I usually write a super emotional blog post about my fight with cancer to pull at your heartstrings so you’ll sponsor me for the Terry Fox Run. But after losing my mom to cancer this year, I just haven’t got the emotional energy to write another damn post about what this deadly disease has taken from me. Please sponsor me anyway: https://run.terryfox.ca/page/raquelrich This year I run in memory of my mother, Antonia Sales Rios. Te amo, mãe.
Welcome to the world, Deus Ex Machina! 🎉 I’m proud to introduce Hamartia’s sequel, Deus Ex Machina, born on November 18th, weighing 276 pages. Author-mom and book-baby are doing fine. (That’s a lie. One of us is freaking out.) If this sounds like a birth announcement, that’s because it kinda is. Writing a book and then putting it out into the world feels very much like sending a child I’ve raised out there to fend for themselves. I’ve done all I can, now it’s in the world’s hands. Please be kind to my baby. Grace has lived in my head […]
“You have a better chance of winning the lottery than you do of having this cancer,” my doctor said as he read over my x-ray results. “And besides, this type of bone cancer is only diagnosed in seniors.” Those words were meant to reassure me. And he was right. Only six people across Canada were diagnosed with the same bone cancer as me that year, and every single one of them was an old fart. I have since become an avid lottery player. In the medical community, my doctor’s attitude wasn’t the exception, it was the rule. Because of my […]
I’m just going to come out and say it. I am not white. Neither is Grace Dartmouth (often times). Eight years ago, when I started writing my first novel, Hamartia, I made an important choice about how I would depict the main character in any story I ever write. But I told no one about what I did (or rather, didn’t do) which made my bold statement seem more like a sneaky decision. And the result blew up in my face. What did I do (not do)? If you look at Hamartia’s cover, you’ll notice that the running woman has […]
While bingeing Jane the Virgin on Netflix, hubby’s hand brushed against my arm, the cancer one that’s mostly for show. Caught off guard, I flinched. “Ouchie! My arm!” I whined. I’m not used to having my arm fondled by him. He knows better. My knight in shining armour, hubby-the-great, is a pro at shielding me from potential arm-bumpers. From years of practice, he skillfully elbows through crowded rooms and festivals for me, forging a berth wide enough for the Titanic to sail through. So when he pulled back and said, “Sorry, sometimes I forget” my heart sank. He forgot? Bummed, […]
I have Multiple Sclerosis. This is my diagnosis story. When my chatty neurologist told me “you have MS” I shrugged and said, “Well, how bad can it be? I’ve had cancer. At least MS won’t kill me.” We stared at each other for a few moments in awkward silence. He adjusted his glasses and eyed me with concern, waiting for me to breakdown or something, and I glared back, tapping my foot, waiting for him to just get on with it. My prize for winning the staring competition was a stack of pamphlets neuro-guy slid over to me as he […]
Travelling back home to my motherland, Brazil, has never been an easy undertaking and this occasion was no exception. But this time I had a friend with me who didn’t speak Portuguese. You know what that meant? I got to skip out on lengthy family visits because “my friend really wants to go see…” I made guilt free complicated requests at restaurants because “my gringo friend doesn’t like…” And I asked stupid questions about my own heritage at tourist attractions because “my friend—who’s a bit daft—wants to know more about…” Although blaming everything on her was a huge perk, the […]
I’m a writer and an experienced procrastinator. If this is also you, you may find comfort in this post. It otherwise contains no words of wisdom. It’s a short read, though (3min), so you can get right back to doing whatever you’re putting off by reading this entry. I started writing this post to procrastinate from editing my work in progress. I researched the topic of procrastination which then caused me to put off writing this post. While researching, I came across an interesting article about elephants. How could I resist? I love elephants! And this is how some of […]
Allow me to sum up my twelve-day road trip in Panama using a sample of dialogue between my son and me. “Liam, where are we supposed to turn?” “Riiiiight… HERE! Turn now! Now now now!” I blink. “Too late, you missed it.” My twenty-year-old son and I clocked 1000 kilometres of sometimes lit and labeled and mostly smooth Panamanian roads. I know what you’re thinking. “You’re brave!” I know you’re thinking this because it was the reaction I got from most everyone I told that we were taking a road trip in Panama. They looked at me with puzzled admiration […]
Three things that annoy me about travelling; Have you ever wondered why traditional food in touristy places is food that locals traditionally don’t eat? Why isn’t it just called “food”? One time, in Dublin, I saw a Tim Hortons. Seeing this coffee shop outside of Canada left me feeling betrayed by my own people. I roll my eyes at; English menus listing burgers and trusty chicken strip dinners, Starbucks on every corner, and rows of gift shops stocked with overpriced key chains and shirts that say “my grandma went to (some tourist trap) and all she got me was this […]