| Author | Message | ||
     Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
If any of you UK-based RCMBers fancies a copy of my latest collection but don't fancy the postage from overseas (the publisher is based in Sweden), I have a limited amount available: £10.00 gets you a copy to a UK address, first class mail. My email addy is on here: http://www.garymcmahon.com | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
Strongly recommended. A lean, unsparing, passionate collection, focused and theme-driven. Typesetting's a bit like a company Annual Report but the cover illustration is good. Read it fast and let the anxiety burn into your skull. The medication you'll need subsequently is available fairly cheaply from www.zedsmeds.co.uk, so don't worry about that. You'll have quite enough to worry about anyway. | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 38.113.181.169 |
I"m a fan of the book, and of the wonderful cover. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Thank you, gents. Much appreciated. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.145.39.131 |
I'm writing an ongoing interactive review of this book at link below. Done 4 stories so far. http://shocklinesforum.yuku.com/topic/8894 | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Des, you are a true gentleman. | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.225.111.224 |
And for my part, a history of the cover, guaranteed to spoil the magic. http://www.strantzas.com/2009/01/evolution-of-cover-how-to-make-monsters.html | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.19.103.122 |
Very cool cover Simon | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.185.235 |
Just got my copy recently, fresh from the publisher in Sweden (first time I've had a book delivered from those parts, unless I'm mistaken), and it's a fine looking book. I'm looking forward to reading these stories - I think I'm going to take it into hospital with me this week and read it overnight. Great cover art, Simon. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.166.188.81 |
I've now finished my review and incorporated all my comments here: http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/how_to_make_monsters_by_gary_mcmahon.htm | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.161.253.10 |
Shit, Huw - you still ill?  | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Thanks for that, Des. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into that review, and am delighted that you got so much out of the book. Huw - hope things are ok, mate. My book certainly won't make them so.  | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.166.188.81 |
Ditto, Huw. And, Gary, it was without a doubt an experience never to be forgotten. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.191.52 |
Thanks, guys! Yeah, Tony - I still have the same ongoing problem with my back (severe spinal stenosis, spondylosis, herniated disks, polyneuropathy, etc., etc.), and now I have been diagnosed with GERD as well, so I'm in hospital a lot, mostly just for check-ups and prescriptions (I'm on about a dozen different medicines every day right now), and sometimes for tests. I was just in the pain management centre this morning, and I have to go back in an hour to see my other doctor about my blood pressure, gout, and enlarged heart. I doubt my body will be of much use to medical science after I'm gone! I might be staying in overnight this week - the doc wants to do some tests and inject steroids and/or opiates into my spine - but I haven't decided yet whether to do it. Lots of people I've talked with about it say the injections aren't worth it, and can cause infection, severe pain, etc. ... which kind of defeats the purpose of having them in the first place, if you ask me.  Thanks for the concern, folks - I do appreciate it. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.136.36 |
Sorry to hear this, Huw. Best of luck. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 79.187.206.46 |
Huw - get well, mate. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.57.22 |
Hope everything improves for you soon Huw. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Best wishes, Huw. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.194.67 |
Thanks, all. I'm writing this real slow so as to avoid further embarrassing misspellings through which innocent and simple words like 'it' transform into 'tit' and the like. This is what happens when you try to type fast on too many prescriptions without stopping to check your spelling... :-/ | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.21.235.12 |
Good luck, Huw! I can't imagine what it must be like to be in pain all the time, or to have to take medication to establish a sense of normalcy. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.198.187 |
Thank you, Hubert. I'm trying to remind myself that it could be a lot worse, and do as much as I can to keep active and live normally. My pain management doctor told me yesterday my condition will deteriorate unless I have surgery, and that there's a 10-40% chance the surgery will fail (as my first one did). I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. It's a little worrying, as they can't give me anything stronger for the pain, if it gets worse (it's barely kept in check as it is). My doctor wants to give me something stronger, but he's not allowed under the present laws regarding prescription of Schedule 2 narcotic drugs here in Taiwan. Frankly, I'm not keen on having to start on them either, given that I'm already taking quite a few other medicines daily. That's why he suggested the spinal injections (nerve blocks). I'm seeing more neurosurgeons for further opinions in the coming weeks and months, so I'm hoping I'll get somewhere then. Thanks again. :-) | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.161.253.208 |
Can you use things like tens machines? The things they use in childbirth? This sounds horrible, Huw. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.197.188 |
Sorry to hear about this, Huw. You could look on the op has having a 60-90% success rate, if that helps any. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.178.48 |
Thanks, guys. Tony, I have a TENS unit and use it now and then, and sometimes it helps a little. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.121.214.11 |
My mother has been in a wheelchair for the last 40 years because she has some form of Muscular Dystrophe. She recently helped in a clinical trial where she had a device wired to her spine which stopped the pain completely. Unfortunately, the funding has been removed from the research for some reason so they can't take the next step and implant the device permanently. Considering that it actually did work my mother is gutted about it. It sounds like the sort of thing that would have helped you if they'd kept the funding going. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.21.23.79 |
What did/does the device actually do, Weber? It would be interesting to know whether any research on that score has been done in Europe. |