Art

Celebrating Turtle and Robot – Watercolors Friday

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This is our second Watercolors Friday, and I was just thinking about how much I loved watercolors when I was a kid (still do), even when I made a mess of water and pigment – Hey, I like that name for a blog “Water and Pigment.”  Getting back to what I was writing, childhood is a very magical time,  it should be, and as much as I  liked watercolors, I also loved reading, and following people around with pen in hand, pretending that I was an investigator (probably influenced by The Three Investigators).  This is why today, I want to celebrate a special blog – Turtle and Robot

Turtle and Robot is about children’s books reviews. The blogger (Jennifer Lavonier) reviews children’s books of all kinds and ages – from picture books, to board books, to books for early readers, middle readers, and young adults. She is a collector of these books, as well as a seller.  In her blog, she writes about those books that she loves. The blog has a very happy and lively design, representing the topic of children.  She talks about the books but also offers gorgeous pictures (the blog is a feast for the eyes) and tells you a bit about the author of the featured book as well.

I hope that you stop by this wonderful blog, especially if you have little ones, and want to know more about what is out there and get some new ideas as far as more great books for kids, as well as classics, and coming from a knowledgeable source, as this blogger has been in the field of children’s books for some time.

I hope that you enjoyed this post. Happy Watercolors Friday to all!

Les Miserables and Your Novel

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Six degrees of separation.

Six degrees of separation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Miserable – Very unhappy; wretched – causing distress or discomfort – wretchedly poor. American Heritage Dictionary

 

For the purpose of this post, lets define “Les miserables” as the person(s) who showers in negativity, gets fueled by it, and is incapable of celebrating other’s good news. Now that we have defined the phrase to suit this post, I will tell you why I decided to write it.  No, the reason is not to vent (well, maybe a little), but to help other artists/writers who might be experiencing (being the target) a dose of it.

I will illustrate with an example of a recent encounter with the type.  If you are an artist/writer/creative you know how sensitive and attached to your work you are – it is inevitable and it comes with the territory.  At one point, you may become your art form, and it may become the air you breathe, your sustenance, your all.  In your excitement, you may want to share the good news, and if you are a writer, maybe even give a signed and dedicated copy of your novel to someone.  Now, that was a nice gesture, wasn’t it?

If the person falls into the les miserables category, be prepared for what will follow – a complete mockery of your gesture, a lack of respect for your art form, a complete disregard of your efforts, therefore ignoring the good news, and even the blunt admission of not intending to read it, followed by the “what’s about, I bet you it is about monsters, haunted houses … and other thoughtless les miserables remarks.” And by now, you must be wondering, and the answer is yes – it happened to me.  In this case, le miserable was not at stranger, and with not many degrees of separation.

Well, and how do you handle such les miserables?  Simply by taking the higher road. This is how to do it.

  • You refrain yourself from chopping any heads, from uttering any #*&^%# words, and proceed to breath deeply.
  • You answer any mocking questions with the professionalism of the author you are – because that is the road you have chosen.
  • You stick to the content of your book, and do not give the story away.  If the person wants to know, then let them go through the trouble of reading; after all, you just gave a signed and dedicated copy to him/her.
  •  Although you  realize that you have “slightly” been disrespected as a creative, and cannot understand why you still have that “deer hit by foglights look” on your face, you manage to politely smile, and charmingly add this sentence – “It was a lot of work, and I am so proud of myself.”
  • Next, you have to admit something to yourself, and I think this is the hardest part, and that is – “Not everyone will be happy about your good news.”
  • Once you admit that and understand that we as humans, are diversely motivated, it will be easy to let it go, and it won’t hurt your creative self as much.
  • Next, you make a mental note – “this person does not get a free copy of any of your future novels.”
  • Followed by, maybe you should consider how often you want to experience negativity and bad vibes, and decide to insert a few degrees of separation between you and that person, so the negativity and “put down” attitude does not affect your creative self.  This is not about holding grudges, this is about understanding that many times, it is better to surround yourself with more uplifting people, and leave les miserables to themselves.  If these are ties that cannot be severed completely (as in family/in laws…), then insert as many degrees of separation as you need to maintain the peace without hurting your creative self.
  • Then, let it out, share your story with one true friend who is uplifting, without engaging in character-bashing, but just exercising a natural gesture of sharing a bad experience.
  • Next, understand that this will not be the only time you will encounter les miserables in your journey.
  • And finally, let it go and don’t make more of it than what it is – no need to hold onto the negative experience – release it, and get ready to keep creating and making your next piece.

Hope that this post helps any of you that might be experiencing a dose of not requested les miserables attitude.  Keep strong, uplift your creative self, and keep creating.  🙂

Moonlit Valley Book Trailer

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Ok, so here it is, my first book trailer, which I had to learn to do, and spent all day making.  One very important issue when making a movie or video is to make sure that the source for images and music are ok to be used by you, whether you have obtained permission, or they are royalty free or approved for commercial use, or public domain.  Very important also to give credit according to the type of licensing the images or music have.  So here it is, the official book trailer for Moonlit Valley.  I hope that you enjoy it 🙂 as I did making it for you 🙂

 

Writing Candy – Sifting the Husks

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Let me start by saying that the path to a writing career requires a certain amount of study and learning, and tons of practice.  I say a certain amount because, writing should be your  primary focus.  Learning and reading other authors will teach you a great deal; however, it is by writing and rewriting that you will learn.  I wish I knew this when I started on this journey, it would have save me some precious time, but no ones knows it all.  With this in mind, from time to time, I try to share with you any blogs or sites that I think would have saved me much time, if I had known of them earlier.  This is in the hopes of saving you some time so you can embrace your writing.  Although everyone learns in different ways and pace, I can tell you that in my case I had to sift between much hay and debris to get to the grain.  For me the learning process was exhausting at times.  This is the reason I get so excited when I come across a blog or website that gives me the feeling of “Wow, I wish I had found you sooner.”  Here are a few that will certainly teach you or inform you in the right direction.

I don’t know how long these sites have been around but I recognize that these are professionals in their craft, and reading them early in your writing journey will help a great deal.  I hope that you enjoy these sites, as much as I do.

Building Your Brand – Author Nameplate Design

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Yesterday, I set on a mission – to create an author logo/nameplate for my book covers. This may be a bit unconventional, but I wanted to create a cohesive way to identify my author name with future book covers. I’ve noticed that most authors, except  a few, use a free style when it comes to have their names printed on a book cover.  I never understood this, and while I agree that a book’s title is more important and the first thing you notice, besides the art cover, I like the idea of matching an author’s name to a style/logo that you can recognize.  I’ve noticed that Nicholas Sparks has a cohesive flow to his name on the covers of the books, and just by catching a glimpse at one of his covers, I already recognize the image and associate it with his work.  He is one of the few that I’ve noticed doing this, although not in all his books.  If you check out a few book covers from different authors you will see what I mean.

I came up with a nameplate that I will include in future book covers. I had fun designing it and think that it fits my personality as well as the essence of my stories – that author’s persona that leaks throughout the story. I will not include it in Moonlit Valley, since the cover is already set to go – a scene from the book. However, since I am planning to write for the long run, it will become part of my brand. To me, branding is important, as it becomes as essence, with time.

For authors, branding includes many things besides a pen name, but I think that details are important, even when you are a first time author trying to build your brand slowly, which is what I am trying to do now.  I have thought about many examples of branding from well-known authors and will use two examples to illustrate my point.  When you think of branding, you can visualize Stephen King, (who is the king) and see how he has built his brand around his name.  Or, you can think of J.K. Rowling and see how she built her brand around the Harry Potter series.  For her, publishing another book outside the series, got her harsh criticism because her brand grew and developed around this character.  On the other hand, Mr. King may publish anything he wants, and his name becomes stronger.  I am not sure if you follow my point, but what I mean is that branding for authors goes beyond the product.  This got me thinking about creating a way in which I can start building an author’s brand as I continue in my writing journey – a lifetime journey.

Here is the design I came up with, and so far, I think that I am happy with it.  I like it because it is different and simple enough that it will not compete with other details going on the cover – it can cohabit, but at the same time, starts building visual recognition – over time, that is.  I believe that it is never too early to start building your brand.

Design by Maria Antonia Diaz

Design by Maria Antonia Diaz

Have you thought of branding your pen name/author’s name?  What do you think, as far as creating name recognition in future publications?

Announcing a Few Changes to Inkspeare

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This is just a quick post to let you know that I have rearranged the site a bit and added a section at the top tabs – NOVELS.  Here, you will find announcements and updates about these projects, as well as release date – as soon as it is available, and other information …  Also, I will keep you posted via regular posts.

I added a FB link to the right of this blog, where you can link to my FB author page, if you would like to friend me.  If you Tweet, you can friend me there as well.

In addition, you may notice that under Inkspeare, I added my author name. I opted out of a pen name for a single reason, and this is thanks to a comment that was made by Indi author Cliff Burns on one of my older posts –Writer’s Wisdom 17, Pen Names – he commented,

“I have a real aversion to pen names/pseudonyms. I’m aware that some very fine writers have employed them but I want my real name on everything I write (including postings on the internet, I never hide behind safe anonymity).
Any book or writing project I would resist putting my name on probably isn’t worth publishing. I take responsibility for what I release and when it’s bad, I’ll to take my fair share of blame…”

Until I read that comment, I had considered the possibility of writing under a pen name that might sound a bit more “sophisticated.”  I have to say that Mr. Burns’ comment opened my eyes on this topic, and I thank him for this.  Therefore, I am using my real name as my author name – Maria Antonia Diaz.

Writers hand with pen

Writers hand with pen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Don’t Undervalue Your Art

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Mass-produced hamburgers.

Mass-produced hamburgers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Would you sell your soul for a penny?  I think most of us would answer NO to that question.  To me, Art comes from the soul, whether it is a novel, a painting, a handmade piece.  When an artist creates a piece, he/she pours soul into it.  I wrote artist, because there is a difference between someone making something for commercial purposes, mass-produced, rushed, or repetitive, and someone who pours his/her soul into creating something.  I can see this in the self-publishing industry, were writers are taking advantage of the boom, and writing quantity, many times, priced very low, hoping to get momentum and creating a stream of constant flow of income.  There is nothing wrong with that, if that is what someone wants to do; however, when you love the craft and pour your soul into it, most likely, quantity will not matter.

That is the difference between product and art, the soul’s passion that goes into it.  Of course, eventually, an art piece/novel becomes a product in the market and will generate income, however, for the artist, the rewards go deeper than that.  It is the satisfaction of presenting art to the public, knowing that it is a part of him/her and has been crafted in due time – when it is ready and perfect enough in his/her eyes, to be released.

A hobby can be easily commercialized, mass-produced if you want; art is beyond that, bigger than money, however of value, extending from the inner self of the artist and going as far as it can reach the souls of others, and therefore, not disposable, but becoming immortal in the souls of those who appreciate it.

Ask yourself, am I an artist or a production leader?

 

Watercolors

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I have been in the painting mood and decided to try art this morning.  The rule, to paint whatever came to mind.  One of the paintings is called “I want an iPhone”  and was probably inspired by today’s news.  The other painting, might have been as well.  Here are pictures of both.

“I want an iPhone”  watercolor

“Not a Paintball Game”  watercolor

 

Here are a few, which I painted at the beginning of the week.

 

“Moonlight Dreams”  another watercolor inspired by my companion of 20 years – Misty.

I think I was thinking of her when I painted these too – “Tis’ a Hallow Night” and “Sweet Dreams are Made of Mice” although I was looking at Piewackett when I painted the second one.

 

“Tis’ a Hallow Night”  watercolor and pen

 

 

“Sweet Dreams are Made of Mice”  watercolor and pen

 

This one just came to me, “The Grass is Greener”

“The Grass is Greener” watercolor and pen

 

I decided to paint the farmhouse as we discovered it, the first time – a dilapidated old giant with foliage growing all over, broken windows, doors, steps, concrete, and a no trespassing sign.  I will hang this painting in the living room once we complete the restoration.

“Old Giant” watercolor

 

And of course, I found the best way to stretch a watercolor painting.  Here it is.

How to stretch a watercolor “the cat method.”  Muni Mu doing her duties as painting stretcher.

  1. Slightly, wet the back of the dry painting.
  2. Place a towel underneath, a mat, and place a cat on top.  The weight and heat will do the job.

Some of my paintings are available at The Owl, Book and Candle

 

 

Book Progress

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This is a short update on my writing progress – it has been a while since my last post about my novels.  Currently, I am working on final revisions for two novels.  I have decided to work on the third novel which is semi-organized in paper and thoughts, and will postpone publishing for now.  There are a few reasons for this, and I rather wait until I straighten some issues.  In addition, my uncertainty about looking for an agent and going indie has cleared up.  I find that the wait helped me understand indie publishing  a bit better, and although not my intention at the beginning (I was thinking about going the traditional route), now I feel that the right path for me is indie publishing.  This path seems to agree much more with my personality, work ethics, and working style.

One thing worries me; there seems to be a self-publishing frenzy going on now, and tons of poor quality work out in print.  In addition, there is the conflict with pricing issues between Amazon and publishing houses, authors and publishing houses, and everyone and their neighbors … It is obvious that this frenzy will subside eventually, and hopefully, the writers looking for a quick buck will dwindle as well, and just as with an ice age, that the writing environment clears up.  These things concern me now and weigh heavy on my decision to self-publish.  Added to issues of a pending move out-of-state, financial, and lifestyle changes, the best path is to wait and keep writing the third novel.

A friend told me that I was risking missing the boat by waiting but I disagree.  I don’t think anybody’s boat goes missing just because one decides to wait until the time that it feels right (and that is a personal issue and different for everyone).  However, I happen to agree with chasing opportunity when it knocks and if you feel ready for the chase.  Many times, “just jump now” works; other times, you may find that the abyss could have been avoided if you just waited until your foot was touching ground.

How do you feel about the self-publishing frenzy going on now or about self-publishing in general?  Feel free to share your experience in the comment section.