The Shape Of Water - A Schwannoma Diary (#11).

I saw my neurosurgeon last Friday for my 6 week post operative review. It's kinda hard to believe that six weeks have past since my surgery. Time moves in such elastic ways. 

We reviewed my progress. It's been patchy. I'm not moving freely. Even with the physiotherapy exercises I've been doing, it's hard to loosen up. Walking is a chore for the most part and I can't tolerate walking long distances, say more than a kilometer. It's hard to get in and out of my car, my bed or chair. I experience pain at the surgical site and down into my legs, along with long bouts of pins and needles. Incontinence is still an issue but, so far I've avoided any significant accidents. This requires a regular toileting regime, forward planning - especially on outings - and a keen focus on what my body is telling me. I do get strange sensations, which I've attributed to warnings that I need to take heed of.

With the activity I've been maintaining however, I do believe things are improving. At the very least, I'm coping with them. My neurosurgeon prescribed some new medication that will hopefully, address the pain issues and the nerve irritation that is causing the pins and needles.

The one question I had for her during my review last Friday though was pretty much the only thing I wanted to get an answer for.

Can I get back in the pool?

When I had my original surgery back in 1989, my then surgeon was happy to allow me to get in the swimming pool after a similar time frame. As a result of this, not only did I discover a love for swimming, I became really good at it. So I knew going into this surgery that the pool was going to be my Holy Grail. 

My neurosurgeon this time around prohibited me from going swimming until she had reviewed me. Her primary concern was my wound. She wanted to ensure it had healed properly before exposing it to water and risking infection. I accepted this, but I was disappointed that I couldn't start as soon as possible. 

You can imagine how pleased I was when I put the question to her on Friday and received her answer. 

"Absolutely!" 

I felt like I was receiving a Christmas present - all over again.

The Unley Swimming Pool at Forestville here in Adelaide is a pool I've been swimming at on and off for twenty years. It's an Olympic sized pool and it's a friendly place. After dropping the kids off at school, I headed straight there. After 9AM, the early morning lap enthusiasts and competition swimmers tend to taper off so competition for lanes is minimal. I went for the recreation lane today. 

I had an idea of what I was going to do once in the water but for this first session, I winged it a little. I adapted some of my 'on land' exercises to the water and set about constructing a regimen that ended up looking like this; 

Stationary calf stretches 10 reps x 10 seconds right leg.
Stationary calf stretches 10 reps x 10 seconds left leg.
Stationary side stretches 10 reps x 10 seconds right arm (down right leg).
Stationary side stretches 10 reps x 10 seconds left arm (down left leg).
Stationary leg kicking (against side of pool) 2x 1 minute.
Walking (strides) 25m x 10.
Jogging steps 25m x 10.
Side strides 25m x 10.
Breast stroke (gentle!) 100 meters. 
Cool down walk 25m x2. 

I won't go into deep explanations of each of these, but feel free to ask me about them in the comments and I'll try to explain them if you're interested. 

The session took me about 45 minutes. 

Suffice to say, from the moment I entered the water, I felt amazing! Water and buoyancy affords the body so much freedom of movement and I was able to stretch so much more easily than I can on land. The exercises I chose were designed to achieve both a muscle stretch and a nerve stretch through my lower back and legs and I chose to limit them once I could feel them in my calves in particular. I felt that was good indicator. Curiously, I felt the stationary leg kicks and the breast stroke in my right buttock, close to the mid-line. On land, most of the pain I've been feeling has been centered around my left buttock and sciatic nerve. I'm not sure what the significance of that is but I'll bring that up with my physiotherapist when I see him tomorrow.

Leaving the water after that first session, I felt a little shaky - but it was a good shaky. I felt like I had achieved something important and I felt a rush of endorphins - ones that have been in short supply lately. I'm well keen to do it again. But I know I need to pace myself. 

This is a big milestone for me. Since the surgery, I've been looking towards this moment. I've been thinking about it. Planning (loosely) what I would do once I got in there. I knew it would be good...and it was. 

I love the shape of water. 

DFA.

A Moment In The Air - A Schwannoma Diary (#10).

I can't remember how long it's been since I've been to a beach. 

The sun on my face. 

The sand between my toes. 

The sea breeze. 

My dog is just as struck by the beauty of the Adelaide beach on which we sit. I've let him off the lead and he's galloped across the sand, his floppy ears flailing like sails. He's snapped at the air like it's some sort of treat. 

On the beach, I can stretch my legs. I can stride a little bit, even though the pins and needles keep reminding me that they're there. I can accept the pain because where I am feels so bloody good! 

There's a young Dad frollicking with his infant son near the edge of the foam as it races up the sand. The boy squeals with joy and it's hard not to smile. Right now - I get it kid. 

To sit on the sand with a straight back (because I *have* to keep a straight back) and look out over the jetty. To marvel at just how wide open everything is. The sun and the light! The air! The breeze on my face! 

I've been surrounded by the four walls of my house for far too long.

I almost don't care that I move like an 80 year old. That I probably should have taken some pain relief with me. That there's not a toilet close by.

I can see a kiosk nearby. 

You know what? I'm gonna treat myself. Yes I am.

DFA.

Scars - A Schwannoma Diary (#8).

They're a curious thing. Scars. 

Some are easy to see. They're in your face, confronting. They challenge you to consider them. 

Others are deeper. Hidden from view. Covered up to protect others from having to deal with them. 

To those who bear them - they mess with your head, your heart. 

They are uncomfortable. They are painful.

They are functional. They are protective. 

Scars are a curious thing. 

DFA. 

Billy Idol In A Tube - A Schwannoma Diary (#2).

If you've never had Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) performed before, it's a difficult experience to distill into a basic description. Having thought about this over the past few days, I think the best way to sum it up is in two words - a peaceful panic. 

I consider myself a veteran of the MRI machine, having undergone more of them than I care to count over the past twenty or so years. So, I no longer experience the crippling claustrophobia I felt when I first entered one of these machines back in the 90's. That's not to say the feeling is totally absent. I mean, I still lose my shit if I get tangled up in a sleeping bag, so I retain a certain, unhealthy fear of tight spaces. The MRI and I have, somehow, come to a mutual understanding. We don't fuck with each other.

Entering the two foot wide tube on Sunday was kind of a mundane exercise - if you could call it that. I went into this scan with a clear sense of the objective. We were to map the tumor sitting in my spinal cord in preparation for surgical intervention. Knowing this, and having the clinical knowledge that comes from over 20 years as an Intensive Care Nurse, I didn't feel a great deal of anxiety. 

Once my entire body was delivered into the entirety of the machine - then, it was a case of, "Oh Shit! I'm in this confined space for at least half an hour and I have to lay completely still."

 Of course, they do give you a panic button and headphones - mainly to block out the frightening sound of the magnets circling at insane speeds around your body - but also to pipe music or radio talk back of your choice into your ears as a measure of comfort. I chose the broadcast of the Test Cricket between Australian and India at the Adelaide Oval but the radiographer had a difficult time actually finding the station. For several minutes, I had FM radio blaring Billy Idol's "Hot In The City" in my ears. As I was feeling an uncomfortable warmth in my pelvis (real or imagined), I thought the song was appropriate.

Somehow, the radiographer fiddled with the dial and, like that first bit of radio static you hear on Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", the Cricket broadcast was eventually found. 

Recently, I have been using a meditation app called "Calm". Like the many guided meditation apps that are available at the moment, this app focuses on the breathing as your centering strategy, while voice guidance - provided by the wonderful Tamara Levitt - lulls you into a state of relaxation and...well...Calm! throughout each, roughly 15 minute session.

This method of breathing and focus came in handy while I was in the machine. I found I was able to push away the chaos of the magnets spinning around my body, assaulting my tissues with their insane fields of energy, and find a state of being that helped. The claustrophobia - the panic of feeling claustrophobia - peeled away from me and, funnily enough, even the sound of the magnets became a tool with which to enhance my state of calm. Of course, the cricket helped as well. 

Not Billy Idol though. He's a tool. 

The set of pre and post contrast images, focusing on the lesion in my spinal cord, were good images. At first there was a little confusion because the tumor didn't take up the contrast as readily as was expected (tumors are inherently vascular). It has become cystic, space occupying, which accounts for the leg weakness and pain, the urogenital dysfunction and my lazy bowel, so it has to be dealt with sooner rather than later. 

I meet with my Neurosurgeon tomorrow to discuss the results and go to the next stage.

(image credit - Getty images.)

Emotionally, I'm ragged. I'm at war with my thoughts - my anxieties. Knowing I have this parasitic "thing" within me does not encourage good tidings. I can't plan anything - certainly around Christmas or beyond. At a time of year where everything is insane and people have to think 12 steps ahead, I'm forced to live day to day. Plans I've made with the family have to be held in stasis until we know more and I feel a pressure cooker of expectation. Most of this of course, is in my own head. I don't want to let people down - most of all my kids who, at this time of year are filled with Christmas butterflies. And time always moves slowest when you don't know the answers to their questions.

I'm also asking the question, why did this thing come back? That has been playing on my mind more and more and, of course, that can't readily be answered. I know I shouldn't ruminate over that too much because there's no use in it. It came back and that's all there is to it.

I listened to Joe Rogan talking with Jordan Peterson over the weekend and they were talking about the nature of struggle. Peterson was saying that struggle is an inherent part of human nature - of being - and it's how we approach the struggle that determines our character. I'm trying to approach all of this with strength and focus. It's elementary really. This thing has got to come out. I've got to accept the struggle and navigate the path through it. 

I've got too much living to do. 

DFA.  

Dean Reads from The Artisan Heart Live via Facebook.

So, I thought I'd attempt something a little different this week and do a live reading from my brand new novel "The Artisan Heart" over at Facebook Live and follow it up by answering reader questions. I think it went pretty well and I'm pleased to be able to make the video available here. 

I've read just the first two chapters for this one but I'm keen to read more - if you are. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

"The Artisan Heart" by Dean Mayes is available now where ever good books are sold. Click through here to browse purchasing options, including signed copies from the author himself.

DFA.

The Artisan Heart Is On Tour!

To coincide with the international release of The Artisan Heart on September 1st, I've partnered with a great selection of book bloggers and reviewers who have kindly agreed to feature me and my new novel. Over the course of this coming week, readers can delve deeper into the story, the characters, the setting and the inspiration that saw The Artisan Heart brought to life.

I hope you enjoy checking out each of these features in turn and discovering more about my brand new novel.

Monday, August 27th 2018.

Fiction Books UK - First Lines Preview, The Artisan Heart.

What Is That Book About - The Artisan Heart Feature & Excerpt.

The Artisan Heart Feature (Sunshine Reads).

Tuesday, August 28th 2018.

British Romance Fiction - The Artisan Heart Feature.

The Metaphors of The Artisan Heart. Guest post for Kathryn's In-box.

Novel Kicks - The Artisan Heart Feature.

Glimpsing Gembles - Review of The Artisan Heart.

Wednesday, August 29th 2018.

The Aspiring Author - The Artisan Heart Review & Feature.

Kati's Bookish Ramblings - The Artisan Heart Feature.

Thursday, August 30th 2018.

Fiction Books UK - Guest Post by Dean Mayes "Walhalla - My Artisan Heart."

The Book Self - The Artisan Heart Feature.

Grace J Reviewer Lady - The Artisan Heart Feature & Review.

Friday, August 31st 2018.

Never Too Late - The Artisan Heart Spotlight.

The Burgeoning Bookshelf - The Artisan Heart Feature.

Saturday, September 1st 2018.

Books Life & Everything - The Artisan Heart Feature.

Staying In With Dean Mayes (Linda's Book Bag).

Monday, September 3rd 2018.

Talking Books Blog -"A Must Read" : Review Of The Artisan Heart.

The Sketchy Reader - The Artisan Heart Feature.

Thursday, September 6th 2018.

Live Radio Interview with ABC Adelaide's David Bevan from 10:00AM (ACST).

I hope you enjoy discovering the story behind the story of my new novel "The Artisan Heart". My thanks goes to all the bloggers and reviewers who featured the book on their website.

DFA.

Discover the music of The Artisan Heart on Spotify!

Why It Is Important To Be Creative.

I'm back with a post as part of my writers' group August blog chain challenge and, this month, the topic put to us was a question - Why is it important to be creative?

At first glance, the question appears fairly easy to answer doesn't it. 

However, I struggled to come up with an adequate answer and, for the longest time, I couldn't figure out why. It eventually struck me that I was trying to answer the question by looking outward - as though trying to impart reasons why anyone should be creative. But, that's the wrong way to tackle it. Creativity is a very personal thing and it can take so many different forms. The relationship one has with creativity is unique. It goes then, that any consideration of its importance requires that one look inward, rather than outward. So why is creativity important to me?

My love of writing began at an early age. I've often said my Grade 3 primary school teacher, Mrs. Furnell, was the individual who unlocked my creative streak during the creative writing sessions she used to run in class. Ever since then, my desire to create, to tell stories has been insatiable. It has become as much a part of me as breathing or walking.
  

As a Registered Nurse, having practiced for over 20 years in many clinical areas, I have been witness to the extremes of the human condition. A lot of these experiences have been positive - like Nursing newborns who need just a little bit of help at the beginning of their lives or Nursing various bumps and scrapes children have sustained on the sporting field or in the back yard. Things that can be fixed relatively easily. Through the tears and the worry of the patient and their family, there are often smiles and laughter and comradeship. Plenty can be fixed with a Zooper Dooper icy pole.

There have been a lot of other experiences though - like being present at traumatic presentations in the ED, like motor vehicle accidents, violent assaults - sometimes involving weapons, drug overdoses. Or in the ICU - Nursing complex disease processes, the extension of those ED presentations, children who have acquired virulent illnesses like meningococcal sespsis or have been diagnosed with cancer. Many of these cases survive and recover. Many of them do not. There have been catastrophic outcomes. There has been death. 

These experiences imprint on you and they do affect you.

Creativity in the form of writing has been a means to decompress, to escape the accumulated muck of that side of my life and engage with an art that is completely separate. Sometimes, I have written down vestiges of those clinical experiences simply as a means of trying to make sense of them, to remove their subjective effects from my mind and see them as objective experiences, which I can address, deconstruct and move on from. Sometimes, those experiences have found their way into my writing, which has been therapeutic in itself.

It's ironic isn't it. I've credited my Nursing as being an influence on my writing for this reason, but also because of the structure Nursing requires to practice effectively. Nursing involves an adherence to inquiry, to diagnosing, problem solving and crafting solutions. These tools are invaluable to me as writer as I sculpt stories using them in much the same way. So, while I write and create as a way to separate myself from my Nursing, my Nursing inevitably creeps across the fence.

Creativity is an antidote for a restless mind. I have a mind that is constantly working. I find it difficult to switch off. The world around me is such a vivid place and I often take in everything. I work it over, consider objects, smells, tastes, experiences. I ask myself questions, analyze, ponder. The noise in my head can, sometimes be deafening and it can be distressing. 

Writing is a means for me to unpack my mind and get things out so that I can become an observer of ideas, rather than a participant in them - does that make sense? Having a creative process, a method if you will, that is structured and coherent allows me to work ideas into a pre-existing project or catalog them for a future one. I've come to regard even the most disparate ideas as valuable. They are as tangible to me as a flower or a leaf, a Star Wars figurine or a piece of fruit.

Creativity, for me, is a means of maintaining mental well being as much as it is a satisfying pursuit of story telling. 

I'm sure I could explore other reasons why it is important, for me, to be creative but I think these two top the list. They represent the two greatest influences on me as a writer and also as a person. 

So, what about you? Why is it important for you to be creative? Let me know in the comments.

DFA. 

The Artisan Heart Official Spotify Soundtrack Playlist

To help establish the mood of my upcoming novel "The Artisan Heart", I'm pleased to share the official Spotify soundtrack playlist for the novel with you. 

Over the past little while, I have been curating a selection of music that inspired me while I was writing the novel and I've put together a soundtrack. Featuring the music of Swear and Shake, Josh Pyke, Paul Kelly, Greta Bradman, Stereophonics, Cold Chisel and many more, this soundtrack playlist will take you on a musical journey through the story and give you an aural experience that I hope you'll enjoy. 

Just click on the image below to open the playlist in your Spotify app.

The Artisan Heart by Dean Mayes, in-stores everywhere from September 1st, 2018.

Hayden Luschcombe is a brilliant paediatrician living in Adelaide with his wife, Bernadette, an ambitious event planner. His life consists of soul-wrenching days at the hospital and tedious evenings attending the lavish parties organized by Bernadette.

When an act of betrayal coincides with a traumatic confrontation, Hayden flees Adelaide, his life in ruins. His destination is Walhalla, nestled in Australia’s southern mountains, where he finds his childhood home falling apart. With nothing to return to, he stays, and begins to pick up the pieces of his life by fixing up the house his parents left behind.

Isabelle Sampi is a struggling artisan baker raising her hearing-impaired daughter, and has no time for matters of the heart. Yet the presence of the handsome doctor challenges her resolve. Likewise, Hayden, protective of his fractured heart, finds something in Isabelle that awakens dormant feelings of his own.

As their attraction grows, and the past threatens their chance at happiness, both Hayden and Isabelle will have to confront long-buried truths if they are ever to embrace a future.

THE ARTISAN HEART IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

                 

     

DFA.

Announcement - Winner of The Artisan Heart Trailer Share Competition.

During July, I ran a competition to celebrate the release of the book trailer for my forthcoming novel "The Artisan Heart". I invited people across my social network to share, comment on and tell me what an artisan heart means to them. 

By entering, I offered up the opportunity for one lucky reader to win a fabulous prize pack! In partnership with Janesce Australia and Swear and Shake, this included;

* A signed paperback copy of "The Artisan Heart".

* A Gift Certificate from Janesce Australia to the value of $50 (valid on-line or in-store).

* A copy of Swear and Shake's 2016 studio album "The Sound Of Letting Go" (which served as the musical inspiration for the novel).

Today (finally!) I am pleased to announce the winner of that competition.

Bernni Davies-Jackson

of Adelaide, South Australia.

Bernni did a fantastic job of sharing the trailer across her network and calling attention to both it and the novel and I'm really thankful for her efforts.

Congratulations Bernni!

Thank you to everyone who participated in my competition. Keep your eyes on my website and blog in the coming weeks for a brand new opportunity to WIN with "The Artisan Heart." In the meantime, you can pre-order the novel ahead of its September 1st release via the links below. 

Hayden Luschcombe is a brilliant paediatrician living in Adelaide with his wife, Bernadette, an ambitious event planner. His life consists of soul-wrenching days at the hospital and tedious evenings attending the lavish parties organized by Bernadette.

When an act of betrayal coincides with a traumatic confrontation, Hayden flees Adelaide, his life in ruins. His destination is Walhalla, nestled in Australia’s southern mountains, where he finds his childhood home falling apart. With nothing to return to, he stays, and begins to pick up the pieces of his life by fixing up the house his parents left behind.

Isabelle Sampi is a struggling artisan baker raising her hearing-impaired daughter, and has no time for matters of the heart. Yet the presence of the handsome doctor challenges her resolve. Likewise, Hayden, protective of his fractured heart, finds something in Isabelle that awakens dormant feelings of his own.

As their attraction grows, and the past threatens their chance at happiness, both Hayden and Isabelle will have to confront long-buried truths if they are ever to embrace a future.

THE ARTISAN HEART IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

                 

     

DFA.

Adelaide - The Inspired City.

I'm trying something a little new this week. I'm a member of really lovely little writers group here in Adelaide that started as an informal forum on Facebook. We have since began having get togethers once a month in the flesh and I've been encouraged and inspired by the people I've met from the group. They are a diverse and really interesting bunch of people.

After our last meet-up, the group agreed to set a challenge for July in which we would choose a topic to blog about. The concensus fell upon the question - How has living in Adelaide inspired your writing and/or your job?

In all the years I've been posting to this blog and writing, I don't think I've ever explored this question publicly or privately so I'm actually pretty chuffed to be able to share it here for the first time.

Even after 20 years of living and working in the city of Adelaide, it remains to me, a city that hasn't quite revealed itself fully to me. I haven't gotten her full measure. Perhaps that's on me.

Like the Sting song, "An Englishman In New York", I feel like a "legal alien" here. I've actually lived here longer than I have in Victoria where I grew up, but I still feel like I don't belong. And yet, it's because of Adelaide - because of living here - that I achieved all that I have in terms of career and family and creativity. So, I am thankful to this place. It has inspired me.

As a Nurse, I've experienced more variety as a clinician than I could have imagined when I first arrived here. While the medical community is small, Adelaide does punch above her weight in many medical specialities on the world stage and it is recognized as a leader in a number of fields. I've done and seen so much - particularly in the fields of Intensive Care where I have nursed premature lives at their most precarious and adults facing the most dire of diagnoses. I've had the privilege of meeting and falling in love with my wife and raising our two children in relative comfort, making our home in the city, close to the epicentre of culture and art and entertainment. And, as a writer, Adelaide has served as the setting for two of my four novels. In writing about Adelaide, I have been able to peel back the layers of this city and discover things about it that have been inspiring, illuminating and confronting.

I have delved into her recent past to observe and document stories of marginalized people, the powerful and influential and work-a-day people like myself - those of us who are trying to serve both ends of the "people spectrum". In creating the characters and situations that appear in my novels, I have drawn upon my experiences as a Nurse working in the community among Aboriginal Australians (as I did for Gifts of the Peramangk), among transplant recipients & intensive care patients (as I did for The Recipient & The Hambledown Dream) and among children experiencing the often overwhelming environment of the paediatric emergency department (as I did for The Artisan Heart). By portraying these clinical experiences into my writing, I've been able to lend a significant level of authenticity to my stories without neglecting the dramatic elements that make for good fiction.

Adelaide is a city of contrasting moods and aesthetics which rival any of the great cities of the world. Walking through her streets and among her architecture one can feel a classic European sensibility even as her soul beats with an Australian heart. There are these nooks and crannies along the cultural precinct of North Terrace, under the swaying boughs of plane trees and the monuments to notable figures from times past that are ripe with anecdotes. There is personality and sound and climate whose moods shift from the early morning as the sun climbs over the Adelaide Hills to the fading light of dusk as twilight falls across the city and the streets are bathed in the aritficial light from so many street lamps. The city is at once cosmopolitan and vibrant even as it remains sometimes stubbornly quaint and painfully conservative.

Adelaide inspires me and my storytelling because it is tactile and immediate. I have embedded myself in this place, observed her moods, her shades, her ebb and flow. The old maxim that says writers should write what they know remains evergreen in my estimation. The internet may have afforded me the ability to travel anywhere in the world without leaving the comfort of my office chair, but nothing can compare to being able to throw on my jacket, step out of my house and be in the place with all its attendant sights and smells and tastes and life.

As I said earlier, I have yet to get the full measure of this city. Perhaps I never will. Perhaps I'm not supposed to. I will continue to discover Adelaide for as long as I live.

And perhaps that's inspiring.

DFA.

Please visit the next blog in our group's chain "Adelaide - An Inspired Life For Writing" from Ryan Peck. 

Book Trailer Premiere - The Artisan Heart by Dean Mayes

Australian author Dean Mayes and Central Avenue Publishing are proud to present the official book trailer for Dean's highly anticipated new novel "The Artisan Heart", which will be released world wide on September 1st 2018.

Featuring music from "Swear and Shake" with haunting vocals from Kari Spieler, "The Artisan Heart" trailer showcases the mood and the romance of Dean's long awaited return to his romantic roots in a tender story of damaged hearts and second chances.

Hayden Luschcombe is a brilliant paediatrician living in Adelaide with his wife, Bernadette, an ambitious event planner. His life consists of soul-wrenching days at the hospital and tedious evenings attending the lavish parties organized by Bernadette.

When an act of betrayal coincides with a traumatic confrontation, Hayden flees Adelaide, his life in ruins. His destination is Walhalla, nestled in Australia’s southern mountains, where he finds his childhood home falling apart. With nothing to return to, he stays, and begins to pick up the pieces of his life by fixing up the house his parents left behind.

Isabelle Sampi is a struggling artisan baker raising her hearing-impaired daughter, and has no time for matters of the heart. Yet the presence of the handsome doctor challenges her resolve. Likewise, Hayden, protective of his fractured heart, finds something in Isabelle that awakens dormant feelings of his own.

As their attraction grows, and the past threatens their chance at happiness, both Hayden and Isabelle will have to confront long-buried truths if they are ever to embrace a future.

THE ARTISAN HEART IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

                 

     

WIN WITH THE ARTISAN HEART.

To celebrate the release of the trailer for "The Artisan Heart" Dean is giving one lucky reader the opportunity to win a fabulous prize pack! In partnership with Janesce Australia and Swear and Shake, Dean is offering;

* A signed paperback copy of "The Artisan Heart".

* A Gift Certificate from Janesce Australia to the value of $50 (valid on-line or in-store).

* A copy of Swear and Shake's 2016 studio album "The Sound Of Letting Go" (which served as the musical inspiration for the novel).

WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO.

To be in the running to win, entrants can do either of the following;

* Visit Dean Mayes - The Hambledown Dreamer at Facebook. Like the page and share the pinned post featuring the trailer. Tag Dean in your post and include the hash-tag #TheArtisanHeart. 

* Comment on this post below and tell Dean in 25 words or less what intrigues you the most about The Artisan Heart. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. 

For those of you who are active on Twitter, follow Dean's account @Hambledown_Road, like and quote re-tweet the pinned post at the top of Dean's feed. Tag @Hambledown_Road in your re-tweet and include the hash-tag #TheArtisanHeart.

For those of you who are active on Instagram, follow Dean's account - deanfromaustralia, like the post featuring the trailer for The Artisan Heart and repost it on your own feed, Mention deanfromaustralia in your post and include the hash-tag #TheArtisanHeart.

At this time, The Artisan Heart competition is open to entries world wide and will run from today until midnight on Sunday, July 15th 2018.

Please join Dean and Central Avenue Publishing in celebrating the release of the official trailer for Dean's highly anticipated new novel "The Artisan Heart" - available in-stores and on-line everywhere from September 1st, 2018.

DFA.

Home & The Artisans - An Evening With Greta Bradman.

On Friday evening, I fulfilled something of a promise to myself that had been delayed for a couple of years, owing to the recent challenges I've had health wise - of which regular readers of my blog will no doubt be aware. 

Having parted company with my wife and son, who were off to a thrilling AFL match between Port Adelaide and Melbourne at the Adelaide Oval, my daughter Lucy and I went to see our first performance by Australian soprano Greta Bradman at St. Peter's Cathedral. 

Greta is touring around Australia presently, in support of her new album release 'Home' - a lovingly curated selection of music inspired by her love of home, family and love itself.

(image credit: Decca/Universal.) 

Already the album has proven a hit with fans around the world, continuing an upward trajectory for Greta, which has just been so wonderful to observe since she began performing back in 2010.

Accompanied by acclaimed classical pianist Kate Johnson, the capacity audience were taken on a lovely ride through the very essence of Home, which was presented musically as a concept as much as it was a place.

(Acclaimed pianist, Kate Johnson and Lucy.)

The performance itself, in the hallowed environs of Adelaide's glorious Cathedral was at once intimate, soulful, uplifting, and utterly romantic. We we're treated to a repertoire that included movements from Dvořák, Rimksy-Korsakov, Schubert, Chopin, Handel and composers with a much more personal connection to Greta herself. I couldn't go without mentioning one special tune, composed by Greta's grandfather, titled "Everyday Is A Rainbow For Me." Written as a loving tribute to the girl who became his wife, Greta reached across time to pluck this beautiful flower from her grandfather's far away garden and share it with us here in the present. It was an exquisite and personal moment.

(image credit Albert Comper/Lynn Elzinga-Henry.)

What struck me the most about Greta's performance was her relationship with the Cathedral itself. She was cognizant of every nook and cranny of the building, its illustrious curves, its rafters, the volume of the space. How Greta adapted her vocal technique to accommodate her surrounds was fascinating to behold and she projected her voice effortlessly up into the lofty heights above us, delivering through out the building. In chatting with other audience members after the performance, it was clear that no matter where you were in the building, the aural experience was equal. Greta and the Cathedral had a mutual understanding, and were as much a partnership with one another as Greta and her pianist Kate. Everyone was drawn into her sphere by the end of the first half. 

And then, a moment happened, that will stay with me and Lucy for the rest of our lives. 

During an interval between songs, Greta related a story about her experience of having had throat surgery a couple of years ago, which would have been quite a risk to her career. 

During that time, she received correspondence from a "bloke" (that made me smile) who was undergoing similar surgery - the first having occurred on the exact same day as hers. 

That correspondence turned into a lovely back and forth over the past couple of years in which Greta and this man encouraged each other and checked in on each others progress. 

She then looked straight at me and said, "That bloke is in the audience tonight. His name is Dean and I'm so thrilled I will finally get to meet him after all this time. I want dedicate this next song - Bach's "Ave Maria" to Dean - to us both - who'd lost our voices and found them again."

To say that I was floored would be an understatement. To say that I was emotional would be accurate. 

Greta fulfilled her promise and we had a lovely moment after her performance, embracing as though we were old friends. We chatted about the performance, with Greta relating her impressions of that special relationship with the Cathedral I mentioned earlier. Greta remarked about how it had evolved from the first time she'd performed there to now and how she understood the building and its eccentricities. I appreciated the meaning of that. Greta engaged in a wonderful chat with Lucy about her dance classes and the upcoming school holidays.

During our chat, I was able to gift her an advance copy of The Artisan Heart. Before I left home, I'd stowed it in my shoulder bag, in the vague hope to leave the copy of the novel with Greta's tour staff.

As a tribute to the connection we'd made, Greta appears in a brief passage in the novel. It was my way of saying thank you to her. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever believe I would have the opportunity to present it to her herself.

(Artisans together - The Soprano, The Writer and Lucy.)

After a photo together, we parted and Lucy and I braved the chilly Adelaide evening to make our way to the Pancake Kitchen for a post performance dessert treat. We were both buzzing over the evening we'd had and the special moments we shared together.

Greta and Kate will go on to tour her album until mid July here in Australia. I'm so thrilled that so many more music lovers will have the opportunity to experience her magic.

'Home' the new album from Greta Bradman is out now. 

For tour dates, visit Greta Bradman here.

DFA.