Adventures in Physio

It’s been a while since I blogged as my family and I have almost bankrupted the NHS between us this past year. I'm trying not to be a 'Debbie Downer' so I thought I might share my experiences at physiotherapy recently since it seemed to amuse the people I recounted them to (and I happen to have a new book about a sexy Canadian ex-ice hockey pro turned physiotherapist in Northern Ireland!)

I’ve come to accept the fact that my body has decided to give up on me now that I’m past forty and it seems I'm not the only one, middle age was a common feature for all of us waiting in that dingy room for perky, young physiotherapists to collect us.

I was feeling rather smug that I’d thought ahead and worn a vest top under my clothes so I wouldn’t have to suffer the humiliation of having to strip down to my underwear in front of **James who didn’t look much older than my son. Less so when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

*Note to self: Vest tops should only be worn by toned, tanned young girls and not pasty, middle-aged women. Otherwise you look like an under-cooked, over-stuffed sausage.*

All too soon it was the poking and prodding stage to find out what could be causing the pain in my shoulder. I’ve never had a ‘spa day’ or felt the need for a massage and now I know why. I have never felt as awkward in my life.

My friend once told me she’d toyed with the idea of physiotherapy until it was pointed out to her she would have to touch people who might be less than hygienic. Despite the knowledge I’d showered only an hour earlier, I couldn’t get that thought out of my head. Whilst **James spent the next few minutes manipulating the joint I spent that time cringing for him that he had to touch my rolls of fat, wondering if my skin was clammy or if I’d shaved my pits that morning. Then, as he bent my elbow up round my head I took a quick sniff to make sure I didn’t have BO.

The massage table didn’t improve the awkward atmosphere. Probably because I thought it polite to ask if I should take my boots off before I climbed into a strange man’s bed.

**James tried to massage the knots in my neck – “You’re very tense.”

Because you’re touching me, **James.

“Relax, Karin.”

I can’t, **James. YOU’RE TOUCHING ME!

I tried to make up for my inability to lie down and be massaged like a normal person, by being a good student and mirroring the exercise regime he showed me with a torture device called a resistance band.

“Er, you need to do it with your left arm. You know, the one that’s giving you the problem…”

“You need to stand on the knotted end, Karin, so it doesn’t fly up and hit you in the face.”

I needed a pictorial reference in the end since my goldfish brain couldn’t recall one exercise to the next. The man had the patience of a saint.

Bless him, he took to making small talk about my books to cover my embarrassment. Then I remembered my next novel was about a sexy, male physiotherapist. AAGH! He’s going to think it’s about him.

This pattern continued for several months. Except for those occasions when I was perched under some sort of heat lamp for the duration and managed to convince myself he hadn't turned it on and I was sitting like a lemon for twenty minutes.

Unfortunately physio didn't work for me and I've had two cortisone injections since. The lady treating me now is lovely but I'm not any less awkward around her. I recently purchased these which explains everything about me and think I'll wear to future ventures outside of home:

I am thankful for small mercies though. The person who persuaded me to post this blog told me her physio includes the phrase 'roll over so your ass is in the air'! I think I'd have combusted from sheer embarrassment.

And people wonder why I prefer fiction to reality…

**Names have been changed to protect innocent physiotherapists

Reforming the Playboy

From playboy…to father and husband?

Hunter Torrance, ex-Demons ice hockey star, is back—now as the team physiotherapist! And while team doctor Charlotte Michaels doesn’t believe he’s changed his playboy ways, the attraction between them is undeniable!

Hunter has worked hard at becoming a father to little Alfie, his newly-found son. With Charlotte’s help, he knows he can be—though she guards her heart as fiercely as he does his. He’s sure they could be a family—if only they can take the risk!

Buy Links:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Mills& Boon

When Life Kicks You In The Nuts...

I've severely neglected this blog but I'm hoping you'll excuse me, we've had the year from hell.

As a writer I'm supposed to maintain a presence on social media, to interact with readers and other writers. Although I've tried to do that, it has been very much at a distance since January. I'm probably guilty of Vague-booking - you know, venting about how unfair life is without spilling the beans - but the truth is life has been so scary I wasn't ready to share it with the world. I also respect my family's privacy and I've asked permission to post the few details I'm willing to divulge here.

My husband took suddenly ill at the start of the year and it instantly turned our lives upside down. He's the glue which has held us together for so long it was frightening to contemplate what the future might hold. We've always worked as a team in raising our sons but he's always been the main breadwinner and my emotional support. Now it's the other way around.

Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm useless in a crisis and suddenly I was the one organising us and getting him the treatment he needed. I'm an introvert who prefers to sit at home behind my keyboard. So the countless meetings, appointments, phone calls and emails I've had to arrange has tested me almost as much as my husband's illness has tested him.

Strangely enough, the experience has changed me from a glass-half-empty person to a 'we'll get through this' warrior queen. The truth is I'm too scared to accept otherwise. Somewhere beyond all this pain and stress there has to be a place of peace we can look forward to.



Illness doesn't stop the world going on around you and we've had to carry on with the usual everyday stresses too. Our boys have just finished their exams, with the eldest now waiting to find out about university. And somewhere amongst all this chaos I managed to write a book. It's only a rough draft and deadline's not very far away but it's a miracle I've managed to write anything to be honest. In some ways it has been my escape from reality and it reminds me why I do this for a living. Working from home has enabled me to be with my husband through every step of his treatment and writing is fun, even when I'm sitting in a waiting room scribbling into a notebook.

It's been five months now and though circumstances haven't changed that much, we have settled into a routine. We've also both learned to appreciate the small things in life. Material possessions aren't important and it's true when they say the best thing you can have in life is your health because boy do you miss it when it's gone!



We've just celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary and we decided we didn't need to buy each other presents. Through the worst days of our lives, our love for one another has been the one constant. We still have a long road ahead of us and this is basically a pre-warning for the next time I go MIA. My family will always come first.

One Today!

 As today officially marks one year to the day since I received 'The Call' from Charlotte Mursell at Harlequin Mills & Boon ® I figured it was about time I set up a blog. Okay, it's a work in progress but I really wanted to get a giveaway going to celebrate.

You see, writing romance was always my dream. One which drove me, and everyone around me, to distraction over the years. I'm not what you would call ambitious - if I can get through the day without losing my pen I call it an achievement - but I was stubborn on the issue of writing. It was all I ever wanted to do from a very young age. Hence years of submitted manuscripts and subsequent rejection letters.

I had some success with short stories and small articles published over the years but that only made me more determined to get that elusive book contract some day. After reading up on the craft of writing and entering every competition Harlequin had going, I started to make progress and my dream seemed to actually be within my grasp.

I spotted this ring on a trip to London a couple of years ago and promised myself I would use it for a giveaway WHEN I hit the big time. (Surprisingly optimistic for someone who spent more time whinging about not being published than actually finishing a manuscript!) 

www.AlteredEras.Etsy,com

You could've knocked me down with a feather when I reached the final of the So You Think You Can Write competition last year. The next time I visited London was to celebrate the release of my medical romance, French Fling to Forever. 

One year after getting my long awaited contract I'm working on book four and true to my word I'm celebrating with a giveaway - a signed copy of the 2-in-1 version of my book (with the fab Sue MacKay) and that precious ring.

All you have to do is enter the rafflecopter draw and a winner will be chosen at random. Competition is open to all! :) 



a Rafflecopter giveaway