Life Change

Jeffrey Lee Moffet is no longer at the other end of the phone, coming to me from Prince Edward Island.  My dear companion died December 11th of last year, after a brief bout with pneumonia.  He died in hospital, in Summerside, PEI, and I had the honour of being with him when he took his last breath.  Jeff was a generous, kind man.  He was smarter than most, and could have you laughing with just a line and a look.  A good guy. But, he knew where to get me.  He knew where my weak points were, where he could tease me very effectively, really get me going.  He also knew where I kept my better side. 

He and I would speak for four hours every single day, conversations cut into chunks, for who knows how long; months, years.  There was a rhythm to it, how the day would unfold, starting with a wake-up call at 7:30 am (8:30 Atlantic) and ending with the dramatic countdown he would give me to take my meds, different every night.  Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Take Your Pills! 

I miss him intensely.

Over the last two years, I have been trying something new:  I am writing a novel, and it’s almost done!  It is nothing fancy, no exquisite literary piece.  It’s the kind of book one might see in airport bookstores, or on the racks at Shoppers.  It sits in the confusing seat of Upmarket Women’s Fiction. 

Jeff was very supportive, coming up with the craziest twists when we talked plot. No, Jeff, no zombies, no apocalypse, no horror. Nobody’s an alien. We brainstormed title ideas, he listened to me as I went on about the story.  He was really into it, and very helpful.

My protagonist ruins her life in the city where she lives, by way of a massive manic attack.  As you know, from my memoir, from my website, I have considerable ease with this subject.  That being said, I must point out that I have never had a mania like hers, and that the course of her illness is completely different from my own.  But I do know a lot about the subject, and I mix that with what I hope is imagination and creativity, to come up with her story.

I won’t give any more away right now.  I still have a long road ahead of me, and there is much time to get the plot rolled out, and to properly introduce Cassie.