Throwback Thursday

Oh what the heck, I’ll post a day early so I can remind you of my book, Tilted Tales under the guise of the pop culture phenomenon, throwback Thursday. Cheers!

 

Inner Magic

Every living being carries magic at its core,

Even those who never did a mystic thing before.

 

Don’t commit to memory shifty lines of magic spells.

Don’t mix yourself a brew of sense-offending smells.

 

The magic that I mean takes so little skill to cast.

Bet my worldly fortune that you’ve used it in the past.

 

It doesn’t take a wizard to figure what this means:

Loving is a power that is written in your genes.

 

 

 

 <————-Click me!!!!!!

Buy me.

The Adventurous booger

The Adventurous Booger

by A.L. Sant

There once was a blob who lived up a nose

Who wanted to roam beyond fingers and toes.

Trapped in the nose-cave of a young boy

Who managed to thwart his every slip ploy,

Our noble green booger oft tried to sneak out,

But then the boy snuffled him back up his snout.

Our booger would dream of seeing the sun,

Of making new friends and having some fun.

But every trek down would end in a sniff,

His brief glace of freedom, hardly a whiff.

Frustrated, tired, and fearing defeat,

He tried one last move before his retreat.

The booger reached up to the hairs overhead,

And gave one a yank ‘till it hung by a thread.

The boy sucked in air, once, and then twice,

And the booger pulled hard, this time more precise.

The boy held his breath, then shouted “Aachoooo!”

That finally did it! The booger was through!

He sailed through the air like a bird in the sky.

He knew he could do it, if given a try!

Finally free, and finally airborne

The view was much better than he would have sworn.

He landed inside an old lady’s eye

Who greeted the boy as he passed right by.

The booger saluted his new goopy friends,

Who clung to the sides of her thick reading lens.

The green booger then lived happily after,

Outside his nose cave, among friends and laughter.

What I Am Up To

I know, I know, it is really late in the day and I should have posted much sooner. But wait until you hear about what I spent my day doing (then you might forgive my flakeyness). Since it is summertime, my good pal Kristin Swartfager is out of school (she works at a preschool), at which point she switches hats from teaching young-ins to illustrating and arting up the place.

Curoius?

 

I knew you would be. Here is a taste:

Yup. It’s a ball of yarn. This is one of many adorably irresistible images that will appear in our first collaboration, Timmy Tommy Tum. It is a picture book with a rhyming story about a human-like kitten who refuses to go to sleep. Yes, it is for children.

The reason (and my excuse) for being so un-bloggy today is because Kristin and I spent the day refining our work. You will see the results of our cooperation very soon.  Until then, bask in the cuteness of the characters she drew to represent us in all of the books (yes, there will be several more to come) we do together specifically for kids.

In other news, my webpage got an update. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here: authoralsant.com

I will give you updates as our happy partnership produces more awesomeness. Until then, Happy reading!

 

The Attic of Evelyn Pearl

Tiny young Evy,

A six-year-old girl

Was named for her granny

Miss Evelyn Pearl.

 

She hasn’t young cousins

Her own age for play.

No brothers or sisters

To fill up her day.

 

When her family visits

Her grandmother’s home

She goes to the attic

Where she plays alone.

 

She’s never caught bored

When she goes up there

‘cause mystical wonder

Hangs loose in the air.

 

A porcelain doll

Becomes her best friend.

She tells her big secrets

For hours on end.

 

On her Grampy’s old flute

She’ll blow out a tune

And fancy’s they hear her

Out there on the moon.

 

Old buttons and beads

Become long lost treasure

That salty sea captains

Can count at their leisure.

 

A toppled old shelf

And a discarded oar

Becomes ship and rudder

That washed up ashore.

 

With musty old curtains

She fashions a tail

And waves are comprised

Of granny’s old veil.

 

Old teddy bear people

Are folk of the sea.

They go on adventures

‘Till afternoon tea.

 

When the moon starts to rise

And it’s time to head out

Tiny young Evy

Won’t grumble or pout.

 

Her exotic vast kingdom

Will wait for our girl.

‘Till then it’s the attic

Of Evelyn Pearl.

 

Gnome Art Update

Lately I am searching the web to find project ideas, as well as coming up with some original plans to bring my Gnome garden to life. I have taken some creative licence with my version of gnomes. I decided that they are more like an american version of leprechauns, and are the size of fairies. This means that the little gnomes I create will be approximately 5-6 inches tall. Part of this decision was made because I like the idea of humans seeming gargantuan compared to them, and because this conveniently puts them at a scale to use dollhouse items. It also makes the idea of them riding on rabbits seem more plausible- a foot tall fairy would be to heavy for a rabbit, I would think.

On this note, I have fallen in love with Pintrest. I have found a wealth of ideas for my pictures by searching for fairy gardens. I am endlessly impressed with people’s DIY ideas.  Here is a picture of some of the supplies I have already purchased for my project. It is in no way a complete inventory, but it gives you an idea of where I am going with it. (and why I am so distracted lately by all the possibilities)

A sampling of my Gnome garden making supplies.

 

In addition to what is pictured here, I have tons of polymer clay, felt fabric to make the gnome clothes, a flurry of Popsicle sticks, and various other  mediums to make items I didn’t buy (such as plates and tiny gnome doors).

There are a few things I need that I lack the funds for, which is partially where my Kickstarter project comes in (the other part is the actual publication). For example, I need realistic looking stuffed rabbits- which I have found online, but tend to be a tad expensive. If I knew how to make them myself I would be all over it; however, I am well aware of my limitations, and that is where my skills are lacking.

In the interest of showing you what I can do with these pictures once they are completed, I have a few samples below. Keep in mind I have not come to a firm decision on how the final project will look, but I promised you updates, and I shall not disappoint.

I went for a bit of a watercolor effect, then added edges.

Another angle, also with watercolor effect.

In this picture I created the drawing effect, and also changed the color a bit to make it look like a cold day.

This picture is unedited. I used an angle that looks like we are spying on the gnomes.

This keeps the picture realistic, however I added a little special effect magic to give the lantern light.

In this picture I used a cutout effect, making the image much more simplistic and cartoon-like.

This is a 2nd sample of the cutout effect, also with an adjusted color balance.

As always, I would love to know your opinions. Please let me know what you think in the comments section below.

 

*Please note that these images are my intellectual property. I do not give anyone the right to use or copy them without written permission from me.

Children’s Story Update

I spoke with a representative of Archway publishing in order to understand how to proceed with my children’s storybook. I made a firm decision about doing my own artwork, and have been stockpiling supplies to create the scenes for each page.

Originally I thought to aim for a Christmas publication, but the publishers deadline for this is September first. I could probably finish by then, but I don’t want to rush the project. It is my first attempt at this style of artwork, and I don’t want to add the stress of a short deadline; so I am instead aiming at an Easter publication. This will work out just fine, since there are rabbits in my story, and I will be sure the quality of the work is the best it can be.

This leads me into my next dilemma; I like the idea of going through a major publisher with a package that includes marketing, an ISBN number, and taking care of the copyright,  not to mention publishing on 12 different platforms. But the package that suits my needs best is about $5,000. That is a lot of money to me. I don’t exactly have that lying around in my couch cushions. My husband suggested a program called Kickstarter- I’m sure you’ve heard of the potato salad guy. If that guy can get funding, who wouldn’t an adorable children’s book get funding? The publishing representative said that about half of the authors who try to get funded this way are successful. I figure I don’t have anything to lose in trying, so I will keep you posted on that. I’m working on getting a profile together to launch my Kickstarter project, as well as working on proof of my concept. I assume people won’t invest in something if they don’t know I can do it. As soon as that goes live I will provide a link.

Wish me luck, and let me know what projects you have going on. I’m always excited to encourage fellow writers/artists.

My Children’s Book

 

So I have just completed a children’s story that I intend to self-publish. It began as a rather long, fun poem, but with encouragement from my writers group it evolved into a full story. I’m nearly done with the editing (as much as a writer ever can be anyway) and my next step it the artwork to go along with my story.

But the writing is only half of a children’s book. Kids love pictures that tell the story, so I needed to figure out what kind of illustration I wanted.  Upon some further research I found that you can hire an artist and pay them per illustration- the going rate seems to be about $100 to $200 per drawing online, or you can team up with an artist and split credit (and profit) from the book down the middle. I do know a few artists that would be amazing at it, but since graphic art is something I like to do (and have done professionally before), I decided I am going to do the artwork myself. I plan to make little figurines out of Sculpey and Fimo clay and pose them in scenes to take pictures, then turn them into something that looks illustrated in Photoshop. I will be sure to share more with you as my illustration adventure develops.

My father-in-law has a friend who has published a children’s story, so when I told him I wanted to publish he helped me get in touch with his writer friend. His friend told me that publishers want you to have everything done and mapped out before you even contact them, so I will be finishing my artwork before I take any efforts to publish further. The advice that he gave as far as marketing and publishing boiled down to this: Do as much of it yourself as possible. The publishers will be happy to do it for you, but their help requires lots of money. He also said they are impatient; any edits and adjustments are expected the same day they ask for them, and they get irritated if you delay. They also don’t really proof anything-if your work isn’t perfect when you hand it to them, then that is what will go into print.

With all this in mind, I am very nervous about my first independent self-published work. Even so, I am not deterred.