Thank you. I feel a bit better today, my friends are hoping to pop round later so I’m dusting. It’s not raining so much today either, so I may get the garden strimmed. A pampering day sounds good, I never slow down enough, I am usually haring around trying to do thing or writing too intensely and tensing my muscles as a result.
these are days when i literally cannot do anything much, with just one good hand, and even a currently wobbly mind; makes me appreciate what few things i can do;
every day is a search for one small improvement that confirms i am not losing my mind as well as physical capacity; visits here are part of that ‘therapy’; i don’t have good hearing, and at present even eyesight is not great - but what i have got (left) i am determined to use; one chapter of a book read- or heard, one music tape ditto - one new thing learned is a victory;
even an hours uninterrupted sleep is a bonus, and using the toilet now unassisted is a highlight of a day!
i will get better - i know that, all i can do is help it along as much as i can and try not to overburden my new miraculous wife i thought had gone
getting daily enquiries from the villagers here has also been astonishing, as i really thought i was just another essentially unknown foreigner;
my only sadness is hearing my two favorite stray cats have now vanished;
you have time and facilities to enjoy them, they are precious
here endeth the lesson!
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I totally get that. IIt sounds like you have a lot to cope with and I empathise. And I agree that the French are wonderful at rallying round in a crisis.
I do make the most of things and appreciate every day as best I can, sometimes I just fall down a bit. I empathise about being one-handed, I nearly lost my left hand and I’m just waiting for my friend to come and help me put elastic in my new mask as I can’t grip it.
I am a survivor of extreme and constant abuse and violence and I am full of injury and struggle with trauma 24 hours a day. But I do appreciate being alive and having some abilities, I have had a wonderful two years in France and I appreciate every day, even though some are gloomy. The people here, French and English, are wonderful. France is great therapy.
I live by lists, things that need doing and things that I am doing, and like everyone I have good and bad days. I do a lot by way of reading, learning, different skills, there is always more to do, just sometimes the motivations goes.
Sorry to hear about the strays, that happens sometimes, mine was called ‘Minou’, ‘Manky Cat’ or ‘Petit sac de puces’. He vanished during lockdown as I couldn’t get there to feed him and no one else could either.
Ooh dear Anna
Let me tell you this , last Monday I had a very important meeting with work on skype, 40 minutes before the meeting I picked up my lap top,… put the mouse on the keyboard and omg then shut the top down… yes i did… I broke the screen of my lap top… meeting in 1 hour, managed to fix up my I pad to the meeting, then a massive row with the him indoors… my working from home since he has retired is a no no non no… he hates it… went to the office then and continue to find a supplier for my screen… found by old contacts in my company , they were happy to help, ohhhh so dramatic … anyway there are good days, bad days, miserable OH and life to live. Lol lol
We have our first commercial, devis, accounts meeting on the 22 June, because of a glymo ? Severe ? In my blood results my doctor forbids me to attend , he has written an angry note sayin my immunities are so’ low I can only be in contact with 2 people at a time, otherwise reunions forbidden
Ppfffff what to do Lo, lol 
Be comforted it’s all gonna go away soon. Be strong 
And go day by day if you can xxxxxx
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I forgot to add that since my chemo and thalidomide I have no use in left hand , so I do sympathize with you there. Hugs
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Thanks for that, sorry to hear how bad things have been.
Funnily enough, my laptop crashed and my phone has stopped charging so I am in dire straits. Gave up the car due to the virus crisis wiping out my business, I can bike but the bike broke, have been walking into town in the recent torrential rain, I can barely walk and the rain is so bad for my ruined lungs.
Despite all this, I felt better today than yesterday. Life goes on.
Anna, Norman and Anne sending you 
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That was my answer to solitary confinement - food, more interesting than usual, because l wasn’t shopping and had to be inventive with what was in the freezer and store cupboard.
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It has been a good time for cooking, especially now that there’s fruit and veg in the garden.
in the hands of publishers is the most depressing of exercises; have you looked at self-publishing; not the people ‘looking for authors’ as they are rubbish but those like lulu;com (cant place the dot correctly) and what used to be createspace (amazon) which has recently changed its name i think to kindledirect (check caps); sved my soul a few years back and very, very modest royalties, plus a free copy of your books (from kindle) does wonders for the soul;
plus it provides free guaranteed amazon book listing - so your books stand or fall on their own value and are ‘out there’, and not dependent on the whim or taste or time of a publisher; but don’t expect miracle sales;publishing is an overcrowded field;
i don’t do fiction, which i don’t know how to write;
plus again it also provides a great knowledge base of the digital market and physical one; plus, you can produce uite easily a proper book to present to a prospective publisher instead of a manuscript - which would you rather read and review! buy a copy of writers and artists handbook (annual) and see what you can do for yourself at little or no cost!
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sorry as ever for the typos i cant fix;
Oh dear things are looking gloomy without transport, take a couple of days out and try to relax.
Good post though, you have had some great replies 
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I self-publish prolifically with Amazon kdp, Lulu crashed recently and ruined everyone’s work, including losing 30 of my manuscripts.
I still want some mainstream publishing that isn’t just magazines.
Get a fire going if you can. I’m struggling too! The prospect of actually writing is daunting. Cheer up :)!!!
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Publishers and agents take a dim view of self published work at times. Most only accept emailed manuscript samples.
As you say, the writers and artists yearbook or Jericho are essential, no good approaching the wrong agent or publisher.
Thanks, the fire does help in this weather. I can’t write without the laptop but preparing and pitching work is where I’m stuck.
Keep going. Being a writer is a ough business - lots of self-discipline involved. You’ll get there! 
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Yep. Persistence is key.
writers block and artists block come with the territory; i did both commercially - though not with books until later in my life; for what it is worth this is how i tackled the problem - oh and saying you can’t write without a laptop is obviously not true and you know it;
one; the ‘curse of the white sheet’ is daunting, so instead of searching for the masterpiece write about anything; look at your desk, kitchen equipment clothes line, cat sleeping, flowers growing - anything: ;target one to two thousand words - note the average paperback page is roughly three hundred and fifty words; discipline yourself to write every day, and allocate the same time if possible;, write as if with short stories, often a bigger idea will develop from a small starter;
why despise magazine writing it is a totally acceptable sphere; writers need to write in my experience; there are always excuses not to write - apart from health concerns very few are valid;
Can you write with pen and paper at the moment? I can’t. Nor get handwriting published, and I don’t despise magazine writing but it isn’t my aim at the moment. We are all different.
My full length works are the average 75,000 but I can’t proceed with any work without a laptop. I have about 100 works and not short of inspiration or writing ability, just at a dead end that all writers stop at along the way.