An apt quote

Came across this quote today in the signature of another writer. It is particularly apt for writers, considering the long waiting times we endure while hoping against hope that this time it will not be another rejection letter.

"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide whether it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they're deciding, make even more art." ~ Andy Warhol

It strikes me that during NaNoWriMo, we can't even wait for ourselves to decide whether we love it or hate it. We just have to keep going.

And come to think of it, it applies equally well to a lot of things in life.

A month?

Wow, I knew I didn't have time to blog lately, but I can't believe it's been a month! Well, maybe I can. I've certainly been busy.

Mostly with editing. And critiquing. I'm editing stories for the Undercurrents anthology, stories for my writing group, my own work, and articles for a Second Life magazine, of which I'm a junior editor. Also critiquing stories for my online critique group and a couple of outside projects. I'm trying to clear other things away so that I can do a final pass on my novel, but it's hard to get everything else off the list. Maybe I have to re-arrange some priorities.

June is always a busy month with school ending, but the busy-ness seemed to start in May this year, so it's been a hectic couple of months. However, grading day is Friday--hurray! Can't wait to get away from the schedule for a while. And summer has finally arrived here, after a non-existent spring.

The artwork at the top of this post represents the other creative outlet I've had lately--digital space art. It's been fun learning how to create the effects I want, and a great way to unwind after a load of editing. :) I have a small gallery at http://wordsmith101.deviantart.com/gallery/ (check it out and tell me what you like/don't like), and a gallery (A Space for Dreams) in Second Life as well. If you are in SL and would like to visit, the SLurl is http://slurlcom/secondlife/Foxboro/136/178/245.

Maybe I will get back to blogging now. Although I still have a lot on the go, I do feel that some of the pressure has eased.

The Nearest Book to Hand Meme

Well, so far 2008 has been a non-starter for blogging, but perhaps I'll start to feel more motivated soon. Helen has sort-of tagged me to do this meme ("If anyone wants to do this, consider yourself tagged!") so here I am. The rules of this meme are:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the 5th Sentence.

4. Post the next 3 sentences.

5. Tag 5 people.

The nearest book on my desk is The Drawing Bible by Craig Nelson. The thing about this book is that there are precious few sentences on many pages, so these are actually from p. 124, after performing the appropriate counting of sentences on p. 123. Not that it really matters. ;-) This section is called, "Using Visual Landmarks."

Proportion is all about measuring and comparing. When measuring, look for key reference points or visual landmarks on your subject. These may include sharp angle changes such as corners, or distinct tonal changes between shapes such as pieces of clothing.

I bought this book with the intention of starting at the beginning and working my way through every lesson, but I haven't made it terribly far yet. Still on my to-do list, though! It is a very good book.

Domestic Goddess Day

That's just a more interesting way of saying that I spent the day housecleaning, doing laundry, and shopping for groceries. I also managed to install some programs on the new system, and my husband did some, too, so that job is progressing. Of course downloading and installing things is the easy part--transferring data and setting everything up the way I want it is the part I'm still dreading. At least we're labouring in a clean house now.

I also am trying very hard to view this in a more positive light. So far, I'm about 75% successful.

On a brighter note, I've got about 3000 words on a new short story, and I like how it's going so far. I've also realized that if I'm going to achieve my goal of reading 30 new books this year (which seems like a pretty modest number to me) I have to read more. I'm currently reading two books but haven't actually finished any yet, and now January's gone!

Here's another watercolor/dry pencil picture that I enjoyed doing:

A late return

Hoo-boy, it's pretty dusty looking around here! Guess it's time to clean up and get back in the blogging groove. I mean, I could do it every day in November, I must have SOMETHING to talk about now that it's a new year.

Besides the cold and the snow and the ice, I hope.

Well, I've been playing around with some watercolor pencils a friend gave me for Christmas, that's a good place to start. I've done a couple of pieces I liked, such as these cherries...



Sigh. Which reminds me, I haven't updated my art blog in a while, either...I guess that's a job for tomorrow.

First Purchase

Today I visited Daydreaming on Paper looking for inspiration. There's a very nice randomizer there that is sure to provide something to inspire you (if you click on it enough times!). Today it asked me "Do you remember the first thing you bought with your own money? With your first paycheck?"

I decided to write about the first thing I bought with money I made from my writing. I wanted it to be something memorable, although I'm sure there were other more practical things I could have chosen. The money was the pay from a short story, "Little Things," I sold to Marion Zimmer Bradley's FANTASY Magazine. I decided to buy a piece of art that I could hang in my office.

The picture (this is not the best shot of it--bad lighting and lots of reflections) is of a Victorian-style home, surrounded with lovely gardens. It drew me first because it reminded me of my grandparents' home and also the house where I grew up--neither of course is exactly like this one but they have the same feeling. It also looks like it would be a lovely place to write, at a desk looking out one of the upstairs windows, or perhaps curled up in a chair on the veranda.

I love peacefulness when I write. It's just a commodity that's usually in short supply. ;-) I'm very glad that I invested the pay from that story in this picture. It's a concrete reminder that my writing goals can be achieved.

A little self-expression...

I was visiting my friend Nancy's blog the other day and it was sporting a shiny new widget that lets one splash paint around a la Jackson Pollock. Here's the masterpiece I created. I rather like it. My first try, I wasn't keen on the colors I was randomly assigned, but this one attracts me.

I won't get into the "is it art?" debate because in essence, the question doesn't much matter to me. I think what matters is that it's personal expression, which is to be valued for its own sake. Goodness knows there are enough people in society whose outlook on life might be vastly improved if they expressed themselves through the arts once in a while. I also tend to try and take a larger view on these issues--is anyone going to care in a thousand years if it was art or not?

Yes, I am rather opinionated lately, aren't I? I'll blame it on the whole posting every day thing. But maybe both self-expression and posting every day are good for the soul.

Hiatus

Well, of course I got sick again not long after my last post and it's been a struggle to keep up with the things that absolutely need doing, let alone writing anything here or working on my 43 Pieces project. Those things have included:

• finishing my anthology story. I think it's done, now it's just a matter of convincing myself of that and submitting it. Planning to do that within the next three days or so.
• working on The Scriptorium; May issue is almost ready to go online
• keeping up with homework for my writing workshop, which finishes up this Saturday. My chapter is one of the last ones to be critiqued, but my turn in the hot seat is finally coming.
• following my new SparkPeople healthy lifestyle plan. Getting back in shape is an absolute priority.
• reading for the first meeting of my GeekReads club this weekend
  
• laundry, cooking, childcare, etc.

Whew! So, yes, busy even though sick. On the upside, I do feel much better now, had my bicycle out for the first time yesterday, and have lost 3.5 pounds so far. Hopefully I will get back on track with everything else, including the novel rewrite, after this week.

43 Pieces

For the last 43 days that I'm 43 years old (that is, starting today), I'm doing a self-portrait art/photography project over at Flickr. Each day I'll be posting a photograph, art piece, or whatever else strikes my imagination. If you're interested, you can visit me at flickr. Who knows what might show up?

Writing Space

Following a post on Helen's blog which pointed to a request from Bloglily to show our writing spaces, I present my office. This is not the best picture I have of the space, the search for which has led me to the sad conclusion that my digital pictures are just as disorganized as my prints. Another job to put on my "someday" list.

But getting back to the point, you can see that my office serves two purposes; my writing and my colored pencil hobby. And a third and fourth, I suppose, as you can additionally see from this view of the other side of the room: book storage and reading room.


My husband very generously worked hard to finish this room for me when the imminent arrival of our second child meant that my office upstairs was about to be transformed into a bedroom. It's a lovely, cozy hideaway filled with books and greenery and far too much paper, but it's my space and I adore it.

Rewrite progress

The first read-through is still going well. I'm making lots of notes and markups, although I haven't come across any major problems yet, which is a good thing. I'm about a third of the way through. I'm taking Holly Lisle's good advice to use a different color pen each day for markups and notes. It makes it easier to find the places that the notes match up to.

On the other creative side, I had a brilliant idea the other day. The four of us are all going to attempt to do Illustration Friday for the year. We all want to do more drawing and this seemed like a fun (no-pressure!) project we could all do together. I'm thinking I'm going to do all ATC size--that's 2.5 x 3.5 inches. I love working in the small size and it makes the project more manageable. I'll be posting the results either here or on my art blog. I find doing art so relaxing, especially when I have a big writing project on the go.

It's extremely windy here today, although not terribly cold. We're having rain instead of snow, and fairly mild temperatures. Usually the winter would have come howling in once the holidays were over, but it's definitely a different kind of season this year.

Ready, set...

Today was the last day of school vacation, so I counted it as the last day of my "vacation" as well. I took the kids to a movie this afternoon (Night at the Museum, which I highly recommend), played some Guild Wars , and generally relaxed. Now the children are in bed, and I'm about to round up all my manuscript papers and notes and printouts in preparation for wading in to the rewriting task tomorrow. The only possible problem is that my son was feeling a little under the weather tonight, so there's a chance he'll wake up sick tomorrow. If he's home I won't be able to really buckle down to work, but I still hope to get a start at least.

I've also started a new colored pencil piece, which I'm tentatively calling "Fairy Gossip." It's the first time I took a "real-life" picture and turned it into a fantasy piece, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I'll work on that when I need a break from the rewriting.

I did end up making some resolutions for 2007, although they're a little out of the ordinary. They are:
Laugh every day.
Read more.
Stress less.
Do more things just for fun.
Learn something new.
Treat myself once in a while.
Personally, I think they're very wise resolutions.