November 18, 2025
I have big news. Last week I got my very first acceptance letter from an Ontario publisher. I wrote a short story for submission and it was chosen to be part of an anthology. This means that next time this year, I’ll be a published author. As for details, those will have to wait as the book isn’t ready yet. It takes time to get it all ready. But you can be sure I’ll scream it from the roof tops when it is. Haha!
This is a huge personal victory as well. With each concussion, my words are harder to find. I have to fight my way through the brain fog to find them. Saying them out loud can even be a challenge, on bad days. Forget putting pen to paper (or fingers to keypad). It’s been decades of hard work to get to this moment. The blog on my other website is a part of this success as it keeps me writing every month. It keeps me pushing through.
A sentence is like crafting a necklace. Each word is a bead on the string that sits in just the right spot to give the desired look. Except that I can’t see the design in my head. I have to listen for it. It can be hard to listen. Especially when bees are buzzing around in there or the fog is so thick it stops words from making sense. Just noise in the thick cloud. Clarity of thought is a hard won battle for me, as a person living with prolonged post concussion syndrome. Each sentence is a victory over the damage in my brain that tries to silence me. It’s a good thing I’ve never been one to keep quiet!
Learning my true name has been a tonic to me as well. Star Oakes is a writer. No doubt about it. This name is one that just feels so much more “me”. It is a gift from my father. I’ve enjoyed days of perfect clarity this past summer. All of them were put to good use writing. With the winter storms moving in, this will be harder to find but I’ll still keep pushing through when I can. I have stories to tell and for the first time in years, they are whispering to me again. I want to share them all with the world. With you. Thank you for being a part of my journey.
September 24, 2025
Are you looking for a Blog from me? I do have one. I started it as a writing project to help get my words to flow better (again) after concussion number 6. It worked! I still keep up entries on a monthly basis. Please find it here: https://rosemarieneumayer.com/blog/
September 16, 2025
Success! I finally got this site to work in a way that seems to work with my broken brain. The template for my first website, which works great for me, seems to be no more. For now, this seems the best option. I’ve cleaned it up and brute forced it to work. There is so much digital clutter out there. It makes my head spin. I like my online spaces to be clean and simple. Hopefully, I’ve pulled this off. Till then, I’ll be over here fantasizing about having enough money to pay someone else to do this for me. On that note, can I plug my sweary adult colouring book? It’s funny and relaxing. Also, all the swear words actually match the pictures. I hand drew all the pictures too! Find it on the “What Cheek!” page of my other site (the one for all my visual art’s stuff) http://www.rosemarieneumayer.com.
September 15, 2025
Star Oakes is an author who is learning how to do this whole website thing, again. She has another website and figured that creating a new one, 6 years later would be easy. It’s not. Things are so dire that she has started to refer to herself in the third person. It’s that bad. Please send chocolate. Her other website is http://www.rosemarieneumayer.com and it looks much better. Things will improve here. Till then, please take in the “Pocket Philosophy” page. It looks half decent.
Star Oakes 