I apologize for the silence, folks. For the past several days, I’ve been trying to come up with some crazy exciting story to explain my absence – something involving portals, dragons, and a mysterious call to save he world – but once I sat down to write it, I figured there’s actually no need to elaborate on the true story.
It’s fairly thrilling, involving a death-defying escape and a helicopter ride and flaming vehicles.
Intrigued?
Well, long story short … I was in a car accident last Wednesday. My truck spun out on a road with a speed limit of 70 mph and ended up slamming head first into a tree. Not sure if I blacked out completely or was just really dazed, but my first conscious thought was of buzzing in my ears and smoke everywhere and pain and something wet dripping on my hands.
Then somebody was pounding on the side of the truck, shouting “Get out! It’s on fire!”
That brought me to pretty quickly. I tried the driver’s door, but it was jammed. But the adrenaline was pumping hard enough that I managed to jump over the console into the passenger seat, open the door, and stumble out in the arms of the folks who had stopped when they saw my truck smoking.
From there, I watched as my truck caught on fire and was consumed by the flames – after my rescuers managed to salvage my laptop and all the important stuff I had in the front seat – and waited for EMS to arrive. A helicopter took me to the hospital where I’ve been since. Apparently I broke my jaw in multiple places and fractured parts of my face, so I’ve had one surgery so far and another coming up, and several days of napping in the hospital in between.
All in all though, this story is the most exciting story I could have come up with, because I can clearly see God’s hand on the whole situation, and I am simply left feeling grateful. It could have been so much worse than it was. I mean … I was able to walk away from the accident – sure, I didn’t get very far, just out of the reach of the flames, and I had to take a wee detour past the hospital, but those are just minor details in the big scheme of things.
Nobody else was injured. My truck was the only vehicle involved. And yet once more God’s perfect timing came into play when there were people who came along the road just afterwards who were extremely helpful! Throughout the length of my stay in the hospital, I have been overwhelmed with the kindness of friends and family and sometimes even complete strangers who have rallied around me.
I have so much to be grateful for.
Including a publisher who was very understanding when I had to inform him that my Orphan’s Song edits were going to be just a tad late since editing a novel on high doses of pain medication doesn’t make for the best combination.
So here we are. I’m alive. I have not forgotten poor Alexander and hope to be continuing his story soon … though it might be a bit sporadic at first, since I’ll be neck deep in the last of my edits post surgery!
At the end of the day, all I can say is the Lord is good!
Oh no! Must have been quite the adventure! Wow. Thank God you're okay!
Oh, dear! I'm sorry to hear about your accident and glad to hear how God has protected and sustained you through. He is indeed good in ALL things.
I'll be praying for your recovery and your Orphan's Song edits. You are an inspiration, girl! :)
Glad you came through it safe!
(The accident will give you perspective on battlefield injuries in fantasy stories. It'll make you a better writer, which is a blessing :)
I'm so glad that you're ok. That must have been so scary. I'll be praying for a speedy recovery for you, and I hope all the surgery goes well.
Oh my! You definitely didn't have to elaborate that to make it exciting and terrifying. I'm so relieved that you're alright! We might never be able to find out what happens to Alexander otherwise! No I'm kidding. Get well soon! :)
Oh my goodness! Thank God you're ok! I hope all the surgery goes well and that you recover quickly. Praying for you!
Oh wow. I'd heard you had a broken jaw, but I didn't know how serious it had actually been. God be praised! How did you spin off the road in the first place?
Whoa. I'm so relieved that you are all right! I'll be praying for a total recovery! God bless you and your stories!
Praise God that it wasn't worse! I hope you'll be fully healed soon!
Oh my goodness! I'm so glad to hear that you're all right (relatively speaking). Praise the Lord for his hand of protection! Praying for you as you begin the road to recovery. Dear Alexander will just have to learn patience, as we authors sometimes have to go through our own traumatic adventures.
oh, whew! I'm glad you were so protected! Take as much time as you need.
My goodness! I am SO glad to hear you're okay! The Lord is so very, very good.
I'll be praying for you, sweet girl. I cannot tell you how relieved I am to hear you made it through all that all right.
Wow. O_O So sorry to hear about that! *hugs* I'm SO glad to hear you're mostly okay though, praise the Lord! I'm praying for you. <3 Good luck on those edits once you get to them!
I'm so glad you're all right. I would have missed you! :) I'll be praying for you.
I am so thankful you have made it through the surgeries and are getting to go home! Your story is truly amazing! Maybe you could use your experience in a future book. Hmm?
I saw Orphan's Songs's cover in Enclave's Kickstarter! It looks great! I'm so excited! Congratulations!
My eyes were wide as dish plates when I read this. Praise God that He sent those people your way!
Also, I echo Emileigh: this would be a perfect experience to add to your writing!
Hang in there! Just picture how cool this will sound a few years down the road! God bless, Gillian; take care of yourself!
Oh, Gillian! (((((hugs))))) Praising God right along with you that you're okay, and praying for your surgeries! <3
Helicopter rides…flaming vehicles…and our wonderful God in the midst of the fire! It really IS the best story you could have told this week!
I'm so sorry to hear about the accident, but your good humor about it all shows encouraging signs of recovery (Prov. 17:22). I know there will probably be some rougher times ahead (pain, after all, is no fun), so I'll be praying for you to make a complete recovery quickly!