![\"Requiem](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Requiem-for-Mr.-Busybody.jpg?resize=188%2C300&ssl=1\")
<\/a>But even when I was younger, I knew about these things from reading.<\/p>\nAnd I knew those TV shows and movies where the hero is knocked in the head and jumps right up, or is shot and walking around by the end credits were bullshit.<\/p>\n
Recovery takes time. And you don\u2019t always get back what you had before. So you learn to cope and accept these changes are the new normal.<\/p>\n
When I think about injury and recovery, the book that always jumps immediately to mind is Robert B Parker\u2019s Small Vices<\/em>.<\/p>\n In chapter 35 Spenser is shot and goes into the \u201cnot quite frozen\u201d river. In Chapter 36, Spenser, Hawk, and Susan drive across the country, where Spenser will spend more than half a year recovering.<\/p>\n What astounds me every time is that in three chapters you fully get the sense of how much work Spenser had to do\u2014and how long it took him to do it.<\/p>\n About a quarter mile from the house was a hill that went up sharply at right angles to the much gentler hill we lived on. Each morning, Hawk and Pearl and I walked up to the foot of the hill and looked at it. Actually Pearl dashed. Hawk walked. I shuffled. But after the first week I shuffled without holding on. Pearl would race up the hill, barrel chested and wasp waisted. Bred to run for hours, she rubbed it in every day, looking puzzled that I couldn\u2019t do at all what she did so effortlessly.<\/p>\n — Robert B Parker, Small Vices<\/em>, Chapter 37<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHere we go,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n We started up. I was half dragging my left leg. Hawk walked slowly beside me. On the right there was a lemon grove, the wet fruit glistening among the green leaves. Nobody seemed to be harvesting it. The fruit was yellow and heavy on the trees and littered the ground, some of it rotting beneath the trees. I was gasping for breath. I looked up and the mailbox was still thirty yards away.<\/p>\n \u201cNo reason not to stop and rest,\u201d Hawk said.<\/p>\n I nodded. I looked back. The wet black road surface gleamed. I was twenty yards up the hill and I couldn\u2019t talk. We stood silently together in the steady rain. I was wearing an Oakland A\u2019s baseball cap, and white New Balance sneakers, jeans, and a bright green rain jacket that Susan said was the ugliest garment she\u2019d ever seen legalized. In the left-hand pocket the Detective Special weighed about two hundred pounds.<\/p>\n \u201cHow . . . high . . . is . . . this . . . hill?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNever measured it,\u201d Hawk said. \u201cTakes me \u2019bout ten minutes to walk up, five minutes to run.\u201d<\/p>\n — Robert B Parker, Small Vices<\/em>, Chapter 38<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Hawk and I went up into one of the canyons back in the hills and began to shoot. I held the gun in both hands, though my left was doing all the work, and I was able to level it mainly by pulling my right arm up with my left. My only success was that I didn\u2019t shoot myself. I was up to five-pound dumbbells. With my right arm I was actually moving the weight, curling it maybe halfway so that my forearm was at right angles to my biceps.<\/p>\n — Robert B Parker, Small Vices<\/em>, Chapter 39<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Chapter 39 ends with this:<\/p>\n One morning I ran up the hill. All the way.<\/p>\n — Robert B Parker, Small Vices<\/em>, Chapter 39<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Then we\u2019re back to the mystery.<\/p>\n But in those three chapters\u201427 pages\u2014you can feel just how far Spenser had to go to recover, and just how hard he had to work<\/em> to achieve that recovery. I\u2019ve read (and listened) to that book more times than I can count, and every time I am shocked by how short the recovery chapters really are, because in<\/em> the story I feel the work and the struggle and the time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Prior to the start of the story, Cooper took three slashes to his abdomen, with permanent damage to his digestive system.<\/p>\n He was supposed to eat small meals frequently throughout the day to allow his shortened small intestine to absorb the necessary amount of nutrients, but it was hard to do on the road. Cooper didn\u2019t want to draw attention to himself as weak or, god forbid, stopping everything when a boy was missing so that he could get a snack. His guts would just have to deal.<\/p>\n — Charlie Adhara. The Wolf at the Door<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n What I appreciate so much about this story is that not only does this problem not disappear from the series, it\u2019s appearance in subsequent books shows you glimpses of Cooper and Oliver\u2019s relationship.<\/p>\n Ever since then Park had been hyper-vigilant that Cooper was getting enough nutrition. He often cooked him little omelets in the morning before Cooper woke, had started researching supplements and vitamins he thought Cooper should take, and packed snacks for him on cases as if he was a child.<\/p>\n — Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at Bay<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n They\u2019d fallen into a habit of Cooper shopping and Park cooking since if left to his own devices Cooper often went weeks uninterested in meals that required more than three or four steps, his relationship with food having changed a lot since his gut had been torn up and he\u2019d spent months not being able to eat \u201creal\u201d food.<\/p>\n — Charlie Adhara. Cry Wolf<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cooper\u2019s life was irrevocably changed after the attack, but it goes on. Although he changes jobs, he remains capable of doing the work he loves. (This series also shows Cooper doing the work of realizing he has PTSD from his attack and then slowly\u2014slowly\u2014getting better.)<\/p>\n Plus, action, mystery, and werewolves. What\u2019s not to love?<\/p>\n Neither of these books dwells on the subject, but they make it clear that being in a dangerous line of work can lead unexpected (and unwanted) life changes.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also found that scenes while someone is recovering can further the characters and the story.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd do you know, when you have a broken hand and a giant cut under your arm, crutches don\u2019t work, and neither does a wheelchair unless you have a minion to wheel you around. My good hand is burnt, so I can\u2019t even turn circles.\u201d — Patricia Briggs, River Marked<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Which is followed by this:<\/p>\n \u201cMercy,\u201d (Stefan) said gently. \u201cIt\u2019s not that they don\u2019t want to help\u2014 they can\u2019t. You\u2019ve told them all to leave you alone. With Adam gone, you\u2019re the highest power in the pack, and they can\u2019t gainsay you. Warren told me that they were down to leaving you with pack members he couldn\u2019t be happy about.\u201d<\/p>\n That had never occurred to me. And explained why Auriele and Darryl hadn\u2019t been back, even after I\u2019d sent them an e-mail apologizing for yelling at them. I know e-mail apologies are lame, but it was the only way I could be sure not to grump at them some more.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need to tell them they can come back to the house and talk to you\u2014 and help you do whatever you need. Just as you would help them if they needed it.\u201d<\/p>\n — Patricia Briggs, River Marked<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n That scene is powerful because we learn about how the pack works, and also because we see Mercy bend and accept help from those around her.<\/p>\n The pain of a major injury is awful, but in some ways, being completely dependent upon others is harder. It\u2019s an important reminder we do not exist in isolation and it\u2019s not just okay to ask for help when you need it\u2014it\u2019s important<\/em> to do so.<\/p>\n And that goes for mental health as well as physical health.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then there is concussion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There is more awareness than there was two decades ago, but the fastest way for a book to piss me off is for a character to be knocked unconscious and then all but jump up and dive right back into danger.<\/p>\n A concussion isn’t a convenient plot point.<\/p>\n \u201c(T)he thing is, you\u2019ve suffered a concussion. That\u2019s a brain injury. In your case, the injury appears to be mild, but symptoms can manifest even several days after the traumatic event.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know. I run a mystery bookstore. Ninety percent of injuries suffered by characters in mysteries are concussions.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Mane laughed, although Ellery was being serious. \u201cSure, but it\u2019s not like in the books or in movies. Your brain needs time to heal, which can take seven to fourteen days. Ten is the average.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTen days?\u201d Ellery gaped at him.<\/p>\n \u201cOn average.\u201d<\/p>\n — Josh Lanyon, Mystery at the Masquerade<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n They were given a long list of things Martin couldn’t do for a couple of weeks with his concussion, which included reading or looking at anything on a screen.<\/p>\n — Ada Maria Soto, His Quiet Agent<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And ignoring the doctors\u2019 restrictions can lead to further injury or even death.<\/p>\n Sure, it\u2019s not really fund and exciting to have a character in the hospital, or going through a long, slow recovery, but it\u2019s a reminder for us that injuries aren\u2019t something to be taken lightly. A reminder that we continue to learn and grow even when we can\u2019t do things on our own.<\/p>\n The trouble with having a limp was that it was nearly impossible to execute a proper stomping. That wasn’t the only<\/em> trouble, of course, but it was the inconvenience that most vexed Evie at present.<\/p>\n — Alissa Johnson, McAlistair’s Fortune <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Another thing many of these books\u2014especially romances\u2014show is how some of the mechanics of sex may need to change after a serious injury, but those physical changes don’t end the sex life of the characters. Being me, that\u2019s about all I want to say on the subject, but it is<\/em> an important aspect of life, and putting such discussions and scenes in books is important because it lets people see that their physical changes aren’t an end, just a change.<\/p>\n Injury and recovery are a part of life, so I’m always glad to see them in fiction.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Main Characters<\/strong><\/p>\n – Romance –<\/strong><\/p>\n His Quiet Agent<\/em><\/a> (2017) Ada Maria Soto<\/a>, concussion<\/p>\n Merlin in the Library<\/em><\/a> (2018) Ada Maria Soto<\/a>, concussion<\/p>\n McAlistair\u2019s Fortune<\/em><\/a> (2009) Alissa Johnson<\/a> (Providence Series) injury (accident)<\/p>\n Connection Error<\/em> (2016) Annabeth Albert<\/a> (#gaymers) amputation (war)<\/p>\n Arctic Wild<\/em><\/a> (2019) Annabeth Albert<\/a> (Frozen Hearts) injury (accident)<\/p>\n The Soldier\u2019s Scoundrel<\/em> (2016) Cat Sebastian<\/a> (The Turner Series) injury (war)<\/p>\n Whiteout<\/em><\/a> (2017) Elyse Springer<\/a> (Seasons of Love) concussion (accident)<\/p>\n Sympathy<\/em><\/a> (2009) Jordan Castillo Price<\/a> injury (accident)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n – Fantasy –<\/strong><\/p>\n Widdershins<\/em><\/a>, <\/u>(2006) Charles de Lint<\/a>, injury (attack)<\/p>\n Charlie Adhara<\/a>\u2018s Big Bad Wolf series, injury (attack)<\/p>\n The Wolf at the Door<\/em><\/a> (2018), The Wolf at Bay<\/em><\/a> (2018), Thrown to the Wolves<\/em><\/a> (2019), Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing<\/em><\/a> (2020), Cry Wolf<\/em><\/a> (2021)<\/p>\n River Marked<\/em> (2011) Patricia Briggs<\/a> (Mercy Thompson) injury (attack)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n – Mystery –<\/strong><\/p>\n Lessons in Discovery<\/em> (2009) Charlie Cochrane<\/a> (Cambridge Fellows) concussion (accident)<\/p>\n Madison Square Murders<\/em> (2021) CS Poe<\/a> (Momento Mori) concussion (attack)<\/p>\n A Dangerous Thing<\/em> (2002) Josh Lanyon<\/a>, concussion<\/p>\n Somebody Killed His Editor<\/em> (2009) Josh Lanyon<\/a> (Holmes & Moriarity) concussion<\/p>\n Requiem for Mr. Busybody<\/em><\/a> (2020) Josh Lanyon<\/a>, injury (accident)<\/p>\n Mystery at the Masquerade<\/em> (2021) Josh Lanyon<\/a> (Secrets & Scrabble) concussion (attack)<\/p>\n Lissa Kasey<\/a>\u2018s Haven Investigations series, concussion (attack)<\/p>\n Model Exposure<\/em><\/a> (2017), Model Investigator<\/em><\/a> (2017)<\/p>\n Small Vices<\/em> (1997) Robert B Parker<\/a> (Spenser) injury (attack)<\/p>\n Skin and Bone<\/em> (2002) TA Moore<\/a>, concussion (attack)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why Representation in Books Is Important<\/a><\/strong> I\u2019ve reached the point in life where very few people my age haven\u2019t been laid up with an in injury or serious illness at some point, so they are in our conscious now. And disability (either in ourselves, friends or family members) is also something with which we have become familiar.become But even when I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,1001],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books-reading","category-michelle-is-clumsy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pefxA-4vX","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Small](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/small-vices.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/the-wolf-at-the-door-10.jpg?resize=190%2C300&ssl=1\")
<\/a> Charlie Adhara\u2019s Big Bad Wolf<\/em> series also does a good job of showing the aftermath of a life-changing injury. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/rivermarked-e1511048838479.jpg?resize=200%2C300\")
<\/a>Mercy Thompson was badly hurt fighting a monster.<\/p>\n
\n\u2026
\nI was tired of everyone, which was ungracious of me. But I don\u2019t like being dependent\u2014 it makes me cranky. I needed someone to carry me upstairs and downstairs. I needed someone to help me outside and inside. I even needed someone to help me into the bathroom because none of the bathroom doors were big enough for a wheelchair.<\/p>\n![\"Mystery](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Mystery-at-the-Masquerade.jpg?resize=200%2C300\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Madison](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Madison-Square-Murders.png?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1\")
<\/a>I am glad we are better educated about the dangers of concussion\u2014both short term and long term consequences. But we still need regular reminders that head injuries are serious and can takes days, weeks, or even months to recover from. <\/p>\n
\n
\nMental Health Representation in Books: Depression<\/a>
\nMental Health Representation in Books: Anxiety<\/a>
\nMental Health Representation in Books: PTSD<\/a>
\nMental Health Representation in Books: Addiction and Eating Disorders<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"