July 29, 2012

Yeah, about that

This is a bit of a rant. You've been warned....>_>



(Enter rant)------------------

Dear Blogger,

I would really appreciate it if you'd get a few things in gear. The first thing that comes to mind is the reply system for comments. Would it kill you to set things up so one knows when a reply is made to a comment thread you're involved in? Preferably WITHOUT having to sign away your email account in payment? Not to mention that it would be nice if my scheduled blog posts actually posted when scheduled instead of five hours later.

Yeah, get on that if you please.

Also, it wouldn't hurt if you could quit trying to get me to try your dandy new "Blogger Interface". The old one suits me fine. Especially since the new one is about as clear as mud. After spending my day dealing with modern day retail woes and hammering out both art and edits for my book...simple is best. Because spending five minutes just trying to find the darned button for one thing or another is not my idea of a good way to wind down for the day. No joke. 

Of course, I understand that these features may already be available and I'm just missing the boat. In which case, a little direction would not go amiss.

Think about it.

---------------------(end rant)



It's been a long week. My husband lost his job last tuesday and I've been doing what I can to pick up hours to make up for the loss of income while he looks for a job. The toll on us both is making itself known and I have never been less inspired or motivated to write. I'm trying, I really am, but you guys are going to have to be patient with me. 

Between one thing and another, I'm still picking away at edits as I try to adjust to crazy hours and handle the stress of hearing yet another company tell my husband "don't call us...we'll call you if we're interested" when he tries to call and check up on his application.

To be honest, it's not as bleak as it seems, but we've never been in this situation before and it's hitting us a little hard. 

Well, on that note I have to get going. I sold my self into slave labor for an easel this past wednesday. It's time to go pay up for the day.


~Sun and Moon   

July 22, 2012

Not today, folks

It's been a killer week what with my husband losing his job and all(its a long story), so I hope you guys don't mind if I bow out of writting a blog post today. I do, however, have a picture for you guys.







I finished this back when I first decided to tackle all my unfinished projects. Can anyone tell me who the white bull represents? Bonus points if you can say who the peacock feather symbolizes. ;) 




~Sun and Moon

July 15, 2012

Squish, squish

Is it possible to have a really busy week, and yet nothing really happened?

Maybe it's just me.

This past week has been nuts, but very satisfying. I've finished one commission and start the colors for another tomorrow. I'm not getting paid for these two as they were prizes for an online contest, but the learning experience alone has been worth it. I also finally broke in my new pastels. It was very messy and very awesome, and the art turned out lovely(as my husband told me...twice ;D ).

The new scene in chapter twenty-nine has already been scrapped once and I haven't even written the whole blasted thing yet. It needed to be scrapped though, trust me on that one. The newer version is better and more in line with the world I've created. Which means I'm kind of back to square one, but not really.

It helps that I put some free time to good use yesterday and worked on edits instead of lazing about in the car with the sun warming my skin. I would've done more, but I was at work and my shift was about to start. So I said goodbye to the cushioned comfort of the car and headed in to earn some money for those pesky bills that keep popping up. I have small hopes for getting more edits in sometime today. Very small hope. Microscopic, maybe.

In the meantime I better get moving. Today is already looking to be a busy one and my brain seems to have run away. I doubt it's gone far, but better safe then sorry. There has been a lot of zombie talk going around these days and I might need it later. Pardon me while I track it down.


~Sun and Moon




P.S. I am in serious need of sleep. And the number for the steamroller that hit me last night. I feel squished.... x_x

July 8, 2012

Walking the line

Progress is a wonderful thing, but what to do when you're not sure if your solution walks the line between too much, or not enough? It can feel right, but sometimes you wonder. Normally when this happens I send the sticky bit to a beta reader, but I'm fresh out these days.

Oh well, at least it's progress, right?

 I've started in on the new scene for chapter twenty-nine, and while its not going as smooth as I'd hoped, it hasn't bogged down yet, either. Today I plan to sit down with it and hammer out the details. With it being so darned hot around here(100+ degrees, anyone?), it doesn't look like I'll be able to do much else without melting. Besides, it needs to be done and putting it off won't make it any easier.

It's wonderful to be moving forward again and I'm starting to get hyper about maybe starting the first draft for book two in August. That, and a new character is poking at me. The kicker is I can't start working on her story now as it's something that needs to be set up first. That hasn't stopped me from taking notes though. And while she doesn't have a name yet, so does have a nickname(weird, I know).

Art is finally starting to move along too. The stack of finished pieces is growing slowly, but surely as I sort through my abundance of works-in-progress and tackle them one after another. The plan is to start taking commissions sometime soon so I can have a little extra money for our vacation coming up. I've start haunting the park near our apartment, getting practice sketching buildings and trees(a couple of my weak points) and people watching. It's been too hot to head out there the past couples times I've had a day free from work. The few times I have gone out, I've managed some decent sketches.

Like I said before: at least it's progress, right?

Anyway, I better get my behind off the computer and head back to the studio. I've had a commissioner waiting ever so patiently for their art, and it's past time I got it done for them. Then it's more work on edits and some cleaning so I can finally get some general craftiness done. If I can get my rear in gear, I'll be sorting out llama wool tonight and cutting leather while I hang out with my husband.

Wish me luck :)



~Sun and Moon

July 1, 2012

Fried mush, anyone?

 I had this incredibly nifty blog post in my head. I got settled at the computer, opened up Blogger....and promptly forgot every word.

This is why I like to write things down. I tend to forget. I did not, however, forget to work on chapter twenty-nine last sunday, but I haven't made the progress I had hoped to that night. In fact, my brain fizzled out shortly after the post went live, and I ended up going to bed after a measly forty-five minutes of edits.

Not cool, but I didn't have much of a choice. It's hard to dig anything solid out of fried mush. So I went back to picking at it, and I have yet to move past the stubborn snag tripping me up. Today I'm still feeling a little crispy(or is that squishy?), but I have hopes to change that. Between washing dishes and other chores I'll be at the computer, hammering it out until it either straightens up, or crumbles to pieces. At this point, any progress is good progress, right?

In other news, I've decided to stop trying to make a regular Wordless Wednesday post every week. It's fun, but it's becoming a little stressful. Art for me has been kind of sporadic these days. Which means when Wednesday rolls around, I don't always feel I like I have anything worth posting. Now, I still plan to share my art with you guys, but I may be creating a separate blog just for my artwork. If it happens, I'll let you guys know. The art blog(if it becomes a reality) won't have a schedule like my writing blog. It'll only be updated when I have something to share. If you decide to follow it, that's great. If not, then that's fine too.

In the meantime, I'm off to work on edits and hopefully finish a commission. I hope to have some real progress to report next Sunday, but you know how that is. Maybe this time will be different. Its always a possibility, right?
  



~Sun and Moon