Kicking Cancer – Class of 2017: Andy Taylor

A Collection of Dark Tales for a Dark Time

Preorder Link:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076ZZMDGQ

Kicked down by cancer, Andy has struggled to make ends meet. Being a self-employed decorator he is no longer earning money to support his family. This anthology has been put together by a talented selection of dark authors to help Andy and his family through this dark time. All proceeds from sales of this book will go to Andy to help keep a roof over his family’s head.

Foreword

Charlene Taylor

When my brother first approached me and said that one of the publishing houses he has worked with was willing to do a charity anthology to raise funds for us, I was shocked. I never knew such generosity existed outside of my family and friends. I knew Mark had been dabbling with writing short horror stories and trying to get them published, but I never expected anything like this to happen. The sheer amount of love and support from complete strangers overwhelmed me and Andy, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank anyone that submitted a story for this collection.

Back in May when we were first informed that Andy had throat cancer, it felt like our world came crashing down around us. I had just started a new job in a school after quitting being a child-minder for 7 years and Andy is a self-employed painter and decorator. So the news of Andy’s stage 3 throat cancer hit us hard. I was worried that my new job would not allow me the time off for Andy’s appointments as well as the fact that Andy would be out of work for months due to his treatment. Secondary to Andy’s health, money became a big worry for our family of four.

Initially we set up a just giving page so friends and family could donate what they could, when they could. It was hard for us to do this as we are both fiercely independent and we have never been a family for hand outs, so we swallowed our pride and setup the page. The money was gratefully received and went straight on our mortgage and bills; above all else we needed to keep a roof over our girls’ heads during this time.  Some of Andy’s old school friends arranged a charity football match to show us their support, we were overwhelmed with the amount of people who turned up on the day and to top it off Clyde Wijnhard, an ex Huddersfield Town Football Player, turned up to play in the football match.

As I write this, we are 11 weeks post treatment and Andy is still tube fed, and it’s not looking like he will be on solid food any time soon. He still losing weight and it’s starting to show even more now. He has lost muscle mass on his arms and legs and has started with lymphedema, which is where the lymphatic fluids are not being pushed around his system properly. It’s not massive at the moment but if it gets any bigger they will refer us to a clinic that will teach me how to massage it out. The hospital wouldn’t normally rescan him until 16 weeks post treatment but we have just been told yesterday that because he took part in a clinical trial we will be able to have the scan earlier, potentially at the end of October.  This cannot come soon enough as we will be able to find out if all of the treatment has worked. Until then we won’t know if the treatment has worked.

It has become an impossibly depressing situation. The stress will turn me grey before the end of it all, but fingers crossed we come through the other side stronger than ever. Our family and friends have rallied around like I never would have expected and it thank them all for their continued support and love.

As for all the authors and poets who are in this book, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I never knew such love would exist outside of our immediate family and I love you all for your contributions. We have been humbled that this idea even came to be and all of you have volunteered your time, your stories and your poems to help make this book possible. We owe you all a debt we can never repay. Thank you.

A special thank you goes to my brother Mark, the aspiring author, for without his dreams of being a horror writer this offer would never have come to the table. Another huge thank you must go to Catt Dahman, who upon learning of Andy’s cancer and our struggle, offered up her company, time, and resources to help make this anthology possible. And a big thank you to Michael Fisher for designing the cover and Roma Gray for being Mark’s support and help on the business side of things.

And again I want to thank everyone inside this anthology; we really are extremely humbled by this generosity.

So to you, the reader and buyer, thank you for purchasing this anthology. All proceeds will come directly to us to help keep a roof over our heads, so we thank you as well. I hope you enjoy the stories.

Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Love to all,

Charlene and Andy Taylor