Hi guys and girls! Welcome to WOW Wednesday. My guest today is Karen Magill, author of 3 paranormal novels and a new book about her battle with MS. Karen thinks anything is possible, and in her fiction writing she treats the paranormal as an everyday occurrence, believing these attributes are within us all.
With no more ado, here's Karen...
On The Right Side, My Story of Survival and Success
What if you woke one day to find yourself
paralysed on one side of your body? That’s what happened to Karen Magill on
June 5, 2000. Nine days later, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and
just over three months after, she had to leave the best job she'd ever
had. So, Karen began the frightening and confusing journey that was her life
now.
Then something interesting happened. Once
Karen began adjusting to her new circumstances, coming to terms with the fact
that her former life had vanished, she realised her MS was a gift. Her
eyes opened to the possibilities around her.
On The Right Side, My Story of Survival and
Success looks at Karen's life with MS and the factors in life that influence her. This is not a 'how to' book
on living with a chronic illness, but rather a touching, opinionated and sometimes humorous story of how one person has gone from partial paralysis to
being able to jump and touch low-hanging tree leaves.
As long as we are not six feet under, we are
on the right side and anything is possible, says Karen. That’s the philosophy she lives by, and she hopes readers will come to realise that they can overcome
hardships and live full lives too.
Excerpts from the book:
First thing in the morning I am not
fully awake, but I do know I have to go to the washroom – that room calls me as
soon as my eyes open. Sometimes even before. That Monday I crawled the short
distance between my bedroom and the bathroom where I hauled myself on to the
toilet, took care of business, and then dragged myself up to the bathroom sink.
I leaned against the vanity and brushed my teeth, watching myself in the mirror
as I did so. It was strange. Nothing on the left side of my face moved. It was
as if someone had drawn a line down the centre of my body and everything on the
right side was fine, but the left didn’t move. What was going on?
All sorts of possibilities go through
one’s mind when he or she is waiting for a diagnosis such as this. Could it be
cancer? Or something I have never heard of? Is my life going to be cut short?
So many possibilities. But that wasn’t what was worrying me. I was terrified the results of the
MRI wouldn’t show anything and once again the medical professionals would think I
was imagining things. I began to silently chant to myself, Let the MRI show something. I chanted that refrain the entire time
I was travelling down town.
Yeah, there was a fair amount of self-pity.
I resented the fact I had finally got a job that paid well enough for me to
have a future and then this happened. It seemed every time I was making
positive advances in my life, something would happen to derail me. Like the
accident on the horse – I was going to college in Vancouver and on my summer
break when that happened. What dastardly crime did I, or one of my ancestors,
commit so that every time I got something good happening in my life, I would
get knocked off my feet again.
Perhaps I was also afraid. This was my
opportunity to prove I had writing talent and could succeed in the
literary business. What if I didn’t have any talent? What if I was just a
dreamer with no talent, no ability, and destined to remain the way I was until
I died? What if all my previous failures
were a sign I wasn’t capable? What if there was no hope for me?
The Safeway I shop at stocks pre-made
packages of food for the Food Bank, which cost $5. I do my shopping once a
month and I add one of those packages to my cart. I was once interested in
starting a programme called Five For Food,
where I would encourage people to buy one of these packages – or the equivalent
– at least once a month. I feel that most people can afford $5, even
if he or she has to cut back on an extra. According to Stats Canada, the
population of the lower mainland was 2.4 million in 2006. If even a third
donated $5 worth of groceries to their local food bank monthly, think what
a change that would make? I haven’t got it going, though one day I might. So
watch out for it.
All about Karen Magill
Forced to leave the workforce
in 2000 due to the onslaught of MS, Karen saw this as an opportunity to explore her
lifelong desire to write. Initially, she explored other areas of writing before
deciding that her future lay in creating novels.
To date, Ms. Magill is the
author of three published paranormal novels, including the award-winning The
Bond, A Paranormal Love Story. This month she will publish her first
non-fiction book, an inspirational story of her journey so far with
multiple sclerosis. It is entitled On The Right Side, My Story of Survival and
Success. Her fourth paranormal novel, A Little Poison, the sequel to Missing
Flowers, should be out sometime this year.
Karen lives in an eclectic area of Vancouver
Canada, drawing inspiration from the history and stories around her.
Links to contact Karen:
(just click the words)
Twitter: @KarenMagill
Facebook profile
Thanks for reading - look out for another WOW writer next Wednesday!
Happy reading & writing! :)
Thanks so much for this Vickie.
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