How 2023 kicked my ass (and what I’m doing about it)

Two hip replacements in a single year is no joke, but I am improving and a new novel is coming. Here’s my path back to health and happy productivity in 2024.

In less than a week, I have a follow-up appointment with my surgeon to confirm my recovery is on track. My physio is optimistic and enthused, but then, she is always incredibly upbeat. We are quite the contrast. She’s energetic, and I’m the grumpy old man from Up. I need to change some things, but short of a personality transplant, how?

I have some ideas (and the last one is probably the best)

  • I used to treat people with various pain conditions. I know the rehabilitation process. However, I’m impatient. Particularly on bad pain days, I must remind myself to simply do the exercises without being so attached to results. Rehabilitation of injuries is a little like writing a first draft. I have to trust the process.
  • Particularly after a terrible night’s sleep, I am exhausted of being me. I feel trapped in my body so I have to be gentler with myself. I could worry more, but would it help? I put my head down, have a rest, and do the exercises. It will all work out. Like tinkering with a manuscript, it all works out given enough time. “Enough time” is usually more than I would have hoped.
  • As a chronic insomniac with a busy brain, I don’t panic about missing a night’s sleep anymore. Instead, I sleep when I sleep. Nobody shakes off a double hip replacement in one year easily. When I feel a nap coming for me, I don’t fight it.
  • We can terrorize ourselves with shoulds. I should do more. I should do this, I should do that. But I can’t do it all and I certainly can’t do it all right now. What’s left? Acceptance.
  • Self-care takes many forms. Sometimes it’s a treat, a nap, a ride in the car just to get outside, chatting with a friend on the phone, or giving up for the day.
  • Medications, as needed. Right now, that’s usually nothing more than Aspirin, but sometimes it’s Lorazepam.
  • Once I’m cleared for more exercise, I’m looking forward to that outlet. The aims are to get my cardiovascular fitness back, improve my strength and achieve a higher quality of life. Aside from the stress relief more movement will provide, I’m in training to be able to sit still and write for longer periods.
  • As a news and politics junkie, I have sabotaged my mental health. I feed my busy brain with information I can’t use. I own two bone-conduction headphones, one for day, one for night. I wear them constantly to consume podcasts, audiobooks, and music. Nothing wrong with that in moderation, but I realize now how much is too much. I’m taking the headphones off to focus on reading more and writing more.

    In short, my best and biggest change is to guard my quiet time. I already have a negativity bias. I don’t need to feed it a high-caloric diet of atrocities in the present and fears for the future. Until I get that Iron Man suit, there’s not much I can do about that. So…

    PROTECT YOUR PEACE

    I’m in training to get back to being me. RIght now, I’m plagued with my identity as a patient. Can’t wait to focus more on being a writer beloved by perhaps tens of people!


    My next novel is a tale of vengeance that spans decades. Endemic was about how we change and how we don’t. This one is about how we won’t. Please stand by, and thank you for your patience.

    Looking for a great award-winning novel that’s criminally underrated this holiday season? Look no further. Please add Endemic to your shipping cart.

Available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook.

The Neurodivergent Book Editor Wins


I’ve known this for a couple of months, but I can finally announce that Endemic has won first place in genre fiction from the North Street Book Awards. They say my story about a neurodivergent book editor overcoming childhood trauma in the viral apocalypse is a “fresh twist in apocalyptic fiction.

http://mybook.to/TheEndemicExperience

In addition to a cash prize and various goodies, I received a nifty T-shirt and a certificate.)


This is Endemic’s fourth win. It previously received a Literary Titan Award and first place at both the Hollywood Book Festival and the New York Book Festival.

One of the (possibly dubious?) benefits is a critique of the book via the judges. Note the huge difference in tone between the ominous word “critique” and the glorious word “review.”

For the most part, the critique is delighted and delightful. I had to giggle at one piece of commentary wherein a judge suggested she would have enjoyed Endemic even more if it were a completely different book. Also, in my estimation, the suggestion of a different cover would have hurt the novel. But these are niggles. Reading between the lines, it’s easy to appreciate how different readers will see a narrative through their particular lens . Obviously, they loved Endemic overall.

Congratulations to all the winners! You’ll find them all listed here.

You can buy Endemic in hardcover, paperback, and ebook here.

My Christmas Book Suggestion


In Endemic, the protagonist is Ovid Fairweather, a neurotic book editor who becomes an urban farmer in the viral apocalypse. Guided by her dead therapist, she has to deal with the many dangers other survivors pose, but deep down, this is about how we change and how we don’t.

Endemic has won the Literary Titan Award and earned first place at the New York Book Festival and the Hollywood Book Festival.

Bulletin! This is just in!

“We are excited to inform you the following title is included in the Prime Reading program on Amazon.ca from 1-Dec-2022 to 1-Jun-2023.” ~ Amazon

Endemic is live on Amazon!

So Endemic is in PR now! They said it would be three months, but apparently, this goes all the way to June! In case you’re wondering, the internet goblins can define the situation for us: Prime Reading is a benefit for Amazon Prime members that makes over a thousand eBooks available for borrowing, at no extra cost. You can keep up to ten eBooks at a time and there are no due dates.

Whether you’re in Prime or not, you can still read the ebook, paperback, or hardcover,
May I humbly (or not so humbly) suggest the hardcover would make an excellent Christmas gift? Sure, I can!

Some readers have asked me what the power and the curse is in the subtitle to Endemic. It’s the same element: memory. Our experiences make us who we become. Our memories burn us and forge us.

Thank you, and have a great binge-read.

Hollywood Book Festival Winners!

Four new book awards in one day!
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Happy News!

I was pleased to be informed today that the Hollywood Book Festival chose four of my books for awards and recognition! Endemic took first place in the science fiction category (just as it had at the New York Book Festival) while the This Plague of Days Omnibus won runner-up. The Night Man placed first in the genre category and Amid Mortal Words received honorable mention in sci-fi.

Writers work long hours in solitude and obscurity. Novelists toil away at keyboards making shit up, often not knowing where we’re going and doubting what we’re doing. Reviews and fan letters fuel our fervor. Recognition of our work by book contests gives a rare and wonderful boost.

We celebrated the wins with a feast of Chinese food. The shrimp har gow and sweet butter coconut buns were delicious.

The Readers’ Favorite Review of Endemic

Endemic has been entered into the Readers’ Favorite Awards. In addition to the entry, they review. This review bodes well for Endemic’s chances in the contest.

Robert Chazz Chute’s Endemic is a great piece of work. Robert had me hooked on his book, flipping through page after page to the end. This is a must-read for lovers of action-packed dystopian novels. The narration hinges on an unraveling tale of childhood trauma, family feuds, power, and ultimate survival. There is espionage, looting, hiding, running, fighting, guns, and so much more.

This intriguing plot unfolds through short, twisted, and succinct sentences. The choice of words gives the book a professional touch. The storyline has ingenious and mind-blowing plot twists. The depictions of the scenes were tremendously vivid and dramatic. The author shows the character traits and emotions of wonderfully developed characters impressively, forging a great sentimental depth through his words. This created a deep connection between me and Ovid the protagonist, feeling how wronged and left out she had been by the people around her just because she was different.

Book Reviewer Keith Mbuya

Endemic is live on Amazon!

Endemic Wins the Literary Titan Book Award

Literary Titan reviewed Endemic very favorably recently. Now it’s won their Silver Award.

From their website:: The Literary Titan Silver Award is bestowed on books that expertly deliver complex and thought-provoking concepts. The ease with which ideas are conveyed is a reflection of the author’s talent in exercising fluent, powerful, and appropriate language.

After just winning its category (Science Fiction) at the New York Book Festival, this is a nice boost for Endemic. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s the story of a bookish and withdrawn woman finding her way through New York’s viral apocalypse. Haunted by her past and guided by her dead therapist, Ovid Fairweather must rise against her enemies. She was a nail. She will be a hammer.

Find it on your Amazon store here. Enjoy!

Endemic is live on Amazon!

Why Endemic Went Viral

First off, many thanks for all the congratulations that flooded in for Endemic winning its category at the New York Book Festival. I treasured every note and email. I also discovered how often my posts and tweets are utterly ignored. Folks I hadn’t heard from in years popped up to say hi! That was nice. This is also your friendly reminder that I’m a scintillating delight all the time, not just when I win a literary award. (wink!)

Second, I have a fresh interview about Endemic over at Literary Titan. It’s about the demands of writing relatable apocalyptic fiction in the middle of a pandemic. There I was in my blanket fort, masked up and hypervigilant, washing groceries, and as paranoid as a squirrel on cocaine. What to do? What to do? Write the drama and trauma, of course!

An actual viral apocalypse was on like Donkey Kong. Bodies were filling freezer trucks outside my local hospital. In hindsight, it might have been cheerier to try a different genre. Sweet romance might have been easier to sell when readers were looking for a cheerier escape. However, the themes of Endemic run deep. Although I wrote a fictionalized bio of my criminal exploits in New York (Brooklyn in the Mean Time), it is Endemic that claims the prize of being my most personal book.

I wrote Endemic because I had to.

Read the full interview here: https://literarytitan.com/2022/07/31/the-real-demands-of-the-end-of-the-world/