As we edge towards year's end....#xmas #books #writing #writinglife

 It's been one long strange year.

Feeling the urge to take stock as this year grinds closer to the nadir of the wheel's turn.  Indeed as of yesterday it passed that point and we're on way back to the light.

It's not easy to sum 2021 up. Certainly the glib answer would be covid/stress that would kill a horse/fresh hell. But despite a terrible year in some ways, good things happened.

 Obviously on a personal level, publishing two fiction books has been a milestone in my life.  Despite editing and publishing several poetry collections, publishing a novel was a sharp lesson. Between book 1 and book 2 the learning curve was so steep as to be vertical but in the end I had two books of which I'm now proud. 

In addition to honing writing skills this year has been filled with challenging projects from marketing to sales; I now not only know what a reader magnet or book funnel is, I can create and use them.  

I also had the pleasure of seeing books in actual brick and mortar shops. Online sales are vital to independent authors and small publishers but there's nothing to compare to seeing customers reading the back of a book and buying it!

So good so optimistic; this year was also a year of endings. Having been a primary caregiver for my father for 7 years, five with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's and the last two in lockdown our world was turned upside down when a trip to hospital culminated in him being expedited into residential care. We knew it was going that way but definitely hadn't come to terms with it, not really.  The sudden change has been difficult. This Christmas is not what I'd hoped for although with two little boys you have to dig deep and find your inner tinsel. It took an outside eye to point out that we're grieving. He may be this side of life but we're grieving. 

Because we chose to keep him home until the last moment possible I had to choose to leave my business aside, 150 years of family business. This was hard although in fairness I would do the same again without a doubt. 

The fates in short have conspired and I'm now a full time writer or semi retired depending whom you ask. To paraphrase The Commitments it feels a lot better being a full time writer than a semi retired burnt out family carer ...

Every year I pick a word to live up to rather than making new year resolutions. 2021 was such a roller coaster I don't remember what word I picked. Whatever it was, this year I'm going to make sure I pick something peaceful. Gentle. Calm. 

For anyone finding this year hard, we'll get through it. It will pass. The light always returns, whether we believe it or not. It's the promise of life, that that wheel keeps turning dawn by dawn. 

The new year will bring two new books: the third Caroline Jordan Mystery and a non fiction academic book on the Rosc and draiocht ceoil. There's another very different story rattling around my head that I will start outlining during the year. So, not a busy then lol.

The Body Count: A Caroline Jordan Mystery Bk 2 will have an international online book launch as well as a Dublin launch (covid situation permitting) in February. Lots of fun and merch and prizes. 

So until the new year, stay safe and be well. 

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Bedside Manners ~ #Alzheimers and the #FamilyCarer a new #poemseries

Bedside Manners:Alzheimers and the Family Carer is a poem series exploring the relationship the Family Carer has with Alzheimer's - both the person for whom they care and the larger issue of the disease itself and how it affects every aspect of life.

The role of the carer is often interpreted by outsiders, framed in martyrdom or judged for any perceived heresy to the doctrine of self sacrifice. What carers find most difficult is often the refusal of others to acknowledge their loss, pain, frustration, stress and responsibility.

When we complain, the reaction is often one of denial - a rush to tell us how it's the disease, not the person or how privileged we are to be able to provide home care, how awful it would be if we were to put them in a home and so forth. Spoiler Alert - we KNOW it's the disease. Also we are the ones giving up our lives to care for the person, please don't tell us how it's a privilege.

These poems are based on personal experience and that of other family carers of loved ones with dementia.

They cover a range of experiences from heartbreak to hilarity, moments where we are lost and ones where we find profound meaning.

Each is accompanied on Insta by a fuller explanation, again directly taken from discussion with other family carers. Every poem is based on lived experience of caring for a relative, rather than professionals in the field, or advocacy groups.

BESIDE MANNERS is a series on twitter @gercelt with fuller exploration of each theme on Instagram @gercelt. If you want to add to anything said please do, 

Feel free to share (credit either Geraldine Moorkens Byrne or link to @gercelt) if you have writing to add (from personal experience only please) I'll happily link to it or you can guest post on Insta or Twitter. There is a hope that the full series may make a book to raise funds for Alzheimer's Research.

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By your presence

For Paula, for endless kindness

You will ask, or be asked someday
What good have you done?
What purpose, in this shifting world
What weight did you place upon the scales ?

You cannot answer for yourself
You'll never guess the moments
Only others can tell the tale
Of acts and omissions filed in your name

But like golden coins they'll pile;
Solid, worthy, generous, tangible,
Each one with a testament affixed
And each of these will start with this

By your presence -  three glorious words.
By your presence, we were comforted
By your presence, we were fed
And burdens lifted, hard times eased

By your presence - tangled threads unbound,
Problems solved and time reclaimed
Tea and biscuits, time and thought
And always laughter, always some moments joy.

There will be volumes written and declared.
Each one of a kindness kindly given
Each one shining in the deepening dark
A line of light to lead you home.

You, you wear this lightly as you go
But by your presence are you known

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Presents of Mind

This is a poem I wrote for my niece and nephews; it was inspired by the reaction of these canny little people when Aunty managed to give them presents not entirely approved of by Mammy. Yes, they got the sensible clothes presents but they also could rely on at least one "bold" present, something they wanted that was flashy, plastic and a complete waste of money. Except of course that it was money very well spent, when I saw their faces....

Presents of Minds


I bought wrapping paper from the street sellers,
the best stuff, cheap and bright;
for I remember Christmas mornings,
peering in the early half-dark-
the light reflecting off the tinseled wrap;
so that right away I knew the provenance of the gift,
that someone young and lively, with no parental claims
(who could care less if the gift were educational
who would rather die than buy functional)
had bought that garish glitzy useless precious
plastic packaged piece of commercial tat
my mother wouldn’t buy on principle and
my heart would swell with joy and I would bless her name
as, now my sister has become the mother,
her children breath prayers of thanks
whenever wrapping paper holds its sway,
For Aunts and all they stand for.

Geraldine Moorkens Byrne

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