On the Art Side ~

While today’s post lacks any new art, I do want to give kudos to my illustration idol Steve Brodner, who is being honored with a gold medal this Friday at Society of Illustrators.  Funky and twisted, with a finger on the pulse of today’s news, Steve’s work never fails to inspire.  A visit to Steve’s site will not dissapoint: http://stevebrodner.com/

On the Word Side ~

After making it to round two of the YALITCHAT query contest and months of waiting patiently for the agent/publisher crit of my letter.  I received word today.  I think I expected more than a few sentences, but I’m thrilled that these tremendously overburdened people took the time to participate.  And with the positive remarks I received, I’m going to smile, count my blessings and submit my nicely polished query to round two with a sigh of relief that I didn’t need to start over from scratch.

So after getting that nice bit of news, I happened to stumble upon a tweet that mentioned an exciting contest hosted by author S.R. Johannes, where the winner gets a personal recommendation from her to her agent, Alyssa Henkin at Trident Media!  How cool is that!

So, as part of my entry, I am happy to link to the contest, and talk about someone who’s helped me in my writing life.  There are two very different people who have helped me the most at this early point of my writing life.  One is a NY Times bestselling Author and the other my English Major, work study.

When William Bernhardt came to the University of Scranton last year to accept the Distinguished Author Award, I never expected a bestselling author would take the time to critique the first three chapters of the novel I was working on, let alone give me invaluable advice to follow.  He told me to keep writing, every day.  If this book never gets an agent or sells, that’s okay.  Write another one, a better one.

With Michele Suchecki’s help, I think I did that.  I bounced ideas off her left and right in the outline stage until I ultimately had the bare bones of Lavender’s Blue, my current middle grade manuscript.  She’s my number one beta reader, (for the second time) and tells it like it is.  I value her insight and opinions.  She makes my writing better ~

So, I hope my reader’s see this and Pay it Forward ~  & if I could get some good vibes sent my way for this contest, that’d be cool too!

I feel excited.  Something’s brewing.  I can’t really explain it other than it’s a pleasant sort of tickle deep in the gut.

I began querying agents for Lavender’s Blue yesterday which might be the reason or maybe the tranquil snowy evening just beyond my window.  Whatever the cause, my creative juices sprung a leak.  Now I wait.  Fingers crossed, that now’s my time.  I’ve put in my dues, worked hard, sweated (and later carved out,) many words.  I know the rejections are coming, they’re part of the game, so I’m braced for them but I’m going to pretend they’re not.  At least for now.

So on this beautiful white washed night, I will remain in bliss.  Content and hopeful, that 2011 is the one I’ve waited for.

Good night ~

What a busy year 2010 turned out to be!

On this eve of Christmas Eve, I wanted to take a minute to thank all of my 2010 clients.  While I didn’t add any new clients this year, the fact that I had repeat business from a handful of oldies but goodies kept me quite busy!

I’m looking forward to a challenging and exciting 2011 as I attempt to wrestle me an agent for Lavender’s Blue and add a few new art clients to my portfolio.

Wishing all a prosperous and fulfilling New Year!

What a whirlwind these last couple of weeks have been!  I haven’t had a moment to breath, which is good I suppose.  The day job has been hopping with many projects and committees and all that fun stuff, leaving me exhausted most nights to really put my heart and sould into my creative projects.  I guess I must really love um though, ’cause I do it anyway.

I’ve really been trying hard to finish up some sketches for Lavender’s Blue on top of final edits before the YALITCHAT query contest winners are announced.  I managed to whittle it down about 30K words to fit in the middle grade genre where it fits much better than in young adult as I had originally intended.  One Sunday afternoon perusing the stacks at my local Borders convinced me that I made the right choice.

I need this novel to be perfect and am content to wait until January to start querying agents.  First impressions account for everything in this biz, so until it’s shiny and pretty it’s not going anywhere.  Some of my beta’s are trickling in and the feedback is encouraging.  What I really need to do however, is reach out and get some unbiased opinions.  I think I’ll put some feelers out to see if I can’t hook one tomorrow.

On the art front, I’m putting the final touches on another piece for Extra! Magazine that’s due in the morning.  It’s been an interesting to watch how my work has evolved this year to an entirely digital canvas.  My Wacom is my best friend in this regard.  I need to upgrade at home.  If you knew me back in college as I fumbles to find the ‘on’ button, (thanks Chris & Kyle!)  you’d be amazed at how far I’ve come.

The Flower Mound piece above was recently commissioned by Fort Worth Weekly and another favorite client.  I feel so blessed that in this year of working on my novel, my go to guys in the art world really came through for me.  I didn’t put much out in the way of self-promotion, so it’s good to know I’m dependable and consistent enough to garner some repeat business and I’m grateful.

I leave you with many thanks and good vibes for a brand new year ~

With Halloween only a few days away, I was excited when I received word about a fresh new cover for one of my favorite weeklies, Seven Days in VT.  This illo depicts gubernatorial candidates, Dubie & Shumlin.

I also learned today that my query for Lavender’s Blue made it into the panel judging round where my chances of getting my manuscript read by not only a few of the biggest agents in the game but a publishing giant are one step closer to fruition!

So, I know it’s been a while since I posted, and I apologize.  There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done between a full time job, a family, freelancing, writing and coaching (youth soccer.)  But enough boo-hooing!

I was thrilled to hear from Kevin over at the Shepherd’s Express who commissioned another cover.  (This seems to be the year of repeat business, which is awesome, since I’ve been slacking a little on my promotional mailers!)  In the midst of this explosive election season, I was happy to hear that this would be a political illustration, which are always fun to create.  The politician in the cross hairs is a woman named Leah Vukmir a Wisconsin State Representative running for Senate.

This piece was a journey into an all digital platform, an idea I’ve been moving toward for quite some time.  It’s been received with rave reviews and might even be used on television ~ a first for my art work!

My novel Lavender’s Blue is in the revision stage where I’ve been feverishly bringing the word count down to where it needs to be for the Middle Grade genre.  I’ve been receiving positive critiques which I’m hoping carries over to when it’s actually being perused by potential agents and publishers.  My query letter is currently in first place in a competition to win a chance to have my manuscript critiqued by some top agents and a publishing power house ~ It’ll only take a minute to vote.  So if you haven’t voted yet, please drop by and vote for Lavender’s Blue: http://www.wizehive.com/voting/yalitchat/10/2

Hi Everybody ~

After months of misbehaving, my blog’s finally been set straight.  I’m back in business with the ability to post some art again.  Yay!  Thanks Dave!

I’ve some exciting news to share . . . I just finished the first draft of a young adult novel!  I’m ready to share with some beta readers and am roping my pre-teen’s friends into being the first to peruse it.  I’m really excited about this project because it gives me a chance to mesh my two loves ~ words and art.  Now that the words are done, I’m able to focus on the art, and am chompin’ at the bits to get moving on it.  I have some roughs already laid out, so I should have something to post in the near future.

As for recent freelance work, I’ve been blessed with some repeat business.  Last month I did another caricature cover for Seven Days in Burlington VT and just before that, Extra Magazine gave me an intriguing concept to illustrate – the current predicament of education.

Rushing into fall, my favorite season, my to-do list includes an email blast to try to garner some more work, (Christmas is right around the corner!), a series of b/w chapter heading illos for my book and the start of agent submissions.  Should be a busy couple of months!

Until next time ~

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!

Go out and enjoy the day and the freedom we take for granted!  Thanks to all of our service men and women who risk their lives to keep America safe and strong.

Here’s a piece recently completed for Seven Days, Burlington VT’s alt. weekly.

I know it’s been months since I posted anything, but I’ve been busy, I swear!  Something is going on with my blog, that it does not allow me to upload pics anymore.  So in the meantime, I wanted to post a quick update on recent events.

My first novel, Quintessence has been shelved for the time being, so that I can take what I learned (both good and bad) and jump into my second novel.  Thanks to some brilliant brainstorming with my husband, Brian, this book promises a much more cohesive and exciting storyline.  I’m about halfway finished, but have decided it better to take my time and really flesh out these interesting folks than to rush and have half-baked characters.

On the art front, it’s been fun catching up with old clients ~ Seven Days in Burlington VT, and Extra! Magaine in NYC.  A few more art jobs over the summer would really pad the fund in place to remove the 60 foot Silver Maple in our yard, so that the fence can ultimately go up.  A mailer is in the works to remind all that I am ready, willing and able to paint up a storm.

Hope eveyone is enjoying the last few days of spring.  HAPPY SUMMER!

Last April with art jobs drying up and magazines and weeklies folding left and right, I decided to split my creative energies and thus split my blog into two directions: art and words.

I wrote a young adult novel.  I finished it over the summer and after numerous critiques and revisions, I’ve been actively shopping it in the hopes of finding an agent who will be my champion in this field.  I’ve had requests for partials and fulls, but the process is painstakingly slow, so I’m trying to be patient.  Something I’m not very good at.

It’s been an invigorating process and I’ve loved just about every minute of it.  The hardest part are the rejection letters.  While I know it’s part of the process they suck just the same.  My thin skin is being peppered with them, but I smile and say thanks for looking anyway, and go about my business.

I’ve taken author Phillip Margolin’s advice to heart when he told me to forgot that I even wrote the first book and write more.  So I’m now writing a new book that I grow more and more excited about with every page. 

I have almost completed the outline for, my next novel. My goal is to document my journey from outline to published novel.  I hope you join me.