Phil Brown: Blog

Wow!!!

Talk about having your mind blown! I posted an appeal for help in editing my new chapters less than 48 hours ago, and I don't think I've done anything else but to reply to your emails and reviewed your edits. And I gotta tell you, I was impressed with the editing abilities of so many of you. Wow, again!

A special thank you to Jay Cantrell, who jumped in and helped me out on this chapter. He even taught me a new word to go along with some fantastic suggestions to make the story better. How I wish he could edit for me for more, but I understand he has his own stories to write. If you haven't checked out "A Toast in an Empty Bar", take a look. It's well-crafted and powerfully written, and it is sure to move you.

If you're following Book four, then note that I have submitted newly edited chapters 1 thru 18.

Also, just an F.Y.I… the newest chapter, Chapter 19 has been submitted to SOL and should be posted soon. This has to be the single most edited chapter I have ever submitted with over a dozen editors contributing something.

Thank you again to everyone who responded for all your help. Hope you enjoy the story.

Phil Brown

Hi boys and girls,

For the record, (and all of you who emailed your warm wishes for a speedy recovery), it appears that you might get what you asked for.

It seems that I finally got what I asked for… a new heart valve!

Back in June, I finally got a new mitral valve, and in the process became the first person in the nation to get a new, experimental one at that. And they didn't have to cut my sternum open again to do it!

So far, so good.

Anyway, I have begun to feel much better and have finally started writing again. However, I have run into a tiny problem. While I have the next two chapters almost ready, it seems that a couple of my editors are no longer available to me.

So… I need a couple of new editors so I can start posting again.

If you'd like to volunteer, the work is not too hard. Just a good basic understanding of spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and an eagle eye for spotting mistakes. An ideal job for a left-brained detail-oriented, with OCD. And the pay is great! It's the same as I get!

Email me very soon if you're interested. I really want to get posting again!

Phil

No... I'm not dead!

Yet!

Although there are days when I feel real close to it.

Just so you know, the hospital has finally received all of the necessary approvals, and I am scheduled to go under the scalpel by the end of the month. If all goes according to plan, I will soon become the first person in the world to receive Medtronic's/Twelve Inc.'s new TMVR valve.

If it works, I should be well enough to start writing again soon. In addition to finishing Second Time Through, I have come up with several other story ideas that I want to pursue.

As always, to those of you who have taken time to write, my sincere thanks.

Phil

It has always been my personal policy to try and answer any legitimate questions about my story, and while the following email didn't actually ask a question, it did seem to beg for an explanation.

They wrote:

"Every time my fingers touched her dehiscent pussy's anthesis, it made me wonder if she would even make it through her trim without climaxing."

(from Second Time Through - Book II - Chapter 22: Six Flags Over Georgia)

Dear Phil,
I consider myself well read. But you have me chasing professional words that are outside the literary norm. Dehiscent? Anthesis?
Good job. Please keep it up even though it is ignored by most readers.

(Name omitted)


And here is my reply:

Dear (Name),

You're correct, most readers probably stumbled over both words and just went on, however, a few readers did notice and took the time to drop me a note.

Some actually had a botanical background and either laughed at me or applauded my inventive use of the terms.

Several more were teachers or professors of English. They mostly thought I was taking too much liberty in my usage.

Others were professional wordsmiths (authors) and they all laughed at the usage.

And many more were simply readers who were too curious to let such distinctive and unusual words go by without stopping and looking them up. They almost all were laughing at my (very) liberal and somewhat tongue-in-cheek use of the botanical terminology.

However, as in many cases, there is actually a story behind that particular scene.

It was the result of a challenge from one of the guys on the construction crew I worked on at the time.

Every day, I would carry my laptop with my lunch pail, and while the other guys ate their lunch and relaxed, I was busy typing with one hand and holding my sandwich in the other. They started out teasing me a lot at first, but then several of them began to want to know what I was writing every day.

One thing lead to another and finally, I started printing out each chapter as I finished it and they would pass it around. They were a tough audience and I figured if it passed muster with them, it might be readable for others.

One day, one of the guys bet me that I couldn't come up with an original way of writing a sex scene. The rest of the crew were the judges, so I went to work.

A few days later, I passed out written copies of the chapter. While not a single one of them could probably pronounce either word, I was prepared and had a print-out of both words and their botanical meanings.

It was a lively lunch break that day, as they all sat around and debated. I wish you could have been there, listening to seven tough and dirty rednecks, sitting in the mud while discussing the literary significance of "...her dehiscent pussy's anthesis,"

Anyway, they finally decided and we all enjoyed a few beers that night at my crew-mate's expense.

I decided to leave it in the posted version simply because it was so much fun.

So... (with apologies to Mr. Harvey)... Now you know the rest of the story.

Thank you for reading my story and for taking the time to write,

Phil

Like a poorly written horror story... just when you think things are getting better, out jumps the masked guy with flamethrowers or chainsaws or something. So goes the story of my health this past year.

First, thanks for all your notes and emails.

Many of you asked for an update to my blog to let readers know what was going on (or even that I was still alive), and I have to tell you that I really struggled with those suggestions.

You see, I am much older than the 'social networking' generation. And while I have an email address (mandated by SoL), I do not have a Facebook page , or a Twitter account, or any other of the myriad methods of social networking. In fact, this (SoL provided) blog page is as close as I want to get to social networking.

The other reason I struggled with the suggestion is that I tend to be a very private person, and am often mystified by people who feel the need to tell the world every time they take a dump.

Heck, I never understood the 'Letters to the Editors' section of our small local newspaper when I was growing up, but my parents read them every week.

Truthfully, I don't comprehend (or appreciate) why these people feel the need to share their opinions; since, if they don't agree with mine, are generally worthless anyway.

That being said, my heart is failing... Again.(4 Bypasses, 2 stents, the first time).

This time, for those of you who've been there, the mitral valve is slowly giving out. They can do another open heart operation and replace it with a pigs valve, but I am dragging my feet on that one.

Not that I'm kosher or anything. In fact, I love a good pork roast or a great barbeque.

I simply don't want to go through all the pain of having them cutting open my sternum a second time (that's the big bone down the front of your chest). Mainly because it hurts like shit and takes forever to heal.

When I told my surgeons this, they put their collective heads together and came up with a possible alternative. It seems there is an arthroscopic type of repair they might do, however, the procedure has not received FDA approval. Yet.

So we wait...

It's now a race to see if my failing mitral valve will keep working long enough for our government, in its infinite wisdom, to give the procedure it's blessing.

In the meantime, I'm down to less than a 40% functioning heart, but still hanging in there.

So there it is. More than I wanted to share, because I don't want pity and also because I don't know when it will be better.

However, I felt an even greater obligation to let you know that I do plan to get back to 'Second Time Through' as soon as I get some strength back.

So thanks for your patience and understanding,

Phil Brown

November 27, 2015