hugs across the universe™

It only took five years...

Today is a good day--today I put another submission in the mail. This one has been in my file cabinet for five, count 'em five years! It was 95% done too--just had to do a little bit of work on it and voila; done!
I guess I just didn't have it in me to work on it at the time. Life did that 180 thing. It was almost a go back then--a possible vehicle for Snowbear~but in the end, they wanted me to change the characters which I always thought was a good idea anyhow. So, here we are with the changes finally--you think five years was too long to wait? Guess we'll see. Chock it up to the The Johnny Factor.

At any rate, it always feels good to toss some seeds into the air to see where they land. Now we can get on with the next best thing. Go, Go, Go.

lovey dovey elephants

So all I know about these two elephants is that they are totally diggin' each other. They are so busy doing that, they aren't really talking to me a whole lot.
All I can do right now is spy on them from afar.

Meanwhile the kiddo graduates from kindergarten this week and we've been told to pack tissues as he will be leaving his preschool forever (but we still get a bit o' summer school, thank GOD). I will miss all the security we felt there--public elementary school seems pretty scary in comparison as far as handling the food allergies. I hope summer lasts a good long while.

A New Direction

The Mr. told me his favorite animal was the elephant--so I figured I'd try my hand at elephants and see what they have to say to me.

These are my first attempts at coming up with some new characters. The subject matter will certainly be a lot lighter than it's been with the last ones. But I don't know anything yet about these two, so we will have to spend some time getting to know one another.

It's funny but I noticed now, when I'm coming up with designs, I'm also thinking about how they would look in mohair.

Waiting and Wondering...

*panda image from the book PANDA by Heather Angel.
*butterfly from a cruelty free farm hangs in my studio.

It ain't over YET

What's on my nightstand

This book is excellant; I love what it has to say about relationships. Required reading for any couple. I'm about half-way done and then I'm handing if off to my husband. There will be a test at the end.
;-)

I just got this one. Along the lines of Joseph Campbell's ideas. It can only help.

backwards and forwards

The old studio/working on THE RUNAWAY VALENTINE back in 2000.

NIce to know I am still remembered. An old client from New York welcomed me back and said they'd find some educational work to send me. That sounds good! I feel like this creaky old wheel is finally moving forward! I also got a few names of other agents to try from my editor so I am feeling pretty positive that soon I'll be back in business. The only problem is I no longer have a fax machine or a huge scanner. That could be a bit of a problem. I think I'm going to have to reinvest in my business. My tiny scanner just isn't going to cut it; but I will worry about that problem when I get there.

Right now I've blown the dust off one of my old manuscripts that was almost "there" and am trying to get it ready for submission. It's an easter book--just the right size for slipping into an Easter Basket. My editor and I were working on it four years ago. Then I just abandoned it when Johnny died when it was almost ready to give it another try. I have no idea if it will still hold now but it's time to just plow through these old ideas and give it a "yay" or "nay" so I can move on to other things.

I'm starting to get a new idea for a character---Remember I always start with characters and let them tell me their story. I like the fact that now I can create whatever characters I come up with in mohair though, something I didn't have in my bag of tricks before-- I'm starting to get inspired again!

HURRAH!

I love to spoon

Here's a terrific little gem of a book I discovered yesterday while shopping for a birthday present for my kid's friend. Simple little story, great illustrations--lots of charm and good little quips for adult and kid entertainment. It's going to be hard to part with it--it's already a favorite with my kid and me.

(Check out the relatives....)

Meanwhile, I'm now looking for representation for my career--it's about time I realized I could use a little help. Hopefully I'll get me some. I no longer want to do it all. Frankly I would rather leave me time for the creativity rather than the schlepping around and the hashing it all out. I'm hanging up my boxing gloves and retiring to the gentler side of me.

'Cause I'm a lover not a fighter.