Editing a Novel

I've finally finished editing my novel, Child of Galina. This book has been in the works since 2005. It has traveled with me from Woodlawn, VA to Loris, SC and back to Virginia. It has changed, morphed, had better versions of it created and then lost, forcing me to go back to the original draft and start again. Now I'm in the final steps of learning how to convert it to a kindle file and sell it on Amazon. The journey of writing this book has been a long one, but a rewarding one.

Having taken such a long break from the novel when I went back over it, it was amazing to me how much of my life was reflected back at me in those pages, scenes written based on what I had been experiencing in my own life at that time. It truly makes me appreciate novels as an extension of the author's life. I don't think that any writer can completely take themselves out of their writing, especially in fiction. The story has to come from somewhere. Even in a fantasy that story comes from the heart and mind of the writer.

I cannot wait until the novel is up and available for people to buy and read on Amazon. I will let you know as soon as it is for sale!

Mad Monster Party 2013

Richie and I attended Mad Monster Party in Charlotte, NC again this year. Our highlights of this year were:

Meeting the one and only Unicorn Master - Vic Armstrong

Scream Queen Linnea Quigley

Lea Thompson, who upon discovering how cold my hands were held them to her cheek to warm them. 

Danny Glover himself.

Haruo Nakijima - the king of all monsters (Godzilla)

The sweet and quirky Amelia Kinkade.

Gunnar Hansen - Gentleman Slasher (Leatherface)

Dan Yeager - Super nice slasher dude. Had an awesome convo with him.

Mini Scream Queen Danielle Harris.

Checking off the Bucket List

Friday I was able to check off one of the items that has been on my bucket list for awhile now. That is getting a tattoo. Although I almost psyched myself out before getting it. I was expecting the pain to be much worse than it was. It was not that bad at all.

I got the tattoo on my right forearm. It is an ampersand with two black birds on it. The ampersand is my favorite font character and with the amount of writing I do and the number of fonts that I work with in my job this tattoo reflects this era of my life. The birds, well, I love birds, one bird represents me, the other represents Richie.

I found an ampersand that I liked and added the birds from another image that I took apart.

For Richie, he wanted an ampersand since I was getting one as well, but he's always wanted a fox tattoo so I designed his ampersand around his fox using a font that was more "furry" looking. His tattoo is on his left forearm.