I am loving the idea of cartoon writing to combine my artist and writer's skill.

I attended a great seminar in Melbourne on Wednesday this week. It was about Cartoon writing and I have been busy since I have arrived home. I have a strict time limit I need to apply to this work as my novel writing is my priority but I have decided I will for the moment apply myself 4 hours a day x 5 times a week and my cartoon images will be com available to my readers though my blog sites.

I put all the tips from the seminar into practice immediately I have got back to my studio. Until I get up a volume of my own cartoon work I am using some free use on the internet cartoons. I am a fan of HickingArtist's work.

I have been busy since I got home to the country following up on a lot of the great advice I received at this seminar. I have reopened my Page on facebook and invite you to join me there and I have also opened a twitter account after resisting doing this for years and found it wasn't do difficult. My next task will be to do some creative work with photo images combines with my art and build these into my blogs and promote these blogs though twitter posts and see if this increases my current paid blog writing projects.

So I have a goal and action plan, to double my current essay length writing income boosted with some cartoon imagery to try to boost readership, to help support my novel writing and an action play to proceed with by promoting this work.

_If you were to spell Kathy in an exaggerated form - as in a cartoon - a little like Coo-eeee ot Crikey! How would you write it? I'm playing with the idea for an Indigo, Red (always accidentally spell Reg and Red) and Katheee I want a long drown out Eeeeeee sound at the end so thought I would ask for advice :-) on how you think it should be spelt.
Oh and their daughter Dyslexia and son.....Hoolie?

Thank you Writers Victoria. I just won a place in this seminar and I am TRILLED. Organizing the trip to the big city and my notebooks, now :-).

I had best go pack out bags, leave tomorrow, home on Thursday. Need to be a big girl and learn how to catch a train from the outer suburbs into a city I usually avoid like the plague...lol...'country girl here.' :-).
Will be staying over nights with our daughter in the suburbs and Reg can stay with her while I take off for the day.. :-) WOW! Haven't done anything like this in a couple of decades. summer-school-cartoon-writing

__
If you are a writer, consider this when writing a sex scene.:
Writing sex scenes can be a daunting task of balancing hot passion with believability. The sex should have a purpose in the story (unless it's a voyeuristic look into your protagonist's bedroom romps). Think about the characters involved, what does this encounter between the sheets mean for them?


I was, the 65 year old straight girl, me in a writer's forum giving advice to young women who were struggling to write a sex scene in a novel.

My advice was:

Don't. :-)

Write as suits YOU. Never compare yourself with others - write in YOUR voice. Sex might sell but so do apples.

For example in my writing: Mind you you can practice and get better at it if you want to but seriously - I don't write about vampires, nor make romance more than a side plot and I'll never write graphic nor deviant sex.

My characters have sex, but the sex is not the reason for my novels, so why tell my reader how they did it...that's their business.

i am happy with the four fade in and out scenes in my novel and that is how I write sex.

It will not make me a better writer if I were to put graphic sex where graphic sex doesn't belong in an otherwise good story.

Remember the 10,000 hour rule. That's roughly how much work and practice it takes to become accomplished in any field, whether it be sporting, creative of professional; 10,000 hours is 5 years of full time hard work.
Ian Irvine Australian Author

I believe I have my 10,000 hours of writing 'in the bag,' however i need another couple of years working on reading the classics and some great crime writers and polishing grammar. You never cease learning.  I am beginning my apprenticeship in having a fiction novel published my prior published work was in non-fiction and essay or novella length work and I had a publisher before I began to write.

_I sat down with the books Mission Possible, How to Make Money from your Writing
Also A Decent Proposal, How to sell your book to an Australian Publisher or literary agent.


I have had a huge learning curve day.
I joined Sisters in Crime inc today,  it looks like there is a great deal of helpful information on the website.
I found this blog on writing a query letter.

I wrote my 7 word novel pitch.
"Crime mystery, historical and young adult theme. "

I already had my 25 word elevator pitch written. i still have not learned it off by heart. I MUST do that.
"Children begin and then try to stop an escalating culture of payback in this compelling story of treachery and love during European settlement of Australia. "

Then I wrote a 150 word concept statement about my novel for the publishers. I put more information about the author together. i learned how to program my Word document to correct my grammar under stricter guidelines.

I found a good explanation of the difference between the active and passive style of writing.
Active Style.
The emerging writer (noun) researched (Action - verb) target publishers (object receiver of action.)

Passive Style.
Target publishers were researched by the emerging writer.

Altogether a great day.  I might call it a day and get to bed at 1am instead of 3 or 4 am for a change.

_This place was once called Murdering Point and is accessed via the Murdering Point Road. What a fascinating history. I can only dig up a few lines about the murder and cannibalism of ship wrecked sailors on line and wonder what the author could dig up over four months in person while living in this area and then have the skill to write it as fiction.

I found a little out of the way place called Kurrimine Beach which has an enormous expanse of beach fronting on to the King coral reef. The reef prevents boat launching and good swimming although snorkeling is good at high tide. At low tide you can walk on sand right to the edge of the coral which apparently wasn't damaged during cyclone Yasi.

There are pockets of forest around the area and it is close to the mountains whee there will be bush walks and waterfalls and great painting opportunities if I decide to open up the French Easel.

The photo is of the Maria Creek which runs though Maria Creek National Park.

It is around the time of the Christmas New Year break when I often begin making some definite plans for where we will tour to relax, walk, fish, write and of course paint, during the year. I believe I have found our 2012 mid year destination. It sounds perfect for Reg and my needs. I have rung the park manager where I think we will stay and they have an attractive long term rate for seniors stay. I am currently working on my novel so have postponed writing to them and making reservations but the more I research this location from my computer her in the Goulburn Vally, the more I believe I have found the perfect mid year retreat for this pair of gray-nomads, for 2012.

My websites are:
ART :
Author:

_Wishing everyone a very happy new Year.

Where we spend New Year depends very much on if I need to be selling my own novel or is I succeed in getting an advance from a publisher.

How much or if at all I paint, will depend on what i am reading and writing and how I am going with my fitness workouts in 2012. I loved my painting once. Without an art gallery I have no market for my art work now and no desire to paint cheapies for the tourist trade when i was at the top of my profession. I have no desire to trips around art galleries marketing my work now - so it does seem my focus is fully and near totally on my writing which travels a lot more easily with me than an art gallery. 

I still see things I would like to paint but have no need of more art work in my home and as mentioned I have a total disinterest in marketing art now I do not have my Buninyong Gallery.

I will continue to paint one major art work per year, I have this year's work planned. This will be a challenging portrait within a landscape. I love to do this to prove to myself, the skill is still within me and I can return to it any time I choose.  Right now I just want to enjoy the landscape, the people and write about them.

I was very quiet in my blogging over the past week as I worked hard to complete the last edit of my Australian novel.
The work is complete save for minor changes following the proof readings.

I already have a rough draft for the sequel and part of the first chapter written.

Today I returned to one of two non-fiction books I am writing.

This is a  beginning of it.


Artslim

The Art of Natural Slimming

Diets do not work.

The only way to successfully achieve a healthy weight and maintain it is:

Do NOT go on a diet.

If you want to achieve a naturally healthy weight and maintain it, for 97% of us, thinking in terms of how much weight you have to loose or what weight you wish to attain will not achieve that goal and maintain it.

If you are still thinking in terms of being a certain weight or trying to lose a certain amount of kilo it is highly likely that you have been gaining and losing those same kilos over and over throughout your life and possibly becoming heavier on average with each decade.  If you have been on a yo-yo weight rise and fall all your life why not take a look at a fresh approach and learn the art of natural diet free slimming?

The second non-fiction Book I plan to write concerns travelling Australia and earning your living as you go.
The third book will concern earning your living as a free lance creative person, author and artist.

_I just read the first chapter of the wonderful classic "Anne of Green Gables"
It broke so many editing 'rules.' Used words like 'little' and 'very' and two uses of 'very' in the one sentence.  And guess what - it was the BEST written chapter I have read in a long while.   I am beginning to think I should throw out some of the rule books. 
For example, AutoCrit editing software, ells me I use see/saw/hear and feel words too often.  Well - heck - my characters are in touch with feelings s the feel and they are in a wonderful landscape of inland Australia and living by working with the elements of that landscape do they need to 'see.'  I think the point here is that editing software is only a guide. it helps e highlight unnecessary words and passages in my text and look for substitute words for frequently used words, but the author has the final artistic license to decide if words like very, little, has, it, see, heard, feel and all those myriad of other over used by many of us, words are necessary.
If you put a passage of L.M.Montgomery though the AutoCrit program it would scream, overused words. This does not make her writing bad.  if  L.M.Montgomery's writing is an example of what 'not to do', please may I one day write as well as she did and break as many rules. I thought her writing beautiful.