Obviously, this piece isn't done, but I wanted to show progress on my current piece. I laid down marker first, and now I'm working over it with Prisma color pencils. A close up of the mostly finished face. You can especially see here that her hair and the background aren't done, as well as the … Continue reading Artwork Update
Ya'll, there are a LOT of seeds in my storage container, so if you're into that, sit down, relax, and enjoy the shinies. If they're not your thing, just know that I have Lotz of Seedz. ON TO THE SEEDS. These photos include primarily this year and last year's Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds orders. I've … Continue reading My Seeds-for-Next-Year Collection!
I spent the afternoon working through parts of my garden to see if there was anything to harvest! I'm covered in mosquito bites and dirt, but I have a pot full of turnips, a couple beets, and leeks. No photos yet! I also received my first seed order today, so I'll try to get that … Continue reading Oh, the Mosquitoes
Ya'll, I'm so stoked. (No pun intended.) I don't have photos yet, and it's not set up. BUT I HAVE A WOODSTOVE! I bought THIS ONE. One of the site photos: Thank you to my family for supporting me in this! Power outages in the winter are a concern for me, and this, when it's … Continue reading For the End of the World
The art I've been doing can take anywhere between 10 and 40 hours depending on the complexity. So, this piece isn't done yet, but I have some in progress photos to look at. First, the reference, with her bare chest covered. From Studio Grafit. The sketch on printer paper: Obviously, I'm going full on mermaid … Continue reading An In Progress Art Piece
Okay, so this one's 100% silly. Tundra loves going to the vet to see The Ladies, and he'd been going and getting blood draws because he's getting older and on a pain med. So he has new meds to take, and we stopped in to pick them up. He loved on The Ladies of course, … Continue reading Our Vet’s Office Ladies Are SO SWEET!
I've been enjoying my new method of working with colored pencils, so here's another piece for you to enjoy. First, the reference art. She is NOT nude, but it looks that way if you squint, so apologies. From Studio Grafit. The sketch. I draw it on cheap paper so it doesn't damage the nice paper, … Continue reading More Art Practice
It's that time of year again! The Puppy Pool Paddle is an event put on by our local animal shelter every August, and they rent the pool so that the dogs can all play together in the water. It's the end of the season, so they clean the pool after to get rid of the … Continue reading Puppy Pool Paddle 2021~!
Be back Wednesday.
On the subject of colored pencil portraits, I found this YouTuber to be exceedingly helpful in learning to properly use my colored pencils. She covers a lot of techniques and what different solvents might do for blending, and she explains the differences between oily and waxy pencils as well as their strengths and flaws. She … Continue reading ITJFU: Sarah Renae Clark YouTuber
If you're at all interested in realistic colored pencil portraits, this is the YouTuber for you! She's charming and gracious and her artwork is amazing! She tries out and rates several skin tone sets as well as includes all of her materials for you so you can see what she's using to make her portraits. … Continue reading ITJFU: Temi Danso Art YouTuber
Yes, these are real cadavers. This is an educational YouTube, and I really enjoy watching it. The instructors are very respectful of the donated bodies, and they make sure to keep all pieces of the body together so they can be cremated at the end of their agreed upon term. It's really interesting to see … Continue reading ITJFU: Institute of Human Anatomy YouTube
Just because your character CAN wear something doesn't mean they SHOULD. I rolled a new character in Guild Wars 2, creating a Charr. Now, I don't usually like Charr, but I saw someone make a tiny and cute one, so I thought I'd give it a try. I did the reverse of most patterns with … Continue reading I Look Like Someone Dressed Up Their Dog in a Princess Outfit
And some pretty for you: Murky Water is set around Thanksgiving, and of course the Kickapoo River Valley is a starring point in it! The cover is complete; this is just a preview. Yay~!
I'm at the halfway point on my draft of Murky Water! They're not marked off yet, but I completed 3,000 words today which would put me through 52. So, huzzah~!
Another mixed media art practice. These are all photos, no scans, so the final reflects light a little. The reference photo from Studio Graffit on my photo frame. It's propped up on the easel my husband got me a little while back. I've free handed a sketch of the photo on printer paper, and I've … Continue reading Mixed Media Try Number Two
So, this is my first attempt at marker with colored pencils over them. It's from a black and white printout because I couldn't get my computer to fit on my desk. I ordered a cheap digital photo frame though so that should help with colors in the future. This is a photograph, not a scan, … Continue reading Practice in Mixed Media
Here's the Birthday presents I got that are NOT art supplies, in no particular order. I mean, the biggest one is last because I don't want it to negate the other awesome presents, which I love, but otherwise no order. From dad, window prisms! I have one in the bedroom, but now I can hang … Continue reading Birthday Presents I Adore
BEWARE: LOTS OF IMAGES First of all, here's the ADORABLE card my husband got me. I'm only showing the outside because the interior messages are private. He drew in Tundra's paws! SO cute. This year I received quite a few art supplies, and you KNOW I love art supplies, so we're going over them. First, … Continue reading Artsy Birthday Presents!
I got a letter in the mail from the Library of Congress! And inside? A certificate for my copyright on 'Still Water' that shows it was approved. I'm SO happy! Like, seriously, should I frame it?
Those of us with pets know their time with us is fleeting, and we're often left with ashes, a collar, and maybe a nose print to physically remember them. My husband and I decided we wanted to do a pay print for Tundra. So I ordered the Crayola kit: The back had instructions, and it … Continue reading Making Our Puppy Paw Print Memento!
And thus our yearly birthday bash begins! Tonight we celebrate with my in-laws for my father-in-law's birthday. Tomorrow we celebrate with my mom for hers. Tuesday we celebrate for mine! Although I'll open presents tomorrow so I can spend my birthday quietly with my husband. And of course I waited until the last possible minute … Continue reading ALL the Birthdays!
I've now sent out all of the books that I needed to. Two packages to Canada for friends who live there and can't get the paper copy. That was pretty stiff! Three packages to family of those I dedicated the book to because they're deceased. One copy to my amazing proofreader. One copy to my … Continue reading All Book Gifts Shipped
My brother's lady who helps him clean saw my book in the paper, told my brother, who told my mom, who called to ask me about it, and I was confused. So, I went trundling down to buy a copy of the paper! Here it is: Super exciting!
You might be surprised to know that I do the majority of my first draft away from my desk or computer. I use an Alphasmart Neo 2 for drafting, and I love the comfortable keyboard AND the fact that there is no internet and thus no distractions. I keep the Alphasmart, my printed progress, and … Continue reading My Mobile Writing Set Up
I saw this cute toy at Walmart, and I just couldn't resist. He walks and does little barks and whines and was all of $5, so of COURSE I got him for my husband! Tundra isn't entirely sure what to make of him and sniffed his tush but seemed confused. So cute! That's my ridiculous … Continue reading I Couldn’t Resist
I finally got to see my novel in print! There are some issues with this proof, so I resubmitted with corrections, and now the paperback is live! You can find it here on Amazon. I took photos: These two are for my god kids, and they live in Canada. I didn't list this book widely … Continue reading Paperback Proofs!
Our flooring in our house is... rough. It's not even a proper floor. It's pine subfloor that someone varnished and tried to pass off as flooring. It's awful. It's driving splinters into our feet. I was looking at replacing it in January, and the estimated cost was going to be ~$3000. I checked now, and … Continue reading New Rugs!
Now that 'Still Water' is out, I'm starting to draft the following novel, 'Murky Water'. You know what that means! Fresh Kanban Board! Here's what it looks like empty: And then filled in for Murky Water: I expect the draft to be somewhere between 75,000 and 110,000 words - it's pretty hard at this stage … Continue reading Updating My Kanban Board
IT'S LIVE! You can buy it HERE as an e-book for $4.99 or as a paperback (soon!) for $14.99. A quick blurb: Danita Morgan is starting over. New town, new school, new everything. A chance to walk away from a relationship gone sour and the restraining orders filed against her.Her new neighborhood is made up … Continue reading “Still Water” is Live!
We've all heard the story. So and so was laughed at and discouraged from following their dreams, but they succeeded and now they've proven their naysayers wrong! Neener, neener, look at me now. We know this story. This is not my story. Literally NO ONE has discouraged me from trying to write and publish a … Continue reading Naysayers or not?
I have many issues. I'm disabled. I'm mentally ill. I have a ton of anxiety. You know what I don't have an issue with? Trying new things. I'm talking about the kind of self confidence that, when faced with a new hobby or a steep learning curve, allows me to throw myself at my goal … Continue reading That Art on Your Parents’ Fridge? It Matters
Last night, at around 2am, the air conditioning failed. There's not much you can do at that time of night except work on a fine set of nerves, so I turned it all off, opened the windows, and went to bed. I popped awake at ~8:30am and closed up the house to preserve the cool. … Continue reading Dable Heating and Cooling – 10/10 Do Recommend!
Med changes are never, ever fun. Right now we're titrating me OFF of Olanzapine and adding in Latuda. The Olanzapine was causing excessive weight gain and elevated blood sugars, and that was Not Cool. We knew it might, but I'd been struggling so much that when it was offered as an option that ALMOST ALWAYS … Continue reading Bipolar Is a Dramatic Disorder
One of my bipolar medications has a possible side effect of causing diabetes and excessive weight gain. My psych doctor added Metformin to my list of meds to try and slow down my weight gain... and, 'lo! I have energy! I'm not crashing all the time! I don't need a caffeine IV drip! I've been … Continue reading Can’t Win for Losing
I'm reaching the end of the revision process, which means I'm writing the front and back matter for my novel. This includes the Dedication section, and I chose three people to include there. Unfortunately, they've all passed so I won't ever be able to press my book into their hands and tell them that I … Continue reading Dedications
This winter, we received an unusual New Year's card. One from our Japanese exchange student who we had not spoken to since 2000 or so. It had a return address, so I sat down and scratched my head and swore and wrote her a long letter... in Japanese. I had help for a few things, … Continue reading Crossing My Fingers and Casting a Hope to the Wind!
In 2013, I herniated my L4 disc and bulged my L5. It was, hands down, the most painful thing that has ever happened to me. Lately, I've been having pain in my hip/butt area. I had a wellness exam coming up, so I waited for that. Today was that appointment. It's very painful if I'm … Continue reading Again?
No photos, ya'll, so you'll just have to believe me. I had a friend planning to come and visit us at our house for the first time ever on Saturday. Super exciting, and I was stoked. And then I looked around the house. It was... cluttered is a polite term for it. Every surface was … Continue reading In Which We Cleaned for Three Days
Yeah, that's me. For my first book I'm publishing, I had an artist named Ina Wong do the illustration, and she did some amazing work. You can find her Instagram here, and she has my cover up. Here's a screen capture of her page showing my work. It's all amazing, so you should definitely go … Continue reading That Prolonged Squeeing Sound You Hear?
You're looking at this thinking, 'Renee, DuoLingo has been out for FOREVER, how did you miss it?' Here's the thing. I didn't miss it. I tried it out with great excitement when it first started and was singularly unimpressed. I dropped it as 'no good' and moved on. But websites aren't static. And just because … Continue reading So I Might Have Discovered DuoLingo
Today is the 12 year anniversary of my first date with my husband, the day we met each other. We'd talked back and forth through Messenger and things looked promising, so I had him over for dinner. We had tacos (spice like I like them!), and they made him so miserable because they just did … Continue reading 12 Years~!
If you've talked about books with me, you KNOW that when I say 'My Favorite Author', I'm always referring to Auryn Hadley. Her books are amazing, interactions with her are always positive, she writes SO QUICKLY, and her information on writing and publishing is a huge help that she doesn't owe writers at all. She … Continue reading My Favorite Author Has a Patreon!
A while back, I won a drawing for a free mystery item from author R. J. Blain. They were giving out copies of damaged, proof books, books with old covers, that type of thing. I was stoked, and then life distracted, and I forgot. R. J. Blain writes a variety of fiction, including under the … Continue reading R. J. Blain – Author Gift!
Thank you to all of the AMAZING people who donated to our GoFundMe to help my parents' finish fixing their roof. The original roofer fell through, and my parents were out a lot of money with no roof to show for it. It was an old tin roof, and we have photos of the house … Continue reading My Parents’ Roof Is Done!
So, I've already sent my book once to my amazing proofreaders, and got feedback that needed to be addressed. Then a beta reader who had been unable to read my novel up to that point called, gave feedback, and helped me hash out some issues. So my book went back to revisions... revision #4 this … Continue reading Back to the Proofreaders
We've had some crazy weather lately. Our last frost is supposed to be ~April 28th, but we have had two frosts since, one LAST WEEK. Wisconsin, we need to discuss your weather. It's lovely out today though, and I slept in. I had the window open and the fan blowing nice warm air in, and … Continue reading Is it Spring?
Today is a holiday, and there will be no post. I'm hoping your day is going well, and I'll see you on Wednesday!
It's Friday, and it's time for some plant pictures to finish out my week. I posted before that my tomato plants got hit by the last frost thanks to some VILE CREATURE lifting up my cover and then sleeping on top of them. I didn't tear them out, but I did buy new plants and … Continue reading A Chill Garden Update
I'm ramping up to publishing, and I plan to use the program Vellum for formatting my novel. It's one of the best in the field, and it allows you to preview your novel on different kinds of e-readers and devices. It provide a professional level product, which is the goal. Doing my own formatting is … Continue reading Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth
I'm really, really not well today. I'm aiming for a post on Friday.
Posts to begin again on Monday!
