I've been looking at a couple book covers for months now, pondering them as possibilities for my thesis novel, Sehmah's Truth, and its sequel, Jennara in Flux.
Today, I took my first step on the path of becoming an Indie author and purchased both covers from Laura Gordon at The Book Cover Machine, finally committing to the idea that there is an alternative path available to me and one that is currently more appealing than the traditional one.
Am I crazy to want to go the Indie author route? I don't think so. The option to have complete creative control over my work - to be able to choose my own illustrator for Tyrabbisaurus Rex and my own cover for Sehmah's Truth, to have the ability to create works that do not fall into prescribed genres or meet the exacting length requirements of traditional publishing - all of this is super appealing to me.
And so today, I took that first step. A scary step. One that only involved the purchase of covers. Those covers are now saved to my laptop. They've been imported into Scrivener, to serve as the covers of these books. Now it only takes the next step, and the one after that, and the one after that. Finish the books. Format the books. Launch them into the world.
We'll see how my courage holds up over the next few months and whether those book covers will ever see the light of day.
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
June Travels 2015
The last several weeks have been quite eventful. Lots of fun traveling a meandering route with my dad through Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee. We visited a small zoo in Missouri, where we were caught in a sudden downpour, causing epic rivers of blue to roll from my newly dyed hair downward. My Buffy t-shirt will never be the same.
We wandered through a couple small towns in Kentucky, visiting antique stores and one amazing, memorable hat shot where I found several fantastic, vintage additions to my hat collection. Finally, we ended our travels in Nashville, where we visited my uncle Marvin in the hospital, where he was recovering from surgery and I attended the always-amazing UtopYA conference. My dad hung out in the hotel while I attended panels for writers and readers.
After a fantastic weekend, my dad flew home to Kansas City and I began the last leg of my journey, driving to Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA, to attend my final residency there. I survived my thesis reading from my YA fantasy, Sehmah's Truth, and ended the week graduating with my M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction.
I will miss being part of the amazing community that is the SHU-WPF program, but look forward to new adventures and am certain I will stay in contact with my many fellow Secret-Keepers.
The drive home was long, but I enjoyed the journey, pondering characters and plotlines in my head. We'll see how the writing comes along, now that I have no more deadlines looming before me.
We wandered through a couple small towns in Kentucky, visiting antique stores and one amazing, memorable hat shot where I found several fantastic, vintage additions to my hat collection. Finally, we ended our travels in Nashville, where we visited my uncle Marvin in the hospital, where he was recovering from surgery and I attended the always-amazing UtopYA conference. My dad hung out in the hotel while I attended panels for writers and readers.
After a fantastic weekend, my dad flew home to Kansas City and I began the last leg of my journey, driving to Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA, to attend my final residency there. I survived my thesis reading from my YA fantasy, Sehmah's Truth, and ended the week graduating with my M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction.
I will miss being part of the amazing community that is the SHU-WPF program, but look forward to new adventures and am certain I will stay in contact with my many fellow Secret-Keepers.
The drive home was long, but I enjoyed the journey, pondering characters and plotlines in my head. We'll see how the writing comes along, now that I have no more deadlines looming before me.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Buffy, the Friendliest Feral
The weather's finally gotten warm enough where I can sit out on my back porch and write. Buffy has continued to allow me to pet her and occasionally hold her. On one memorable occasion, when it was snowing and she was quite wet, she allowed me to pick her up, carry her inside and dry her off with a towel before carrying her back out.
Today as I write this, she lounges against my leg, keeping me company.
Truly I'm blessed. Five wonderful cats inside and the amazing Buffy outside.
Since Skittles is now an inside cat (she shows zero interest in leaving the house and in fact, whenever I open an outside door, runs away), she has many more interactions with me on a daily basis than Buffy does, and yet is definitely harder to catch and nowhere near as willing to just relax and hang out with me - at least not unless she's out of arm's reach! As a result, I have to say, Buffy may be edging Skittles out for the title of Friendliest Feral.
Today as I write this, she lounges against my leg, keeping me company.
Truly I'm blessed. Five wonderful cats inside and the amazing Buffy outside.
Since Skittles is now an inside cat (she shows zero interest in leaving the house and in fact, whenever I open an outside door, runs away), she has many more interactions with me on a daily basis than Buffy does, and yet is definitely harder to catch and nowhere near as willing to just relax and hang out with me - at least not unless she's out of arm's reach! As a result, I have to say, Buffy may be edging Skittles out for the title of Friendliest Feral.
Monday, February 2, 2015
From Feral to Friendly
Remember my hope that Buffy would one day allow me to pet her? Well, it's happened! Over the past week, she's been doing that circling around thing that Skittles always does. She circles right in front of me or to the side and rubs up against everything in her vicinity. I know what she wants because it's what Skittles wants in those moments. The problem is neither cat is certain I can be trusted to give them exactly what they want (and that I'll let them go once I've given it to them), so they make me work for it.
I have to be calm and coaxing without pleading and yes, I have to be faster than the kitty. Sometimes Buffy won't let me touch her at all (like I said - just like Skittles). And sometimes she'll only let me reach under the feeder where she hangs out and pet the top of her head or scratch under her chin (this is a much more comfortable arrangement than the one Skittles initiated with me several months ago).
Today though was an amazing day.
Today, Buffy let me pick her up and hold her. I honestly cannot believe how different she was when I grabbed her this time. I expected to get scratched and bit again for my troubles, but instead, the minute I caught her, she started to purr - just like Skittles! Of course, I couldn't hold her for very long, but long enough to warm my heart ... and to take a selfie.
Of course, Buffy wasn't quite sure what to make of the photo op and moments after this photo was taken, she became a bit restless. I made it a point to carefully set her down on the ground, rather than allowing her to escape. I wanted her to start trusting that I would always let her go after holding her. Biggest success? After releasing her, she didn't run away, but instead happily began to eat her dinner.
I have to be calm and coaxing without pleading and yes, I have to be faster than the kitty. Sometimes Buffy won't let me touch her at all (like I said - just like Skittles). And sometimes she'll only let me reach under the feeder where she hangs out and pet the top of her head or scratch under her chin (this is a much more comfortable arrangement than the one Skittles initiated with me several months ago).
Today though was an amazing day.
Today, Buffy let me pick her up and hold her. I honestly cannot believe how different she was when I grabbed her this time. I expected to get scratched and bit again for my troubles, but instead, the minute I caught her, she started to purr - just like Skittles! Of course, I couldn't hold her for very long, but long enough to warm my heart ... and to take a selfie.
Of course, Buffy wasn't quite sure what to make of the photo op and moments after this photo was taken, she became a bit restless. I made it a point to carefully set her down on the ground, rather than allowing her to escape. I wanted her to start trusting that I would always let her go after holding her. Biggest success? After releasing her, she didn't run away, but instead happily began to eat her dinner.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Brave Little Buffy
Buffy is an absolute trooper.
She's started coming around and greeting me every day. I go out to feed the cats in the mornings and I hear her meowing all the way to my backyard. Same thing when I pull into the driveway at night. She mostly hangs on the property next door, under the porch or in their detached garage but when she hears the swing of my backdoor or the sound of my car pulling into the driveway, she meows her way to my back patio.
She has the cutest little meow and I can't help but hope that one day she'll actually let me pet her. Hey, it could happen!
She's started coming around and greeting me every day. I go out to feed the cats in the mornings and I hear her meowing all the way to my backyard. Same thing when I pull into the driveway at night. She mostly hangs on the property next door, under the porch or in their detached garage but when she hears the swing of my backdoor or the sound of my car pulling into the driveway, she meows her way to my back patio.
She has the cutest little meow and I can't help but hope that one day she'll actually let me pet her. Hey, it could happen!
Monday, November 17, 2014
The Release Phase
I released Buffy this morning. It was so hard to do, but I did it anyway.
I set the carrier outside on the ground, facing the area where I feed her, to orient her. I left the carrier closed for a minute so she could feel the breeze and possibly register where we were, then I opened the door. She sat there for a minute and then she bolted. It'll probably be a while before I see her again. She'll try to keep out of my sights until she no longer remembers my audacity in grabbing her like I did.
My brain knows this is best for her. She won't be happy inside and I already have a full house of completely indoor cats and there just isn't room for one more. Still my heart wants to keep her and work on socializing her.
I keep telling myself I've done everything I possibly can to give her the best possible chance of survival. I had her spayed and got her shots. She's been dewormed and given flea meds. I'll continue to feed her and give her water, but she's just so little still. They said five months at the Humane Society, which according to most rescue organizations is past the age of socialization.
Five months in kitten-world though is still little, and I'm thinking she's fairly small for her age as well. I just hope she makes it through the winter. I'm not the right person to do this whole TNR thing (Trap-Neuter-Release), at least with kittens. When they're full-grown adults, it's not a problem for me. But when they're kittens, I feel so cruel not investing the time to socialize them because I know from personal experience that it's not about the age of the kitten. It's simply about the patience and effort you're willing to invest in the process of socializing them.
I set the carrier outside on the ground, facing the area where I feed her, to orient her. I left the carrier closed for a minute so she could feel the breeze and possibly register where we were, then I opened the door. She sat there for a minute and then she bolted. It'll probably be a while before I see her again. She'll try to keep out of my sights until she no longer remembers my audacity in grabbing her like I did.
My brain knows this is best for her. She won't be happy inside and I already have a full house of completely indoor cats and there just isn't room for one more. Still my heart wants to keep her and work on socializing her.
I keep telling myself I've done everything I possibly can to give her the best possible chance of survival. I had her spayed and got her shots. She's been dewormed and given flea meds. I'll continue to feed her and give her water, but she's just so little still. They said five months at the Humane Society, which according to most rescue organizations is past the age of socialization.
Five months in kitten-world though is still little, and I'm thinking she's fairly small for her age as well. I just hope she makes it through the winter. I'm not the right person to do this whole TNR thing (Trap-Neuter-Release), at least with kittens. When they're full-grown adults, it's not a problem for me. But when they're kittens, I feel so cruel not investing the time to socialize them because I know from personal experience that it's not about the age of the kitten. It's simply about the patience and effort you're willing to invest in the process of socializing them.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Buffy the Feral Kitten
It's a regular kitten parade over at my house. I dropped off two of the kittens I've been fostering to a shelter last Saturday (they'll be taking the third kitten this Saturday) and discovered at least one kitten running around my property the very next day. She's blonde and adorable, but quite fierce and so I named her Buffy.
No matter how often I do this - rescue kittens from wherever I find them (feral and not) - I just never seem to get it right. Sure I should have set out a trap and sure I logically know that the ole snatch-and-grab is never a good plan when dealing with ferals, but when opportunity presented itself this morning, I just couldn't resist.
On the plus side, I was wearing gloves, so they mostly protected me. I was absolutely shocked when Buffy came right up and ate the food as I set it out rather than waiting as usual for me to walk away. Since she approached unexpectedly, I went ahead and went for it. Needless to say, when I grabbed her, she went insane, snapping and biting at me. Somehow I managed to keep hold of her though and got her into the house and into a carrier, but it was touch-and-go for a minute. She did not like the turn of events.
I have a kitten who will be spayed in the morning though, a kitten who was absolutely destined to drop litters in my backyard for the next ten years, which would involve those kittens dropping more litters, so all things considered, today was a rousing success.
After getting Buffy into the carrier, I immediately took her to the Humane Society. I was hoping they would agree to find a home for her, but was told she was already too old for socialization. Of course, I know this isn't really true - after all, I've managed to socialize Skittles who was on her own for the entire first year of her life. It just takes patience and a lot of calm, caring, soothing effort.
I completely understand why this is the Humane Society's stance though. Some kittens are easier to socialize than others, but bottom line, shelters have to focus on helping those they truly believe they can adopt out and a feral kitten is always a long shot. So, though it broke my heart, I requested the feral package, which involved spaying her, giving her shots and tipping her ear.
I'll pick her up tomorrow, keep her for the weekend to ensure she recovers well from the surgery, and then I'll release her once more to the wilds of my backyard. I absolutely support the efforts and theories behind TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) programs, but the release part is always the hardest to manage for me. If I could find homes for all of the homeless cats in the world, I would. Still, little Buffy with her sharp teeth and wicked claws should be fine to defend herself. I'll feed her and make sure she has water and shelter and she'll undoubtedly love her outdoor life, for however long it lasts.
No matter how often I do this - rescue kittens from wherever I find them (feral and not) - I just never seem to get it right. Sure I should have set out a trap and sure I logically know that the ole snatch-and-grab is never a good plan when dealing with ferals, but when opportunity presented itself this morning, I just couldn't resist.
On the plus side, I was wearing gloves, so they mostly protected me. I was absolutely shocked when Buffy came right up and ate the food as I set it out rather than waiting as usual for me to walk away. Since she approached unexpectedly, I went ahead and went for it. Needless to say, when I grabbed her, she went insane, snapping and biting at me. Somehow I managed to keep hold of her though and got her into the house and into a carrier, but it was touch-and-go for a minute. She did not like the turn of events.
I have a kitten who will be spayed in the morning though, a kitten who was absolutely destined to drop litters in my backyard for the next ten years, which would involve those kittens dropping more litters, so all things considered, today was a rousing success.
After getting Buffy into the carrier, I immediately took her to the Humane Society. I was hoping they would agree to find a home for her, but was told she was already too old for socialization. Of course, I know this isn't really true - after all, I've managed to socialize Skittles who was on her own for the entire first year of her life. It just takes patience and a lot of calm, caring, soothing effort.
I completely understand why this is the Humane Society's stance though. Some kittens are easier to socialize than others, but bottom line, shelters have to focus on helping those they truly believe they can adopt out and a feral kitten is always a long shot. So, though it broke my heart, I requested the feral package, which involved spaying her, giving her shots and tipping her ear.
I'll pick her up tomorrow, keep her for the weekend to ensure she recovers well from the surgery, and then I'll release her once more to the wilds of my backyard. I absolutely support the efforts and theories behind TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) programs, but the release part is always the hardest to manage for me. If I could find homes for all of the homeless cats in the world, I would. Still, little Buffy with her sharp teeth and wicked claws should be fine to defend herself. I'll feed her and make sure she has water and shelter and she'll undoubtedly love her outdoor life, for however long it lasts.
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