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 Each day feels new, and my memory of the one before is faint. I’m learning to adapt. |
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In September 2019, a seizure revealed a lime-sized meningioma pressed against my hippocampus—the part of the brain that governs memory and language. The doctors said it was benign, but benign didn’t mean harmless. Surgery removed the tumor, and three days later I opened my eyes to a new reality. I could walk, I could talk, but when I looked at my wife, her name was gone. I called her Precious—the only word I could find. A failure of memory, yet perhaps the truest name of all. Recovery has been less cure than re-calibration. Memory gaps are frequent. Conversations vanish. I had to relearn how to write, letter by halting letter. My days are scaffold by alarms, notes, and calendars. When people ask how I am, I don’t list symptoms or struggles. I simply say, “Seven Degrees Left of Center.” It’s not an answer—it’s who I’ve become. |
| This morning’s writing didn’t start with a blank page. It started with coffee and a little curiosity. I’ve been tinkering with yWriter, the free writing software from Spacejock Software  . Not switching my life over to it. Not declaring it *the one true tool*. Just… poking at it. Clicking around. Seeing what happens when I treat my novel like a box of index cards instead of a scrolling document.And honestly? That alone was worth the time. yWriter doesn’t write for you. It doesn’t care about your metaphors or your coffee temperature. What it does care about is structure. Scenes. Characters. Which chapter belongs where. It asks questions like, *What is this scene doing?* and *Who’s in it?* Questions I already ask myself, but sometimes conveniently ignore. I didn’t discover anything revolutionary. No lightning bolt. No “this fixes everything” moment. What I found was a different angle to look at the same story. Like walking around a table instead of staring at it from one chair. That’s been a theme lately. Trying tools not to be saved by them, but to see what they reveal. Sometimes they show you a problem you didn’t want to admit you had. Sometimes they just confirm that, yes, you actually do know what you’re doing. Today, yWriter did the latter. Will I use it forever? No idea. Will I use it again? Probably. Because showing up isn’t always about producing words. Sometimes it’s about rearranging them. Sometimes it’s about learning a tool well enough to decide you don’t need it. Either way, the coffee was good, the curiosity was better, and the story is still moving forward. That counts as writing in my book.   |
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Best wishes for 2026, and do please keep us in your loopy loop 
