How one writer manages life, writing, and EPILEPSY

Article – The Epileptic Author.

I have been pondering this for a few days now, how and where to start. I guess the best place would be that without the Epilepsy I probably wouldn’t have perused becoming an author. I most likely would have got a nine to five and stayed there so in a way it has its advantages. I tried doing nine to fives but would become rapidly ill so it became clear that I couldn’t do ‘normal’ work; whatever that is. But I wasn’t built to do nothing.... So I decided rather than let myself go stir crazy and become depressed with the ‘nothingness’ I would use the time I was ok to work on my writing then one day the book was nearly done so I contacted a publisher who took me on. Sadly my condition managed to take hold of that but didn’t stop me; I knew I couldn’t fulfil my contract and it was unfair on them and me to keep trying so we decided I would go independent. Now I take it day by day and it seems to be working... I can’t say it is easy but nothing in life worth going for is.

I am lucky to have an incredible support network of friends and family some of whom are in the industry. It takes the edge off the bad days when I’ve had a handful of seizures but still have another four hours of work to do or I’m working from bed because I’ve had a really bad turn. I learnt a while ago that life doesn’t wait for you so you can’t feel sorry for yourself. Yes I have a condition and yes at times it can be pretty nasty but because of that I am building towards a career that some only dream about, I have a wonderful family and really I am fortunate. My health was a tough break but you have to run with the cards you are dealt.

I don’t publicise this a lot as I would rather people appreciate my work but I am not ashamed of it; it’s been a part of my for as long as I can remember and it will be for as long as I am alive. In fact the cause is a cyst on my brain which is right where the ‘logical thinking’ should be; the event which caused the damage happened before I was born which means my body was still growing so I use a different part of my brain. I have a theory, I am awful at spelling, still learning maths (which when you do your own accounting can be a hiccup) but I can sit a write for hours; hum a new song in minutes. My theory is I would not be the author I am today without the condition. So like anything else it has its bad sides but it has its rewards.

Let me leave you with my favourite quote;

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass... It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Being a self-employed single mum is hard enough; so what do you do when you are chosen to be the contestant in a blood sport for the entertainment of a group of alien races you didn’t know existed?

For Dr Danni Cromwell it was as if she was living in a world she had created; sci-fi author and single mum Danni must join forces with a man she does not know to fight a villain she could not make up; and all with her five year old son and a temper-tantrum prone alien in tow. Can they win? 

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