Artwork. Writing Journal: March 2nd, 2012
I awoke at 1:36am this morning. My mind was overflowing with ideas–and my desire is always to catch such idea’s when they arise. So I quietly got out of bed, careful not to wake my sleeping sweetheart, snatched my mac laptop from the desk and made my way downstairs. One of the nice things about my friends’ home is the position of all the bedrooms–I can get up in the middle of the night, make a full scale meal with all the lights on and I won’t disturb a soul.
So I put on a kettle and curl up on the couch with the laptop. I start writing. Before I know it, four hours have passed and nearly two chapters are done. One is a completely new twist to Chronicles and the other a beautiful rewrite. It feels good…to which I’m grateful. The writing of this book has been extraordinarily difficult.
Losing a job, losing our home and condensing your life into two rooms isn’t for the faint of heart. The distractions are constant–yanking my attention away from the story, including the needs of the family. We’re putting all our faith and hopes behind this story and I take side jobs whenever I can get them. There is constant stress and constant worry on my part. But all things in life have a purpose. So we move on and do the very best we know how, with what we have and who we have to work with.
When I’m done with my writing, I yawn, look at the clock and go back to bed. It’s been a productive morning.
Kathi let’s me sleep (bless her heart), and when I do wake up, I find she’s been working on edits as well. She’s been thinking about something (to which I’m always leery–because it usually means I’ve missed something myself). The artwork for Chronicles of a Hero, Vol. I. Hmmm, been thinking about that too. Turns out we’re on the same page.
Since the injuries from the car accident have acted up again, it’s difficult to create the type of pictures I have wanted in the books. Then again, if I could draw as I desired, I wouldn’t be doing novels…I’d be in the comic book business. For your information, I have enjoyed…and feel a far greater satisfaction, in being a YA Author, than I ever did being a cartoonist. Now that I’ve gone through this process twice, I wouldn’t give it up–but I refuse to let someone else draw my story. I may not get it 100% right…but it’s still my heart, vision and life’s work.
Personally, I didn’t like what I ended up doing in Prelude to a Hero. The time crunch won out, and I still regret it.
Maybe I’ll revisit the book and change out the art in the future…Hmmmmm.
Anyway, I don’t want to make the same mistake this time. Even if I have to tape a quill to my hand, I want better artwork in this next book and every book thereafter. I have the skill—I just need my hands to comply. What creations will I draw? I don’t know, to tell you the truth. Whatever grabs my attention in the story I’m guessing. Kathi’s suggestion has been to enjoy the process and give my heart to it–like I used to, and then we can sit down and go through what we have and pick out the very best for the book.
Something with backgrounds, she says, so we can fill pages. That sounds nice.
