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the cmmrd book: a mismatch memoir and guide

Memoir and guide, released September 2023

I am pleased to announce the publication of my latest book, the CMMRD book!

About the book

“CMMRD may be rare, but everyone I know has met someone who has it.”

While on average people with CMMRD get their first cancer diagnosis at just 7.5 years old, Sam Alexandra Rose is beating the odds in her mid-thirties. But it comes at a price, with three cancer experiences and a whole lot of fear and trauma to sort through.

Part memoir, part guide and with a little poetry thrown in, this book illustrates what it’s like to live with a rare genetic condition and significantly increased cancer risk.

This is a book of denial, hope and eventual acceptance, ideal for families wanting to know more about a CMMRD diagnosis and for healthcare professionals looking to better understand the patient experience.

Buy now on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle!

I’m so excited to announce that my new book will be published on 2nd September 2023! It’s called the CMMRD book: a mismatch memoir and guide and it’s all about my ultra-rare condition CMMRD, what it is, what it means for me and others who have it, and how I am learning to come to terms with it. It’s the first book all about CMMRD just for patients – and maybe even the first book about CMMRD, ever. Here’s the blurb:

“CMMRD may be rare, but everyone I know has met someone who has it.”

While on average people with CMMRD get their first cancer diagnosis at just 7.5 years old, Sam Alexandra Rose is beating the odds in her mid-thirties. But it comes at a price, with three cancer experiences and a whole lot of fear and trauma to sort through.

Part memoir, part guide and with a little poetry thrown in, this book illustrates what it’s like to live with a rare genetic condition and significantly increased cancer risk.

This is a book of denial, hope and eventual acceptance, ideal for families wanting to know more about a CMMRD diagnosis and for healthcare professionals looking to better understand the patient experience.

“a humane and helpful navigation of a difficult subject for a difficult journey… this book is a non-medical person’s true north guide through Lynch syndrome and CMMRD” – Lynne Dunn, CEO of Bowel Research UK

This happened a little while ago but my prose piece has just been published, so I can now reveal that I won second place in a writing competition! The contest was Flatten The Curve from STEMag, an interdisciplinary arts and humanities publication.

The piece I entered was a “found prose” piece, “Decommissioning of the Womb”. I assembled this piece by putting together found writing on the decommissioning of nuclear reactors and oil platforms, and reframing them into prose about having a hysterectomy. You can read it here. Many thanks to the editors for choosing me – I’ve never won a prize for my writing before!

I watched a movie on the Sony Christmas Movie channel, missing some probably key bits of information and describing all the super important stuff I picked up to a friend via DM as I watched. This is the slightly mad result.

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Alternatively titled “I’m not crying, you’re crying”.

My mum and I went to see Keane at Royal Albert Hall last Saturday, and it was possibly the best gig I have ever been to. Background: I’ve loved Keane since I first heard Somewhere Only We Know in 2004 when I was 16. I loved Keane back then when I was known as a greb (greebo, emo, goth, type thing) listening to Linkin Park. I loved them while I was seeing so many other artists – Alicia Keys, Green Day, Bon Jovi, Slipknot, Bring Me The Horizon, and while I was listening to the music my dad got me into – various Motown and 1960s-80s rock bands. I’ve loved them all the way through to present day when my playlist is mainly made up of Post Malone, French Montana, Giggs, Drake and whatever else I hear and love on Radio 1. Keane have been a constant – there’s only one album I don’t own, I love their sound, and I have been waiting for years for them to come back (after their seven year hiatus) so that I could see them live.

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I haven’t posted for a while because I haven’t had much inspiration to write and I’ve been busy with house-related things. I did finish writing my memoir and came closer than I’ve ever gotten to having a full-length book published, but it didn’t work out so I’m back at square one with that. Not very much news on the lit mag front either – I haven’t been submitting much but there is some of my stuff that has been accepted but not published yet, and with no date set, and some stuff that’s been out for ages with no response. Meanwhile I’ve closed Peeking Cat to submissions and it’s probably going to stay closed for a while as my PhD gets underway in October. But people keep submitting stuff, which is a bit pointless because I have to either reply saying we’re closed, or just delete it. Continue reading

My poem “Welcome” has been published in Picaroon Poetry today! I wrote this one in January, two months into recovering from Whipple surgery and four months post-hysterectomy, and it’s a really short one about what it’s like recovering from major surgery. Hope you like it! Read “Welcome” here.