Category: Art

Checked out

#books, #design, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, anxiety, Art, Convention, Crafting, embroidery, Fandom, Geek, Learning, Marketing, Mental Health, Novel, Promotion, Reading, SCA, Sci-fi, Sewing, Stress, Time, Work, Writing

I had my second official author appearance today, this time at a small-town library. The venue was small, and the crowd was smaller, but it was a good time. I stood up and talked about myself and my book and didn’t freak out. The social anxiety monster didn’t rear its ugly head, which is pretty cool.

Tucson Comic Con will be a big test of that. There will be crowds, there will be people looking at the table and passing by, there will be people asking about the book, I will have to talk to people. Yes. It’s a thing. But I’m getting over it. Slowly. Kind of.

Tomorrow, after work, I’m headed off to a small gaming convention in Tucson. I won’t have a table there (the cost of a table was too much given the venue), but it should be a fun time. I’ll consider it pre-TCC practice of sorts. Maybe. Or maybe I’ll sit in the corner by myself and try to be invisible. We’ll see.

The Kingdom Arts and Sciences competition is this weekend as well, but I won’t be competing. I got so caught up in projects and book stuff and more book stuff and work and SCA events and…yeah. No time. Well, I suppose I could have thrown something together on the fly, but I don’t want to enter Kingdom with some half-assed project. I want to throw my full, sizable ass behind whatever I end up entering. Next year. Sure, I had the research paper that I did that I could have tinkered with to perfect it, but again there was that pesky time thing.

Speaking of time, I just remembered the laundry that’s sitting on the bed, waiting to be put away. And the laundry in the washer that’s probably done by now. And the packing I have to do. Crap.

Where did all the time go?

Cramped situation

#design, #nerd, #publishing, Art, autoimmune, Cosplay, costuming, Crafting, embroidery, Geek, Health, Novel, SCA, Sewing, Stress, Time, Writing

I’m back to embroidering (did I ever really stop? Lol), and it’s starting to get to these arthritic hands of mine.

Whether I use a hoop or just hold the fabric myself, it seems my fingers get incredibly cramped and painful. I can only stitch for a little bit at a time, which is making projects take longer. Thankfully, I am limiting the number of projects I take on.

I have a Viking hood for my husband to embroider, of which I have gotten probably a quarter done. That’s my Current Project. My Next Project will be a mundane cross stitch for a paying customer. Then, Project Number Three in line will be a large embroidery that isn’t due until Estrella War in February. I hope to get some personal embroidery done in between Next Project and Project Number Three, but we’ll see how my hands tolerate it. I get so excited that people want things embroidered by me that I don’t take the time to say “Sorry, but I wanted to embroider X for myself first.” I need to do that. Take time for personal projects as well as commissions.

The Next Personal Project? I think some embroidery for a Viking Hedeby bag I plan on making. I have the handles, I have the fabric I need, and the rope for the strap will be easy enough to get, but I need to embroider the fabric before I put the bag together so I’m not stitching through the lining. Then after that? Maybe some subversive cross stitching or other such embroidery for hanging up around the house. Maybe something geeky. We’ll see…in March, most likely, because of time constraints.

I’ll eventually get to making garb and cosplay stuff for myself again. After I finish my Current Project and the subsequent pending projects. And after I finish Book 2 and submit it. And after….who knows what will come up next.

What to do, what to do

#books, #design, #dystopian, #nerd, Abnormal, Art, Crafting, embroidery, Geek, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, SCA, Sci-fi, Sewing, Social Media, Time, Work, Writing

For the first time in weeks, I don’t have a pressing project to do…and now, I don’t know what to do with my morning “me time.”

I could work on the third book in the Abnormal series…but I’m kinda stuck. Still haven’t heard back from alpha readers, so the second book is kind of on hold. I have embroidery that I could be doing, but I don’t have the design printed on stabilizer yet. I suppose I could get to work on that…

Whatever I decide to do, I need to get it started today, because I’m going on a camping trip this weekend–mundane camping for once, so no actual SCA event to go to. It should be fun, but I still like to have something to occupy myself when I’m up at nothing in the morning and can’t get back to sleep. (Which is pretty much every day.)

Hopefully I don’t get devoured by mosquitoes again. That was no bueno.

I’ve been making up graphics of quotes from Abnormal to promote the book on Instagram, and I’m debating on trying to make something out of them. Maybe post cards? I don’t know. This is an example of what I’ve been doing:

Now, most of these are square-shaped (because Instagram likes that the best), so I’d have to do some finagling in Photoshop to get them a decent postcard size, but it might be something to consider. I’ve also made a couple of bookmark-size images of quotes that I think book lovers might like, but I’ve found that it’s kind of expensive to get those printed, so I have to debate on that.

These, I think, would make cute bookmarks. I’ll have to find the site I found earlier for printing (some printing sites don’t have bookmark sizes available) to remind myself of how much these would cost. I think I can get a decent amount printed, but I want to be sure it’s worth my time and money before I invest.

I suppose I could research that kind of thing this weekend…

What I should really be doing now is getting in Photoshop and laying out the designs for my next embroideries. I have my husband’s Viking hood to finish, but first I need to make a small patch for the SCA household we’re trying to join for the Arts and Sciences household champion banner (the household we’re trying to join won the banner this year, and each year someone from the winning household makes a patch to go on the banner). I guess that will be my weekend project. That way, I kill two birds with one stone: getting the project done, and stopping the “patriarch” of the household from nagging me to get it done. The embroidery I did for Their Royal Majesties allowed me to bide my time on that one, but that stuff’s done so it’s on to the next thing on the list.

After my husband’s hood and the patch, I have one more embroidery commission in line that, thankfully, is not due until next February. That one isn’t too complicated (I don’t think), but it’s going to be large, so I’ll have to make sure I have plenty of time. I’m not necessarily worried about the time, but new commissions have a way of creeping in when I’m not expecting them.

Well, I guess I’ve decided what to do… No writing planned for this weekend, but I’ll bring some embroidery stuff to keep me occupied.

Off the cuff

#design, #nerd, Art, Crafting, Critique, embroidery, Geek, Novel, SCA, Sewing, Time, Writing

A little break from writing lately as I dive into an embroidery commission for Their Royal Majesties of Atenveldt.

Yeah, I know. It’s annoying when people do that. But what can I say? It’s the highest-profile embroidery I’ve done yet, and even more so because they’ll be wearing the garments at an out-of-kingdom event. So no pressure, right?

Actually, I’m not feeling too bad on the pressure front this time around. It’s all straightforward designs that I picked out (that Their Majesties approved, of course), and I’m not actually assembling the garb–just embroidering the pre-cut pieces I was given.

His Majesty saw one of the cuffs I was working on the other day and really liked what I had done. Her Majesty saw me working on it as well, but she was preoccupied with other things and I didn’t want to be “that guy” who’s sticking their latest project in her face for praise. (His Majesty sought me out specifically for seeing what I was doing, so that’s different. Lol)

I should be done by the end of the weekend, then it’s back to the writing board. 🙂

Death of 1000 bites

Art, Crafting, embroidery, fencing, SCA, Sewing, swordfighting

Monsoon season seems to be running a tad long this year in southern Arizona, as is evidenced by the hordes of mosquitoes that were in my tent the other night at an SCA event. Thank the Gods the event was just forty-five minutes from home, and thank the Gods that I’ve somehow managed to maintain my sanity despite the itching on over about 75% of my body.

It started with just a couple of bites. Okay, fine. No big deal.

Then I went to bed in our tent.

A couple of bites turned into half a dozen. Half a dozen turned into a dozen. I tried covering up with my sleeping bag but, as is common in early September in southern Arizona, it was too damn hot to cover up. So I’d put out a foot or an arm or my head to cool off a bit and almost immediately get attacked again.

This went on for a couple of hours before my husband returned to the tent from hanging with friends and declared he was taking me home for the night.

I didn’t complain. By that point, I had a good twenty mosquito bites spread out over most of my body.

Once home, a hot shower, Benadryl, and some hydrocortisone cream helped, but I still itched. At least I wasn’t getting fresh bites, though.

I can’t say the same about the second day of the event.

Despite wearing long pants and long sleeves, I somehow managed to receive another twenty-something bites the second day of the event. On my shoulders. Under my bra. Between my toes. On my fucking ass. 

I’m trying not to scratch; I really am. Sometimes, though, I find myself scratching without realizing when I started to.

My Benadryl supply is running short. I should probably take more now that I’m up, but I fear that with my luck I’d use the last dose and promptly get stung by a bee. That’s the way it works, right? Murphy and his stupid law.

Sadly, though there is a rapier tournament later today, I don’t think I’m going back to the final day of the event–75% might turn into 95%, especially if I’m all sweaty from fighting in the heat. Those little flying fuckers really love sweat. 

Oh well. Staying home means I can write or embroider or something. I have a project for His Majesty of Atenveldt that is nearing completion–well, the first part of the project is nearing completion. There is another piece I need to get from the artisan who is making the garment (my potential future Laurel), plus some pieces for Her Majesty that also need embroidery.

Speaking of which, I should probably get to finishing the second cuff while I’m thinking about it.

Just can’t be scratching my bites with the needle.

And then there were three…

#books, #design, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, Art, Celebrity, Drawing, Fandom, Geek, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, Reading, SCA, Sci-fi, Social Media, Time, Work, Writing

Yep, Book 2 is in sleeper mode while I wait for alpha readers to be ready (the one I’ve found so far wants to read Abnormal first, and I don’t blame him), so it’s on to preliminary notes for Book 3. I have at least four to five books total from Clare’s point of view brewing (counting Abnormal and Book 2), with more to come from….well, spoilers. 😉

With Book 2 drafted, edited, revised, and resting, I can now focus on what I want to happen in Book 3. Of course, with the nature of writing, sometimes the characters end up making things happen that you didn’t originally want. That’s why I’m a quasi-pantser; I kindamaybesorta outline a bit, but basically I’m winging it. Let the characters do what they do, and just try to keep up with them.

Once the sun comes up (which will be quite some time away yet), I’ll have SCA illumination assignments to work on. I’ve procrastinated enough with all this book work, and I can’t just wait until the last minute. A couple of scrolls to trace and paint, then I can get back to whatever I was doing. Living in the past, writing in the future. It’s how I roll.

The book release parties went pretty well. Despite few interactions on the “virtual” party, the numbers for my Facebook author page skyrocketed. I need to work on a plan of action to keep those numbers up and to keep my followers engaged–and to have more people following.

Twitter has taken off as well, with more followers, more likes, and more comments. Several people have expressed interest in reading Abnormal, which has me beyond excited because the majority of my Twitter followers are people I don’t personally know. Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate it when friends and family are willing to buy or support the book, but when strangers do it it’s kind of invigorating. Gets the ol’ writer’s blood pumping.

My first review is up, and so far I’m at five out of five stars. The reviewer friended me on Facebook earlier to tell me how much he enjoyed Abnormal, so I knew I’d be getting a good review, but still it’s nice to see those five yellow stars all lined up in a pretty row.

Off to work on Book 3 now, because an author’s work is rarely truly done. 😉

Cover reveal

#books, #design, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, Art, Celebrity, cover art, Diversity, Fandom, Geek, LGBTQ, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, Reading, Sci-fi, Social Media, Writing


Here it is, ladies and gents! The cover of Abnormal! The preorder link is going live very, very soon, at Rhetoric Askew … As soon as Amazon puts it up for preorder, that is. I’m waiting and draining my phone battery in an effort to notify people as soon as it’s active.
I’m extremely excited, and I can’t wait to get a few copies in my grubby little mitts.

Backlog

#books, #design, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, Art, Celebrity, Crafting, embroidery, Fandom, Geek, Learning, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, Reading, SCA, Sci-fi, Sewing, Social Media, Stress, Time, Writing

Why do I take on so many projects at once? Oh yeah, because I enjoy the outcome.
So here’s the deal: in addition to the book promotional stuff and prepping for release, the promotion at work that I need to train for, and the SCA arts and sciences stuff, I’ve taken on three more embroidery projects. All three are pretty important: some small embroidery for an elevation garment, a patch for our household for a banner that gets displayed every year, and some high-profile embroidery for the current King and Queen to wear to an out-of-kingdom event. Yeah. All that.
It’s something that I can do in my spare time, but more importantly it makes me feel good when people like my embroidery. My husband got me a new book on embroidery that has really good photos of how to do different stitches, so I can build my stitch repertoire. I’m excited to get started on the embroidery that I have to do, despite the chunk of time it will all take.
I might have to do what my husband does for his tablet weaving, which is setting up a spreadsheet or something like that to keep track of what I’m doing and when it’s due.
I may have to table the embroidery I wanted to do for Kingdom A&S, but that’s okay. I wasn’t planning on entering for Champion anyway, so it’s not a huge loss. Better to get the commission work done first. Gotta prioritize.
Book promotion is slowly chugging along. I tweet, I Instagram, I update the countdown (20 days now), I have been contacting local bookstores to try to get events set up…. It’s a lot, but every step forward makes me feel good.
Speaking of work, I should really get back to the elevation embroidery. That’s the next one due. Until the morrow! 🙂

Arts and Sciences revisited

#design, #nerd, Art, costuming, Crafting, Critique, Education, embroidery, Geek, Learning, SCA, Sewing, Stress

So… I haven’t really gone into extensive detail on my experience last week at our local Baronial Arts and Sciences competition. I won’t. It’s done, and I’m done. Not with Arts and Sciences in general, but with the subject of last week. That’s done. This week, however, went well, and even though I didn’t win anything personally (the household I entered with won for Household Champion) I learned a lot from the experience.
I got stern but helpful critique, and I had a much better time than last week. I think I might have made one judge feel bad about herself when I told her I have only been embroidering since December. I got the Look of Death from her, as if she was thinking “I spent X amount of time learning this shit and this bitch has been doing it for like 8 months and she’s sitting here all smug with her A&S entry….” Oops. Good thing I didn’t mention anything about being self taught from Pinterest tutorials.
My research paper got picked the fuck apart… which I have to admit, I deserved. I kinda crammed for that one for the most part. I mean, I did some of the reading ahead of time… and most of it as I was writing the paper. Oops again. But hey, now I know how to improve on my cramming, and I will have a much improved paper for Kingdom.
I’ll also have a better embroidery project. I have to get some more materials for it (and find the original piece I started), but it’s going to be more refined and more period in style than my little cup cover sampler. I might have another piece to judge if I can come up with documentation for both the embroidery and the item that will be embroidered. I think I can do that, but I’ll have to check.
Arts and Sciences will continue to be in my future in the SCA. I won’t let one bad experience ruin the arts for me.

Covering all the bases

#books, #design, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Art, Geek, Learning, Marketing, Novel, Original art, Reading, Sci-fi, Self Publishing, Short story, Time, Writing

It’s gotten to that time in the publishing process: meeting with the cover designer and discussing concepts.
It’s tough as an artist to let someone else take the wheel when it comes to designing the cover for my book. I hand-painted the cover for WHISPERS OF DEATH and then scanned and tweaked it in Photoshop myself. Did all the formatting for the Createspace printing and the Kindle cover. Did the same thing for Kamikaze Butterflies (only that one was all digital). I even made my own “covers” for the ebook/Kindle only stories and compilations. But now? Now I have to put my labor of love into someone else’s hands.
Not that I’m having problems…. the crew at Rhetoric Askew is great, and they listen to their authors. I don’t just get whatever cover they want; I get to have input and convey my opinions. It’s cool, but yeah, I guess I’m more of a control freak than I realized.
Time is ticking towards the release date. So. Damn. Close. I can’t tell you how close yet, but it’s soon.
Getting published before 40 when I just started writing novels a few years ago is a pretty exciting thing. I hope that Book 2 and the subsequent books in the series are just as good as Abnormal is going to be.
Don’t worry. You’ll get to see it in due time. 😉