In just five days, Ignite Your Soul: A Romance Charity Anthology is releasing! Proceeds from the sales of this anthology will be going to support the SickKids Foundation, a cause near and dear to my heart, as I spent a lot of time at SickKids when I was a child.
I was born with Multiple Hereditary Exostoses, also known as Hereditary Multiple Osteochondromas. This condition causes benign bone tumours to grow outward from the metaphyses of long bones. It can be very painful, especially when the benign bone tumours interfere with nerves, muscles, veins, ligaments and tendons. It can also affect bone growth when the benign tumours grow on or near regular growth plates.
The only form of treatment is surgery to remove the exostoses causing pain or interfering with bone growth. As a child, I had a lot of surgeries to remove exostoses as SickKids Hospital in Toronto.
When I heard that our charity this year was the SickKids Foundation, I was so excited for the ability to help give back to the place I spent a lot of my formative years in. I decided to write a story based on the surgery I briefly mentioned a character in Riverside Reverie having.
That character, Rhiannon, has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome; a rare inherited condition that affects connective tissues such as skin, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, internal organs, and bones. As a child, she had a major surgery to straighten her spine and put in rods. I decided to write my short story for the anthology about that surgery, as told from the point of view of her mother and the handsome anesthesiologist that puts Rhiannon under for her surgery. I called it ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐.
Of course, there's one little scene in ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ that's a subtle nod to memories I had of one of my own surgeries at SickKids. Rhiannon's room overlooks the atrium, with a perfect view of the pig wearing a tutu that danced on a wire above the cow in a straw hat and I think a hippo wearing suspenders.
During one of my surgeries, I had a room facing the atrium, and the pig in a tutu seriously messed with me post-op. Perhaps it was the morphine induced dreams, but I was convinced it was trying to come into my room through the window. My mom had to close the blinds the whole time, because any time they were open and I saw that pig in a tutu, I'd start freaking out.
I'd been going to the hospital for years before that, and I'd always loved the pig in a tutu. But that's post-op morphine dreams for you, they're unexplainably weird!
Since then, they've redone the atrium and the pig, cow, and hippo on a wire were removed, but when I think about my time at SickKids, I always think about the pig in a tutu and that hilarious memory.
You can read my short story, ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐, along with 16 other amazing shorts from other incredible authors in Ignite Your Soul: A Romance Charity Anthology. It's available for a limited time in Kindle Unlimited and in paperback. Remember, proceeds from the sales of this book will be going to support the SickKids Foundation, so if you'd like to support this incredible charity, be sure to grab your copy!
๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ซ๐:
๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ ๐๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ค๐บ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ.
๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐ซ๐-๐๐ซ๐๐๐ซ:
๐๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐๐ซ๐-๐๐ซ๐๐๐ซ: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D28T49HS
Blurb for ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐:
Suzanne Barr is unsurprised that her ex declined to show up at the hospital while their 12-year-old daughter undergoes spinal fusion surgery. Itโs a living nightmare to watch her child face such a painful experience, but the outcome should improve Rhiannonโs life drastically. Suzanne is using every bit of strength she has to hold herself together during the pre-op meeting. Sheโs ready for anythingโexcept for her visceral reaction to the sinfully hot anesthesiologist. Are muscles supposed to be that obvious in a lab coat?
Their connection is instantaneous. But Suzanne doesnโt have time to fan those flames. Right?
Dr. Derek Watkins is entirely professional at all times, but a few serendipitous run-ins with Suzanne in the weeks after her daughterโs surgery leaves Suzanne very much on his mind. He knows the last thing she needs right now is some guy she just met to hit on her, but neither one can seem to resist the pull of their connectionโฆ
** Please note: this particular story of mine is NOT as spicy or steamy as my usual stories. For one, it's a short story, and for two...the setting and circumstance of Suzanne and Derek's meeting didn't allow for such spice, so please don't go into it hoping for some crazy Grey's Anatomy style supply closet shenanigans. Either way, I'm so excited for you to read this sweet story and I thank you for the support!
Kommentare