Procrastinating is my Kryptonite

I know I may seem incredibly productive, but do you know what I've been doing instead of writing my cat fantasy about my warlock cat and warrior mate? 

I've been making word lists of all the Sunday funnies that influenced my cartooning, did brief descriptions of three monsters from the current cat fantasy which falls more into Sword&Sorcery with all its evil beings, fighting, and spellbinding magic, and wrote a short dialogue scene which was the continuation from a previous comic scene drafted. 

All to avoid writing. *Sigh*

I Won July Camp NaNo 2019

I WON CAMP NANOWRIMO.

I needed to complete another story project, so for this July Camp NaNo, I decided to work on two stories simultaneously: a continuation of the April Camp NaNo story project and the start and hopefully completion of the second story.

I set my sights on 9,000 words, just as I did for April, and made it to 9,099 words!
Now to work on revising and editing both projects. During July Camp, I also added more to my online world-building encyclopedic blog.

I also did a video series of coloring a sketch on some of the characters and uploading to Instagram. Though I kept tight notes on the videos, they still ended up out of sequence. I'm really exhausted that I did this to myself. But... I won and that means I beat my record from last time. While being distracted with other projects such as the world-builder blog and art-process videos.

And no, I'm not posting to YouTube. It's already been suggested. I have my reasons. I don't need to be on so many social media platforms. I work in several genres and need to get my projects and acts together, and, right now, I use events such as NaNoWriMo and Inktober to get those ideas off the ground. I mean what I say. Social media is work in and of itself, and right now, I'm at a tolerable level.

Thank you. And as always, when I have something new posted or upcoming assignment, I will let you know the details, my Dear Readers.

When Artwork Imitates Writing

Just completed a draft sketch of my feline witch characters and it made the gears start turning again for my story.

I did what is called a 'gesture drawing' and it's when the artist draws a person or people quickly but in a dynamic way.

I started saving my art references not just in Google but as screenshots on my phone so, in case the internet is down, I can have easier access.

Drawing, sketching, drafting calms me but also makes me closer to my characters. Once I have a visual on them, questions occur, personalities start to become real, and I learn new things about them.

If you want to see my work-in-progress, you can hop over to my 'secret account' on Instagram: handdrawnbycarmenjr

More Random Thoughts from Journal Land

Camp NaNoWriMo started but this week took a bit much out of me, plus, I plunked down some hefty funds to get my eyes tested for new prescription frames! I was given a 40% discount but I'm poor until my next paycheck.

More news! Tabber the Red site will have a new look this July! In time for its birthday! So, working on some new Tabber stories set in world while also giving the official website a new face! Ay...

More random notes from the journals - this time, I need to do things on smaller paper or I feel I can't finish it! (Psychologically the same as getting the same amount of food put in a smaller bowl or on a smaller plate)

11x14 paper will be used as drafting/composition ideas!

9x12 will be for larger pieces such as character sheets, profiles, and storyboards.

Finally, 7x10 will be my magic number when it comes to final comic/graphic novel/manga artwork, which can be better scanned and formatted for digital submission.

May God help me with the next coming months. It's gonna be a doozy!

I'm READY for Camp NaNoWriMo! ...I think...

Okay, went off on a tangent with the previous post. A few of my students point this out to me. Good thing I'm in a lab and not a classroom. I think I would serve better to be a lecturer and do a few workshops. However, gotta concentrate on the short stories and comic ideas I feel more confident in working on. Also, I have three submissions in the pipeline now and the suspense is killing me while I try to distract myself with other projects. Below are some of my new goals for 2019.

These aren't all of them. I can still keep some stuff private.

No more chasing fellowships (won't turn down a recommendation or if someone sponsors me, though!)
No more seeking pro-blogging jobs (unless invited and I have other deadlines cleared)
Putting the canine historical on the backburner (for now)
Returning to feline epic fantasy
Drafting updated science fiction series
Returning to comic stories
Returning to more illustrations within the speculative genre

Right now, I'm putting energy into Camp for April 2019. My account still works and I have new equipment and a new vision. I'm so glad to my readers who have stayed with me and I appreciate you who have been with me on this journey.

Let's rock 2019! Or, at least, skip pebbles. :)

Oh, and I promised the official link to Camp NaNoWriMo.
Here it is: http://campnanowrimo.org/

CAMP NaNoWriMo is fast approaching and I've been having tech problems...

It has been three years since I participated in any NaNoWriMo activities.

As I've said in past posts, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. At the end of this post, I will provide official links. The reason I decided to do so this year is I have a series that helped me find my voice as a writer as well as a community of acceptance. It has also helped me have a "writing career" of sorts. I've been interviewed for podcasts, invited to participate in writing workshops, a few events, and led me to graduate school, something I thought I wouldn't do.

My feline fantasy series has also helped me to create an online presence as well as navigate social media and I know there are still stories for me to tell. I don't want to give it up. Also, the life of a writer has sidelines and detours. Writers, we get distracted or obsessed with other projects, new ideas, and have asides. Also, life gets in the way as it does with everything. Sometimes, I struggle to juggle all these stories, new shiny ideas, and the determination to finish other projects.

Once I sat back and took a good look at myself from 2017 and 2018, I realized I would need to take a step back from the goals I had set for myself, especially when certain goals have been met as well as seeing that some have become stumbling blocks and may no longer serve their purpose. It's okay to walk away from certain goals one sets for oneself! I had to learn that hard lesson. I understood that the continuing of my fantasy short story series cannot be sacrificed in the interest of goals that have expired or outlived their purpose.

Sorry, I went into a diatribe, but I'm officially returning to the Tabber the Red world and will use 2019 as the Year of the Cat for my tales. My website named after my warrior tabby is turning 13 and I want to give it a fresh new look for its birthday this year. The blogs keep getting updated, but ever since I upgraded my desktop, I now lack the software I've used to update the website. And just recently, had to lease a new laptop since the new Dell netbook to replace my Chromebook died, and then the Chromebook has been shutting off, so...

Also, my mom needed a new computer, so I helped put her Lenovo 3-in-1 desktop together and have been navigating my way around it as well as my own Alienware to keep their antiviruses, software patches, and notifications up-to-speed. It hasn't been easy. I'm a lab tutor and one of my coworkers and good friends is our department's tech person, I'm the unofficial one for when he isn't around. So, not only do I have to do topical fixes and changes to our technical equipment at my job, but I come home to maintain my and mom's computers and printer. That's another thing, my own 3-in-1 printer stopped talking to my Chromebook, so that's been fun!

But the good news is my desktop is an Alienware and my brand-new laptop is a Razer, so by the grace of God, I can go back to worrying about updating site, blogs, writing, and hopefully returning to relearning digital artwork on these new platforms. And there I went off on talking about technology when I should have been talking about my plans for April Camp NaNoWriMo!

Next post! Onward and upward!

Illustrations, New Concepts, and a New Art Account!

[NOTE: Here, there be links!]
As a return to my Tabber the Red writing, I had an idea for an illustration while writing the latest cat fantasy.

 ShadoWalker & his Autumn angel (2018)

The concept was difficult and it took some planning but I think I got my point across. Oh! I can also introduce my new Instagram account: Hand drawn by Carmen Jr - While the Deviant Art is my official online portfolio, the Instagram is for friends and other artists to see progressions of my work - such as rough sketches, thumbnails, preliminaries, and drafts! As well as previous versions side-by-side with updated versions.

World-building shouldn't be this hard... But it is

3 hours ago...
Time to continue my series' bible now that I unearthed my big blue journal! This huge notebook has a special place in my heart. Bought it from Borders Books back in 2002 when there was still a superstore in the next city.

3 hours ago...
Retyping my feline vocabulary from the language I made for my cat characters and putting them into alphabetical order because I'm crazy like that.

1 hour ago...
So those cat languages I wrote down eons ago were three language systems: runes, pictographs, & hieroglyphs... Am researching to re-tool all over again. *Weeping*

50 minutes ago...
Using up my mom's Epson printer ink. Gotta switch off. And why use HER'S? Oh, that's right, because for some STUPID REASON, my HP Officejet 4630 printer no longer has the capabilities of working via wi-fi! Not cool, Hewlett-Packard. Not cool.

Eureka!
These languages were based on Egyptian hieroglyphs, Phoenician alphabet, and Celtic runes... Thank God I remember the actual systems.

8 minutes ago...
Ok... Tired. Last day of work this week. I've jotted my language notes and will begin to craft (or draft?) these words into their written systems, beginning with the vocabulary I have typed so far from series' bible. And I still need to outline some scenes from same feline story! Kill me now.

Story can be a challenge

I had a short story in mind but realized another story within the same world, yet dealing with a different cast, finally started to make sense. I also didn't want to force the characters of another story in the same series for the sake of meeting a themed submission guideline. That routine has hardly worked for me except in this year, when I crafted an article just for a journal and it was accepted! 

Mind you, this is 2017 and I've been trying to write professionally since 1996 with my first publication in 1999-2000!

Since this break in the semester, not only has the novel continued rolling around in my head as it should, but a solution came to a short story within the cat epic fantasy series! I've been on-again-off-again with a particular title within the collection and I realized it proved difficult to write another title because I needed the events of the title I'm STRUGGLING WITH NOW to happen!

EUREKA! Can you believe this? And now, that difficult story is almost writing itself! I'm still jotting down notes, swathes of exposition and setups. The story deals with one of my magic using characters who I believed for years to be a villain, or at best, an antihero. I couldn't be further from the truth! He's not only a nice and generous person, he's lovably sardonic and sarcastic! His sardonic personality was already fixed when he was originally 'conceived' but that was with a villainous character. With this more pleasant personality, my shero/heroine won't seem like such a masochist when she falls for him.

There have also been changes to his back story as well. Actually, I kept his origins but in the nascent conception, I had him move far from those trainings and how he was raised. I also had him a stranger to most of that background. Now I understand he couldn't possibly be who he is while disavowing his origins. He just wouldn't be that person! 

His back story also solves my reasons for the antagonistic relationship he has with another fellow magic user too! It's all making sense now. After HOW long? Sheesh... Well, 'til next time!

More on Martin Greenberg - Part 2

Here is a continuation of my tribute to Editor Martin H. Greenberg and what he did for the genres of science fiction and fantasy. Here are just three of the Daw (publisher) books I have in my home library. 

"Wizard Fantastic" has at least four of my favorite short stories of all time! 

The last "Cat Fantastic" before my dear Andre Norton passed away.

Another title from the "Elf Fantastic" line. 

There are more Greenberg anthologies to upload. In the meantime, view my part 1 blog post about the incredible editor of genre anthologies, Martin H. Greenberg.

http://inprettyprint.blogspot.com/2014/09/rip-martin-h-greenberg-editor.html

Of innocence and purity

A friend didn't want me to explain the song, "Me and Mrs. Jones" to HER friend. Her argument that while she herself was innocent, her friend was pure. And then, that got me thinking.. The differences between innocence, purity, chastity, virginity, naivete'..and how our society confuses these terms, often using them interchangeably within prose, poetry and verbally.
I will speak about purity and innocence.
I'm often drawn to how the 'innocent' character is portrayed in any story I'm reading.
In one of my cat fantasy stories, my lynx boy is part of a prophecy that whoever wields the evil weapon he carries, will become corrupted.
Because my lynx is purehearted, he is one of a few who can carry the infernal weapon without being influenced by it. This, of course, makes him a target by the mortal, immortal, divine, and infernal worlds.