K James

I am still, in 2014, in the process of breaking through obstacles placed upon me from mental and physical disabilities caused by two strokes circa 2000 and 2007, both brought about by a genetic aortic aneurysm growing undetected since I was a teen in the late 1970s, the later stroke a direct result of emergency open-heart surgery to replace my tearing aorta with an artificial aorta and attached heart valve.

That stroke resulted in a permanent loss of the ability to voluntarily move my eyes; left me susceptible to full tonic-clonic seizures; left a lingering loss of complex balance; a lingering tongue weakness, which results in occasional choking incidents and odd speech patterns. The first stroke, in my frontal lobe, produced difficulties in keeping focused on priorities and following through on complex tasks; and the inability to recognize patterns of speaking etiquette in public. I also, as could be expected, experienced a lengthy bout of general depression due to no longer being able to drive; hold a steady job or even be hired for one; stand in one place for any length of time; and being self-conscious from having a tic related to my need to jerk my head to refocus my eyes, which makes as it looks to some as if I have Parkinson's disease; the sudden loss of my nearly attained career goal of being a manager in an international organization involved with peace-building activities (after 20-25 years of rigorous educational and work-related experience in preparation); and an apparent inability to retain a romantic partner.

Since I remain blessed with a retention of my memory, analytical, research, and language skills; and can read and write (though slower than before), I am focused on complete redirection of my life toward authoring books, both fiction and non-fiction alike, in a myriad of genres. To avoid furhter health complications, I am also revamping my life to lose excess fat and become more fit. I am focusing on a complete year transformation, dedicated to my father uring while he is 75 years old.

So after 25 years of living on the East Coast and in three European countries, I returned to San Diego where I grew up, to be near my family members, old friends, and near the inspirational coastline. Following some adjustment, I am finally ready to tackle, and conquer, my new career aspirations, which should provide greater inner joy and peace than some bureaucrat's thankless job working hard to get warring parties to la