In Chronic: A Sick Novel, Paul and Deena are friends with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson’s Disease respectively. They’ve found a wonderful flat renovated for people with disabilities, only they can’t afford it. Enter Albert, a former nurse in remission from cancer, and Bolton, a former athlete who is now a paraplegic in a wheelchair. They too look at the flat and love it. But can’t afford it. The solution? The four of them move in together. Life happens as the four roommates push each other to exceed their limitations.
Paul, who has retired from motivational speaking, is motivated into accepting another speaking gig by Bolton when he is trying to motivate Bolton, a former sprinter, to try out for the wheelchair basketball team. Deena a former Ph.D. student in Greek literature works as a renovator, her real love. She is looking to expand her renovation business and takes on Albert, who has renovation experience, to help her. Instead of helping to heal people, which he did as a nurse, Albert enjoys working with Deena to heal houses. But that is only the beginning of what the roommates get up to.
I wrote Chronic for two reasons. The first reason? I have been a writer all my working life–forty years now. In addition to having been a freelance journalist, I have written twenty non-fiction books. I cannot stop writing! The second reason? I have had MS for twenty years. Although I’ve written a book about MS–Everything You Need To Know About Multiple Sclerosis–I wanted to dive deeper into what people with chronic illnesses face pretty much every day and what they need to do if they want to live life as fulfilling as possible. Fiction seemed to be the perfect vehicle for that. While the novel is fiction, I know people with the conditions that the characters in my book have. These people are living lives that are as fulfilling as possible.
Take me. I could give up writing and sit in my chair all day and watch TV or stare at the ceiling. I refuse to do that. I may only be able to write for an hour or two per day, but I do it. My wife and I have a dog who needs to be walked twice a day. I walk with a cane and tire easily, but I walk him once, and sometimes two times, per day. I hobble along and sit when I have to, but I walk.
So for whom did I write Chronic? One might think my target audience for Chronic would be sick people, and I don’t mind in any way if people who are battling illness read it! However, my hope is that people who are well will read it and gain a greater understanding of people who are chronically ill, or disabled, but are functional within limitations. In addition, I hope anybody who reads it finds it a bit humorous, sweet, motivational and moving.
I have been told the book would make a great movie, but I leave that in the hands of others. I am happy to sell a few books a week and educate people, in an engaging manner, about what it is like to be chronically ill.
Before writing Chronic, I had written a book of short stories, Rebel in the Back Seat, and a short novel, Geri: Post-Pandemic LGBTQ+ Novel About Something. I am currently doing the final edit of Family Tree: A Novel Spanning 17 Centuries. In this historical fiction, a gay white woman born in Saxony but living in Britain becomes a heterosexual black man born in Toronto but living in San Francisco. It only takes seventeen centuries for the transformation to happen. The story may be fictional, but the history is real! The book is due out in March 2023.
While I’ve had MS for over 20 years, moving from what’s called relapsing remitting MS to secondary progressive MS, my brain and fingers still work, so I continue to write. I just have to work harder at it! If interested, you can read more about me and my books at paullima.com.
