I was invited to participate in a pop-up shop at Blue Umbrella Books in which 3 author/artists offered their books and art for sale during Shop Small Saturday. Ryan McCarthy and Joseph Seal combine their artwork and writing. Ryan is a manga author/artist. Joseph has illustrated the cover and done some interior art for his novella The 100-Year Wind. Meanwhile, I drew a pen & ink drawing of Kip, the fox kit, a character in my new novel The Worth of a Woman, however, I had my 3 Christmas novellas and my 4 Christmas anthologies with me as I had at the Congregational Church earlier in November, plus all my current pen & ink black squirrel art prints, plus the fox, the chipmunk and the vampire bat (sounds like the beginning of a bad Halloween joke!)
Curiously, I sold more prints than books.
Maybe I should ditch being an author and just draw!! (Right! Like I could ever stop writing! As I was drawing the rest of a racon and the beginning f a great horned owl this evening and tonight a new beginning of the Garnet and Quella Memento Mori novel was running through me head.)
I needed to relax today because I haven't been feeling well since Sunday night. I was doing better this morning after getting more sleep than normal, so of course I ran out and did some Christmas shopping and other errands before work today, worked all afternoon, then came home and began drawing after dinner...after a prolonged snuggle with a very needy and affectionate Revere whom I'd left napping on a pile of my sweaters in the dining room...the mystery of his disappearance one morning last week finally solved! Black cats blend right into black sweaters in a dark house. I only noticed him today because he lifted her head as I walked right by him and I caught the flash of his white fur from the corner of my eye and jumped.
I am finished with the initial raw first draft of White Bishop Among the Pawns. I was surprised by some information that was revealed near the end of this novel- it has to do with Six, a dark and rather sinister character who appeared in Black Knight, White Rook, the second novel in the Romney Ivy series. I need to go back and make a few changes near the beginning of the book to bring the ending into alignment with it because I wrote his character as being one thing, but he's actually another thing. I also have to fill in more about Ivy Welsh great uncle who was also in the second book, and who comes to Massachusetts in this one to provide wise counsel for Romney and his allies.
Tonight, I was amazed how the drawings are just coming to life on the paper after an 18-year hiatus drawing. I got two boxes of brand new Hunt 102 crow quill pen nibs by Speedball...my all time favorite drawing pen nib. The racoon is in black and white. The great horned owl will have color. I've inked in two of three layers of his irises. Trying to get the right color golden yellow.
I'm enjoying doing both writing and drawing in my spare time, and wish I had more spare time so there could be more flow to my work rather than choppy, rushed hours after dinner interrupted by household obligations and needy cats wanting to play. Well...one day I will be retired...hope the hands and eyes hold out that long or I will be bitterly disappointed!
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
NaNo Novel Validated Last Night
Last night I reached 72,000+ words written of my NaNo novel, White Bishop Amid the Pawns (tentative title), the 3rd in the Romney & Ivy series. I hit 50,000 words on day 6, knowing I was going on a short vacation and then would be crazy busy at work catching up when I came home, and doing a holiday bazaar, a Wordsmiths meeting, and the upcoming Shop Small Saturday event at the local indie bookshop. I really bogged down/slowed down, but got back on pace last night.
Yesterday, before retiring for the night at 11:30PM, I was able to validate my novel and download my Winner's certificate, #7 in seven years. I began writing a NaNo novel every November in 2012. I enjoy the challenge. Most years I have typed like a fiend, the ideas just flowing. This year, seven years older and with more distractions in my life, more things taking up my free time, I'm not sure I'll finish the novel by November 30th, but I'll give it my best shot.
Meanwhile, the gold Finalist in the Best Book Awards decals arrived today to apply to the front cover of The Hanging Man and Other Stories. I stuck one on the front of my copy and took a bunch of stickers to work with me to hand them out to my co-workers who have copies of the book.
Last night I talked to my big sister who is a playwright and children's writer for just over 2 hours. We discussed my new novel The Worth of a Woman, which was a complete departure from my usual genre and style of writing. We also talked about submitting to magazines, something I should be doing but have never had much interest in doing. Maybe in 2019 I'll give that a go. It was fun talking to Lynnmarie and catching up. We live on nearly opposite sides of the same town but don't see one another much. I work too many hours and she doesn't drive. But we do occasionally meet up as she is a WhipCityWordsmith, too.
Now, if I could just get my brother to write something then he could be a Wordsmith like his sisters are!
Yesterday, before retiring for the night at 11:30PM, I was able to validate my novel and download my Winner's certificate, #7 in seven years. I began writing a NaNo novel every November in 2012. I enjoy the challenge. Most years I have typed like a fiend, the ideas just flowing. This year, seven years older and with more distractions in my life, more things taking up my free time, I'm not sure I'll finish the novel by November 30th, but I'll give it my best shot.
Meanwhile, the gold Finalist in the Best Book Awards decals arrived today to apply to the front cover of The Hanging Man and Other Stories. I stuck one on the front of my copy and took a bunch of stickers to work with me to hand them out to my co-workers who have copies of the book.
Last night I talked to my big sister who is a playwright and children's writer for just over 2 hours. We discussed my new novel The Worth of a Woman, which was a complete departure from my usual genre and style of writing. We also talked about submitting to magazines, something I should be doing but have never had much interest in doing. Maybe in 2019 I'll give that a go. It was fun talking to Lynnmarie and catching up. We live on nearly opposite sides of the same town but don't see one another much. I work too many hours and she doesn't drive. But we do occasionally meet up as she is a WhipCityWordsmith, too.
Now, if I could just get my brother to write something then he could be a Wordsmith like his sisters are!
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
A Nice Surprise This Evening
Well, I can't boot up the laptop and not check my email, so I went there first and after rolling my eyes began marking as spam all the ridiculous Viagra and Cialis pitches, silver singles nonsense, and other crap when I chanced upon an email from Best Book Awards (sponsored by American Book Fest) advising me that The Hanging Man and Other Stories had been honored as a Finalist in the Fiction Anthologies category.
I am now an Award-Winning Finalist in the Fiction: Anthologies category of the 2018 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book Fest." This is my official statement.
"By placing in in this year's awards, you have beat out 75% of your fellow entrants." Not bad for a local author who self-publishes (and drew her own cover art for this book besides!)
I am thrilled to make finalist after having reached semi-finalist status two years in a row in the Chanticleer Awards (Ozma Award semi-finalist for Black King Takes White Queen 2016, and Paranormal Award semi-finalist for Out in 2017)
You can check it out on http://americanbookfest.com/generalfiction/anthologies.html
I will do a happy dance as soon as my feet hit the floor again!
Saturday, November 10, 2018
The Wild Ocean
Last night it rained and the wind gusted. This afternoon, on the way back to Wells, ME from Portsmouth, NH and Kittery, ME we veered off and took a drive through York and then Ogunquit. The ocean was the way I love to see it- fierce, relentless waves crashing against the rocks and pounding the shore. The tide was still high, close to the road in places with spray coming over low sea walls and rocks to splash the road and sidewalks.
It was windy and cold (low forties dropping to upper 30's with the wind making it feel bitterly cold) but I jumped out of the car to take pictures with the only camera I had with me this vacation, my cellphone cam. I'm happy with the pictures I got, but wish I had the 35mm digital camera with me. It just got left off the to pack list this time.
I did get some good pictures of rollers coming in. I like it when they rise up exposing veins of foam before they begin to curl and then crash. I like to get shots of waves slamming into the rocks and the resulting spray it creates.
What was happening as the waves crested today was that the wind was lifting up a phantom like misty spray along the top of the cresting wave. I managed to capture a few shots of this.
We went up to Nubble Light. A lot of people were there taking pictures of the angry sea. I got some pictures of waves crashing against rocks to the left of the lighthouse. I only took one picture of the lighthouse itself. The surf was my primary focus today.
After taking pictures at Nubble Light my hands were frozen! It was at this point that John realized that he hadn't packed a jacket for this kind of weather. We stopped at the condo so I could have a cup of coffee and thaw out a little then ran to Sanford to the Tractor Supply store there so he could get a Schmidt fleece lined sweatshirt jacket like mine (I'd been wearing just a heavy cardigan but switched to the warmer Schmidt jacket at the beach in Ogunquit.)
Overall, a nice day. Heading home tomorrow...heard the cats miss us!
Meanwhile...some progress made on the NaNo novel with the word count now at 59,116 words.
It was windy and cold (low forties dropping to upper 30's with the wind making it feel bitterly cold) but I jumped out of the car to take pictures with the only camera I had with me this vacation, my cellphone cam. I'm happy with the pictures I got, but wish I had the 35mm digital camera with me. It just got left off the to pack list this time.
I did get some good pictures of rollers coming in. I like it when they rise up exposing veins of foam before they begin to curl and then crash. I like to get shots of waves slamming into the rocks and the resulting spray it creates.
What was happening as the waves crested today was that the wind was lifting up a phantom like misty spray along the top of the cresting wave. I managed to capture a few shots of this.
We went up to Nubble Light. A lot of people were there taking pictures of the angry sea. I got some pictures of waves crashing against rocks to the left of the lighthouse. I only took one picture of the lighthouse itself. The surf was my primary focus today.
After taking pictures at Nubble Light my hands were frozen! It was at this point that John realized that he hadn't packed a jacket for this kind of weather. We stopped at the condo so I could have a cup of coffee and thaw out a little then ran to Sanford to the Tractor Supply store there so he could get a Schmidt fleece lined sweatshirt jacket like mine (I'd been wearing just a heavy cardigan but switched to the warmer Schmidt jacket at the beach in Ogunquit.)
Overall, a nice day. Heading home tomorrow...heard the cats miss us!
Meanwhile...some progress made on the NaNo novel with the word count now at 59,116 words.
Monday, November 5, 2018
Day 5 NaNo progress report
Last night, at the end of day 4 of NaNoWriMo, I hit 42,663 words.
Today...zero so far, although I have some time between now (9:30PM) and when I go to bed (about 11:30PM) to pound out a few thousand words today.
At breakfast this morning I printed out pages and did some reading to catch myself up on the story so far. When I write crazy fast I'm really not even aware of what I'm throwing down on the page. But, reading it through this morning and finishing it tonight, I'm amazed at how well it's evolving.
Tomorrow starts my vacation. I have a couple of appointments, then the water department is scheduled to replace the water meter in the afternoon, so I'll have some time to write.
On October 31st I didn't think I had it in me this year to write a novel in 30 days...but, I'm happy to report that my muse is alive and kicking and being his (yes, my muse is a male) typical verbose self, telling another action packed fantasy/magic/realism/romance with some paranormal elements thrown in.
Curiously enough, I just saw an article on cross genre writing taking hold, that we'll be seeing more of this blending of genres in the future. Ha! I've been writing cross genre for years! Glad the industry has finally caught up to this "new" trend!! (I've always had difficulty trying to shoehorn my novels into the restrictive traditional genre categories.)
Well, this isn't getting my word count plumped up for the Day Five's word count update!
Remember, remember the fifth of November!
Today...zero so far, although I have some time between now (9:30PM) and when I go to bed (about 11:30PM) to pound out a few thousand words today.
At breakfast this morning I printed out pages and did some reading to catch myself up on the story so far. When I write crazy fast I'm really not even aware of what I'm throwing down on the page. But, reading it through this morning and finishing it tonight, I'm amazed at how well it's evolving.
Tomorrow starts my vacation. I have a couple of appointments, then the water department is scheduled to replace the water meter in the afternoon, so I'll have some time to write.
On October 31st I didn't think I had it in me this year to write a novel in 30 days...but, I'm happy to report that my muse is alive and kicking and being his (yes, my muse is a male) typical verbose self, telling another action packed fantasy/magic/realism/romance with some paranormal elements thrown in.
Curiously enough, I just saw an article on cross genre writing taking hold, that we'll be seeing more of this blending of genres in the future. Ha! I've been writing cross genre for years! Glad the industry has finally caught up to this "new" trend!! (I've always had difficulty trying to shoehorn my novels into the restrictive traditional genre categories.)
Well, this isn't getting my word count plumped up for the Day Five's word count update!
Remember, remember the fifth of November!
Holy Moly Kelly's On A Roll!
Day Five of Nano and Kelly has hit 10,019 words! This is a record for her! I think she's really enjoying writing a fantasy story this year!
I'm so proud of her! (In the past she's struggled to reach the minimum daily word count toward the 50,000 word goal.) She's smiling and laughing a lot while writing, so that's a good sign.
Go, Kelly!
I'm so proud of her! (In the past she's struggled to reach the minimum daily word count toward the 50,000 word goal.) She's smiling and laughing a lot while writing, so that's a good sign.
Go, Kelly!
Sunday, November 4, 2018
NaNo Writing Progress-Day 4
I'd been kicking around the plot lines of book three in the Black King White Queen series for over a year but didn't feel motivated to get it started. During the Articulture cultural arts event here in town this past April, several followers asked about another sequel to Black King Takes White Queen, when it would be released. I confessed that I'd thought about a sequel, but didn't have anything concrete yet. I told them that maybe I would write the sequel they were anticipating in November, during NaNoWriMo month. Black Knight, White Rook was my 2016 NaNo novel, so I was due to write a sequel since people like this series set in a fictional town in the northwestern most corner of Massachusetts.
Day 1 was slow for me with only a little over 5000 words written. Day 2 was a bit better with over 6000 words written to bring me up to 11,969 words in two days. Yesterday, it being a weekend day with no work and not much else to do, I pounded the keyboard relentlessly, the story picking up momentum seemingly of its own volition. I ended the night with 31,132 words written. Not bad at all for three days of writing. I honestly don't know if it's a personal best for me, but it was exhilarating to sit down and write like that, taking breaks to eat and play a few levels of Charm King before going right back to the story.
Kelly had a 2-hour write-in at Dunks on the north side of town this morning. I was only able to stay and write for an hour as I had household chores to do. I had gotten up early and run to WalMart so I was able to accompany her to Dunks for 9AM. I was home shortly after 10Am to meet John and put away groceries he brought home, and start the first of three loads of laundry. I wrote for an additional hour this morning. This afternoon, after lunch I ran to the pharmacy and then to the store to pick up a few more things, folded clothes, did some housecleaning, and have been writing for the rest of the afternoon. I have 5,882 words written so far today, far less than yesterday, but I hope to hit 7 or 8 thousand words before falling into bed tonight.
So far, I'm satisfied with the way the story is unfolding. We'll see if I can maintain the momentum over the next few weeks and get a novel I'm happy with out of it.
By the way, Kelly is on target with her story so far. She was amusing me last night trying to waltz alone in the kitchen after looking up the steps online so she could describe her character dancing the waltz for the first time in her novel!
Day 1 was slow for me with only a little over 5000 words written. Day 2 was a bit better with over 6000 words written to bring me up to 11,969 words in two days. Yesterday, it being a weekend day with no work and not much else to do, I pounded the keyboard relentlessly, the story picking up momentum seemingly of its own volition. I ended the night with 31,132 words written. Not bad at all for three days of writing. I honestly don't know if it's a personal best for me, but it was exhilarating to sit down and write like that, taking breaks to eat and play a few levels of Charm King before going right back to the story.
Kelly had a 2-hour write-in at Dunks on the north side of town this morning. I was only able to stay and write for an hour as I had household chores to do. I had gotten up early and run to WalMart so I was able to accompany her to Dunks for 9AM. I was home shortly after 10Am to meet John and put away groceries he brought home, and start the first of three loads of laundry. I wrote for an additional hour this morning. This afternoon, after lunch I ran to the pharmacy and then to the store to pick up a few more things, folded clothes, did some housecleaning, and have been writing for the rest of the afternoon. I have 5,882 words written so far today, far less than yesterday, but I hope to hit 7 or 8 thousand words before falling into bed tonight.
So far, I'm satisfied with the way the story is unfolding. We'll see if I can maintain the momentum over the next few weeks and get a novel I'm happy with out of it.
By the way, Kelly is on target with her story so far. She was amusing me last night trying to waltz alone in the kitchen after looking up the steps online so she could describe her character dancing the waltz for the first time in her novel!
Thursday, November 1, 2018
New Page Added- Art!
I write a lot of books and stories and have done so all of my life, but there's another creative side of me that far fewer people are aware of and that's art. I first drew in pencil, tried pastels but that was a disaster...I smudged everything. I tried painting with acrylics when my older sister Lynnmarie was painting with oils, but I stunk at painting. I wasn't until high school when found my true medium- india ink! The pen holder and nibs just spoke to the 1800's girl in my heart. sometime in the early 1970's I went to Johnson's Bookstore in Springfield and found a Speedball Calligraphy and drawing set with A, B, C, and D nibs, ink, pen cleaner, and several Hunt tips and a holder...it was as if the gates of Heaven were flung open!
In 1976 when I went off to college, I hauled a good supply of my pen and ink drawing along with me and hung them on the walls. When life got busy with working full time, managing a house, raising a child my drawing slowed down. Rheumatoid arthritis plagued and still does, but the worst of it is in my left thumb. Fortunately, I'm right-handed!
I began drawing Westfield's black squirrels in early September of this year and hid two originals in frames on Art Drop Day, September 4th. The response to my drawings was rather overwhelming. People were messaging me for additional clues or just flat out where the squirrels had been dropped. So, I drew some more, and then some more. Eighteen or so different squirrels emerged from the pen nib, some with touches of color.
The squirrels will be available in my home town at events. Several have found their way into Blue Umbrella Books, 2 Main Street, Westfield, MA, and I have been talking with my former employer for whom I assisted in creating the black squirrel silhouette (again a pen and ink drawing) that graces his line of The Black Squirrel, Westfield Massachusetts merchandise. He may add several of my art prints to his website- theblacksquirrel.com
Anyway, Kelly was kind enough to create an Art page for this blog, so feel free to go and play among the squirrels. I'm also going to do some chipmunks, and other wildlife in the future. I drew a vampire bat for Halloween, of course. I'll also put up the draped funeral urns (a series of 14) after NaNoWriMo. Kelly got the squirrels up this evening then dashed to her laptop to begin work on her NaNo novel. That's what I'm supposed to be doing right now...so, excuse me as I dash off to be a good author and get some words put down before bedtime!
If any of the squirrels catch your fancy you can email me at sebuffum415@gmail.com. The prints are $10 each direct from me at this time, and there would be some postage if you're not local.
In 1976 when I went off to college, I hauled a good supply of my pen and ink drawing along with me and hung them on the walls. When life got busy with working full time, managing a house, raising a child my drawing slowed down. Rheumatoid arthritis plagued and still does, but the worst of it is in my left thumb. Fortunately, I'm right-handed!
I began drawing Westfield's black squirrels in early September of this year and hid two originals in frames on Art Drop Day, September 4th. The response to my drawings was rather overwhelming. People were messaging me for additional clues or just flat out where the squirrels had been dropped. So, I drew some more, and then some more. Eighteen or so different squirrels emerged from the pen nib, some with touches of color.
The squirrels will be available in my home town at events. Several have found their way into Blue Umbrella Books, 2 Main Street, Westfield, MA, and I have been talking with my former employer for whom I assisted in creating the black squirrel silhouette (again a pen and ink drawing) that graces his line of The Black Squirrel, Westfield Massachusetts merchandise. He may add several of my art prints to his website- theblacksquirrel.com
Anyway, Kelly was kind enough to create an Art page for this blog, so feel free to go and play among the squirrels. I'm also going to do some chipmunks, and other wildlife in the future. I drew a vampire bat for Halloween, of course. I'll also put up the draped funeral urns (a series of 14) after NaNoWriMo. Kelly got the squirrels up this evening then dashed to her laptop to begin work on her NaNo novel. That's what I'm supposed to be doing right now...so, excuse me as I dash off to be a good author and get some words put down before bedtime!
If any of the squirrels catch your fancy you can email me at sebuffum415@gmail.com. The prints are $10 each direct from me at this time, and there would be some postage if you're not local.
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