Good morning, Readers!

I'm over on my art blog today, talking about a really fun project I did a couple of weeks ago, and hope to do again. It was fun!

Good morning, Readers!

I'm over at Black Gate Magazine today, talking about a recent post I saw on my Facebook feed, and how it got me feeling a certain way.

I hope you’re all well, given how everything is still, well, 2020. I’m writing this rather hesitantly, for many reasons (not least of all because I promised at the end of my last post that I would stop publicly obsessing about InuYahsa, and this is the only other topic I had on my list), but I do feel like this is something worth discussing.

I am an unknown author, I’m sure you’re sick of me saying so, and I bemoan the fact a little too often, if I’m honest with myself. Sorry about that. I would love to be widely read and have my books celebrated, hell, even discussed! I mean, obviously. That is the dream of every writer. Yet, I balk at the idea of becoming famous. I don’t ever want to be famous. My books? Sure! Me? Absolutely not. Fame is terrifying, and the thought of being recognized while I’m going about my business on any given day turns my stomach and cranks my anxiety up to eleven. When I hear stories from others about what their life is like after celebrity, the fear sharply intensifies. When I hear stories about what fandoms have done to creators for perceived miss-steps, I want to burn my entire ambition to the ground and retire to the country to embroider and milk cows.

Okay, I would retire to the country to embroider and milk cows… and ride horses… and open a martial arts school… if my books got big and I ever acquired any kind of wealth. That’s kinda my dream. Not the point!

Note: I’m not talking about revealing bigotry as some writers, apparently not having learnt the lessons in their own damned books, have done recently. I’m talking about concluding a story in a way fans find dislikable, or something equally as benign.

​From threats to careers, home invasions, and even death threats, fans can be terrifying.

Good morning, Readers!

Yesterday, my mammoth leather order arrived. I'm really excited to get started on the various projects I have planned. One will have to wait until a fabric order I placed arrives, but the rest can begin right away. I have designs for two new dice bags (I'm calling these styles the Hedge Knight and the Exile Bags of Holding, and I'm really quite pleased with myself about it all). I have new designs for book jackets that I'm super excited get started on. I'm starting on my Necromancer collection of leather book jackets. Heh heh heh. I'm too happy with the way I'm naming things. Lordy.

I might even have leather left over to get started on Christmas gifts for friends and family.

The problem is that I have so many projects planned that, save for restrictions on available materials, I have no idea where to start. I need to come up with a plan of attack. So... thanks for reading while I work this out in real time.

Right.

I'm currently working on a bookmark design that I'm undecided on. But I think I'll keep it all the same. I will see what else I can manage with the bookmarks. I have an idea already that I think will be lovely. But for now, I'm just completing this one design. Once that's done, I will move on to...

The Hedge Knight Bag of Holding, I think. I'm most excited about this one. It's an easy enough design to manage. All it requires to make is time. And skill. Time I have. Skill... well, it remains to be seen, but I think I have it all figured out and I can pull it off.

By the time I've finished the two planned Hedge Knight Bags of Holding, I will move onto starting the Necromancer's book jackets. The design is a little more complicated to tool, and I'm nervous about it. I think it's really cool, though. It might be just me.

The fabric order I placed ought to have arrived; probably long before I even start the book jackets, so once those are done, I'll head into making the Exile Bag of Holding. That one will probably take the longest to make, just because of the materials, but I'm hoping that it will look super cool by the time I'm done.

Then there is also the question of my planned paintings. I will save painting for the late afternoon, I think, when the sun is gone from the yard, and I can sit in the shade and work. I'm hoping that because the canvases I'm working on for this series of four paintings, that I'll be able to finish them relatively quickly, permitting me to get ahead of my planned painting count.

My Hallowe'en painting will probably take me all of October, and I desperately want to have the whole month and not have paintings undone looming over the whole process.

So, that looks after half of my work part of my life. It's now my job to paint and create items of leather to sell. It's not yet a paying job, save for the Vagabond Bag of Holding that I sold to a friend earlier this month.

The other half of my work life is writing. My brain is going crazy with words that need expressing, so as soon as I'm done editing this manuscript for a friend, which will be this week, I'll be setting aside at least an hour (hopefully two) for writing in the day.

Quarantine took away my job, and the stability that came with it. I'm struggling now, though that struggle is far more mental. Thanks to a Canadian government that cares, I can eat, and keep a roof over my head, and try to forge a new path to a livable income. Imagine if everyone had access to what I do now? What a beautiful world that would be!

Universal Basic Income should happen.

Well, this post took a turn. I have to get editing now. I have bookmarks that need finishing

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Today I'm over on my art blog, talking about my latest completed work, Starless Watch. i learnt a lot... mostly that I really need to work on my patience.

Good morning, Readers!

Image by gabmarjan from Pixabay ​

As many of you might have surmised, this weather is very agreeable to me. It's like someone flipped a switch, and suddenly everything is autumnal. I am absolutely in love with it all. The cool air, the rain, the sunshine that is still warm, but no longer oppressive thanks to the afore-mentioned cool air. So, to whomever did flip that switch, and provided the impressive thunderstorm that preceded it, you have my heartfelt gratitude.

Other than the change in weather, I have nothing of not to report. I did not fix my sculpture yesterday. I may do it today. Or perhaps I'll draw instead. I bought one more long canvas than I needed, and I now have the image I desperately want to paint on it. I will save that one for October, it being the month of Hallowe'en, and this having a vaguely Hallowe'en-ish theme. I'm really quite excited about painting it. But I will have to buy much more black paint. Much more. So, there's that. I'm trying to decide if I want to paint this one in oil or acrylic. October is awfully close to 'can no longer work with proper ventilation' time, but also, I think it will look amazing in oils. Today, I will prepare the canvas. I have to change the base coat from white to black, which I can achieve with acrylic. Assuming I have enough black acrylic.

Lordy, I choose expensive hobbies.

Anyway, I'm quite excited about this painting. But that does mean I have to get through two more months of other painting, and also that I must have enough oil paints in order to get it done.

I'm really enjoying this creative time. I just wish I had the funds to support it! Said every hobbyist ever.

Right, I have more editing to do. My french lesson, my sculpture fix, a canvas to prepare, and book mark designs to create.

All while enjoying the weather that I love the most. *happy sigh*

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Image by Josef Schiller from Pixabay ​

Yesterday, I spent most of the day working on a sculpture. I finished it, mostly, but I couldn't get it to stand up as it should. I think I may have struck upon a solution for that. Again, like most things, I have learnt a great deal from my first attempt at sculpture. I'll be sure to be implementing those learned lessons the next time.

For now, though, I can turn my efforts to more leather carving. I chanced by my local leather supplier two days ago, and bought a bunch of blank bookmarks. I have a few designs I want to do, but I have to get the designs down first. That's today's creative endeavour.

Speaking of leather, I placed another massive order. I have more book jackets I want to do, and I have plans for another dice bag that I'm genuinely excited about... I think I was a craftsperson in a past life. Given my fixation on food, I feel that I was probably a craftsperson who died of starvation. So... either not a good one, or Irish, perishing in the potato famine.

Also on the agenda today, more editing. I'm not far from the end of the manuscript, and will be able to get back to my own writing soon. My brain has once again returned to Cai, the protagonist of my Great Man series. I have two other books I need to finish before I go back to that series, but I'm pleased to see him again, even if he's melancholic and suffering. He's not had a happy life, folks. He'll always be my favourite character and, if I may just toot my own horn for a moment, I've come up with a few good'uns.

There isn't too much else that's going on in my life. After the two days of excitement in which I left the house for the first time in forever, everything else feels rather dull. I have a lot of plans though... I mean, I have the leather on order, I have the designs for bookmarks to do, I have prepared a large canvas for a new painting (which I might not get to do before next year, as I'm waiting on something in the post that will likely not get here for a long, long time... never fear, though, I have four other paintings planned that I can do... I lied. Six other paintings), I have so many novels to finish writing, and more ideas waiting in the wings... Lordy there's a lot coming.

But today, it's rather dull.

Righty, I have to go and get this manuscript edited, and maybe do something about updating my website to offer some editing services. Maybe. I'm still don't know about that.

I'm blabbering. I'm off. Have yourselves a good day!

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Image by Monika Häfliger from Pixabay ​

Sorry once again about the late blog post yesterday. I spent the morning helping out a friend move some stuff to her storage unit, and it took all morning. Sunday I went with her to Wallack's, which is my favourite art store, to pick up a whole bunch of canvases in preparation for my next few paintings. I spent far too much money, but I can't really regret it. Let me tell you, it was really good for my soul to get out of the house these past couple of days.

Yes, I was very safe, and wore a mask everywhere, and yes, it was rough on my wallet, but I really, really, really needed to get out and into the world for a bit. I was extremely disheartened to see how few people were wearing masks. Yes they were outside, but the Glebe had more than a few people out and about, and so few of them were wearing masks in the crowds. I could do nothing but shake my head.

All the same, despite the anxiety of maskless people everywhere, I really enjoyed getting out. I enjoyed running around the art shop, dreaming of all the projects I intend to do. I adored the ride out to the place where my friend's things were to collect them, and the ride into town to deliver them to the storage unit. I was a delight to leave the house.

I didn't know how much I needed to leave the house until I left the house. I so rarely have. It's been... weeks? Months?

Perhaps I should get out more.

In any case, it was a busy couple of days, which made me feel accomplished. It was a good week for accomplishing, last week. I finished my third painting (my second oil paint), well ahead of schedule, and I'm not peeved about how it worked out.

Playing with leather proved to be fruitful. I made a large dice bag just to test out the pattern, and ended up selling it before it was even properly finished. It's a bit rough, but I'm actually really proud of it. Of course, as it was just a prototype, I sold it at a massive discount. After speaking to the Amazing Flatmate about pricing, I realised that the amount of time and work to hand cut and stitch the dice bag warrants a much higher price than I was going to sell it at. I sold it for less than half price, as it was a prototype, and there are changes to the pattern for future dice bags, and it is a little rough around the edges. I think I will be making more of those bags, and maybe adding some chainmaille to the pattern. I have some chainmaille lying around. It can be done.

Now, as I've finished my painting quite early, I'm working on designs to carve some leather bookmarks, and contemplating starting on a sculpture. I have some oven-bake poly clay that I bought ages ago with the intention of making sculptures, but never seemed to be able to find the time. Well, with more than ten days before the end of the month, I think I have the time. Now all I have to do is figure out how to make reusable moulds of my sculptures, and then I'll be set.

Guess I'll add resin and shite to my art wish list.

Right, I have a lot of editing to catch up on, as I didn't do any for the last couple of days. I should go do that.

​Ciao!