About me
I am a 4-time cancer survivor living with rare, persistent, and untreatable head/neck cancer. I also fly paragliders. My wife and I live in Olympia WA with our Great Pyrenees mix, Mabel. We live in a house full of books, and beads, and Mabel’s fur.
I am a deeply curious person who knows the power of a well formed question. As a writer, I don’t have much in the much in the way of qualifications. I’ve never been a journalist, a poet, a pundit, or a creative writing teacher. I’ve never had anything published beyond a letter to the editor on a local housing initiative. I relish being an amateur and a student, learning by doing, practicing constantly, getting better slowly.
About Unflappable
The name of this Substack is a nod to birds, to wings (paragliders), and a form of reconstruction I’ve had, twice - free flap reconstruction, or flap surgery for short. Unflappability is another way to describe resilience. This newsletter came into existence in early 2024 when I decided to take 6 months off work after more cancer and another surgery. The original intent was to document my sabbatical, gain experience writing for an audience, and then see where that took me. Now, there is a concept for a book (2 books actually), an outline, and sturdy set of goals. Over the next 6 months, I will produce a book manuscript. If you’d like to be a part of that process, you should join us by subscribing.
Benefits for subscribers
If you have any interest in writing or reading memoirs, personal storytelling, or learning more about yourself, you should join us. If cancer has touched your life in some way, subscribe - I have a lot to say on the subject after a 10 year journey, which is still unfolding. If you want to witness the birth of a manuscript, you are in the right place.
Nearly everything I write is available to all subscribers
Paid subscribers get the following perks:
Access to my entire archive of posts
Chapter excerpts
A chance to be a beta reader once the book manuscript is ready
If you are enthusiastic about this journey, but unable to afford a subscription, please reach out.
DISCLAIMER
The opinions expressed in Unflappable are based on the author’s experiences and in no way constitute advice about medicine, healthcare, cancer, paragliding, or other real-life, high risk activities that lawyers write disclaimers about.
