This Strange Time of Year
This Strange Time of Year
This is always a strange time of year for me. On the one hand, I love the summer months, being able to take my laptop outside and write with the views of the mountains as my backdrop. On the other hand, social media never fails to remind me of what happened in July and August 2015.
We were on holiday staying with dear relatives in Connecticut when my leg went into a spasm of such severity, it made childbirth seem like a walk in the park. (As my daughter was back-to-back and 8lb 11oz, childbirth wasn’t so great either!). I was taken to the emergency rooms, given a great big bottle of Oxycodone and put on a flight back home. This was the culmination of three years of increasing pain, diagnosed by consultant after consultant as degenerative back pain resulting in sciatica. After a nuclear bone scan followed by a bone biopsy (totally horrific) I was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma – an extremely rare bone cancer in my right femur. The NHS swung into action at its best. I left our home in The Peak District (never to return) and we moved to London for treatment. A lovely nurse told me to give them a year of my life and in return they’d give me my life back. Indeed, that’s what happened, although there were many times during that year of eleven rounds of toxic chemo, neutropenic sepsis, numerous blood transfusions, the operation to remove and replace my femur, hospital acquired infections, blue lights to hospital and in-patient stays, when survival seemed unlikely.
Yet here I am, eight years on and although it’s cheesy to say so, I’m not just surviving, I’m thriving. The debilitating and often scream-inducing pain in my leg has eased a lot the past weeks thanks to an off-label drug my doctor has put me on. The Lodge, my nineteenth psychological thriller will be published next week, and I’m working on my twentieth. We’ve sold over half a million books. But there’s one thing that never goes away completely: the fear. When I read about people who have died with the same cancer I had, there is always the question, why them and not me? Will I be next? But then again, none of us knows what the future has in store for us.
Sarcoma UK is on a mission to educate both the general public and the medical profession about these rare cancers. Early diagnosis is essential and if you or anyone you know has significant on-going pain and / or unusual lumps or bumps, please visit a doctor. GPs may have never come across a Sarcoma patient, so it’s essential to be persistent.
So as I sit here and feel guilty for my lack of regular newsletters and reader engagement, there are a few bookish things to tell you.
The Lodge is set on a South African game reserve and a number of early reviewers have described it as one of their favourite reads this year. That makes me particularly happy as I absolutely loved writing this book. It took me back to one of my favourite countries and glorious memories of safaris. (No murders in real life, fortunately!)
It’s so quiet at the lodge. But if you listen very hard, you can hear the screams.
Anna has rebuilt her life after a toxic relationship with her obsessive, controlling ex, Clayton. She's finally found happiness with her fiancé, Joel, a veterinarian in the running for a dream job on a game reserve in South Africa.
When Joel is asked to interview at the luxurious safari lodge, Anna is delighted to be invited too. But her exotic holiday takes a sinister turn when she discovers that toxic ex Clayton is also a guest at the lodge.
Clayton seems happy with his new girlfriend, but Anna isn’t buying it. She doesn't believe in coincidences, and her gut tells her that Clayton is here for all the wrong reasons.
And she’s right. Because what Clayton has planned is beyond her worst nightmare. She escaped him once before – but this time he’s prepared the perfect trap.
The Lodge is available for pre-order on Amazon now and will be published on 26th July 2023. It’s just 99p / 99c or free in Kindle Unlimited.
I’d like to give a shout-out to my fellow psychological thriller author, A.J. Wills who not only writes fabulous books but also very kindly introduces other authors to his loyal readers. This month I gave Adrian the list of my favourite five psychological thriller books. You can read about them here: https://www.ajwillsauthor.com/post/my-top-five-thrillers-miranda-rijks
The Lottery Winners is Adrian’s latest book which is at the top of my to be read list.
I have read loads of thrillers the past months but have been so absorbed in my own writing, I haven’t done my normal mini reviews over on Instagram. I’ll try to rectify that! I’ve also joined Threads. I’m not really sure what the purpose of it is, other than being yet another often welcome distraction, but if you’ve joined up, please connect! And I haven’t done any painting or iPad art in weeks either so nothing new to show you.
Thank you for reading this and thank you for reading my books. You’ve helped make my dreams come true! Have a fabulous summer!
Miranda x