Vampire Problems

I have to tell you about something that happened last night. It was hilarious, and actually not too out of the ordinary for me, because I’m a mess. (See this post for further details.) My husband and I went out for a delicious dinner and then decided to stop for ice cream at a local place.  I said “what flavor are you getting?” Sean said “I don’t know but your shirt is open and your whole bra is showing.” I quickly buttoned up, but then was mentally preoccupied/mortified when the server was waiting on me…which caused him to start making fun of me…which ended with him saying “hey are you in town for filming of the next Twilight movie”? Because I am pale. So pale, like a vampire. My husband didn’t stop laughing at me for the whole night. He said encouraging things like “seriously, you’re so pale, especially under fluorescent lights. You’re see-through.” I get comments like that a lot, and always have. I mentioned recently in an interview for my friend’s blog that a man once stopped his truck to ask me if I was a ghost. It’s because I look like this:

(I’m the one on the right).

This photo was taken at the True Blood series finale premiere in Los Angeles. I was there because I had been working on a project with one of the show’s actresses, and I spent a good portion of the time worrying that people would think I was some freaky groupie who wanted to be a vampire. I had fun, though, and people like actress Patricia Bethune were super nice to me. I love horror, ghouls, vampires, and monsters; looking like one is just a weird coincidence. To be clear, this is how I look right this very second:

Person? Or walking corpse?

Which brings me to the real point of today’s post. I write children’s books, and the creep-factor I love so much makes its way into my stories. The first two books are based on my childhood imagination and monster fascination, in fact. Yesterday, I was complaining about how the self-publishing process was getting me down. Well, today, I am pleased to say that yesterday’s issues were resolved…but I started working on my proof before having any caffeine this morning and accidentally approved it before having a hard copy mailed to me. Soooooo here’s hoping the book looks good! I ordered a copy and I will find out in a few days. To be fair, I am very distracted lately, what with two of my cats being sick, and both of my dogs being hilarious and adorably disruptive. In fact, as I was trying to type today’s post, this was happening:

This is one of my dogs smooshing me with his butt. He has been stepping on me and demanding hugs this whole time which has caused the following two things to happen: 1.) He unplugged my laptop and I didn’t know it, so it just turned off eventually, and I had to recreate a portion of this post as a result. And 2.) It basically happened twice. This is my fault. I have, like, so many cats and dogs, and I spoil them. So even when this kind of thing happens, I’m like “HAHAHAH YOU’RE SO CUTE DO IT AGAIN!”

Back to the issue at hand. My new book. I hope it looks great. Here’s the cover!

I have more dolls in the works and a few pieces of art to go along with this printing. I am looking forward to the signing event on December 20! Hooray! End rant.

XOXOXOXOXO

Frustration

I am feeling very frustrated. My book is almost complete – all the writing, drawing, painting, and editing are done. I did all these things myself in the comfort of my home at my desk, in an uncomfortable chair. I self publish my books. The last book, Little L, was a fairly simple process. But this time…this has been terribly annoying. First, the layout I want for my drawings is only available in a small-ish non-standard size with a spineless binding. Second, the online program I use stopped working as I was designing my cover, and I had to ask tech support to recover my files and fix it. This took two days. Finally, I have sent the finished product in for review, and, rather than taking “up to 24 hours,” it is on the path to taking two more days. I am anxious to get proof in and get the ball rolling. I spent so much time on the actual artwork, and now all these technical issues are raining on my parade. Forgive me for whining, but it’s what I feel like doing right now.

On the bright side, I have created two new doll designs to sell at the next book signing, which is on December 20! This makes me very happy.  Now, the next steps are selecting fabric for the construction of the dolls and getting mah ding-dang sewin’ machine fixed!

Until next time… 🙂

Click click click click click

Drawing and Painting and Stuff

It’s been a while, so I wanted to check in and talk about some things regarding Little L. I am very close to getting the next book out. This will happen in November, and the book is called “Little L and the Monster Under the Bed.”  I am having a lot of fun with the characters in this book and I have created designs for more dolls to go along with the series! My book signing event this past Sunday at the Moravian Book Shop in Bethlehem, PA was very successful and incredibly fun. I can’t wait til the net one in December!

In other news, I have been obsessing about how PETA has embraced breed specific legislation against pit bulls, but is calling it “breed specific protection” to hide the fact that they have joined forces with dogsbite.org, an organization which advocates for the killing of pit bull type dogs. Seriously, PETA is just the worst. 

Today, I have a few dog walks to attend to and a meeting with a friend to discuss an online calendar to promote my upcoming events. After that, I will make pumpkin cheesecake. What I’m saying is, today looks like it’s going to be a pretty good day. I hope you all enjoy your day and are as excited as I am that it is almost Halloween! On a related note, I think I will try the “teal pumpkin” thing and hand out small trinkets to kids with food allergies in addition to the traditional candy. AAAAAAHHHHH I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR! But I hate PETA.

Signing off for today! XOXOXOXOXO

Scheduling Makes Me Pull My Hair Out

I am finishing up Little L’s next book, but trying to schedule time to draw and paint is making me crazy! Like most other people, I have a million different projects/jobs/obligations on my plate, and trying to fit in Little L and her hair can be difficult. This is how Little L and I feel about this situation:

I hope that tonight is the night that I blissfully paint, uninterrupted, for hours and hours. In reality, cats will be walking through my paints and dogs will be laying slimy Kongs on my face, but that’s the price you pay for having a houseful of lovable fuzzy buddies. I can’t help getting distracted by my pets because I am (probably unhealthily) obsessed with them. THEY’RE JUST SO CUTE! Here’s to all the creative people out there trying to fit their work in while also maintaining daily life stuff! XO