the Author
June
14
41 Comments

State of the Author June 2026 edition

Posted in life.

A brief update on life, because other­wise I’m still strug­gling to get words written.

My youngest is now walking inde­pen­dently. At the recom­men­da­tion of his Phys­io­ther­a­pist, we had an ankle brace made for him. It fits under his foot and rests just below his knee, and it’s a semi-rigid brace. The intro­duc­tion of the brace led to imme­diate improve­ments in his quality of life: he started to walk outside of the house, and he changed the way he comes down the stairs (prior to brace, he backed down the stairs, one step at a time).

After a week of exper­i­men­ta­tion with outside walking, he started to venture out on his own. He’s always gone for walks during the day, and he wants – of course he does – to return to normal life, or as much of normal life as is currently possible. He still can’t use his left hand, although there are improve­ments in his arm and shoulder strength (which, appar­ently, is neces­sary and leads to left hand functionality).

Daily life still revolves around my youngest, but I have gone back to work at the store, and I have been trying to write. It’s frus­trating for me because it is so slow in compar­ison to before the medical emer­gency. I’m also aware that my writer brain and my worry brain are attached at the hip, and even if I don’t make my worry my son’s problem, it’s… still very loud on the inside of my head =/.

But things are defi­nitely improving. The Bridge­point PT has been amazed at the progress between the first session with my son and the most recent one. He had heard of the brace maker, but he hadn’t had any actual expe­ri­ence with it until my son, and I think he thinks it’s miraculous.

To be fair, so do we.

As we head into summer and summer heat and the round of more follow-up visits with hospital doctors, we remain opti­mistic, or as opti­mistic as someone with a writer brain can be.

41 Responses to State of the Author June 2026 edition

  1. Sue says:
    June 14, 2026 at 10:13 am

    Glad to hear it!

  2. Tanya says:
    June 14, 2026 at 10:16 am

    Wonderful news. He sounds like an amazing kid!

  3. Donna Davis says:
    June 14, 2026 at 10:16 am

    Thank you for sharing. Sending healing energy to your son.

  4. Sherry M. Crown says:
    June 14, 2026 at 10:23 am

    I am so glad he is doing so well.

  5. Nelda Jardon says:
    June 14, 2026 at 10:28 am

    I am praying for your son and you, my favorite author. May God contin­u­ously bless you and your family.

  6. Kassandra (Kasie) Appel says:
    June 14, 2026 at 10:35 am

    This is wonderful to read. The progress your son has made in such a short time is remark­able, and it’s easy to see why the brace feels almost mirac­u­lous. Espe­cially glad to hear he’s venturing out on his own again and reclaiming some of the inde­pen­dence that means so much.
    I’m familiar with the diffi­cul­ties that surround bearing witness to a child’s strug­gles, no matter their age. Even when things are improving, the worry can be relent­less. I hope you can take some comfort in these hard-earned gains and in hearing how impressed his PT is with his progress. Wishing all of you continued healing and many more mile­stones ahead.

  7. Elisa Crawford says:
    June 14, 2026 at 10:40 am

    I was SO excited to read your latest update about the improve­ments in your son’s condi­tion. While I’m sure, at times, you see an enor­mous hill still ahead, looking back, your whole family has come a very long way in this diffi­cult recovery. The top of the hill is within sight!

  8. Peg says:
    June 14, 2026 at 11:12 am

    So glad to hear your son is much improved. I’ll keep you both in my prayers.

  9. Lesa says:
    June 14, 2026 at 11:35 am

    I’m so glad your son is doing better! I know he will keep getting stronger!

  10. Cheryl A Giles says:
    June 14, 2026 at 11:43 am

    That is wonderful news. Thank you or sharing.

  11. Krys says:
    June 14, 2026 at 12:27 pm

    I’m so glad to hear of his improve­ment. I sincerely hope it continues and leads bact to full normal func­tion. Good t hear you’re writing again. I’m currently rereading the Cast books and enjoying them just as much. Thank you for the plea­sure your books bring. Krys.

  12. Darbie says:
    June 14, 2026 at 12:35 pm

    Wishing your son the best , recovery is most signif­i­cant in first 12 months , if he likes water I would suggest water walking it is gentle and our weight­less­ness in water is a great benefit to full AROM of upper and lower extrem­i­ties Best 🤞

  13. Ann C says:
    June 14, 2026 at 1:29 pm

    It’s great to hear your son is now getting outside to walk. Small improve­ments lead to bigger ones. Wishing your son and family the best!

  14. Pamela Lovette says:
    June 14, 2026 at 2:20 pm

    I’m so glad that your son is improving a lot and that he’s getting outside will keep him in my prayers

  15. Diana Brock says:
    June 14, 2026 at 2:42 pm

    As your life winds into more imme­diate concerns, have you ever consid­ered finding someone with the same writing style that can continue the mantel. Your son, even. One of the prob­lems I have with favorite authors is the series writing ends with time because of the age or death of an author. I miss those series.
    You may not be ready to give up writing and that is great, but you are young compared to many.
    I ready your Elantra series and I love them all, including the school. They are my favorite books. Please consider if you are not plan­ning on ending the series, with consid­ering what happens if life gets in the way, as it so often does. I would consider your legacy contin­uing if those books that made you popular continue long into the future.

  16. Mike Nelson Pedde says:
    June 14, 2026 at 3:00 pm

    “My youngest is now walking independently.”

    How Wonderful for you all!!

    Last September my PT told me to go out walking every day. I moved so slowly my cell phone didn’t register the steps. I remember walking my first km and (several months later) walking my first 5km. One day, one step at a time. 👣

    Hugs,
    M&M

  17. Marjorie says:
    June 14, 2026 at 3:27 pm

    Will continue to pray for all of you.

  18. Mary Allen says:
    June 14, 2026 at 3:55 pm

    I am so pleased you have visible proof of improve­ment. Worrying and having to present a calm front can be exhausting. I hope you have family and support you can let your hair down with. I imagine keeping busy at the store is a small break. I continue to pray for you, your son and your family as you deal with the ups and downs.

  19. Diane Houdek says:
    June 14, 2026 at 8:19 pm

    Excel­lent news!!

  20. ELF says:
    June 14, 2026 at 11:35 pm

    Please focus on the impor­tant things in life and take care of your­self. So glad to hear that your son is making progress and sending hopes that things continue to be mirac­u­lous. Hugs.

  21. Joanne says:
    June 15, 2026 at 1:24 am

    So happy to hear of your son’s progress. Glad you are back at work. Unfor­tu­nately having read Cast in Blood, I’m frus­trated because it lead me back to a book I’ve already read.
    Hope your writer’s brain gets back in gear soon.

  22. Pamela says:
    June 15, 2026 at 5:40 am

    So glad to hear that things are getting better! What a hard time for you all. Hope­fully more progress over time.

  23. Robin W Crabtree says:
    June 15, 2026 at 8:45 am

    Happy to hear about improvements!

  24. Frank says:
    June 15, 2026 at 9:11 am

    Im happy he’s getting better. You and your family are in my prayers every night​.It will get better and this will be a point of strength in the future
    For you and your family.

    Regards Frank

  25. michelle says:
    June 15, 2026 at 9:52 am

    @Mike Nelson Pedde

    My son requires the ankle brace to walk outside of the house (and a walking pole), but at the moment, his PT at Bridge­point is far more concerned with the possi­bility he’ll exhaust himself, push himself too hard. So far, the long legs of walking have largely been about TTC outages and route changes >. I think, if he could use his left hand, there might have been even faster progress, but he can’t, so he can’t use a walker for support. Still: he walks. Prior to the stroke, he walked for an hour or two every day, so getting back to “normal” means walking is natural, even if tiring, if that makes sense. But his PT is really concerned that he’s pushing himself a bit too hard, given where he is; he *does* want him to walk, but maybe not to a point where he’s exhausted. Which is really hard to gauge. 

  26. michelle says:
    June 15, 2026 at 9:54 am

    @Mary Allen: Working at the store is not so much a small break as “normal” life. I find writing much harder than I did before my son’s stroke, and it is deeply frus­trating; I’m trying to guide the writer-brain back into full func­tion­ality, but… it’s not happening as quickly as I’d hoped. I *am* working, but… it’s slow =/

  27. A says:
    June 15, 2026 at 9:34 pm

    Glad to hear of your son’s improvement.
    And I also want to mention the impact of you sharing the story had on my own life — I’m early 40s and several years post partum. I’ve always been healthy as horse, per doctors. Though anyone who actu­ally has horses knows that phrase to be a double edge sword. But long story short, I’d begun to feel a bit odd in my head after my morning coffees. One morning it was partic­u­larly pronounced and I remem­bered randomly your son and I went to the ER.
    It was a very good thing I did. It’s been a long set of months where my brain had to recal­i­brate so that I could func­tion outside of the house but I’m slowly getting there.

    So your words, beyond just your Elantra words, defi­nitely had an impact on my life.

  28. Jb says:
    June 15, 2026 at 11:26 pm

    You and your family are in my prayers. Thank you so much for sharing your life and fami­lies Your family sounds amazing sticking together. Your son is strong and resilient. He knows where he wants to go and working very hard to get there with your love and strength behind him he will. Take care and remember your readers are praying for your family and son. You got this!!

  29. Teri Cholar says:
    June 16, 2026 at 4:24 am

    Wishing you all the best :-)

  30. Jazzlet says:
    June 16, 2026 at 6:05 am

    I am very pleased to hear of your son’s progress, I’ve had to try to learn what and how much I can do for different reasons, but learning the new ‘you need to stop in quarter of an hour’ signals so I don’t get suddenly hit with ‘that’s it STOP’ is a contin­uing struggle. It is espe­cially so because I want to take advan­tage of all the energy I do have, so I’ve a lot of empathy for your lad. I’m also pleased you are able to leave him long enough to go out to work, of huge signif­i­cance for both of you.

    You will wrestle your writer brain back into line, I want it to behave for you because it will help you to not fret so much, which is so tiring, and you will be needing a lot of energy to nego­tiate the changing new real­i­ties. I hope you all keep well.

  31. susan whelan says:
    June 16, 2026 at 8:36 am

    I’m so glad that things are improving for your son and you’re getting back to your regular routines. I won’t say “normal” because it can take years for the effects of the trauma stress and care­giver stress to dissi­pate. So I wish many years of normal to you and your family.

  32. Shawn Kammerdiener says:
    June 16, 2026 at 8:48 am

    I am so happy to hear that things are going well for your son. I have been following through emails from Tom W. and keeping up with how things are going. I hope to see you again at some point when I can make it back to Bakka. Know that you, your family and your son are all promi­nent in my daily prayer basket. You are a hero for him as powerful and strong as Kaylin.

  33. Therese says:
    June 16, 2026 at 12:13 pm

    What a relief that there’s been progress! I’m so happy for your son; I’m sure he’s impa­tient to get back to his regular habits. I’m hoping your mental health improves too!

  34. Cheryl Norman says:
    June 16, 2026 at 9:55 pm

    Congrat­u­la­tions to your son on his amazing progress!! I hope he continues to improve and amaze both himself and his doctors with his recovery. I’m selfish though and hope to continue reading the Chron­i­cles of Elantra very soon. Hang in there and take each day one at a time!!

  35. Sharon says:
    June 17, 2026 at 9:50 pm

    So glad to hear of this news, and hope that your son’s improve­ment continues and that you, as a family, get some respite. Your faithful readers will be here when­ever you are ready to publish again. God bless xx

  36. gary s says:
    June 18, 2026 at 8:29 am

    Thoughts and prayers for you and yours’

  37. Marie says:
    June 19, 2026 at 2:09 am

    So glad to hear your son is improving. Give your­self grace, having diffi­culty focusing on writing is completely under­stand­able. If you are able to write anything at all at this point it’s a huge accomplishment.
    The first year and a half after my daugh­ter’s stroke were rough and I was not able to focus on anything else. She was a toddler when it happened so the recovery process is I am guessing different then with an adult or adoles­cent, but what­ever age your child is your child. I think moms are hard wired to have our brain­power focused on out kid when they go through some­thing like this.

  38. michelle says:
    June 19, 2026 at 10:46 am

    @Marie: I was just thinking yesterday that the last time I was strug­gling with words so much was after the first time my youngest came back from his nine days in the hospital. He didn’t have a stroke, but had an episode of ADEM (which is very like MS, but in theory only a single occur­rence). Then, it was nine days. He did not enjoy those nine days, but has almost no memory of them. Even at age six, his memory had shifted to “I went to stay with mom at the hospital” (Hospital for Sick Kids allows parental rooming in). This time it was 106 days (the number my son likes to mention), and a totally different reason – but yes, you’re prob­ably right. While I was there every day, I wasn’t there around the clock. The first time, I was there 24/7, with an inter­rup­tion to come back home to have dinner with my oldest, and to put him to bed; my husband went to the hospital during that time.

  39. Lee says:
    June 19, 2026 at 6:18 pm

    Came here to see how you all are doing and to send posi­tive energy 🌈 So happy to read that your son is walking inde­pen­dently. In my own expe­ri­ence dealing with a health crisis, I also pushed myself everyday to exer­cise as much as I was able. It didn’t seem like I was making progress until suddenly, months later, I was. I think it helps the body for the mind to believe that you can do this, that you will get better, that this is only temporary.

  40. Elizabeth says:
    June 19, 2026 at 11:52 pm

    I’m so very glad to learn of the progress you son has made/is making. May he continue to move forward. Best wishes for all of your family!

  41. Nada says:
    July 15, 2026 at 2:19 am

    I am glad to hear there’s improve­ment, even if slow. A medical emer­gency like what your youngest expe­ri­enced seems to have been deeply trau­matic to the body given the length and complexity of recovery, even if recovery is faster than projected. Some may push too hard to recover, others not enough… it can be like walking a tight rope. My well-wishes and prayers go out to your youngest as he navi­gates his new reality and recovery. 

    Such an event certainly upends the rhythm of living. I have found when I get mentally stuck in a place I can’t seem to extri­cate myself from, pulling out the old morning pages disci­pline from “The Artist’s Way” helps unblock me. Writing three pages of stream of conscious­ness as fast as I can early in the morning with no internal editing or judg­ment allowed (and no re-reading) somehow liber­ates and calms the mind by exter­nal­izing all the swirling worries, gripes, complaints, frus­tra­tions, inse­cu­ri­ties, or even noth­ing­ness onto paper. Perhaps morning pages would be of aid to you, but hope­fully you’ve nego­ti­ated or navi­gated or rein­vig­o­rated the writer’s brain by the time you read this (if you do — hope­fully you don’t because you’re deep into writing & living) and the morning pages idea is not necessary. 

    My best wishes in your return to writing.

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