Well then...

Hello there all you happy people...and depressed people.

I've had an awful fall...with some good in it. I now live in the Pacific Northwest's wet part of the Evergreen State. Good because I now don't sound like a horse when I sleep, didn't end up in hospital or almost dying, and can breathe loads better. Bad because money...costs a lot more to live where we're at. At least my family is together again.

I've been depressed. Severely depressed. A huge portion of it has been situational. Things I don't want to talk about in specific, but lies, betrayal, people pretending to be your friend, being apart from my kids during the week, being gone from youngest (whom I had with me) for 13-15 hours a day as I commuted to the job I found...yeah. Bad times. Depression like I've not known since Post partum hit me, only this was worst. I'd lost my center. I found it again. Depression is still trying to nip at my heels, but I finally have a grasp on its horns and can toss it out the window easier and quicker.

But I think why it hit me so hard, all the above things were happening and I had little to no time for my sanity. Ie art, writing, crafts. Didn't have time for anything. Well, I'm writing again. Pulled paints out of storage (I'm currently living in a friend's garage with my family!) and plan to paint again. Haven't painted in months due to time and space.

I love where my kids are going to school, but unless some miracle happens, we aren't going to be able to stay. Well, I'm trying to make that miracle happen. How? With my writing and art. I've started a newsletter, claimed all my books on my amazon author page, have marketing plans, new release, new covers being made, and am back at the editing job. Plus, I'm going to be back to selling my art. Have been through a lot of boxes in storage. I have found a few paintings that haven't been destroyed with the move (It was a bit depressing to see how many had been messed up) and will be putting the listings up.

I've added the subscribe list to the sidebar here on this blog.

I've put new stuff up in my Etsy shop here.

Point is, I haven't completely given up, though it was close sailing for a while. But onwards and upwards. Here we go!

First of all, let me show you our new release cover of the box set I'm in with some fabulous authors.

 

Isn't the cover gorgeous!! Pick up your preorder for only 99 cents here! You won't be disappointed.

 

PS Thank you to all of you whom have stuck around through my ups and downs. Time for more ups than downs, don't you think?

Art Show Sunnyside Museum

Well, it's another day in paradise for me :D I've really been working hard at balancing my life. The results are amazing. Regular time painting, focusing on writing, still getting editing job done. Head editor stuff is taking an enormous amount of time, some of which I resent as it sometimes feel as duplicate stuff I'm having to do by doing things that are frustrating and give me literal splitting headaches, but since balancing, it's less intrusive and I'm more productive. So, even in your day job, learning to balance and make time for what's important, you will improve.

I've strived hard in writing and painting. Lately, both had fallen to the wayside. But no more. First thing that's happened, is I've made time to do stuff daily. Made a schedule of sorts. Business morning, arting afternoon. And it really is a basic as that. A tight schedule wouldn't work for me as my needs change. But, I've had time to swim with my kids, and my husband and I have had a little time almost every night that I've been able to spend with my husband doing nothing but watch Bones. (He's going to kill me for getting him into this when he reaches the episode involving Sweets and not making it. LOL) That's huge to me. Spending time with my family is important, even if my kids are whining about chores every time they're asked to do them! lol

The change has led me to really focus and look at what I want which led to me seeing and taking time to respond to announcement of a call for artists from my home town. The Sunnyside Art Commission and the Sunnyside Museum are working together. The artist reception is my first not school related and I'm nervous!

I have six pieces looking to be in the show. Here's the one that made it to the front page of the Daily Sun News:

The original photo was done by my friend Toby. He lives in Scotland, where my heart is...um, Scotland, not Toby :P This photo doesn't do my photo justice. You can get an idea of it here, as well:
http://www.dailysunnews.com/news/2015/apr/09/prepping-museum-art-show/

It's something I may not have seen or participated in if I hadn't made my focus change. I want to create art, both visually and with the written word. I love to edit because it improves my craft and allows me to help a lot of writers make their dreams come true, but I love writing and painting more, because I truly believe that stories and paintings can change a person at a soul level. That it's more than about the story, but about the love, the loss, sadness, happiness, fantasy, the time spent going to a new place in your heart and soul, somewhere that you may not go without the author or artists leading you there. I believe that I can speak to people's soul, and that is my calling.

Mondays, I'm going to make a concerted effort to be about art. I will be sharing my artwork and talking of some of my favorite authors, both alive and dead :D

Here's a photo of a work in progress (original photo by Justine Littleton):

I am currently waiting for it to dry so I can do the next stage. I usually work on my photos, but one, my hearts in Scotland and Toby's photos and willingness to allow me to paint them, soothes my soul. Two, I needed more inspiration and asked friends if they had photos. Justine is a client and was nice enough to send me a bunch. I love lighthouses and the ocean, making this a natural choice for me.

Something in the picture has to call to me in order for me to paint it. It's not the same as simply enjoying a pic. It's something different and intangible. I'm not a realism painter, nor do I do copies. I like to say I'm an expressionist impressionist. Basically, if I don't like you or the subject matter, the pic won't be as good as my emotions will color through. I also do a bit of abstract here and there, but that style is style derivative of my main one. Here's an example:

A very up close picture of an Iris. Oil on canvas, mainly done with a palette knife. (This one is sold.) It's part of my Ode to O'Keefe line. I have a canvas up to do another one this week, so I hope I find the right inspiration as I'm itching to do some of this bold style.


I hope that you enjoy my new art series and that it soothes some part of your heart and soul. Please notice the new subscriber list. I'm just starting up and will be doing news and more details on their, as well as book releases and when paintings go for sale.

Losing My Mojo and Health

Hi :)

I'm back. I've tried to be back before, but, 2013 saw the start of my writing mojo drain, partly from health and partly from stress. I had an editor tell me, and tear my work apart for 40 pages then tell me to figure the rest out on my own and they weren't going to edit the rest, that unrelated clauses were comma splices. I spent hours and hours searching and never found any sites that said it that were independent from this person. I felt stupid, but I learned about comma splices, fused sentences, and run ons like you wouldn't believe. (For the record, a comma splice is ONLY one thing: Two INDEPENDENT CLAUSES, related or not, that are joined by only a comma. Period. There is no other comma splices. You run into kissing cousins of fused sentences (two complete sentences with no punctuation) or run ons (two sentences with a conjunction word but no comma), but there is only one comma splice.). However, that feeling that maybe I'm stupid stayed with me. The stresses and drama kept going.

Then, on top of that, my health declined. I nearly died June 26, 2013 from my asthma and allergies from living where we were. I started finding a way to leave the house for 4 hours a day, nearly every day, and made it through the summer of 2014 without getting that ill. However, in January of 2015, after leaving that house for good, I'm still fighting chest issues from living there. It makes me slow, tired, can be cranky, etc. I do have a doctor's appointment in February (move caused me to need a new clinic so had to wait.). I can't wait. In the meantime, I'm still waaayy better than I had been before, despite the sore throat and tight chest that sets off my asthma rather easily.

I work on being positive, and for the most part, I manage on my social media and even at home. I am painting more, doing more crafts, and yes, even writing more. Not where I used to be, but, in the midst of the years of illness, I found solace in editing. Maybe I couldn't find the imagination to write like I used to, but at least I was helping others.

Now, I've pulled eleven of my books from the old publisher. I've re-released The Ulfric's Mate, the first in my War of the Weres series, the second will be re-released next month, my only 3some erotic sort of book will be re-released under a new name, Luck of the Draw, also next month. I always hated the title of the old one, but love that it's been changed :D I am in edits for my Epic Fantasy, Cerisa's Quest, to be out in March, and I'm working on new stuff. I am absolutely thrilled with this. The writing is still slow, and I'm still fighting the procrastination temptation that stems from me "not being good enough" that has been instilled in me elsewhere. I can logically tell myself that I was right, that it doesn't matter, but fact is, it did and does. My success with Ulfric's re-release, though not breaking any records, is a big comfort. It has a full newly done scene, and has been re-edited, so no one should be disappointed if they buy the new one. I've added over 1k words and done a re-edit on The Midwife's Moon as well. We've also added a glossary of terms and places and peoples for the series. I'm so excited!! Again, stuff not available in the old versions. Plus, I'll be doing a War of the Weres Chronicles series. First off will be the story formally only available in an anthology, Barely There. It will be number one. I'm still writing number 2, Moriah and Kamiakin's story, but have number three finished, and number four mostly finished. I have book three of the full lengths (55k+) at 30k and cooking. So this series is about to pop!

My art is going well, and people are buying it. I have multiple collectors now, which blows my mind!
Here's a recent finished painting:

And another one (Both are Scotland :D My obsession...):

On the home front, the new schools seem to be really good for my kids. My son earned a citizenship award today! I'm so proud. :D Another son is well liked by the administration at his school, which is a relief. I've lost my grandpa. Though I haven't seen him in years due to money, I'm still distraught about it. He has my happy memories from a child before I was adopted. I had others not so bad, but he was the clearest. The other memories revolved around abuse (one family member, but the rest were from our neighborhood) so this has been a big deal for me.

Last February, I hurt my leg. I messed up my knee and shins. I'm still having pain, but feel it is finally getting better. I'm going to ask for an xray at that doctor's appointment. Last night, my husband sliced his thumb pretty badly. My son's been in a car accident, but he's fine now.

^^ a lot of that may sound bad, er, and is, but we are doing way better than before, and the future is looking good! I hope that with my renewed health that I'll be back to writing blogs like I did before. Thank you to all of you who have stayed with me while I desperately held on with both hands to my writing through sickness and depression. Things are looking up,  I'm getting published, I'm selling my art, and I'm very much excited for the future. I hope to give you more blogs and less promotional blogs in the coming year.

Thank you guys for sticking it in!! Big hugs and Happy New Year! :D

Leona