GOODBYE OLD KNEES, HELLO NEW

I’m scared about the bilateral knee replacement surgery I’m slated to have in one month.  The pain (I don’t do pain well), the physical therapy, tottering around with a walker for a month, being dependent on my husband for who knows what needs…none of it pleases me.  I’ve been a healthy, energetic, independent woman all my life and I hate the idea of being weak, in pain and needing support from others.

What’s more, I’m told that the artificial parts they’ll place in my knees won’t “feel” like me/mine/real.  That gives me pause.  Daily, hourly, minute-by-minute, will my knees remind me that I have fake elements as essential mechanisms?  Will I have to think too much about what has been an involuntary act for more than half a century? 

What will it feel like to walk, climb, exercise?  Will I still have a good golf swing?  Can I handle leaps from my boat to the dock and wrenching lines from the boat to cleats?  How easily will I be able to hop in and out of the car, carry groceries, pull/carry luggage, work in the garden, climb a ladder so I can prune my fruit trees?  Could it be that my scuba gear is still too heavy for my knees to bear…on a beach dive?

Will I be too tentative, knowing the limbs are part fake and maybe vulnerable?  How afraid of falling will I be?

Anyone out there who’s had a bilateral knee replacement with some experience to share?  I need to prepare mentally for what’s going to happen to my knees…and march through the stages of grief BEFORE I have the operation!

SUSPENSE SPIKED WITH ROMANCE 

LAST RESORT, FADEOUT, SWOON

FADEOUT won a RONE award!

Web: http://www.rolynnanderson.com

My New Sachet: The Scent of a Book

My New Sachet: The Scent of a Book

from Rolynn Anderson

I admit I used to be a little nervous about e-pubbed literature and e-readers. I grew up with books and bookstores and like my friends, I could get a little emotional when I thought about the disappearance of hardback and paperback books going the way of LP’s. But my shelves are chock full of books that I can’t make myself throw away, leaving no space for new ones. What’s more, when my husband and I go boating for months at a time, we don’t have room or the weight allowance to bring enough books along. Call me fickle, but I transferred my allegiance to a Kindle with scarcely a look backward.

My friends haven’t adjusted so quickly. They’re still in shock that a population could turn their backs on printed books. So I asked them how I might help them transition to e-readers. Their response? They say it’s the smell of a book they’ll miss the most. So, while I market my first novel, LAST RESORT (soon to be available e-pubbed OR printed-on-demand), I’ve decided to make some extra money by developing and selling a sachet that smells like a book. My concoction will emit the odor of ink-on-paper, woodsy with a hint of chemicals…that marvelous bouquet that blasts you when you thumb through a paperback, priming it for a reading.

I’ve already applied for the patent and I’m contracting with some nice folks in L.A. who make stink bombs. They’re convinced my invention will be a big seller to any readers over 25.

Naming my fragrance comes next. Odour d’ Libre? Book Tang? Heaven Scent? I’m still open to possibilities. But how to use the sachets is a given. We’ll affix the potpourri’s to our e-readers, sit back in our chairs, beds or beach towels, and read to our heart’s content, the aroma of a ‘real’ book blending with the words we read. Nice way to transition from print to e-pub, don’t you think?