What's Up Wednesday!

I'm feeling pretty sick right now. Got a cold from my son a couple of days ago. Last Friday I wasn't able to do as much artwork as I thought I might. Peter wasn't able to go with his mom and take David to see his GG (Great Grandmother) because Peter had the same cold that I have now. It was a bit upsetting to me, but that was no where near how upset GG and David got. David kept saying "Grandma, GG" over and over for days. It was sad, but not worth getting her sick! I still managed to read my son three books just now, so I'm not going to die. If I do die my husband has already promised to take out the trash. I hope this is better by Friday or Saturday so I can get some work done.


What I'm Reading

It depends on what you mean by "reading". I'm reading what I've typed right now!

What I'm Writing/Drawing 

I did a bit of writing about the character Krista from my Create a Superhero challenge. At this point it has nothing to do with the challenge and more with me writing a novel (eventually). As much as I'd like to write and illustrate a graphic novel/comic I don't think I want to take this story that way. I guess it's really too early to tell, but we'll see where it goes. 

I want to do some printing this weekend for these gift bags I'm going to be a part of. I'm thinking little 3x3 colouring books. They'll only be 4 pages with a cover. I'm not sure if I'm going to print anything else. I have tons of business cards and postcards. 

I have a new webpage I'm working on that's going to have my portfolio but it's going to be aimed more at individuals than publishers/agents. I'll have links to my Etsy shop (a current WIP) there and a contact form for those who want a quote for a commission. I may have to print the link to this portfolio on stickers and add them to my postcards.

Every Day Possible
- Work on Colouring Pages
- Networking Baby!

- Find new blogs and twitter people to follow (let me know if I'm not following you!)

- Comment on more blog posts. I've seen a lot of great ones lately, but haven't posted. Mostly because my phone goes into conniptions when I try to load the feedback form. 

Today 7/3
- Write my What's Up Wednesday post today - done
- Remember to do my monthly 12x12 check in on Julie Hedlund's blog

Thursday 7/4

-Figure out a way to survive the day with my crazy, sick 2.5 year old.

Friday 7/5

- Magically get everything together so I can do some serious printing for Saturday.

Saturday 7/6

-Do some serious printing.

- Type up a story to be critiqued this month 

Sunday 7/7

- Draft a query letter for submission.

- Work on editing at least one manuscript

Monday 7/8
- Clean and cry because I have to spend the day cleaning.

Tuesday 7/9
- Post at least 1 painting/drawing to this blog by this date.
- Write a blog review.  I have Ashley Willoughby in the cue for this coming week and Sue Frye for the following week!

Wednesday 7/10
- Write my What's Up Wednesday post 

What Inspires Me Right Now

The fact that this cold wont last forever.

What Else I've Been Up To

Baby Minding 

I hope David isn't sick next week. He's been very whiney lately. Today he keeps insisting that I do puzzles with him that he can do easily himself. Maybe the puzzle fairy (his grandma) will drop off new puzzles for him this week! It's taken me an hour to write this post and it should have only taken 15 mins. 

Working Out/Being Healthy 
Too sick this week to do much. I tried to do Yoga and most of the moves left me feeling dizzy and ill. Next week should be better!

Ect.

I recently shut down my financial blog because I quit my Financial Advisor job. I was getting to the place where I was going to make a lot of money, but the stress was too much to keep going. I would have had to give up my art and writing entirely and I don't think I could cope with that. Hopefully I can make enough extra money through my upcoming Etsy shop! 

*What's up Wednesday is part of Jamie Morrow's summer writing intensive: "Ready. Set. WRITE!" There are other host blogs including: Erin L. Funk, Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, and Elodie Nowodazkij.

Nichole Zoltack

It can be really hard to decide which new book to read especially when it comes to YA books. Sure there is a chance that your favorite blogger will tell you about a book they're reading or do a review on a good book every now and again. If you are an avid reader you want a little bit more. Today I'm going to introduce you to that "more" on Nicole Zoltack's blog! http://nicolezoltack.blogspot.ca/

Nichole Zoltack is both an Author and a Freelance Editor. I don't know how she even has time for blogging and yet she blogs a lot. What does she blog about? Lots of things, but mainly YA books. She seems to post about every other day, so you don't have to wait too long for a new post.

I am not sure how Nichole finds so many people to interview, books to write about and people writing for her blog. What I do know is she does a great job of giving you a great overview of a lot of the YA fiction out there today. Unsure about a book after the article? Often she'll post an excerpt from the book so you can get a great taste of the writing style of the book. Want to know where to buy the book you like? Nichole has links to that as well!

The great parts about Nichole's blog are not limited to YA books. She has great giveaways that seem to take place several times a month (all for different books). There are some nice blog posts about writing for all you writers out there and links to her favorite writer blogs in the sidebar. Interested in what Nichole writes herself? There are lots of links to her books, ebooks and short stories.

If you are at all lost to which book you want to read next you must go to Nichole's blog!  I am always looking for a good read, so I love this blog myself. Even if you just want to know how a good book blog is done check out her blog!

Mermaids Inked Drawing

Just wanted to post the inked drawing of the mermaid illustration I did over the weekend. I think I might add a few more smaller bubbles to the drawing. I hope you like it!

Blog Hop!

I was invited to participate in a blog hop by Christine M. Irvin! I thought I didn't have much to lose. Now I know I really don't have anything to lose after posting a ton of bad music videos on Twitter today. I think everyone has unfollowed me by now. Oh well Que Sera Sera!

This gives me a chance to post my old froggy buddy, because I need a hopper to hop. This is Mr. Rumple Bottoms the 3rd.  Since he's visiting I have to make sure that I add in my text for him as well. He'd be very upset if I forgot. He's still upset now, but what can I do?

Mr. Rumple Bottoms III hated his name. 

In fact : there wasn't much that Mr. Rumple Bottoms did like.

ON TO THE HOP!

I have three questions to ask myself. To save time I will also answer myself. Below the responses I'll give links to three more awesome bloggers. Sound fun? Let's go

1) What are you working on? 

Right now I'm working on everything under the sun. I think I mentioned in my What's Up Wednesday post that I'm working hard to get my art in gear for my yet to be Etsy shop.

As far as writing goes I'm writing a new picture book every month. No time for editing, but I am turning out a lot of manuscripts. I also want to get started on making my Create a Female Superhero challenge short story into a novel. I haven't started yet, but I am going to work on it soon.

2) How does your writing process work?

I always start by sitting on the computer and opening up a document. I start typing and my son comes up to me and wants on my lap. If he's asleep he'll time his wake up for when I start to type. When he's on my lap on the keyboard and whines. I give up fighting with him after a while and I stop writing, but I don't think that's what people really want to know. 

I've always been a "fly by the seat of my pants" type of writer. It works in picturebooks. I use to write comics (for fun) and never plotted anything. If I come up with ideas for plot points I'll write them down for sure, but all my plotting happens in my head while I'm doing other things. 

Sometimes I'll be in bed and a great idea hits me. Those are the worst times, because then I can't sleep. I'll just lie in bed thinking about what's going to happen in my story (happens for life events too!) 

I did try to plot out a novel once. I downloaded some software to help me do it, too. I wrote down a bunch of plot elements and the summary of the story, but I decided that I hated the whole thing before I even wrote a chapter. Somehow I had changed a lovely short story into something mundane. 

I wont say that I will never plot anything out ever, it's just not my process right now. I think if I wrote more novels I might have a more systematic process. I kind of like figuring things out in my head, so we'll see!

 3) Who are the authors you most admire?

I admire every Author, Illustrator and Writer who participates in the 12x12, Chapter Book Challenge and who posts on Verla Kay. On Twitter it's the #kidlitchat and #kidlitart. Also anyone else I didn't mention! These people work so hard to give information and help to those of us who aren't full fledged authors/illustrators. I don't know what I'd do without these people!

Shel Silverstein is one of my favorite authors. His stories are amazing. Such wonderful metaphors and depth in so few pages. I adore "The Missing Piece" and "The Giving Tree" The drawings are amazing as well. Simple line drawings but they are so expressive. He is so talented in so many ways! I hope someday to be as good as he is. He's even a song writer.  He wrote a couple of my favorites including "A Boy Named Sue" (Johny Cash) and this song: 

Okay I'm tagging three people. Please be sure to visit their blogs!

Ashley Willoughby Stich Says & Ghostnapped

Melissa Khalinsky Melissa Writes

Nichole Zotack Her name is the blog name!

Now it's your turn ladies!

What's Up Wednesday!

It's been pretty hot recently. I don't believe the weather station, it is so way hotter than they say it is! It's even hot in my apartment and it's usually pretty cool in the summer!

I've gotten a good amount done this week. I've been able to do a lot more artwork recently. I've drawn and inked two illustrations, I've started colours on three of the illustration's I'm planning on selling and I did an illustration for the Create a Female Superhero anthology! You can see that here: http://daniduckart.blogspot.ca/2013/07/drawing-for-female-superhero-challenge.html

I've finished all of my picture book critiques this week. I've done a lot more social networking on Twitter. I still need to send out my picture book manuscript, but it is typed up! I think I shall send it tonight. 

What I'm Reading

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. Technically haven't started it but I checked it out of the library.

What I'm Writing/Drawing 

I'm hoping to print my mini-colouring books this weekend. I need to scan a lot of pictures for my big colouring book and work on a few more. Hopefully I'll have time to colour the two illustration's I'm working on. I think I'll post the black and whites Friday or Saturday (Or maybe just the finished pieces depending). I need to brainstorm for more things to sell in my Etsy shop. I'm going to work on a new webpage. Also wouldn't hurt to expand my social network!

Every Day Possible
- Work on Colouring Pages
- Networking Baby!

- Find new awesome blogs and twitter people to follow (let me know if I'm not following you!)

Today 7/3
- Write my What's Up Wednesday post today - done
- Send out my manuscript to be critiqued
- Possibly write something good.

Thursday 7/4

- Get some serious artwork done!

Friday 7/5

- Toddler out of the house today. Have an art party (only invite self and get stuff done). 

Saturday 7/6

- Start a few more paintings/spots for submission 
- Edit some of my manuscripts for submission
- Come up with ideas for new types of blog posts

Sunday 7/7

- Draft a generic letter (to be edited later) to an editor/art director for both my artwork and writing (actually do this). 

Monday 7/8
- Clean and cry because I have to spend the day cleaning.

Tuesday 7/9
- Writing Prompts, GRRRRR!
- Post at least 1 painting/drawing to this blog by this date
- Write a blog review (if you want your blog reviewed please contact me!)

Wednesday 7/10
- Write my What's Up Wednesday post 

What Inspires Me Right Now

My family. 

What Else I've Been Up To

Baby Minding 

Hoping that my son isn't completely insane this week!

Working Out/Being Healthy 
I'm working out more now!

Ect.
Finding more time and more ways to do my art! Making new connections. Have to do something hard this week but I hope it's for the best. 

*What's up Wednesday is part of Jamie Morrow's summer writing intensive: "Ready. Set. WRITE!" There are other host blogs including: Erin L. Funk, Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, and Elodie Nowodazkij.

Dee White and DeeScribewriting

It's been a rough couple of weeks getting my toddler to bed at a decent hour. Also doing things like blogging during the day isn't working too well for me. I do try, but it's rough! So I'm down to the last 30 minutes of Tuesday (again) trying to pound out a review that is accurate and coherent. Please let me know if the latter is slipping, because I'm not ashamed to go back and fix my grammar mistakes. And yes the mistakes will be grammar related.

I found out about Dee White's blog through Kelly McDonald a wonderful Writer and Illustrator! Dee White's blog is focused on making a writer out of anyone who reads her blog. Not everyone can or wants to be a writer, but if you do, Dee will give you the tools you need to become a great writer. You can find her blog here: http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com

There is just so much great information in this blog that I almost don't know where to start! The tips that she gives are astoundingly detailed. I loved the article about the Journey to Publication which is kind of funny because that was exactly the article that lead me to writing this post, and also is the article that mentions Kelly! This article gives a detailed synopsis on how Dee worked on her road to publishing her book "Letters to Leonardo". If this wasn't enough good information she goes on to give 10 wonderful tips about getting published.

The tips on this blog aren't limited to Dee alone. Dee has several Authors on her blog that give great tips as well. This allows us as readers to get several perspectives on writing without actually having to read several blogs (not that you shouldn't read other blogs). These perspectives don't forget the role of illustrators in them! There is a lot of information for illustrators on this blog, which is just wonderful for someone like me who both writes and illustrates.

All of Dees tips are posted on Tuesdays, however there are times when she has more to say and she'll post other times during the week. Often these off day posts will talk about her writing classes. Yes, she does writing classes as well! I haven't taken many writing classes (outside of college) myself and can't tell you all the things to look for in a teacher. However, I can tell you this: Anyone who can post in detail about the craft of writing every week (and do it this well) is someone you should seriously consider making your teacher. She is also offering Writer's Retreats, which just makes me wish that I lived in Australia. If I ever visit I know what I'm doing!

If you are a Writer or Illustrator you need to check out Dee's blog now. You haven't looked yet? Why haven't you looked? Okay I'm obviously tired and need to go to bed now (after typing a story and doing many other things), but do check out Dee White's blog. You're going to love me for pointing this blog out to you!

Drawing for Female Superhero Challenge

If you'll remember I had an entry for the Female Superhero Challenge. It was a challenge to create a strong female superhero. You can read more about the challenge here: http://imaginecreatewrite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/creating-female-superhero-challenge.html

I wasn't able to get this finished in time for my post but here is a drawing of my character Krista! If you didn't get a chance to read my story you can read it here, and http://daniduckart.blogspot.ca/2013/06/submission-for-female-superhero.html The other entries are on the linky list (they are a bunch of square pictures) and there is some tough competition! I hope my drawing makes it into the anthology, but if not here it is! The contest has not yet been announced. I'm really excited to see the winner!

What's Up Wednesday

Horrible week this past week. I was feeling off Tuesday and it all went downhill from there. Some of it is stuff that I'd rather not mention because of the males who read my blog, but know that it was not a good time. Mostly lack of sleep and fatigue (not all caused by the lack of sleep) has plagued me. It was a complete and utter burn out. I am feeling better today. 

I did get the chance to work on a couple of illustrations. I snapped the drafts and put them up on Twitter. I am working on transferring them to watercolour paper now. One I may need to do over because my son insisted on adding his own marks to the page (in pencil, but still).




What I'm Reading

Cereal boxes, tweets, and the occasional recipe. 

What I'm Writing/Drawing 

I'm getting together with some local business owners and giving out some free things for these swag bags they are doing. I have business cards/post cards, but I don't think that's enough. I want to do little 3x3 colouring books (4 pages to colour) just as a fun promotional item. I don't know if I'll have time to do this, but I would like to.

I need to catch up on critiquing manuscripts from my critique group. I also need to send them a story this month. Problem is I can't find the story I wanted to send (and it was right by the computer, too!

Every Day Possible
- Work on Colouring Pages
- Blog, tweet and comment on blogs

- Find new awesome blogs and twitter people to follow (drop your name below if I'm not following you!)

Today 7/3
- Write my What's Up Wednesday post today - done
- Edit critique member's manuscripts

Thursday 7/4

- Create a new colouring page for my financial blog

- Get some serious artwork done!

- Send in my manuscript to critique members

Friday 7/5

- Take care of two screaming crying kids (this may be Saturday instead)!

Saturday 7/6

- Start a few more paintings/spots for submission (might not get to this again)
- Edit some of my manuscripts for submission
- Come up with ideas for new blog posts

Sunday 7/7

- Draft a generic letter (to be edited later) to an editor/art director for both my artwork and writing. 

- Write blog/website review for my financial blog

Monday 7/8
- GO SWIMMING!

Tuesday 7/9
- Do some awesome writing prompts by this date
- Post at least 1 painting/drawing to this blog by this date
- Write a blog review

Wednesday 7/10
- Write my What's Up Wednesday post 

What Inspires Me Right Now

The thought that my baby boy is sleeping peacefully. Yes, yes he did arrange the bed himself.

What Else I've Been Up To

Baby Minding 

He's only a toddler and I need to be patient with him when he wants to do a 300 piece puzzle. Even though the puzzle frustrates him to no end after 30 minutes of working on said puzzle. Let him do as much as he can, even though I have to tell him where every single piece goes and he won't let me put any of them in place. Did I mention that it was for ages 10 and up? I won't throw the puzzle away while my son is sleeping. I won't throw...

Working Out/Being Healthy 
I worked out today! The rest of the days this week... umm

Ect.
I may have to give up something this week. I'll see how I feel Monday. I hate failing, but I can't keep burning out like this. I know it's vague, but wish me luck!

*What's up Wednesday is part of Jamie Morrow's summer writing intensive: "Ready. Set. WRITE!" There are other host blogs including: Erin L. Funk, Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, and Elodie Nowodazkij.

The Paper Wait

After a week of doing no blogging I'm back! I've been sick on and off over the weekend. Some of it was too much sun, and a bit of it was my non-sleeping toddler. I'm feeling better today so let's get this show on the road.

This week I'm doing something a little different. I was asked by Brianna Caplan Sayres (http://www.briannasbookstop.blogspot.ca/) to review a group blog this week! The blog is called The Paper Wait. It's chocked full of great SCBWI writers from Madison, New Jersey. The contributors for this are Elleen Cameron, J.L. Finnel, Robin Constantne, Brianna Caplan Sayres, Gale Sypher Jacob, Melina Meister, Sharon Wildey Calle, J.A. Palermo, Helen T., Ariel Zeitlin Cooke, and Julie Whelan. There are many books that have been published by this group, but instead of listing them here I'll allow you to take a look yourself: http://www.thepaperwait.blogspot.ca

The nice thing with this is that you get viewpoints from so many different writers! All these writers are in a critique group together, and they share their tips and experiences on this blog. There are so many resources and great articles on this website that I have to give you this warning: Warning! The shear amount of great writing information on this blog may make your head explode!

It's not just the amount of information that makes this blog special, but the organization that makes this blog so great. There are many blogs that use lables, but usually not so well or to this degree. Every post is labeled so if you want to look up a certain article you just need to click on the corresponding label. Want to find out about revision? There are 42 different articles to help you out!

The Paper Wait is a wonderful blog to explore! Even when you are done exploring this site there is plenty more to read. There is a list of the contributors blogs on this site, and that will keep any reader busy for days just catching up in posts. There are so many good writers/blogs so visit The Paper Wait, you wont be disappointed!

What's Up Wednesday

I am the most worst horrible person for remembering to post on my blog at a reasonable time. I usually have a second toddler on Wed and it's just easier to post after my son goes to bed, but it was 11:30 before he fell asleep! I shouldn't have let him do that one last puzzle. He cons me by giving me kisses, and then doing such a good job working on his 25 piece puzzle (at 2.5 years) that it's hard to force him to go to bed. Actually, it's impossible to force him to go to bed, and it's not because of any of the above reasons. He's stubborn and he gets it from his daddy!

What I'm Reading

Almost finished with the book. Good thing too... it's a bit overdue. 

What I'm Writing/Drawing 

I'm doing colouring pages still! I found some old illustrations that I did digitally several years ago. I thought it would be a great idea to put them all in a collection of their own. I'm not stopping the other colouring book, and if anything this will allow me to get it finished faster.

I did miss my blog review this week! I hate missing it, but this is a really busy week for me. Tomorrow will likely be crazy, but I do hope I can get my colouring page finished.

Every Day Possible
- Work on Colouring Pages
- Blog every day, and make 10 important (by important I mean funny) tweets per day.


Today 7/3
- Write my What's Up Wednesday post today - done

Thursday 7/4

- Create a new colouring page for my financial blog

Friday 7/5

-  Enjoy the nice sunny beach!

Saturday 7/6

- Start a few more paintings/spots for submission (might not get to this again)
- Edit some of my manuscripts for submission
- Come up with ideas for new blog posts

- Edit critique member's manuscripts

Sunday 7/7

- Catch up on all of the PB manuscripts I need to critique

- Rewrite and send out a PB manuscript to be critiqued.

-Write blog/website review for my financial blog

Monday 7/8
- Shower without the toddler

Tuesday 7/9
- Do some awesome writing prompts!
- Post at least 1 painting/drawing to this blog
- Write a blog review

Wednesday 7/10
- Write my What's Up Wednesday post 

What Inspires Me Right Now

Decaf coffee and semi sweet chocolate chips.

What Else I've Been Up To

Baby Minding 
"...and then some days you just want to close them in a box, and leave the box in the park, and run away you know? Dave Seville 

Working Out/Being Healthy 
I think I did this.

Ect.
I have a headache now.

*What's up Wednesday is part of Jamie Morrow's summer writing intensive: "Ready. Set. WRITE!" There are other host blogs including: Erin L. Funk, Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, and Elodie Nowodazkij.

No Blog Review

Hi everyone,

So busy this week that I just don't have time to do a blog review. Sorry!  I will try to come up with some good plans for next week in my What's Up Wednesday post. 

Games and Colouring: What I Like

I'm not sure if it's because I'm an artist, but there are things that I gravitate towards more than others. When I'm sitting down to colour (and yes I do colour things other than my illustrations on occasion) I prefer some things to others. I prefer to colour people rather than things. Animals are second in line unless they are anthropomorphic animals then they are right up there with humans. I don't know all of the psychology behind this, but I do know that I like to think up stories for the things that I colour. I don't actually always tell myself a story about an picture, but I know my story about what I'm colouring. It's not that things can't have stories, I just prefer stories about people and anthropomorphic animals (and that's why I draw and write stories about these things the most).

Now with video games it's a bit different. Don't get me wrong, I love stories. In fact in RPGs the time I usually stop playing is the period about 3/4 or more through the game. The time where there is little story and lots of leveling up. So what gets me past a game with little or no story? The ability of creation. It could be something small like changing the character's appearance later in the game, or redecorating a room. 

Even then, some story is better than none. I love the Sims, but given the chance I'd probably spend most of my time building my house, because for me that's what I can customise the most (No, I don't take the time for clothing design). I feel like I would enjoy the Sims even more if it had scenarios with a strong story line (like Sim City or Civilization but with more story). Any game with a strong story line and a creative element is gold in my book.

I like playing games like Tetris and I like colouring anything I can get my hands on. If given the choice I'd choose people, story and creation. What about you? Which kinds of things do you like to colour? Which games would you play if you had the chance? 

More Monsters!

Here are a few more monsters!

Images in My Drawers

I was going through some of my old images. While I would like to work on some new images for my colouring book I want to use a lot of older images so that I can get my colouring book out there. I was going through my drawers (furniture not my undies) and found some images from my old, old blog. I just explored my old blog and found a lot of images that I backed up on my new laptop. There is more than enough images on here for a colouring book. I think this book will be smaller in size (Maybe 6x6) and will contain monsters. I'm not giving up on my other colouring book, though! It's just an extra little special treasure I found.

Over the next few days I'll share with you some of the images I found on my blog. Maybe you've seen them before, or maybe not! I let my 2.5 year old son pick the images.

What's Up Wednesday

Completely distracted by a virus on my computer and talking to my friends I almost completely forgot about this. It's still Wednesday somewhere in the world so it still counts. I'm posting this on my phone using a template from my last post. Sorry about the formatting!

What I'm Reading

Same... I should almost say I'm not reading anything. 

What I'm Writing/Drawing 

Still working on colouring pages. I'm hoping not to have to do a lot of new artwork for this. I'm finding artwork (some that was not completed) from some of my old blogs just waiting to be inked and used. 

A lot of what I planned for last week is going to be the same for this week as well.  The post for Tracy's blog is done and sent.  She must have had something come up because she didn't post it yet. I hope she's okay!

Every Day Possible
- Work on Colouring Pages 
- Tweet, blog, get out more in the Social Networking world.


Today 7/3
- Write my What's Up Wednesday post today - done

Thursday 7/4

- Create a new colouring page for my financial blog

Friday 7/5

- Start a few more paintings/spots for submission (might not get to this again)
- Edit some of my manuscripts for submission
- Come up with ideas for new blog posts

- Edit critique member's manuscripts

Saturday 7/6
See Friday

Sunday 7/7
-Write blog/website review for my financial blog

Monday 7/8
- record videos of my cat and then make her watch them. Maybe then she'll see how annoying she is. 

Tuesday 7/9
- Complete at least 5 daily writing prompts by today (haven't been doing this, but leaving it as a to-do thingy)
- Post at least 1 painting/drawing to this blog
- Write a blog review

Wednesday 7/10
- Write my What's Up Wednesday post 

What Inspires Me Right Now

My hatred for whoever forgot to buy decaf coffee this week (we'll pretend that's not me). 

What Else I've Been Up To

Baby Minding 
Son is still insane, toddler suicide attempts hourly.  never sleeps and neither do I. 

Working Out/Being Healthy 
Worked our a bit and walked a ton in the hot sun!

Ect.

Still pondering. When I get done with that I'll ponder my ponderings. 

*What's up Wednesday is part of Jamie Morrow's summer writing intensive: "Ready. Set. WRITE!" There are other host blogs including: Erin L. Funk, Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, and Elodie Nowodazkij.

Brianna Caplan Sayres

My blog review this week is with another new blogger. Brianna Caplan Sayres just started blogging back in May. I don't think there is any chance of her stopping anytime soon, because she is really good at posting a lot. This month she's already got two posts written (quality posts, too)! Brianna just had a book published last year (just over a year old!) called, "Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night?" She also has a book to come out in 2014 entitled, "TIARA-SAURUS REX". Her blog can be found here: http://www.briannasbookstop.blogspot.ca

Already you can see that she's a busy woman, but what really makes her blog tick? Mondays Brianna starts the week with a good book. It is her official "Keep Reading Fun Day". This day is dedicated to helping keep kids interested in reading! She has fun activities that keep children coming back for more. Brianna also shows which books she and her kids love. Along with this she often has an article from another area on the web that are very thought provoking. To top it all off she has a few other surprises in the form of links in each article.

Tuesdays on Brianna's blog are "Good News Day Tuesdays". It might not always happen this way, but so far all of Brianna's "Good News Day Tuesdays" have all included interviews from authors with exciting news. From these articles I can tell that there will be a lot of great new books coming out soon! What I really like is that you can learn about the authors even if you can't read the books right away. Brianna asks questions that are not only of interest to readers, but writers as well.

 Brianna has even more special good news this Tuesday, because she has announced a giveaway on her blog! It's not a giveaway of just any book, either. Remember the review of Chiêu Anh Urban (now it allows for the mark above the E!) I did last week? Brianna is giving her book away this week! We did not plan it this way, but it was quite fortuitous! Find out about it here: http://briannasbookstop.blogspot.ca/2013/07/good-news-day-tuesday-interview-with.html Brianna usually posts twice a week. These posts usually start with her sharing a bit about herself. I love this about her posts, because it's like she tucks a little bit of her spirit into each post. If you are a blogger you know that any more than once a week is a lot of work for anyone! There are times when Brianna gets the chance to post more often. I loved what she shared about rhyming picture books!

I hope that you liked my review of Brianna's wonderful blog! Be sure to check out her website as well: http://www.briannacaplansayres.com She has a lot of wonderful things to explore there as well. I'm not sure who I will be reviewing next week, but please tune in tomorrow for my "What's Up Wednesday" post!

Insecurity and Writing

Becky Frye (Creator of the Create A Female Superhero Challenge) mentioned something on her Facebook page that really got me thinking. Rather than paraphrasing it I'll post the quote here:

Writers tend to be insecure; even ones who have books published and have already found writing success will often succumb to insecurity and doubt about their ability to write well. This is why I often suggest that you go and read others' stories and leave a comment on their blog posts - because that one simple comment can sometimes be all the boost to a writer's ego that they need to keep going for the day. 

What is written here is the same for artist as well as writers. I know that I don't post on other people's blogs as much as I'd like, but I think that this is a very important practice. The comments you leave, no matter how short or long, encourages the blogger to keep fighting. One good comment can keep me feeling great for the day, and several comments put me on cloud 9 for the week.

I think we should all make an effort this week (and in the weeks after) to comment on other people's blogs. Set a daily goal. Whether it's one blog a day or 10, your encouragement will benefit an artist or writer greatly. I'm going to try for five blogs a day, but stick with only two on my extra busy days. If you need a place to start you can start below with the entries for the Create A Female Superhero Challenge #CAFSC :