After nearly two years and countless fibro flare ups, I finally finished my first novel. I hope you’ll enjoy it. I hope you find inspiration and validation from reading this novel.

I priced the book to be affordable. Where the trend in eBooks tends to be pricing books higher and higher, I took the opposite approach. For sale as an eBook on Amazon, I’ve priced Parleys Quest at $3.99 and the paperback $9.99. Also, if you’re an AmazonPrime member the cost of the eBook is free. Rather than making money on this venture, I’m looking to reach out to the vast community of chronic pain patients, especially fibrochampions.

Since I’ve been promoting the book, I have been asked many questions about the book, the process of writing it and other questions. I thought I would write an article enumerating these questions and others in a Q&A format.

Q: Why write, let alone write a novel?
A: Many of you reading this article can relate to fibro fog. In addition to fibro fog I have white matter disease which gives me a lot of memory and cognitive problems. During a conversation with a  neuropsychologist, I was educated in ways to improve my memory and cognitive functions. I was told that language arts are known to help rehabilitate memory issues of the brain.

During the ensuing conversation I specifically asked if writing was considered a language art and suitable for rehabilitation. Her answer was yes. Anything within the umbrella of writing, from keeping a daily journal to writing a book. Just so long as it is done every day. I was further cautioned that this is a slow process. Unlike physical rehabilitation, this type of therapy would take long months and years to effect an improvement.

I’ve had a life long interest in writing and had been blogging inconsistently for years. I decided I was going to give writing therapy a try. Initially I was going to do some nonfiction writing, but with some encouragement from a neighbor I decided to write creatively and eventually write a novel.

First, I had to study novel and creative writing, which was followed by a lot bad writing attempts on my part. I finally started the novel that included chronic pain and fibromyalgia. I wrote almost half of a novel when I decided that it was a good exercise, but otherwise garbage. I started over and after one hundred and fifty words realized that I was close, but still didn’t have the story I really wanted. Oops, I did it again. I started over. I finally got the story right.

Q: So, did writing help with your memory and cognitive issues?
A: Not much the first eighteen months. I had a flash of improvement every once in a while. If I wasn’t vested in getting the story done, I might have quit trying. I was told this wasn’t a quick fix to my memory and cognitive issues.

As time went on I started to really notice some improvement. It became obvious that my memory was improving. Then, as I persevered, I continued to notice improvement, eventually even in some cognitive issues. I am doing better with passwords and many lost memories have come back to me. It has been nice to remember fond memories. It was like living them all over again. I still have a long way to go, but I am seeing steady improvement.

Q: Why write on the topic of fibromyalgia?
A:  Having had fibromyalgia for so long and knowing how frustrating it is for people to take the illness seriously, I wanted to bring fibro into the mainstream as much as I would be able to by writing a novel where chronic pain and fibromyalgia were a big issue. It’s validating to have people take you seriously when you’re afflicted with fibro and other types of chronic pain. I wanted to entertain, engage and validate those with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and chronic pain.

As the story started to take off and the characters got developed I realized that rather than having health issues as a side story, it was the story. There are other characters with other types of chronic pain to compare and contrast with fibro as well.

Q: What is the book about?
A:  Parley is married to his college sweetheart Miranda. Andy is married to the Marine Corp. Watch what happens when Parley and Andy, both heroes in their own right, suffer insurmountable physical setbacks and adversity? Watch as the quest that Parley is forced to take leads him to cross paths with Gunnery Sargent Andy Zimmerman. Can they help each other when they appear unable to help themselves? Can they each make sense of the life that is forced upon them? Will they have the strength to fight back? Does their new quest lead them to hope or more despair? Three Christians, two writers, one warrior. They only have a few things in common, one of which is chronic health problems and a mysterious pain. Can they help each other out or do their life altering trials keep them away from benefitting from each others fellowship? Find out how Parley’s Quest resolves these questions. It’s a life altering story that will inspire you and make you grateful for Christian teachings of love, hope and faith.

Q: Do you plan on a sequel?
A: I do, Fibromyalgia willing. In spite of fibro, I manage to write the first one, so I am fairly confident that I’ll write a sequel. The story of Parley is far from over.

Q: What about the inspirational quotes at the beginning of each chapter?
A: They were significant quotes I experienced while writing the book and I thought they would be nice to share. The ones written by CallahanWriter are the quotes I wrote myself while writing the book and some are even part of the novel.

Q: There’s a lot of talk about pain in the novel, not just about fibromyalgia. Why?
A: That’s a good observation. The intent is to compare and contrast the pain associated with fibromyalgia to many other types of pain.

Q: How much of your own life is in the story?
A: Parley and the other characters are very different from me and that was on purpose. The parts of me that are in the book are based on personal experiences with the pain and symptoms of fibromyalgia. I hope that’s what makes this a good book. After all, it is a novel about fibromyalgia written by someone who actually has it and can write about it first hand.