Böcker av Chris Mason

"Eleven new stories from some of the best horror writers in Australia and New Zealand! Originally intended for launch at the Worldcon 2020 in New Zealand, which was badly affected by the current pandemic, the anthology presents an array of stories that can only really be set here in Australia/New Zealand. Written by authors who are either born or live here, providing an authentic view of really scary scenarios... Edited by Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author and Things in the Well series editor, Steve Dillon. Contents: - On Home Soil by Tracie Mcbride - Bad Weather by Robert Hood - The House of Waite by Simon Dewar - Roadside Linda by Graeme Hague - Heritage Hill by Matthew R. Davis - Itchy by Cage Dunn - The Saltbush Queen by Chris Mason - Kua Hinga Te Kauri by Dan Rabarts - Roadside Flies by Marty Young - Lineage by Lucy Sussex - Long Drop by Tabatha Wood

What is Tourette syndrome (TS)? To people who do not have it, it is probably not what they think. To fully understand this baffling disorder you must be afflicted with it. There is no other way. Even then, there are no guarantees. The everyday feelings and urges to perform the tics that are symptoms of TS are unlike any that a person without TS could imagine. There are as many cases of TS as there are people who have it. After reading this book you will not totally understand TS. That is a given. It is my hope that the readers will understand it just a little bit better. Even if just one person learns more about TS or gains a greater understanding of TS as a result of reading this book, it will be well worth the time and effort it took to write it.Tourette syndrome is an often, misunderstood neurological disorder. The main symptoms are what are called "tics". A tic is defined as an involuntary, sudden, rapid, repetitive, unbalanced, motor movement or vocalization. The tics occur many times a day, nearly every day. The most common motor tics are rapid eye blinking, shoulder shrugging, squinting, and facial grimacing. Some of the less common tics include grinding teeth, neck jerking, flailing arms, biting nails, and toe-curling.The most common vocal tics are throat clearing, sniffing, grunting, coughing, and stuttering or stammering.There are a few important facts about TS that are important know. Up to one in 100 schoolboys have some form of TS. Three to four males have it for every female. The diagnosis is often missed. TS symptoms usually decrease with age, but not always. TS is an inherited disorder.Learning disorders, panic attacks, school phobias, speech problems, and sleeping problems are common too. People with TS usually also have either ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), or OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Many people with Tourette's have both of these accompanying disorders. When most people think of TS they think of the disorder where people with it swear uncontrollably and profusely. This symptom of TS (coprolalia) is the easiest symptom to recognize, but it is also the rarest. It is important to remember that coprolalia is present in less than twenty percent of TS patients. Most people with TS, when describing a tic, say that they feel a sudden tension building up that must be relieved by performing the tic. Tics are suppressible for varying lengths of time. The longer the tics are suppressed the more the tension builds up and the more there is a need to release them.Another major characteristic of TS is a waxing and waning of the symptoms. This includes both a change from one tic to another, to the complete disappearance of symptoms for varying periods of time. The tics usually begin during the ages of five through nine, but symptoms can start at any time. There have even been some cases where they started late into adulthood.While motor and vocal tics are the main symptoms used to make a diagnosis, and they are what are most identified with TS, there are many other problems that can be associated with it, the main of which are behavior related.The people with TS who suffer from these behaviors are often angry, argumentative, and confrontational. Everything has to be their way or is someone else's fault. One minute they'll be fine and the next minute they'll be in a rage. They tease their siblings relentlessly. They have a short temper, smart mouth, talk back, throw temper tantrums over nothing, and won't take "no" for an answer. Many of them lie and steal too. Of course, it is difficult to tell if a person's TS is causing these behaviors or something else is, but many studies of TS patients have shown that these behaviors are much more common in them than in people without it.I am proud to present my autobiography about my life with Tourette syndrome.

When her marriage implodes, Rose Summer must leave behind everything she loved: Her husband, her home, her shop, even her dog. With nowhere else to go, she returns to the only other place she ever felt happy: Key West, a bawdy tourist town at the tip of the Florida Keys. Working as a waitress in the same busy restaurant she served when she was young, and living with two other women-a stolid bistro manager and a rowdy singer/songwriter-her once joyful life has grown small and bleak.Then she meets Kurt, a wanderer with a tragic past of his own. Following an instinct she can't explain, Rose tries to draw him out of his shell and back into the world. Overcoming mistakes, misunderstandings, and the unwanted attentions of a potentially dangerous stalker, Rose opens her heart to Kurt and convinces him that life could be better.Together, these two wounded souls can find happiness again, but only if they can overcome the obstacles that life throws at them. Like a turtle on the beach, they must navigate off the rocks and take one slow, careful step at a time across the sands toward fulfillment.