10AUG2019
The first week of my regular job is done! Finished! In the books! Next extended break is Christmas. Geesh that's a long ways off!
Work on writing has obviously slowed to a crawl but should pick back up after a bit of getting back into the pattern of my regular job. My regular job has a definite sequence to it, with well-defined (though meager) lulls and many busy periods. I still have many incomplete writing projects, some big, some little. No new ones lately, which is good. I don't need any more story ideas for now!
But as an author, my mind is always going. Today, for some reason, I thought that perhaps my grandchildren will ask why so many people wore glasses back in the day. Will laser eye repair be so common that glasses fall by the wayside and become anachronistic? I already feel old.
Next major goal is to continue to put out quality stories, build up an inventory, pausing to do some marketing every once in a while, but not until I have several more products to market. For a behind the scenes peak at my future marketing plan, I am going to offer a free story at the end of stories available for purchase, in exchange for signing up for a newsletter promoting new stories. This is a marketing technique known as 'magnet readers'. If you are already interested in future releases from me, go ahead and comment on this post. I will be getting a business email address in the future to handle correspondence. No need to clutter my regular inbox.
Pic for today is a filtered photo of a wall sconce at a nearby Hilton hotel. I'm really enjoying the Comic Book filter on my iPad. Hopefully knowing it's a hotel light doesn't ruin the image for you. I might spend some time and clean it up with GIMP and make it into a short story cover for the light and darkness frontier stories I'm working on.
16 July 2018
Working on some sketches for various stories. Below is a work in progress for the Ghost Garden piece I wrote for my youngest daughter. Here is the link to the story if you wish to read it: The Ghost Garden. Both the story and the sign still need a lot of work, but so far so good. It's the sign her brother makes for her.
In other news, I've been working away at editing and adding to a number of short stories. Working on a cover for The Legacy as well, one of the next short stories to be released for sale outside of an anthology. I also re-edited Black Char and the Crystal Caves, though I'll have another go at it before updating the manuscript on Amazon. I received some well-thought out feedback from a reader and I'm taking a look at the points I agree with.
I also watched France win the World Cup and Belgium take third place. I have friends in both Belgium and France so it was a bit of a pickle on who to root for!
14 MAY 17
As it winds closer to the end of another school year, I'm looking forward to writing some more. The lazy days of Summer mean swimming and writing and enjoying family. And if I can find time for writing, then the next thing to do is art. I love to doodle or sketch stuff but I never seem to find the time. My mom has sketches galore saved from when I was a kid.
The easiest type of art for me is photography. I love capturing images. Anything drawn by hand seems to take forever for me and I want to do it on the computer so I can change it any way I want.
Anyways, enough of that, here is some art for today gathered from various places along with some thoughts by me. None of this artwork is mine unless it is so marked. Enjoy, and any comments are welcome.
I love pictures of fancy and fantasy, they make my heart smile. This picture of a happy wolf/dog/plant thing is awesome. Makes me think of warm spring days encouraging the plants to grow.
I also like dark artwork, both in actual darkness and in subject matter. A lovely young lady walking hand in hand with Death makes me wonder what she did to deserve such treatment or is that what awaits each one of us, a long, slow walk with Death into the sunset? Black and whites and water-washed colours both spark my interest when done well. The watercolour to the right makes me think of the soliloquy in MacBeth.
"Let me see. (takes the skull) Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times, and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. —Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now to mock your own grinning? Quite chapfallen? Now get you to my lady’s chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come. Make her laugh at that.—Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing."
This one is mine, playing around with my camera, a small ceramic skull and lighting. :) I love Dia De Los Muertos. I used this for a Halloween announcement one year. The light in the eyes and nose are from the lamp I placed it on.
Art tied to stories are my favorite pieces. The picture above was inspired by Michael Moorcock's Elric series. The main character is an albino.
I will publish one day a collection of my short stories accompanied by artwork inspired by the stories. Pen and paper sketches most likely.
One of the easiest ways for me to get out of writer's block is to take a picture and just run with whatever it brings to mind. These last two pictures, of the sad robot and the little girl at the base of a tree lead me to many wonderful places! I can't imagine what the robot would be sad about, but then I look closer and see a hole where a human's heart would be. Is there something precious that is there for a robot?
And this little lady at the base of that magnificent tree. What lies beyond the waters? Are those moons seen through the branches or some sort of immense glowing fruit in the tree above her? What is she leaving behind? All sorts of wonderful questions to answer through writing!
Today is Mother's Day, and I can't go without saying Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. Hm, I haven't written any stories inspired by mothers, although my story Legacy featured a very prominent mother. Well, Happy Mother's Day!! Hope your sons and daughters treat you well!
23 APR 17 Howdy all! Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!
I write here and there and like many other authors I have various pages at different sites. My latest writing I posted up over on Wattpad, which has several small pieces and one serialized story. Go check it out:
Wattpad - Montellano
Latest story piece is Bullseye, inspired by a dream. It's about being arrested. I forgot most of it by the time I got around to writing today, but the core survived. It turned out all right despite all that and I have some ideas on how to merge it with a few other pieces I've written. Not my usual stuff but then again what is the usual stuff when the story is inspired by a dream?
Dumb pun: Mountains aren't just funny, they're hill areas! :) I like puns. One of the many reasons I enjoy the Xanth series.
Picture for today:
Nothing could be more true.
