Can Those in a Coma Hear Us? - Lenore Skomal - Giveaway

Can those in a coma hear us? 
Guest post by Lenore Skomal

It’s the pivotal question that launched BLUFF. Not a revolutionary or new question, but one that persists and is debated in the medical community, for one, and the world at large.

In doing the research for BLUFF, I spoke to many physicians and caregivers, and my straw poll indicates the group was evenly divided. While most doctors acquiesce that they don’t rightly know, their druthers list toward the “no, not likely.”

While my mother wasn’t in a coma, technically, she was in a deep, morphine sleep toward the end of her life, thanks to a losing battle with bone cancer. She drifted in and out of long periods of consciousness, and it had me wondering, perhaps obsessively so, about what exactly she was aware of. Her primary care doctors were sensitive about not talking about her condition in front of her, even when she was snoring. I appreciate this more than they will ever know. There was a level of respect that I bow to.

After I wrote BLUFF, an in-law of mine was admitted to the hospital and kept in a medical coma for a month. When I asked him about it later, he wasn’t comfortable discussing it, other than to say, “I don’t remember a thing.”

Others who have come out of comas have had similar responses. But they are not the norm. Actually, there are those documented cases of coma patients who do remember, and can even recall the offhand words of a careless doctor or insensitive nurse telling loved ones that they’ll never come out of it. Those cases are what keep the right to life movement fueled, especially in desperate cases where there is no hope. Oddly, however, there are no numbers to prove the case either way.

By creating this dilemma for my protagonist, I wanted to push the envelope and explore not just the idea that a comatose patient could hear, but much more. I wanted to know what it might be like to be trapped in one’s body, with no visible means of communication. And not just be trapped, but forced to face the decisions you’ve made and live with those outcomes while not being able to defend or explain yourself. My protagonist, Jude Black, finds herself in that position. And as she lies there, immobile, some strange things happen. One of them is that she actually finds herself communicating and developing a friendship with someone she loathed in her waking life.

As with most of my writing, this unusual outcome underscores something much larger and pervasive—a human frailty—basically, our tendency to judge one another. When everything is stripped away—social setting, class-consciousness, petty differences, toxic gossip—sometimes that’s enough to truly see someone. And find a commonality that can create a relationship, a bond. I played with this theme in the book, and I think you will agree that the unlikely friendship that transpires between Jude and Mary Shannon is not just poignant; it’s heartfelt and true.

To be certain, the question about just what someone in a coma can experience won’t be answered definitively by BLUFF or by me, that is unless I find myself in a hospital bed one day in a persistent vegetative state. And if that happens my friends, you can rest assured—I will get back to you about it.

About the author:

Lenore Skomal is the author of the recently released novel Bluff. As an author, Lenore wants you to eat her books. She wants you to chew them in your teeth, savor them on your tongue, breathe them in, and feel her words in your skin. Her passionate desire is to touch your heart, inspire you, and luxuriate in the world of the written word. Winner of multiple awards for blogging, literature, biography and humor, Lenore Skomal’s catalogue spans many genres. With 30 years of writing experience, over 17 books published and a daily blog, the consistent themes in her work are the big issues the human experience and adding depth and voice to the intricacies involved in living a multi-dimensional existence.

Find out more at LenoreSkomal.com.

Synopsis:

"To the medical world, I was a host body, surviving only to bring a new life into the world. And while I wanted to die more than anything in the world, I never wanted this. No, I never wanted to cease to exist. This was the worst death of all.”

Jude Black lives in that in-between, twilight place teetering on death but clinging to life in order to bring her baby into this world. Only she knows the circumstances surrounding her mysterious fall off the bluff that landed her in the hospital being kept alive by medical intervention. Only she knows who the father of her baby is. In this poignantly crafted literary novel, the mystery unfolds and the suspense builds as the consequences of Jude’s decisions threaten to reveal everyone's deceptions, even her own. Bluff offers a sensitive look at essential questions such as the value of human life, the consciousness of those in a coma and the morality of terminating life support. At the core is the story of a tragically misunderstood woman who finds peace, acceptance, understanding and even love on her deathbed.

Buy on Amazon for Kindle or in Print.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Setting Up Your Own Imprint

Setting Up Your Own Imprint
Guest Post by Lenore Skomal

When I finally decided to publish my first book under my own imprint, it was like falling off a log—in a good sense. As in easy. After years of publishing books within the publishing industry, I found my biggest obstacle to breaking out on my own was my lack of knowledge compounded with deep fear.

But as it is with most things worth doing, I had to walk through that fear to gain the knowledge and get to the other side. The worst thing that could happen, I reckoned, was I could fail. But I had to define what failure was. Approaching it from all angles, I finally realized that there was no failure in this endeavor. At the end of the process, I would have my book in hard copy and Kindle, available to everyone. If I for some reason didn’t make it through the process, then I would have no regret because at the very least, I tried. And it wouldn’t be the first time I did that. My best lessons come from dreams unrequited.
 

I hired a designer, an editor and a proofreader, and set the wheel in motion. My book, Burnt Toast: Musings on living, loving and saying goodbye, had already been edited several times because it’s an anthology of my humor columns that have run over the past 15 years in newspapers around the country. But just to ensure a clean read, I hired a pro to read it as a collection and to just make sure. My designer has her master’s in graphic design and was completely comfortable with the process of designing the cover and laying out the text. I even asked her to shepherd the book through the physical process of uploading and proofing once I decided to print with CreateSpace, Amazon’s POD.

CreateSpace offers all kinds of add-ons for a price. I chose none of them and opted to do it all myself. One service is offering to apply for a Library of Congress Control number (LCCN), which is used by librarians to catalogue books and should be included in every book. The service costs $49 if you have CreateSpace do it, but with a minor amount of research, I found I could apply for it for free. On the application, it asks for the publishing house’s name, and thus was born Lenore Skomal Press. It took about a week to get the PCN (Preassigned Control Number). Once the book was printed, I had to mail the LOC a copy in order to be considered for inclusion in the catalogue.

So what does that mean? Just because my name is now documented with the Library of Congress doesn’t make me a publishing house, as many know. And if I don’t publish other writer’s works under my imprint, then I am not really considered a publisher at all, especially if I want to compete for the more prestigious awards such as the National Book Award. Kirkus Review and Publisher’s Weekly won’t even look at books published as mine are, but they do offer review services for a price. No guarantees however. My personal belief is that this has to change over time.

Given so few obvious benefits, you might wonder why set up an imprint, especially if it is only on paper and in my head. It gave me one vital thing: possibilities. As I learn more about distribution, which is next on my list, trial and error experiences in this field will give me insight into whether I can actually help other authors.

For more on that, I say, stay tuned.

Lenore Skomal's Bio:
Winner of multiple awards for blogging, literature, biography and humor, Lenore Skomal's catalogue spans many genres. With 30 years of writing experience, 17 books published and a daily blog, the consistent themes in her work are the big issues the human experience and adding depth and voice to the intricacies involved in living a multi-dimensional existence. Skomal has won several Society of Professional Journalist Awards, Whidbey Island Writer's Conference honorable mention for best fiction, Writer's Digest 73rd Annual Fiction Contest, New York Public Library's Best Books for Teens 2003, and the 2012Next Generation Indie Book Award for humor for her anthology “Burnt Toast,” her debut book under her own imprint. From journalism, to literary fiction, to humor and biography, Skomal's writing is consistent, if not in genre, then in message. Her first novel, “Bluff” will be released Oct. 1. Check out her Website or Facebook Page.