November 29, 2010

Ah, the unscheduled break from blogging. It was sooo needed! I spent the time in a foul mood which the family definitely didn't like, and wallowed around until I figured out that I've completely gotten off track with WHY I am doing what I do. The WHY is so very important too. There I was, doing something I love doing; curled up in the beautiful ability to let my creativity flow out of me; getting hugged by kids that I don't know who read the words I wrote and loved them... and I was sad, whiny and not just a little angry with the whole deal. What the heck????? So I dug around in the muck in my head, lanced a few "bad feeling boils" that had grown on my overly sensitive artist's soul, and realized that I had lost the WHY of it all. I got caught up in how many people aren't reading what I babble on about here, or visiting my website. I felt like the support system I have just didn't get what the heck they are supposed to do. I fussed about how many books I still have to sell, and how some people seem to be upset with me for not putting out the book THEY wanted me to put out this time. I got lost in being lost.
Then I got sick of it... well, and those near and dear to be got sick of it too. Time to get a fresh perspective. Time to revisit the WHY. Oh yeah, the WHY is because it makes me a better person! The crud that got stuck to me in the process became the focus and made me a worse person. Time to scrape the crud off, and get back to the good part. I can't expect everyone to "Get" what I'm doing. I have wonderful people who DO though, and I need to focus on them instead of the ones who aren't interested - chances are I'm not overly interested in what they do either, we are just different people that way. Mostly, I need to remember that writing and illustrating make me happy, so that's what I need to do. If they go somewhere and make someone else happy as well, GREAT! If not, well that's okay too. No matter how I look at it the stories still make me smile to write, and the words still need me to get them on paper, so that's what I need to do. Ta-DA! Perspective re found. Things are looking up (just check the picture for proof!)
In accordance, this week I will be On My Way To untangling the last of the bad mood tendrils and getting an idea of which project needs my attention first. Here's to a much more positive week than the last one!

November 22, 2010

This week contains two really Big Deal Days in our house. Scott and I will be celebrating out 19th Wedding Anniversary on the 23rd and of course we have Thanksgiving on the 25th. I am not setting any goals for the week since really I think those two things cover the work to strive for and the accomplishment made categories. I hope you all have a great week!

November 21, 2010

Fiday's update is a couple of days late. It's been a busy week. The upside is that 25 copies of Clyde the Undead Dust Bunny have found new homes. The downside is mostly just mental fatigue. This is a busy time of year normally - toss the book in too and I can feel my edges getting a little singed. (Note on pic: Old artwork again - I definitely need some new pics to post!)

Wednesday's Words from Almost Comfortable Skin #14

#14 The weather is perfect for someone even if you hate it.




(Wednesdays Words come from either personal experience or observed situations that have settled into the thought patterns that make me who I am.)

November 15, 2010

Monday... slept through the alarm for 40 minutes... Scott missed his plane... not a great start to the week. This coming off of the weekend craft show which had it's good points and it's bad. I'm still trying to figure out whether the low point was taking some time out to go to the doctor about this UTI and having the assistant say my temperature was 105 (I'm assuming an equipment glitch - I wasn't seeing anything that wasn't there, I think I was as lucid as usual, and the doctor didn't hospitalize me), or the woman who walked away in the middle of my sentence about how much she'd like Clyde and Dr. Wai Smart even though the book has nothing to do with Fiddlebug and his friends. Oh, and I'm going to have to start wearing a name tag because for some reason all week people have been calling me Cassidy or Cassie with the exception of one person who insisted on saying how she bought a book off of "her" last year even after I explained that "her" is "me". *sigh* It will be funny once the antibiotics finish killing off the fact that I'm sick. I know it will. It's just really not right now.
I'm sharing this not because I feel like whining - although Yes, I feel like whining - but so this weeks literary goals make sense to you. I've got 2 definite signings scheduled and one I really need to verify because it feels awfully squishy to me and I'm sort of hoping it might decide to happen on a different day. I'm sticking a couple of very straightforward goals. To get well enough to not look like I have the plague and scare people off during the signings - being able to be somewhat perky would be a great thing too. I also would like to be myself during these signings - especially since I'm not currently writing under a pen name. I would like to find that words that will allow Fiddlebug's readers to accept Clyde in the interim. And lastly... I just want to be on time. Wish me luck on this journey. I think I might need it!
(note on the pic: I could really use that "blue sky" feeling!)

Wednesday's Words from Almost Comfortable Skin #24

#24 You can lead a horse to water. You can drown the horse in the water. But if the horse is too stupid to drink when it’s thirsty, do you want it anyway?


(Wednesdays Words come from either personal experience or observed situations that have settled into the thought patterns that make me who I am.)

November 8, 2010

And so begins The Schedule... Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the craft show over at Greenbrier Valley Mall. I have no idea if I'm going to take any crafts or not, but I am taking books to sign. I know what you're thinking, "Well hey, that doesn't sound hard at all, what the heck are you cringing for?" I'm cringing because of the big picture. The puzzle pieces for the next 3 weeks that have to fall just right so that everything works out. How to juggle 2 sick kids, 3 large trees on our neighbor's lot that all need to magically become stacked firewood at our house (I did mention BIG right? I also mentioned that it's just Scott and I dealing with them while the kids are sick... and that work has him tied up most of this week at least... and the Thanksgiving deadline...), 6 book signings (2 in the same day 1 1/2 hours apart as the crow flies), and still handle school stuff, research an issue with our homeowners insurance and home loan people and how to fix the problem, and keep us in clean underwear and food. Toss in our 19th Anniversary on the 23rd and Thanksgiving on the 25th and you have what I'm On My Way To for the next 17 days. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining or whining - okay maybe I'm whining a little - I'm cringing because this has the potential of reaching Perfect Storm qualities around here and I don't want to have to spend the next 3 months dealing with the aftermath. Wish me luck. I'll keep you updated on how it's going and any tweaking of events that arise.
(Note on the picture: This - and a truckload of wood just like it - was delivered as "firewood" from the guy we were purchasing from this year. Please note that while this example is physically beautiful to look at he was charging $50 a load, had a short bed pick-up with a very large toolbox taking up 1/4 of the bed and thought this was acceptable... *shaking my head*. This is how we ended up with the rather daunting job ahead of us.)

November 5, 2010

Ah Accomplishment List, you are small but powerful this week... and I am glad that I chose you over the To Do List once again while I could.
A thank you goes out to West Virginia Writers, Inc. for posting an announcement about Clyde the Undead Dust Bunny on their blog with promises of inclusion in their upcoming newsletter and holiday book buying guide! Follow this link to check out their blog http://blog.wvwriters.org/ They are a wonderful group of people and their website is a great source of information for writers at any level. Not from West Virginia? That's okay, they will be happy to have you around no matter where you are from. Trust me, I've seen it first hand!
I have also finally taken the time to do something that I've wanted to do for a while now and parked myself on my behind with my friend Theresa Flerx's newly released book Disequilibrium and the Multi-Faceted Crystal Ball (please check out Theresa's website http://www.tflerxanecdotalist.com/ for more information on her, her writing, and to order your own copy.) I am 2/3 of the way through the books 298 pages in one day, and decided to put the book down only because I needed to sleep. I had the honor of reading the rough manuscript, and loved it. I can honestly say that the finished product is even better. Not to give too much away, but Theresa has been through things in her life that no one should have to be go through and she has come out the other side of them a strong, compassionate and incredibly well balanced individual. The fact that she included the positive and beautiful memories along with the dark and soul crushing ones says so much about her as a person. I am proud to call her friend.
I spent a little time with the story that wandered into my mind last week. I'm happy with how its going, but if I do anything with it I'll need a pen name. This has more of a young adult feel to it and I don't want anyone getting confused and thinking it's a children's book.
Also this week I managed to get another 140 character story chosen for the story of the day at One Forty Fiction. (and got a good critique on it too!) I love that site! It's just fun and a really great outlet!
So there you have it. My literary accomplishments for the week. I feel pretty darned good about it too. Now I'm off to the weekend... and writers group... and a trip to Beckley and Charleston bookstores with Clyde... and a Pampered Chef party... and time with my wonderful family! *laughing* never a dull moment around here! Have a great weekend! (Note on the picture: Okay, so I still haven't taken any new pictures... I'm getting to it... really...)

Wednesday's Words from Almost Comfortable Skin #8

#8 If you’re the leader, don’t lose your map.



(Wednesdays Words come from either personal experience or observed situations that have settled into the thought patterns that make me who I am.)

November 1, 2010

Welcome to a new month. Also for anyone who wants to write, you should know that this is NaNoWriMo - which is a weird way of saying National Novel Writing Month. Just in case you are wondering, No - I will not be writing a novel this month. I am however hoping to get out of whatever this literary funk is that I'm in and stop with the drifting at some point... just not THIS point. I enjoyed last week's Accomplishment List plan. It was a nice break, and I've decided that since it's working I'm going to keep it in place for this week too.
So, with that in mind, I'm On My Way To... Somewhere! I'll let you know where it is when I get there on Friday. Until then I've decided to pretend that the little beetle in the picture is actually a Lady Bug (although I'm pretty sure its one of those weird Asian beetles that only LOOK like lady bugs) and I'm hoping it brings me some luck along my journey.