in between, but I thought it was worth looking back and mentioning just how much the incident with Hill and Hill did effect me, with a bit of time, and to give the Chrons some well deserved praise.
Before it all happened, I seemed to be in a really good place. I had an agent, Imy book was under review by a publisher and there was interest in said novel. Most of this was just lies, but I did not know it. When it all crumbled I was left stunned, feeling like an idiot (to say the least) but determined to carry on.
But although I started to it slowly ate away at me, and I started to give up. It was easier to say I'd go back to the manuscript later, I'd write something else later, I'd... well it's easy to let time pass like that.
To be fair it was not just all this that contributed to my lack of enthusiasm. As mentioned above I got engaged.
I had a massive seizure, that although open to a lot of debate, I still believe if not for my then fiancée's quick thinking, CPR and recovery possession I would not have survived. I sometimes think back to this and wonder whether the Hill and Hill thing could have been a stresser that brought the seizure on, but it is impossible to know. Maybe a little. It feels good to blame them
At the same time though there have been all the good things, big and small. The engagement became a marriage, and there was one little boy that sprang from that 3 years ago.
I drifted away from the Chrons for a while, but came back and have stayed here ever since, although more in the writers section this time.
Some of the people here are those that helped me so much through this thread, others are new - or those I did not interact with before, but there is still the friendly feeling that has always been prevalent throughout the forums, which is one of the things that make the site so special. In the above situation I always got support, and that speaks not only highly for the site, but ALL of the people that are part of it, the people that run it.
One of the negative things that came out of the Hill & Hill fiasco was, despite my resolve I gave up on writing, probably for the first time in my life. I might have jotted a few words here and there, but nothing really.
Perhaps I needed the break from writing. But when I took an interest in the 75 Word Competition, it rekindled something inside, and that combined with initial support from many members (Doz needs a special mention) and a kick up the bum from Mouse I was suddenly writing again. Maybe not a novel, but short stories, and I've actually submitted two (one acceptance one not so unexpected rejection), and I've sent an old manuscript off to an old friend who has just begun (quite successfully) editing. I've a bunch of shorts that need editing, and hopefully a few more will be ready for submission soon.
And most of this is due to the support of the site and the people on it. It says a lot that when I have news I want to sharer, good or bad I think of people on this site, and sharing it here is nearly as important as sharing with my physical friends. (Not that anyone here is not real or physical).
The people here are special, supportive and worth their weight in gold. Even the ones I don't always agree with over a certain TV show...
It has given me people I am honoured to consider friends, great advice, help and that indisputable sense of fun. I have met and consider the oft missing IceFyre a most excellent fellow and one I am honoured to consider a friend; a few others who I hope to meet one day (soonish) and a new member who I already knew and will be seeing this weekend apparently.
In summation bad things do happen, but good things can come from them. Even if it takes a little time.
