SciFi & Fantasy Fiction and Stories by Barbara J Wickham

Sorry I haven’t replied to your wonderful comments on Near to Dreams ... I currently have taken possession of two 18 day old kittens and am stuck nursing every two hours. They were brought in on Saturday afternoon and so far they’re still alive! They’re littermates to the little orange one I tried to save two weeks ago when he was three days old. I have to go now and feed them before going to bed ... have to work again tomorrow ... whew this week is going to be long!

Barbara J Wickham replies: "No worries! You have your hands full with those babies. Awwww! I will send lots of good vibes your way that these kits will thrive.

I’ll just keep on reading because I’m completely and utterly hooked on Near to Dreams. Plus, I’m very much looking forward to reading Yashira. You’ll have lots of yummy comments to enjoy when you have more time.

I need to hide somewhere this weekend so I can finally do some writing meself! Eeep!"

They nursed from a bottle today! I’m so ecstatic I can’t even describe it. I was so worried that they weren’t going to do well because they weren’t nursing and I had to tube feed them to get the formula into them but this afternoon they all of a sudden just started voraciously nursing when I offered them the bottle before tube feeding. And I’ve nursed them twice since and both times they drank a good amount. It’s such a relief! And they’re no longer losing weight! They came in with eye infections, upper respiratory disease, and horrible fleas. They’re now flea-less, dewormed, on oral meds to help with the resp disease and eyes, as well as medicated ointment for their eyes, and getting vitamin supplements 3 times a day. I’ve also been giving them subQ fluids and enemas to keep everything working as it should. Whew! I’ve got quite the pharmacy at home. They’re on their antibiotics 2X a day, the ointment every 8 hours, and the vitamins 3X a day.

But it’s so rewarding to see them taking those small steps toward recovery. The other night Touluse wouldn’t go to sleep when I put her down and cried until I picked her up and lay with her on my chest on the bed. She crawled up to my face and held onto my lower lip with her little claws and put her head over my mouth and went to sleep. She was so cute I couldn’t move her after that. And both their personalities are starting to come out. Touluse is a fiesty little fire-cracker with a very sweet heart. She’ll watch me when I move about the room. And is always wanting to be cuddled and sleep on me as opposed to her bed. Lyre on the other hand is very quiet - he sleeps a lot (the sicker of the two) and has the limp approach to conflict unless it’s something he strongly objects to ... wonder if he’s part ragdoll, lol. Touluse is an orange tabby, which surprised me when my aunt (a vet) said she thinks it might be a girl, and Lyre is most definitely a boy, a little flame point So these two little ones are my entire world right now ... they come to work with me so that I can feed and medicate them and then I spend almost all of my time at home nursing and caring for them ... and then falling asleep with them, lol. I fed them before I left work this afternoon and fell asleep with them on my chest on the couch when I got home from work.

Barbara J Wickham replies: "I admire you so much for what you are doing. Fostering these precious kittens takes such a physical and emotional toll, but the reward is so worth the hardship. These little creatures are in very good hands and it’s wonderful to hear that they are doing better. *does happi kitteh danze*

I love the names! Do they mean anything in particular? Touluse is a painter, right? And Lyre, as in the musical instrument? You are always good at naming your characters, so I shouldn’t be surprised that your foster babies have been given such lovely names.

I’m a bit surprised that it is the little girl that is seeking so much contact. I’ve usually had the boys needing more cuddles and reassurance. I can hardly keep Smeagol from sitting and laying all over me, including hogging my pillow at night, yet it took Padme almost two years before she even tried sitting in my lap! With all my cats, the boys have definitely been more clingy. Not that I’m complaining, or anything.

I’m sending more good vibes that the babies will continue to grow in size and health. Yay!

"

helleuw there barbara
I am very amused by your gallery!
Do you appreciate floods of comments, or is the knowlenge of me fully enjoying your pieces as satisfieing?
at least you don’t seem to be in comment need ^_^
Your one of those gallery owners elfwood needs to have.
Keep doing your thing!

Barbara J Wickham replies: "Thank you very much, Renate!

I most enjoy hearing what others interpret from my work, but comments of any kind are always nice.

I’ve been away from Elfwood for a while, but I will be back to working on my art and writings soon!"

Ah, so I have now discovered the one problem with writing nanowrimo .... I’m writing this story so fast that the moderators can’t keep up! Lol. The first chapter has been in the queue for over eight days now ... and I already have five more chapters ready to go up. I’m definitely surprised that my muses have been able to buckle down and concentrate on one story for this long ... but then again, some days it has taken the entire day of me bouncing back and forth between procrastinating and writing one or two words on the computer to get my word quota for the day written.

How is the moving and organizing your new home coming along? How do the kitties like it so far? Are they adjusting ok?

Barbara J Wickham replies: "I sure wish I had that problem! *lol* I can’t wait to read what you’ve done so far. Although, I am shamefully behind on reading... and everything else! Argh!

I’m not moved in yet, but I should be by next Saturday. I’ll have to keep the kitties confined to the bedroom for a bit and then I’ll let them explore. I have a feeling that my boy will get right to looking around and my girls will hide under the bed for at least a week! *lol* "

How was Thanksgiving in the new place? How are the kittens handling it? Hee hee, boys truly are more adventurous ... though the female, Allie that I rescued was sure curious about everything! And she wasn’t afraid of my dogs

I’m almost finished nanowrimo and then I shall have that elusive free time ... if my muses leave me alone long enough, lol.

Heh heh, and Artimis is HUGE now! He’s growing SO fast ... I think he’s 5 or 7 pounds now! And he’s only 5 months! He’s going to be a big bruiser ...but boy has he got such a sweet heart. He’s such a cuddler/lover in-between his crazy play times

Barbara J Wickham replies: "I had a great Thanksgiving at my brother’s house, which is now only 3 minutes away from my new home. Yipee!

How was yours?

The kitties are doing fantastic at the new place! They love, and I mean LOVE the new stairs! I managed to capture a couple video clips of both Smeagol and Padme doing the Spiderman walk along the bottom of the steps! *lol* I’ll have to email those to you once I get the clips downloaded from my camera.

So, it’s December 1st and I must assume that you are officially done with Nano. How do you feel about your progress? It looks to me like you did pretty darned good. I am very eager to read The Last Ignithian and I am so happy to see all the chapters on your shelf. "

That’s wonderful! Isn’t being close to family the greatest? As of this summer I am only a 20 minute hop on the freeway from my brother (as opposed to 2 hours) and so I am constantly over there visiting and playing with my nieces and nephews. And now they can come out for a day trip instead of having to plan for an entire weekend sleepover. And there is lots of room for spontaneous visits, too .

My Thanksgiving was wonderful, lots of noise and craziness with the nieces, nephews, and cousins, so the best kind of holiday .

I can’t wait to see these clips! Aw, I’m so glad that they’re enjoying their new home! So the girls aren’t hiding too much anymore?

Yay for being finished! And I got 50, 000 words, too! WOot! First time actually making it. I’m definitely glad I did it and have been taking the last couple of days as a break from the story to try and give my imagination a chance to catch up. I have chapter 20-22 written as well but, of course, can’t post that yet. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what is happening in chapter 7.

Barbara J Wickham replies: "Oops. I didn’t respond to this comment after reading. That just shows how neglected my writing account has become. Shame on me!

The holidays have passed, but that’s okay because what I enjoy most about this time of year is something that I have in my life throughout the entire year... Good times with my friends and family. Awwwww.

Me and the kits are still loving the new place. I am in the process of reorganizing everything before I get into the major renovations and I’m surprised to find that I don’t need as much stuff as I thought I did. I didn’t have a lot of stuff to begin with, but I’m finding that I value open space more than extra furniture and knick-knacks. Besides, a sparsely furnished place is easier to keep clean and with cats, one must stay on top of dust bunnies or they quickly turn into dust Godzillas! *lol*

My first project for the new year are cushy window perches for the kitties! Yay! "

Happy New Year to you too Barb! *hugs* I hope this season has brought you every happiness (and your lovely kittens )

Barbara J Wickham replies: "I am already rearing to go on this new year and very excited about seeing what I can accomplish. I have developed some bad habits that I need to shake, so that I can put my efforts back into what is healthy and productive... and fun, too!

In fact, I’ve just finished putting air in the tires of my bike and I’m gonna go for a ride while it’s not raining.

Have an awesome day in this new year! *hugs*"

How’s the writing and artwork coming with the new years resolution?

My dad is getting back into his artwork once again and is now looking at taking a few digital artwork courses and getting a wacom tablet, which he says I’ll be allowed to use! I’m so excited, not that I’m any good at art but this may be the boost I need to actually practice more.

Barbara J Wickham replies: "Argh! It’s not going so good right now. Life keeps insisting on interrupting my attempts to draw and write, but don’t worry, I am sure that as more time passes I will have fewer things getting in the way. New year, new house, new schedule at work, new everything! It’s almost like starting from scratch and I feel torn in many directions.

The hardest part right now is that the temptation to work on my house is near impossible to resist. I need to just take my time, but one project leads to another which requires more trips to the hardware store and while I’m at the store I get more ideas for more projects! It’s crazy-making!!!!! *lol*

That is so cool! Tablets are awesome and make drawing on the computer so much easier. The best part is that it will make practicing a lot more fun! Do you think your dad will post on Elfwood? "

I’m not sure if he will ... probably not though. I’ll try convincing him to, as he’s a really good artist with graphite so I can’t wait to see what he creates digitally!

How are the cats liking the new home renovations? The video of Padme on the stairs was absolutely hilarious!

Barbara J Wickham replies: "Ah, that’s too bad. If he ever wants feed back though, make sure he knows that elfwood is the place to be!

The kitties are a bit miffed with me right now because I’m not getting their projects done quickly enough! I’m only human. *lol*

I have to put a few things on hold right now while I sort out my storage situation. I’m getting frustrated that I still have a lot of stuff in boxes simply because I do not have a proper place to put them. I just have too much furniture that is not very functional, so I am trying to find multi-purpose pieces like a new t.v. stand that will also hold all of my DVDs and PS2 games, instead of the rickety stand I have now that barely holds my components. I think once the clutter is gone and I have the last box unpacked I will better be able to enjoy doing the fun cat entertainment stuff.

Mostly, I am eager to get to the painting stage. I am dying to slap oodles of bright colors on my walls. Woo hoo!

There just aren’t enough hours in the day! Argh!



"

Oh man ... I swear my muse is dead and needs CPR! I have ideas but when I sit down to write them they feel flat and I keep getting distracted by other ideas but can’t write those either *pulls out hair* It’s the new job ... it keeps me so busy during the day that by the time I settle down when I get home, I fall asleep with Reese on the couch instead of writing, lol. And I thought I’d get used to the new pace once I got the hang of the new job but nope, yesterday I passed out with him at 6:45pm .... how sad is that?! *sigh* I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the return of sunshine and warm weather will increase my energy levels.

How have you been? Able to fend off all those make-work projects around the house enough to buy yourself some you time? I’m planning on painting my room this summer and still haven’t decided on the shade ... I know I want purple ... but you never realize how many different shades and hues there are until you have to pick just one! lol.

Barbara J Wickham replies: "I think change of any kind has an intense effect on us creative types. It must sap our mental energies as we deal with new vocatons which leaves us little left over for our artistic pursuits... Or, it could be that we’re just too darned TIRED! *lol*

I can totally understand and sympathize with what you’re going thru right now. I thought that I would be settled into my new life by now, but people keep telling me that getting back into comfortable routines takes time. Plus, my work has changed my schedule twice now and so it feels like I haven’t even had a chance to start making new routines.

Right now I’m just concentrating on getting back into a healthy lifestyle, which includes a lot of mental "spring cleaning". I’ve been stressing too much about everything and I just feel toxic with it.

The house projects are on hold right now because I’m down to the stuff that costs more. I am eagerly awaiting my federal tax credit which will go along way to helping me buy some supplies. Also, the lady I’m selling my old house to has finally gone into escrow, so I should see some money from that in the near future. Woo hoo!

In the meantime, I’m keeping the spring cleaning theme going as I’m clearing my house of anything I don’t absolutely love. That in itself feels really good and liberating. Plus, it gives me more room for my future art area!

The good weather coming should increase your energy level, but just try to relax and not worry too much. You’re probably still adjusting to your new job. The brain needs time to create new connections. Just keep writing fun for now. Make up new character sheets, or create new beasts that live in your stories. You’ll get back to it in now time. *hugs*"