Amanda Shortman - she/her

Oh, it is awful! I not only get random smells, but Thea smells different (and unpleasant) to me whenever that happens too. Which seems particularly cruel.

I really hope that this migraine doesn't last too long for you ❤️

Amanda, a white, middle aged woman with long dark auburn hair and dark brown eyes is sitting in bed using a massager that is wrapped around her shoulders and held in place by arm straps.

Day 19

Today I am really grateful for this massager. My back and shoulders are so tense and sore, and being able to slowly work at the muscles this way is so helpful. Even if it does hurt like fuck 😫

#40DaysOfGratitude

I'll check it out, thanks ☺️

It is a truly wonderful series, isn't it? I am currently reading it for the second time. I need to read some more of Talia Hibbert's books.

YA Fantasy by Tamora Pierce. Song of the Lioness - Alanna hides her gender so she can become a knight. This book's cover has an illustration of a sword with golden hilt on a dark purple background. The Immortals - Daine must learn to wield her wild magic to save the kingdom. This book has a dark black cover with a shaft of light shining on a vial of blue liquid. Protector of The Small - Kel is the first female page since Alanna, will she succeed? This cover has an illustration of a young person with short page boy style hair and a black eye holding a kitten.

Contemporary Romance by Talia Hibbert. Get a Life, Chloe Brown - Chloe wants to expand her world which is limited by Fibromyalgia. This book has the title in large text on a very pale blue background with an illustration of a curvy black woman kissing a white man with ginger hair. There is a grey cat at their feet. Take a Hint, Dani Brown - Dani doesn't want a relationship but suddenly she's fake dating. This book's cover is bright yellow with large text and an illustration of a Brown man carrying a black woman with short pink hair in his arms. Act Your Age, Eve Brown - Eve tries to prove to her family that her life isn't just a mess. This book's cover is a bright turquoise blue with large text and a curvy black woman with long purple hair kissing a white guy with blond hair.

Varied genres by indie authors Gloria by Katherine Shaw - Gloria must escape her husband to save herself and her daughter. This book's cover has an illustration of a white woman's face obscured by her curly ginger hair blowing across it. She stands in front of a dock. Heroes and Harbingers by Ark Horton - Bree (the chosen one) and Ms Sirin (her teacher) uncover deadly secrets. This book's cover is a dark silhouette of a city scape with palm trees and crows flying in a stormy sky. Perception Check by Astrid Knight - Violet must enter a world that terrifies her to save her friend. This book's cover is a dark red with an illustration of the back of a girl with long brown hair looking over a skyline that changes in the middle to be two separate worlds.

Various genres by trad pubbed authors Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson- Elisabeth must overcome her fear of magic in order to save the world. This book's cover has an illustration of a girl with long brown hair wielding a sword. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna - Mika Moon discovers what it means to truly belong in this magical read. This book's cover has an illustration of a large house on a hill with a yellow car driving up to it. It's All In Your Head by Sabina Norqvist - Skylar battles her health whilst falling in love and meeting online friends. This book's cover is a lilac colour with the title taking up most of the page and with a white woman resting propped up against the start of the text and a white man with a cane leaning against the end.

8th March is International Women's Day, and as I'm a big reader I thought I would share some of the books with strong female leads that have really made a mark on me through the years.

Which books/characters would you add to this list?

#InternationalWomensDay #BookSky 💙📚

An old style Kindle sits on a slanted wooden stand which sits on top of a bed. There is a paperback book half hidden by the stand, and a Kindle Fire on a stand further down the bed in the background.

Day 18

Today I'm grateful for the reading stand @theajane.bsky.social gave me for Valentine's Day 🥰

I have an ARC of Lightguard by Hayley Turner I really need to finish before it's published on 24th March! And this means I can recline and be comfortably supported as I read ☺️

#40DaysOfGratitude

A white dinner plate with half a pork pie, some potato salad, a vegetable salad, chopped avocado and tomato, and some basil.

Day 17

I'm posting this a day late 😳 I took this photo yesterday lunchtime, but then got so caught up in book admin that I totally forgot.

Anyway, Spring is almost here, and so it felt time to have the first "salad-y" meal of the year 😃

#40DaysOfGratitude

Black text on a pastel rainbow background that says: Free eBook! Not/Coming Out is part of the Indie Visible charity events - 30th & 31st March. IndieVisibleEvents.Com. There is an image of an e-reader with the book Not/Coming Out on it, which has a black cover with a white line illustration of a wardrobe/closet which is closed and has a jacket hanging off the top and a teddy bear on the floor in front of it.

We are excited to share that Not/Coming Out is taking part in the Indie Visible charity event on 30th & 31st March.

Pop the date in your diary, because it's going to be a great chance to fill up your e-reader with lots of free and discounted books!

Grab your FREE copy here

books2read.com/u/3RAgOY

It is currently available from 6 places, with hopefully more to come once the distributors accept it. You've got until the end of March before it goes back up to its normal price of £1.99.

Happy reading, and please share this with others who may like a copy.

It also kicked me up the butt and made me finally publish my book outside of Amazon.

It's still available on Amazon, but I can't make it free there without signing up for exclusivity for 90 days.

So I've left it at its usual price there, and advise you to grab a FREE copy elsewhere.

Why March?

- Covid has disabled and continues to disable thousands of people
- Endometriosis is one of my longest running chronic illnesses
- The Indie Visible Charity Event is raising funds for brain tumour research

So it felt like the perfect time to do this.

Black text on a pale blue background that says: March is the awareness month for Long Covid, Endometriosis, and Brain Tumours. So to support those with these conditions, I've made my poetry book about chronic illness free this month. Get your FREE copy at https://Books2Read.Com/U/3RAgOY. There is an image of an ereader with the book The Inadequacy of Words on it, which has a pale cream front cover with a light blue splash and a line drawing of a face with eyes closed.

I'm delighted to announce that my poetry book is available for FREE for the rest of March. It will also be in the Indie Visible Charity Event 30th & 31st March.

I know how hard it can be to explain what life is like with chronic illness. Hopefully my book will help you feel less alone.

A graphic showing the book cover for It's All In Yoir Head by Sabina Nordqvist which has a purple background and illustrations of a male character with a cane and a female character resting against the title. There are 5 purple stars underneath it as a rating, and a white text box with the following text: it was beyond amazing to read a book where both the main characters are disabled. The disability and chronic illness rep in this book is perfect. So much is included. But beyond all of that, this is just such a sweet (and sexy) fake dating to true romance novel. Skylar and Pike are perfect for each other. All in all this was an incredible book and is immediately going into my "to be read again (and again)" pile.

I finished It's All In Your Head by @nordqvistbooks.bsky.social last night. It's such a sweet story with amazing disability & chronic illness rep.

You can read my full review over on goodreads and The Storygraph.

#BookReview #BookLover #DisabilityRep #ChronicIllnessRep

Sniv is great. Draws all sorts of cool stuff, big-hearted, likes trains and dinosaurs and loads of awesome things, and has a brilliant sense of humour just like mine. Therefore his brother must be pretty damn great too: let's see what we can do for him :D

Labours of Stone by EM Harding book cover Ephra and ron walking through London's italian gardens as a pink fog rolls in from Ephra's side

Review quote: A book of surprises, beautifully written, and very clever. I loved it for all these things, but mostly for its compassionate humour. Something which stretches my brain and also makes me smile will always be a worthy five stars. Goodreads

Gentle reminder that Labours of Stone is the book I pitched to reviewers as "like if Douglas Adams tried to write a queer romance and then got bored part way through." 😌

Should that pique your interest 👀:

rxe.me/LBQVQC

#booksky #writingcommunity

OMG 😭 The Endo & Adeno cramps just hit with a bloody vengeance 😭

No wonder I have had an awful migraine since last night. Hormones are hormoning 😫

So now my head hurts, I'm dizzy, I have the worst cramps in my pelvis and lower back, and my legs feel like I ran up 2 flights of stairs!

I'm very unlucky with my health, and it is a constant battle to survive. But I'm also incredibly lucky to be surrounded by so many reminders of the people, stories, and support that keep me going. Especially on these particularly bad days.

#40DaysOfGratitude

- I'm listening to the last hour of @nordqvistbooks.bsky.social "It's All In Your Head" - it's wonderful to read such amazing disability & chronic illness rep in a romance novel

- I'm able to chat with friends on WhatsApp and Discord, this has enabled me to build strong friendships over the years

- my drink is in a Heartstopper mug @arvbooks sent me for Christmas

- there are plants and flowers @lady_thea21 set up for me, so I can enjoy nature even from my bed

- the wall next to my bed is filled with artwork from things I love, including a GMM jigsaw, bookish related items from @aliceoseman.bsky.social, @chaoticauthor.online, @katheroony.bsky.social, @iliibra.bsky.social, @rorymichaelson.com, and @amweald.com, and postcards a friend sent me

- 5 years ago I was just starting to come out of severe ME/CFS back into moderate ME/CFS. For all my ups and downs, I am so grateful to no longer be in that severe category. I still have many days in bed. But I'm not stuck here almost constantly anymore.

And it reminded me just how much I have to be grateful for:

- 6 years ago we were living somewhere far less suitable for our needs. Now we live in an old family bungalow that allows me my own room to rest and so much security. After years of privately renting, I will never take that for granted.

Two small shelves hung on a wall - one holds a white mug with a stack of books and the Heartstopper comic characters on it, a pink Vaseline tin, and some Pernaton gel, the other has a bottle of Gaviscon and two bottles of water on it. The wall has several postcards and art prints hung on it, some framed and some not.

Day 16

Today is a really rough day. I've had an epic migraine since last night and I am staying as horizontal as possible (which for me includes a raised head due to dizziness). So my world is, once again, reduced to what I can see from my bed.

Thank you ❤️

Well that's a relief... I feel quite self conscious about it.

It's so weird, it just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and seems to be getting gradually more pronounced.

The radiographer said usually 1-2 weeks.

I was surprised they sent me for a scan tbh. I expected the GP to be like, "it's just aesthetic, you're fine".

So now I'm like, "I hope it gives an answer... but I hope it isn't anything horrible!" You know?

The original injury was really bad, so 😧

Amanda, a middle aged white woman with long, dark auburn hair and dark brown eyes is laying on a pillow looking up at the camera. She has big bags under her eyes and there is a visible dent in her forehead.

Day 14

Today I'm grateful for the NHS. As a chronically ill person, I rely on the NHS a lot.

Today I had a CT scan, to see if we can figure out why a dent has appeared above a 30+ year old scar on my forehead. Can you see it in the photo?

#40DaysOfGratitude

Amanda, a white woman with long, dark auburn hair is sitting wrapped up in a burnt orange winter coat, with a red and white keffiyeh wrapped around her neck, ans a yellow blanket over her lap. She is wearing sunglasses. There are some plant pots behind her.

Day 12

Today I'm grateful I managed a quick roll down the road to catch Pokémon with my family.

My fatigue is high. It wasn't a wise decision physically.

But I *needed* to do this for my mental health. I've been looking forward to this weekend for weeks.

#40DaysOfGratitude

Screenshot from the Garmin Connect app which shows 527 intensity minutes for the past 7 days. The weekly target is automatically set at 150, so this is 3x as much as the target. There is a graphic that shows the target was met on the second day of the week.

People who believe ME/CFS is psychosomatic despite all the evidence 🙄: "you're just deconditioned and afraid of exercise!"

My body: wildly exceeds the weekly target for intensity minutes set by my Garmin simply by existing!

This was a relatively quiet week for me too, with a LOT of resting.