My Time is Not My Own

In the past month, I have been busy busy busy. Cub Scouts, my kids, writing groups, a strange obsession with a senseless egg hatching game on Facebook, and gardening has kept me going from one week to the next.

Cub Scouts:
For some reason, the last week of school is crammed with Cub Scout activities. I love being a den leader, but it gets a bit tiring. At least, there will be no more meetings until September.

Kids:
In the adventures of kiddie land, my oldest son managed to dislocate his right elbow. After karate. He was just leaning on the couch and managed to hyperextend the joint. Boy did he scream. We spent 8 1/2 hours in the hospital getting it fixed and x-rayed before they sent us home. No more karate for him for a while.


Writing and Art:
With everything else going on, I've felt a little overwhelmed with all the critiques I've been trying to keep up with. I'm in two active online groups and two active local groups. I like to think that I give a thorough critique. I take my time and really think about what I can suggest for improvement.

Facebook:
I did it. I joined Facebook. I'm not sure what to think about it, but I'm hoping to reconnect with old high school friends.

Forever Tadpoles:
The kids' tadpoles finally arrived in mucky water that looked a lot like pee. I ordered the things in March, and the customer service at this place left a lot to be desired. Two weeks have passed, and the tadpoles have not developed leg buds yet. So, I've been diligently keeping them clean as my children bug me daily, asking when they'll turn into frogs.

My oldest son told me that his teacher asked him to bring the tadpoles into school. I say, let them get their own tadpoles. These things and their frog habitat cost me too much to let them fall into the hands of a bunch of 8 yr olds. Toys and other things don't weather well at school. I'm not sending living creatures in a flimsy container. Yes, the frog habitat is made of a flimsy plastic less sturdy than most toy packaging.

Conferences and Experimentation

Last weekend, I went to the SCBWI Poconos Mountain Retreat. I usually anguish over which editor to listen to. This time, I took the illustration workshop led by Patrick Collins, the Art Director at Henry Holt. I can't say enough good things about him and the workshop he led.

During the workshop, he gave us each a chapter from a chapter book. We were supposed to break up the text on a galley and then illustrate our assigned pages -- without a visual reference. I have to admit that I'm used to having something to look at when I draw, so at first, I was stumped. Blank page syndrome. Patrick was not only encouraging, but he also kept us going so we'd all finish in time. I loved seeing all the sketches when we paged through the galley we made.

That workshop really made the weekend for me. Besides Chautauqua, it was the most I had ever gotten from a conference.

So... I decided to work on disciplining myself to work without visual references. Since I don't know what styles work best for me, I'm going to experiment a bit.

Something Drawn and More Revision

Something Drawn...
I finally got over my blank page syndrome with the illustration and drew something. I'm not finished with the first draft of this illustration (do you call them drafts), but I'm at least getting somewhere. I decided to do each element of the drawing separately, scan them in, rescale and rearrange everything, and then print the final image on nicer drawing paper.

The main character in the story I'm illustrating is a pig, and I haven't quite decided whether to give her hooves or hand-like appendages. I guess I'll figure it out.

More Revision...
I feel as if I've revised some of my stories until they've bled. Two of my online critique groups are critiquing my middle grade novel - one group critiques one chapter per week, and the other group critiques one chapter every 2 1/2 to 3 weeks.

blah, blah, blah

Blah, blah, blah... that's what I think my kids really hear when I speak to them. When my almost 8yr old got home from school, he immediately went into a fit. You see, his brother had a Happy Meal toy, and he didn't. Through the wails of "that's not fair," I attempted to explain to him that I had a toy for him too. It fell on deaf ears. I managed to locate a new, unopened Happy Meal Toy (totally forgotten about on an earlier visit) and tossed it to him. He stopped whining so quickly, you'd think he had an "off" button.

Half an hour later, I remembered that my second grader still needed to do his homework. He complied reluctantly, but then proceeded to argue with me about the directions written on the sheet and what his teacher told him. He told me that HE didn't need to do the work he missed at school when he stayed home sick on Monday. Sigh. He didn't finish those two sheets of homework until 8pm (yes i fed him dinner).

So, what about writing? Yes, uh, I've been doing that. I've been revising my novels in between childrens' illnesses, Cub Scouts, and school stuff. We are into a third major illness, but I hope it won't be as bad as the stomach bug last week.

And the illustrating... I'm still fighting the blank page syndrome with the illustration thing, but I plan to get over it. It would help if my art space wasn't in the chilly basement.

Plugging away

February is slipping away, and April is rapidly approaching. What's happening in April? I'm going to the Poconos for a conference. This time around, I'm taking the illustration workshop. So, therein lies the problem. I need to get a portfolio together. I have a few sketches. I just really need to sit down and focus now. If it weren't for this blasted cold...

My family is still sick. The kids are getting better, and my five-year-old returned to school today.

I'm not completely wasting my time though. I'm revising my one of my novels again. My other completed novel is evolving. And I'm in search of a better plot for one of my picture books.

Another Venture

Okay. I didn't quite make the word count for NaNoWriMo, but I have the beginning of a new story. I wrote more than my last attempt, so I feel as if I did accomplish something.

Right now, my family is battling the last bouts of a cold that kept my older son out of school for three days and hospitalized my younger son for a couple of days (in addition to missing school for a week). Finally, we are all shedding our germs in addition to copious amounts of snot. And even though the little one and I are still miserable, we are feeling much better.

I just realized something. My stupid cat was licking my germ infested bathrobe tonight. I wonder if cats can catch human illnesses.


So, what is my new venture?

I'm going to start studying illustration. I have an art degree, so I'm not stabbing at this blindly. In April, I'll be going to a conference in the Poconos. There, I will be taking an illustration workshop. In the meantime... it's practice, practice, practice...

Day 24 of NaNoWriMo

I'm almost at the end of the 24th day, and I'm only at 28,181 words. I should be at 40,000. I had a few days where I didn't contribute anything to the word count because I was working on a contracted writing project.

November isn't the healthiest month for my family. We've had snargly noses, coughing, and lots of orange juice. I've pumped garlic into the family at least one meal a day (if I can). Okay, maybe our blood could ward off a few vampires, but it isn't doing a great job on the cold germs. We've also been taking plenty of vitamin C and a little bit of echinacea. I thought I had this cold licked, and then my hubby and the boys came down with the sniffles and sneezes again. I give myself a week before I slip up and catch their colds. Hopefully, I'll have finished NaNoWriMo by then.

To finish on time, I need to write a little over 3000 words a day. So far, I believe I've gotten further than any of my past attempts. I will finish this novel, but it may not be in a month's time.