I know I haven’t been here very much, but things have been very difficult for me. My mother has COPD and various other ailments. After her last hospitalization a couple months ago, it was recommended that she be hooked up with hospice services. I did that and they’ve been really wonderful. The trouble is, Mother is really declining and I’m upset enough that I can’t think straight. And with all these feelings going on, writing about mental illness, particularly the article on depression that I’ve been working on…well, it’s just a bit too much for me. I know that things will chance with time and that someday I’ll be able to write about depression and various other issues for you guys. Maybe, in the interim, I’ll work on something not quite so close. We’ll see how that goes.

A character dealing with a dying parent would surely evoke strong sympathy in readers. Be sure you give such a character a strong support system or have her break down and become barely functional. There is the emotional toll that care taking a dying parent takes, and there’s also the physical demands.

More at a later time