Conference was Phenomenal

I had very little idea of what to expect from the conference. I was pleasantly surprised when so many participated in the challenges and introduced themselves. Thank you. It was a joy to meet everyone who stopped by my board and all those who joined me at chat. It got a little sticky at times with my daughters not realizing mom was actually busy when chat time came around - alright, truth be told, that night cemented my determination to have an office and has me thinking a deadbolt, chains, and a locking doorknob will be necessary also.

I'll be back next year for the 2008 Muse Writers Conference, that's for sure. And hopefully I'll have an office I can close off to the rest of my hectic household :) If you are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, do visit my site and check out the Author Appearances page where the link is listed so you can read all about it for yourself :)

Just for fun...

Monday mornings are never the fastest moving days around my house. This morning, being so chilly when we've been used to some heat, well, it isn't helping. I'm here, all wrapped up in blankets and flannel, and found an occupier for a few minutes. http://LinkTiles.com/concentration.php For this day, September 17th, my tile is included in the puzzle, but so are many others. Just in case you're between books, taking a break, or just browsing, take a gander at it.

And now that I've let you in on it and the clock hands have swept past 9 a.m. I'm going to get to my official work and see if I can't get Rise of the Arcadians out before Halloween.

The conference is nearing!

The 2007 online writer's conference is nearing. This will be the first year I'm participating, but many of my fellow writers have presented before and are back this year. I'm really looking forward to joining them to meet new people and share what I know about the art of novel writing.

The Muse Online Writers Conference is exciting for its convenience and availability. Participants won't need to travel anywhere or shell out hundreds of dollars. I know I've gotten things in the mail about conferences I would have loved to attend, but with three kids and a skinny checkbook, it was never possible. What the Muse has done to make this available to anyone is phenomenal.

I invite you to check it out if you've ever had any interest in writing. You never know where the road may lead you.

http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/

A new perspective

Accidents happen every day. Cars are smashed, sometimes people hurt. Yesterday, on a road not far from here, one I drive at least once a week, three cousins were on their way to the county fair. They never got there. Two were killed. A 13 year old boy and a 10 year old girl. My daughter was classmates with the boy. The whole of our small community is shaken.

As hard as it is to lose someone, it's harder when it's someone young. I can't help but worry and pray for the one survivor, the driver of the car yesterday. We've all done tremendously stupid things in our lives. Most of us live on to laugh about them without being haunted by them. Just this summer at a family get together, my aunts, uncles and cousins all stood around talking about some of the truly brainless things we did. One involved fire and gasoline, another an old gun found in a barn, another the pool out by the springhouse. Truly, a few of us shouldn't have survived. We did lose a teen in our family to a car accident many years ago. My uncle was the youngest brother. He wasn't one of the lucky ones to live through something stupid. Neither was the driver yesterday. I only hope she is able to get through so the family doesn't lose all three from that car crash yesterday.

Is it good luck for some of us, bad for others, or something else? I've seen very interesting and mind teasing things in my life, put with the skills of a writer, and it seems so designed, like a plot of a book. Seemingly stupid things, totally unrelated can create a reaction or action that causes something else, something that in hindsight just had to happen, even if it was horrible. So I'm reminded of a little card I found in a book given to me by my dad. Simply: There is a reason. Some people refuse to believe it, some hang onto it for all their sanity. Myself, I'm just here for the experiences, for whatever reason.

So today my girls got extra big hugs, and I truly hope my middle daughter meant it when she said "you just have to get a perspective on death" - I always thought she was an old-soul, wise beyond her years. Or maybe my trilogy really made an impression on her because, as she says, they were needed somewhere else, they learned and did what they needed to do here. It was time to go.

A day in the life...

Rise of the Arcadians is back from edit. Now I just need to find the time to apply the edits and get all the artword ready for the cover. This year yet? Being that July 25th just hit (and that just hit me today) I really do not know. I want for it to happen this year. It just depends how much time I can scrape together for myself.

Add that into the super-productive garden this year and freezing all the veggies coming off of it despite lack of rainfall. Add to that three kids, two dogs, and one bunny coming for the daughter who felt left out with the dogs and one nagging need to write the next book and I'm spinning in my chair here. 173 single spaced pages are typed to (tentative title) Daughter Of Gods and last night it hit me, it won't be all one book. So help me, it won't be like my trilogy either, but more like a series. Yes, the very thing I swore I would never do a few years ago, somewhere around where I swore I would never write more than one book for a set of characters (hmmm, what was the three book trilogy?).

I really do need to stop saying "never."

And now I'm going to get back to work.... Until next time :)

Off to edit

I've finally called one of the three latest projects I've been working on finished and wrote "the end" on Rise of the Arcadians.

I actually finished it a month or two ago, but at the time, it just felt a bit fizzled to me, like it needed more. The ending, that is. It wasn't until I opened the file and read the last chapter again while out camping that I thought it wasn't so fizzled at all. So today I transferred the file into my desktop, skimmed through to adjust some formatting, and clicked to print. Amazingly my printer gave no protest. And now off to editing it goes just to see if I'm the only one who thought at first it didn't work. I'm also including a preview of my next book. Hopefully by the time Rise of the Arcadians goes to print I'll have a title for the next :)

It's been a while...

This way, that way, so many things to do, not enough hours in a day or days in a week. It struck me the other day as I crashed into my living room recliner just how little time there is for simple enjoyments, get togethers with friends and escapes from responsibilities. A recipe for stress? Do we all suffer from it?

I'm a writer, an author by trade and here I am, hardly able to squeeze out some creative moments at the end of the day. I used to believe it was due to my household of five, but I'm not so sure anymore. We are a busy lot, three kids going in all directions, but they seem to go with the flow more than the "typical" teens. In fact, they've been more of a help than a hinder.

This isn't to say I haven't gotten any writing done. In fact I have one, Rise of the Arcadians, finished and ready for edit and another as of yet untitled well on its way with another Among the Ancients sitting well begun on a back burner while I research more for its plot base. It's fine without that research I'm told, but I really need to do it, to set the base of the book solidly into knowing what I don't yet know. Sure, I could shoot it off to editing and start focusing on marketing, but it's not in me to do that until I'm satisfied with it. I need more time to devote to it.

There's been a discussion around my home about what we have coined "fluff." We use it both for books and for movies. I have nothing against "fluff" and even enjoy it at times. But I need more, stories that are layered with questions and puzzles to uncover. And I need much more than fluff when I'm writing. When my characters are "fluff" or existing in a plot of "fluff" I'm bored.

So what is fluff? For us, it's basically simple storylines that have one shallow purpose and no reverberating mood left when they finish. My middle daughter recently called Devil Wears Prada "fluff" but my oldest loved it. I haven't seen the movie, not one I would choose to watch really. My husband comes home every night and watches some show full of pranksters. Yes, it can be entertaining. It's also fluff.

I remember a question someone asked me when I first started with my writing. Why didn't I write children's books or some sweet romance? It's what was expected of me from acquaintances. I've always been known as sweet and quiet little me. Only a few of my closest friends expected what I do write. I have a new answer for this now. Mysteries/thrillers/horror/sci-fi/fantasy let you examine very deep life changing things from angles a character can reach and then play out for readers without seeming forced or feeling preachy. Two things I don't care to be towards others, especially readers. I have too much respect for them for that. I want it there for them to ponder if they wish or leave behind if they so choose.

Scams and Spams

I'm naturally a bit skeptic of all things. Commercials rarely sway me. Emails never do. That doesn't mean I don't take notice of them. Some very official looking emails fall into my inbox, more and more lately. They often have links in their text, promising a quick fix to some ligitimate sounding account or order problem. I sometimes find it funny when I notice those links, when scrolled over, are not the same link that will appear in the address bar. If you click on a link from an email please – PLEASE – be sure the promised location is legit. Make sure the address is as you were told it would be to start. If at any time you feel a bit uncomfortable, there’s no shame in closing that window without giving a lick of information.

It's very important to be vigilant about checking the legitimacy of things these days. You never know when someone will think it all right to trick you into giving away a password or account information. A small shop in a near-by small town (actually if Hazelton Pennsylvania is considered small, this small town would be downright tiny) recently stopped accepting personal checks. Now where I’m from, we still use paper and pen, not plastic cards for the most part even if they do hand us that piece of paper back with words printed on it. I’ve been in that little shop enough to hold full conversations with the owner who also runs the place where I discovered just how many bad checks and false bills have been passed around lately. Not the large bills mind you, but small ones and for a small business even a small loss can be devastating.

I just have to wonder why people would do it.

Does anyone know the meaning of empathy anymore? You know, feeling of concern and understanding for another's situation or feelings.

When my first daughter was born and then diagnosed with ADHD, one of the main things I did – even without knowing – was teach her to think about how her actions made others feel. Like when she took her sister’s toy or shoved her down a hill. Even a three year old can comprehend how what they do has an effect on others. Funny, 14 years later and she’s a fine and compassionate, if a bit impulsive, teen. Empathy was the most important thing I taught her.

My best friend since the first grade (no kidding) always said I should be a counselor or psychologist because no matter how a person treated me or someone else, I could see their side, how they might interpret their right to treat someone that way. Instead I became a writer though maybe my knack for seeing both sides is the reason readers love my “bad guys” as much as my “good.” It doesn't mean I agree with both sides or even one side at all. It just means I understand why they would make the decisions they do. Then react not with emotions but coolheaded decisiveness.

I just wish the rest of the world would slow down enough to learn the same – both to not rush to judgment and to treat everyone as they would want to be treated.

Not Perfect

I have a confession to make. I know I don't post often to this blog but there is a reason for that. I'm not perfect but I have a very bad perfectionism streak. Usually when I have the time to post here it's after I've done hours of writing, editing, formatting or illustrating and my brain function isn't top quality. That and I have a tendency to spell words according to how I say them (affectionately called mountain hick talk) rather than to how they are meant to be spelled when I'm tired or rushed. My fingers also like to hit keys I don't know they are hitting at times, making words which really don't fit in a particular sentence. So -- I hesitate to post until I have the time to spend 15 minutes to a half hour cleaning up my post. Is it the curse of being a published author -- everyone expects perfection with everything? Or is it my own curse?

My books are as clean as humanly possible, but they also go before at least two other sets of eyes besides mine and sit for months so I see them fresh again. Yes I do edit for others and I'm good at it, but my mind with my own work often sees "its bowl" when in actuality I've typed "it's bowl" -- yes, I know that's wrong -- its without the apostrophe is the possesive form of this pesky little word. Maybe because I KNOW that I don't actually SEE my goof?

I've also had my characters riding their creature and pulling on the "bridal" -- and flashlights throwing wicked "steaks" all over cavern walls. The first error my editor caught, the second, well, let's just say I promise to remove the "steaks" on reprint.

No matter how professional a writer, or editor -- of books, newspapers, magazines, whatever -- we aren't perfect yet I see so often someone being berated because of a mispelled word or missing or wrong punctuation. On one occasion an editor was told she should be ashamed of herself because of her mistake.

Then I came across another writer's blog with a disclaimer at the end of each post. I thought it a very clever idea.

THIS POST HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD BY ANYONE OTHER THAN THE OVERWORKED AUTHOR, SO PLEASE DISREGARD ANY ERRORS IN TYPING, SPELLING, OR PUNCTUATION. Thank you :)

Reviews are in!

This spring I "googled" myself as I often do to keep track of where my books are listed and things of that sort. At that time I must have viewed more than the first several pages because I came across a site - TCM Reviews. I'm not one to ship my titles off for review anywhere, especially not hard copies, but this one had my initials so I thought - What the heck. So off I shipped The Unseen, Book one of The Manipulated Evil Trilogy. Not long after, a good review was up on their site so I requested reviews for the following two in the trilogy, Scattered Souls: Book Two and Scorching Eden: Book Three.

The reviews are wonderful and reconfirm I've accomplished with my trilogy what I set out to do. My goals with telling this story was to make people think about very important and soul-searching type issues as well as thoroughly entertain them. It's wonderfully to hear from readers and reviewers from Maine to Tennessee and even Australia that someone has fully enjoyed Ravyn and Kyle's story to the fullest and are left with resonating thoughts after they turn that last page.

And to top it off the great news for this month, the Manipulated Trilogy is finding its way to bookstore shelves at Waldenbooks (also Borders) Bookstores. If you have one near you, ask about them by title and author.

If you want a peek at the full reviews for each book at TCM Reviews, pop into my home site - www.tcmcmullen.com and scroll down to "News Flash." The links for each are there.

The Wonders of Halloween

October. I was born in it, I enjoy it the most. It's a favorite month of many here in Pennsylvania because of the excellent views with the changing leaves. We've gotten some beautiful days lately, days that don't stir images of anything demented or dark. But decorations are popping up everywhere from ghosts and goblins to witches and foam gravestones. Halloween – it’s a favorite of mine, right up there with Christmas. Though Christmas wins top rank because of family gatherings, Halloween ranks because of its history and promises of mystery and intrigue.

Oh, the history. What I’ve learned of ancient civilizations I’ve learned on my own, digging in research for my novels and what I found surprised me a bit, especially because of the images and thoughts around Halloween today.

It wasn’t a holiday of evil things but rather a celebration of harvest. It is the time of year when the growing seasons come to an end. It’s a time to prepare and settle in for winter – the start of the new year by the Celtics.
Where did the images come from that we see today? It was thought on the eve of Samhain that the lines between the dead and the living would thin. Scary images and masks were used to frighten evil spirits away (though I have to wonder why anything evil would be frightened of anything).

I’ve never seen fall as the “end” of anything but rather a beginning, the same as I view the night. I’ve been told over and over how “backward” I am because I don’t truly come awake until evening hits and then my creative side soars late into the night. But I have to wonder, am I really the backward one? If fall was really the start of a new year and night seen the start of a new day, maybe I’m not so odd after all :)

Global Warming

Inside a fantasy writer's head anything can become something. Things grow like flowers in spring from an idea or happening as tiny as a seed. And then there's a whole new world.

My worlds always stay tied tightly to the world I know. I've researched cultures from around the globe - our "real" world and imagine what things would be like if different cultures would have risen to the top. What if: the climates were different. What if things of legends really did exist. All of this and so much more goes through my mind.

I began Among the Ancients a little while ago, but the characters got lazy. They need reworked. While I was thinking on them and what would cure their blight, other characters in a whole new story came storming to my mind. What sparked it - the argument of global warming.

Global warming has been mentioned for years now as a purely human caused thing. Not true. We may be making it faster, I'm not a scientist so I can't say for sure. I'm a master of fiction. But I do know from my studies that the Earth we live on hasn't always been as it is. Why would it stop changing now just because we humans inhabit it so strongly now? We aren't gods are we? Mother Nature has a plan all her own and things are going to change despite the fact we would like them to stay the same.

So. That's what the new story is all about. The changing world -- and how civilization as we know it will be transformed. At least how it may transform. Could we survive if disasters like hurricane Katrina grow more intense and frequent? What about if the continental plates shift again? And a new ice age? How strong are we as a species really?

A friend of mine believes we've grown lazy - too dependent on vehicles, grocery stores, computers and other conveniences of our lives. Maybe so. I really couldn't say. But the people in my story, they were trained to survive before the upheaval due to arrive in 50 years...

Nothing and Everything

My life is fairly boring. I know this. I don't hang out with girlfriends on a regular basis, I see movies at the theater maybe twice a year. I dislike shopping and large crowds of people. So maybe that's why I think nothing much in my life is worth blogging about.

At the same time, I'm always feeling like that proverbial headless chicken. Three kids always talking - I do only have two ears and for some reason they insist on working in unison instead of seperately. I'm also expected to often be in three or more places at once. I haven't quite mastered cloning myself yet. Shame. I also find myself fumbling with jobs that used to be simple though pleasantly challenging. Then something nasty happened. I remembered what my home was like before I spent all my time in front of the computer with one project or another. I regularly had clean dishes, clothes, and yummy meals. I grew tired of rummaging through the heap of clothes on the floor, scanning for visual spots or dirt, shaking out wrinkles, and running out the door. I also grew tired of purchasing cheap spoons because we would run out within a day if they weren't washed that evening. I also got tired of my floors looking like carpets of dust and fuzz. I once was a meticulous housekeeper. I once cooked each and every night. I once did laundry religiously, folding and hanging everything before wrinkles set in.

My husband has mentioned many times that I should look for a "real job." Funny, editing, writing, designing seemed to take up enough of my time and it sure feels like a real job. But I suppose maybe my sitting in the corner of my living room pounding on a mouse or keyboard doesn't much look like one. I haven't been doing near as much of that lately. No, I've been cooking real meals on the stove I've had for three years though it looks brand new. I've also been filling closets with fresh smelling clothes, pulling the millions of weeds from three 56 foot long flower gardens, and running all household errands. Funny, all that feels like a real job too. It sure takes a great deal of time.

Trees young and old…

Three years ago, our home and property underwent a huge change. We had over a half acre of old woods, meaning some of the trees were 50 years old and up. Did you notice the “had”? On this property we lived in a trailer built in 1977. It reached its lifespan limit and space limit with five occupants. So we chose to put in a house. I gave up my trees, but to this day still feel sick over some of it. More was cleared than we ever meant because some of the 80 to 100 foot tall trees knocked out many others when they fell. Husband was quite pleased with the huge expanse of flat, perfect grass. I hate grass. No offense, the green is pretty, but it needs weekly mowing and it really offers no real interest or benefits that I can tell.

Last week, my creative side got the best of me again and for some crazy reason I started digging holes in the boring grass, peeling it off the old woodland soil. Funny how many saplings my daughters and I found in the remaining, slowly recovering woods. We added 30 feet to the existing woodline, a bird feeder, hostas, azaleas, some old stumps. And we’ve spent more time in that little area surrounded by saplings and things we managed to drag from the brush piles than we have anywhere else lately. We have a small “marshmallow roasting fire pit” some logs to sit on, a swing too. We have part of our “old” path and old woods back after a hand saw and some hard work dragging broken and discarded tree tops out of the way.

I’ve heard from men that I’m just creating a weed area because trees take forever to grow and that I might see them before I’m beyond old. See, apparently I mustn’t know much, despite the fact I speak words like hawthorn, hornbeam, beech, ash, and tell them growth rates and average mature heights. Maples and cherry they know because those trees are worth the most money to the loggers around here. What bothers me about the men telling me “trees take a long time to grow” is the fact I watch them knock down trees as if they turn 50 years old over night. Heck, if we didn’t plant trees just because they take forever to grow, would there be any left? As for weeds, is it possible these men haven’t heard about mulch? Might explain why none has found its way into husband’s truck and into my yard yet this year.

I realize I have a lot of years to go before my woods looks “old” again. But that’s why I’ve got a few locus mixed in the bunch with some ash, quaking aspens, maples. All faster growing types. Some call those trees “weeds” of the tree species. That’s just fine with me. All I’m looking for is more shade and less grass to mow by the time I’m old. :)

A Precious Gift

A parent has so much to give their child. Love, acceptance, knowledge just to skip along the surface. But there is something I see so many parents today snuffing out for whatever reason, something natural to children, something that can set them free, take them on amazing journeys, open possibilities of dreams and assure they would never be bored. (Unless they are set on being bored that is.) It's imagination.

Imagination is a tool kids can use to escape for just a little while this crazy world we're all stuck in. To sit and watch the clouds, imagining the shapes of all kinds of things. To stare at the stars on a clear night and imagine things happening beyond our reach. C.S. Lewis, JRR Tolkein, Madeleine L'Engle, just to name a few big names, these authors knew how to carry their readers to new lands and make the story become real.

So why do I see so many children who wouldn't read one of these authors for any reason, why did the Chronicles of Narnia get a resounding "BOOOO" when the school chose it as the movie to show on rewards day? My girls loved it. I've nurtured their imaginations so nothing to them is "weird" -- it's fun.

But with more and more kids drooling over Survivor, Big Brother, Lost and the like and toys like tea sets and baby dolls no longer a big thing compared to electronic talking stuffed animals, mechanical pets and all, are we all coming dangerously close to erasing the value of an imagination?

Why shouldn't a tree limb become a horse, a backyard become another world in midieval times and a cloud become a dragon? Why shouldn't they enjoy Middle Earth and travel with Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins or Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edward in Narnia and enjoy it immensely?

I nurtured my own imagination out of boredom as a child. I admit, spending most of my time on an 1800's farm made it easy. As an adult, I'm glad it's still intact. I can see faces in the tile ceiling patters and in trees. Sure, I know it's just the pattern of bark, but it can really add some interesting aspects to a fictional story.

It's important to let kids dream, to encourage them to sail among the clouds in their day dreams maybe even more so today than it was years ago. Kids are under a lot more stress today than ever before. Nurturing an imagination to get their focus off tragedies, dangers and the ugly side of human nature could only be a good thing in my opinion.

Simple Things

Things have come in waves lately. I'll have a few days were I twiddle my thumbs, accomplishing little more than some laundry and cleaning. Then I'll have days where I have three different tasks to do simultaneously on the computer. Mostly I do ok with juggling several things at once. I mean, I do have kids, juggling tasks is mandatory for moms. And I'm not complaining really, I appreciate the work and the challenges. And I also appreciate the down times.

This morning, since we are in a real dry spell in my area, I carried water to some new plants and trees. Putting it in buckets uses less than spraying the gardens with the hose. I found myself in my backyard, surrounded by a cluster of trees, and birds. Two Cardinals fluttering in a bush, Robins, House Wrens and more. No other noise.

This was a surprise. There's been more tree-clearing and shed-building going on all over the place here and I'd gotten use to constant chain sawing, lawn mowing, tractor roaring, and nail hammering. This morning, there was none. Just the sun, a breeze, the trees, birds, my slumbering dog and me. I learned all over again why I love my back yard :)

I had work to do, had to spend the afternoon in front of the computer again, but surprisingly the entire time, scenes for my next book came alive in my mind. I hit a sticking point with it a few weeks back when life piled other things on me. Made me glad I didn't set a deadline for this story, but it seems I'll be up late typing tonight. Another good thing.

All I needed was some down time away from everything to get back on track. Life is funny that way. Sometimes we just need to take a few steps back, away from all the other stuff. Something as simple as sitting under trees and watering flowers can clear a mind more than anything else I know.

The wonderful world of research

It's odd, I know. I disliked school immensely when I was in it. They never seemed to delve into any areas of history or art, or creativity that I enjoyed. I'm not alone, I don't think, because it seems to me many artists had the same attitude about school. I do wish now that I had studied harder because many things link to others. But it's also fun learning it all now.

After I graduated, I discovered I could study into all the things no one touched in the classroom. And I found quite fascinating topics from philosophy of religions to world mysteries and psychotic psychologies. Researching these topics is a healthy boost to my imagination.

Druids seem to pop up in many areas of what I'm researching for my latest novel, Among the Ancients (http://amongtheancients.tcmcmullen.com) along with Paganism. It's interesting to ponder how different the world would be today had Paganism stayed prominent - if the ancient religions hadn't vanished. I don't claim to be an expert, far from it, but I have woven what I know into the fibers of my next book to create that possible world even more so than I did in my Manipulated Evil Trilogy (www.manipulatedevilseries.com).

I'm still studying, even as I write, and hope that the flavor of my stories improves with each new thing I discover.

T.C.

Book Signing

This past weekend, I had my first book signing inside a large name book store inside a mall - Waldenbooks in my area, also known as Borders. I can't say I didn't love the look of my books next to titles from authors I've read for years or talking with the people who stopped by. I had fun doing it, despite my introvert personality, usually I much rather like being a hermit in front of my computer and my current WIP (work in progress).

But I've been working so hard on promoting my work, I'm not getting a chance to vent my creative side in writing or my art and it's driving me a might crazy lately. It's not enough that I'm constantly picking up after and cleaning after 4 other people every day. (Yes they help, but children and hubby can't seem to see what things are strewn across the floor or where the crumbs have fallen, or - my favorite - when something spills, it all goes DOWN, nothing sticks to anything vertical - don't you know?) This was never so evident as it was last week while I prepared for the book signing. I had four days to do it all. And when I came home and looked at the house, I wanted to cry lol. It'll take me at least a week to get things back in working order.

I'm asked a lot how I balance it all, and honestly, I do not know. I take it one day at a time, try to make sure the bills are paid, sites are updated, children are fed, homework done, and somewhere in between find time to write the scenes plaguing my mind down on something concrete whether in long hand or typed (I much prefer typing, much faster for me).

And there looming ahead of me is the promise of nice warm weather, this year with an actual yard, not a rock patch. There's the flower gardens that need tended or made from scratch. When we first moved here, I did all the landscaping myself, the digging the hauling, the laying of stone, planting of plants, mulching, everything. That was 10 years ago. We put in a larger home, - manufactured home, doublewide, whatever you wish to call it in fall of 2003 (I think). It's much bigger than the trailers we lived in for 11 years. But now I need to start all the landscaping again and I'm finding 10 years can do a lot for a persons body - not much of it good lol.

So when will I find some quality time to spend with my current WIP? I guess I'll just take it one day at a time...

A change in the air...

Here it is, mid February. I've been more productive lately, at least it feels as if I am. I've managed to send bookstores catalog mailings for my books, printing more for libraries as I type. It's funny how one can learn to do fifty things simultaneously. The trick is, doing them well. Being a perfectionist, I can't say for sure if I'm doing anything well because if I stop and look long enough, I can always better myself. Which often stalls productivity. So I'm learning to let more and more things go a little. Just a little :)

I've set out to improve my art skills, though in my rural area, it's a little harder to find the right supplies. My latest book is to blame for this "need" to improve. I have so many images flowing through my mind and I want to get them on paper as realistically as possible. So I'm going back to study things I wasn't the least bit interested in during school years.

I sit and look at my girls, hear their complaints about classes, teachers, homework and I can totally relate. But I also know many of the things they are being forced to learn, though boring and seemingly ridiculous now, may come in handy later. Anatomy for one. How does an artist create realism? Knowing the skeleton and how the muscles work and form beneath the exterior helps a lot. And I only know the bare basics of it all. I've got a long road of study and practice ahead. I just hope I can find the time to accomplish this one.

Till next time,

T.C.

Fast Forward

I swear, some higher power has hit fast forward on the world. Maybe they were bored, skipping commercials, or what not, I don't know, but I wish they would hit PAUSE once in a while. Just when I think I'm getting ahead, I glance at the calendar to my right and realize I lost another week somewhere. This time though I feel like I lost most of January and I had to write February 7th on a check today. NOT good.

I'm not getting far on my next book either. For some reason, my new character, Kynly, is insisting I get her sketched and painted just right before she'll talk to me. This means I had to do some more studying and self teaching in art techniques. Bryce, the male protagonist is being quite open, but then his life has just been ripped from under him. But I need Kynly to ground me in her world before I write much more. The other huge problem is my characters only come alive at night. Usually very late at night - after midnight. And I have to be up early to get children on a school bus. Not easy tasks to balance there.

Meanwhile, we've added an aquarium and six fish to our household. What a task that has been. Mostly in getting the above mentioned children to pry their faces away long enough to do homework and take care of the poor pup, who apparently is old now even though she just hit 8 months. I suppose though I wouldn't be too eager to go for a walk in 20 degree temperatures and snow flurries either. Thankfully, I don't have to, I have three other pairs of legs to order to do that *grin*.

And now I must go and continue to work on Kynly in my studies of what Photo Shop can really be made to do :)

Till next time,

T.C.