Farewell June & Random Kitty

quote:  When I was the stream, when I was the forest, when I was still the field, when I was every hook, foot, fin, and wing. There was nothing I could not love. (Meister Eckhar)

superstition: rings through the earlobe are supposed to keep the Evil Eye away. Except in the case of sailors, who believed they would give them better eyesight. (Linda Spenser/ Knock On Wood...)

everyday omen: I go out to get into the car and this is when I miss Random Magic kitty cat who used to escort me to the car. I say aloud how unhappy I am and how I miss him. A second later, I look down and there is a perfect blue jay feather on the ground where Random usually would stand. This happened twice. (I had never found a blue jay feather in the yard before, and not since.) Thanks for the message, Random Magic, I love you, too.)

tidbits:
There are over 300,000 books written about Napoleon. (Science magazine)

Several studies have been done regarding reading on screen. They say that it is 25% slower to read on screen and makes a person more tired. High resolution helps some.

I am reading "Show Your Work!" by Austin Kleon. Cool! The book puts a new light on "getting out there".  Getting out there is an onerous task. Sharing my work, not so much.  Hey, I learned sharing in 'Show and Tell' in grammar school...
But I have a not so great track record of choosing what people might like. For instance, the design I liked best of my 2015 Christmas and Yule card designs this year (and last) came in last place. Sigh! The one I didn't think anyone would like came in the top five. By the way, the top design by customer vote is "A Purrrfect Holiday". (Oops, this doesn't take the file format I have the image in...)

Back to the book. You might check it out if you want to cultivate a new attitude towards getting your work out for people to admire--or make faces at, whatever...

Sara, The Writer
Phew, I'm done the last edit on Byran 5, now it is going to Word (R) for it's tweak edit where I make sure I've followed through on all the story threads and so forth. But not just yet. Right now I'm burnt out on that story.
I am writing on the next Miss Kitty Mystery. Dance! Dance! I am a much easier person to live with when I am writing. I am at about 50 pages as of June 20th.
I started bookmaking (my version of outlining) and suddenly I wondered why I hadn't thought to make a Series Bookmaking document before. Who knows why, I rarely write something that is a stand alone.
Anyway, in case you are curious, here is the start of the series and the series bookmaking document:

Bookmaking A Series
Is this going to be a series? Yup.
If yes, what is the Series Title?  Jump Hunters
Series Idea: Relays... Darn! What was that idea I had? Oh, the Relays turn into being like the Jinn Cousins, always Family,, as long as they have the talent.
I don't want it to be another private spy series. What are they going to do? Chase down missing people maybe. Getting missing people or rescuing people from hard to get to or in places? I guess they can rescue cats and dogs and some creatures, too... or maybe only one of them will do that.
Series Type: open-ended, standalone sequential stories
What is the Series Tie? The characters, there is a group, but Kappin, a young male unofficial Jump Hunter is the focus character; Relaying (This is a magic talent in the world I write in, where a person can 'jump' from one place to another by magic.)
Theme of the Series: I decided on Rescues, but they don't start the series knowing that.
Series quest object: success, acclaim would be nice, a solid business.

Sara, The Artist
Yippee! I got all the pictures for the Tiger's large planner sketched, inked, scanned, and tweaked and, just now printed, even though the printer took f-o-r-e-v-e-r to print them tonight. Where do all the dots and smears come from? They aren't in my inks!
I am painting Christmas and Yule cards. (Nope, it's not too early for me to start, I have lots of them to paint this year.) I am avoiding painting calendar pictures. There are lots of those to paint, too, but not so many.

Happy Summer as of Sunday June 21.
June 25, 1951 was the 1st color TV broadcast (by CBS).
On June 23, the first typewriter in America. In 1868 by Luther Sholes.

Hello June 4

 This picture is Niki Sian, the next print book to come out, June 21, is the 3rd book in The Relays Series and features him and his twin sister. He's holding a scrying disc.

quote: Everything we call real is made up of things that cannot be regarded as real. Niel Bohr

superstition: to keep nightmares away: use garnets, a dream catcher, or put cold iron next to your bed.

everyday omen: Okay, four toe stubs in a week must mean something, especially if it is the same toe. Obviously I am not catching this one. I open Louise Hay's 'Healing Your Body A-Z' for pointers. She says toes represent the minor details of the future. I'm still confused. I find somewhere else that toes as a omen called sabotaging oneself. That might be. Oh, there's the phrase stepping on one's toes. (Recently demonstrated...) That also might be.

The Celtic Tree Month of Oak starts June 10. Oaks stand for strength, security, and long life. Oak is a masculine moon, my source says, dealing with purpose, magic for men, and fidelity.
 
Possibly interesting tidbits:
> In the 1600's thermostats were filled with brandy rather than mercury.
> The first postcards were sent in Hungary in 1869. (That caught my attention because I have a postcard newsletter I'm procrastinating on...)
> James Ayscough invented sunglasses for someone to thank for those no longer blinded by the light.

thoughts: I am being tormented by a premonition--whatever it is.  One that feels dire (to me) and is likely personal. (I guess it is about one of my cats, big unhappiness.) So far, I could bypass June and go directly into October, which I usually like better.

Sara, The Writer: I can do this. I don't want to. I am slogging through Byran book 5 still. I finally got through the 9 million new tweaks and my editing self had better not find any more, I'm over them!

Whoopee! I started writing the next Miss Kitty Mystery, Portals & Poison, book 11.  Fun, fun, fun. Grim, The Evil Inner Editor says, "It's no good. There's too much conversation. You don't know where you're going. You are off on a tangent." (Most of that isn't actually true.)

Zip, I get side tracked and start bookmaking a new series that has been rolling around in my mind for awhile. Maybe something will come of it. It's about the Jump Hunters in the Miss Kitty Mysteries.
In the middle of that, I tangented into the thought: Why have I never set up a bookmaking document to address the fact that I usually write in a series? That way I can lay some tracks so I know right away where I want the series to go. For instance the main character in a series needs a long arc of growth that covers all the books (assuming she or he is going to change. I know they all don't, some mystery characters stay the same book to book. (Mine is already growing each book.)

Why do I read? I read stories for enjoyment and escape. Why do you read? What are the common threads in the stories that you enjoy reading? Aren't they in your stories as well?
I want to leave my readers hopeful and feeling complete, with warm fuzzies at the end of my stories. Those are the kind I like to read as well. What about you?

Sara, The Artist
I am painting the outside of my house. Does that count???
I painted on my tapestry of Ganesha and now I like how he is coming along. Putting in eyes helped a lot. If I don't feel hopeful about my art coming out a way I like, I avoid it and grump at it as I walk by...
I started painting the calendar pictures for the 2016 Sara Ryan Limited Edition Wall Calendar...after all that lead in, I only have 2 painted so far... Below is a copy of the January 2016 calendar picture.