First Week of July - or- What I've Been Up To

If the photo above isn't enough of a clue, please read on for more details of what's been keeping me from blogging. It's a short post but I wanted to give my readers an update.

Maps & Other Additional Tidbits

Every fantasy book worth it's salt must have a map. And rather than some sketchy bit of work with a few lines and a couple of iconic landmark symbols, I want to give it my best. I'm more of an organic, abstract artist when it comes to fine art. But my husband has taught me a lot about Gimp. Creating a map isn't an easy task, especially when you want it to be rich in design and style. But if you are determined and willing to put in the time and effort, you can be pleased with the result, I think. The above photo is just a snippet of the black and white version that will appear in all my hardcover books. I'll have a color version that I'll post in my Zazzle store and make available on different products and as a small poster print. When I open pre-order sales for Ripples, I'll include the color map as a downloadable wallpaper. I hope you're looking forward to it!

YouTube Update

I didn't upload a video last Friday because the weather wasn't cooperating. I'm trying to create an intro video that lets people know exactly what to expect on my channel. I post more videos than those just about my writing. If you've been following my blog for some time, then you already know my family are all advanced certified storm spotters. When I catch a lightning bolt on video, I like to share it to YouTube. We have a funny cat, so I might share videos of Olly Ox'nfri. I don't want to have to limit what I share on my YouTube channel so I want potential followers to be aware of what they're in for. I hope to have that video ready for next Friday.

July 2018 Edition of #WIPjoy Writing Challenge

I'm doing another writing challenge, the July edition of the #Wipjoy challenge again hosted by Bethany A Jennings, (AKA @simmeringmind on IG - Go follow her!). The following are the pieces of the challenge I was able to do, not including yesterday's because I haven't found my "line to hook readers" just yet. I think I have...but I'm still deciding. Anyway, here's what I have so far in the challenge. The first three photos are Day 2 (Day 1 was a day off because it was Sunday.) The second set of three photos is Day 3 of the challenge. I'll share the others on Monday. I think I take on too many things at the worst of times! <sigh> and LOL

Day 2 - Pitch your WIP as fast as you can. - I think doing anything quickly is beyond me, even when I try! It took three frames to pitch this WIP. And I don't think pictures will work for my pitch (like some of the others were doing) since my characters are like muscular elves that range the colors of the rainbow. Kind of hard to find photos of a race that, as far as I know, doesn't exist. (It probably does, but is perhaps not widely photographed/drawn/painted, barring WoW elves. Even they are limited in range of colors, though, and their ears are too big and their hair/eye color doesn't work...I could go on, but I won't. You're welcome.) PS. If you're an artist and you wanna try your hand at some fan art, I'm not opposed to seeing it. :D 

Day 3 - Introduce your MC in a line, song, and photo. Zec's song took forever to find but "From Where You Are" by Lifehouse fit him at least partially. He's definitely the most complex of my characters. He keeps a lot inside. Liha's more open and cheerful so it was easy to pick "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield for her. The only mistake is in the third picture, Liha's last name has been changed to Gervell.