Showing posts with label book writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book writing. Show all posts

Make a date under the sea


well, i've been doing my best to hone my skills on the computer to colorize my sketches and thanks to some help from some friends i've been chipping off some of my techno lameness and learning the ropes...albeit the basic ones! but i've been able to separate the layers between my outlines and background (thanks ben! haha)and learned how to better shade/highlight. i'm still getting used to it all but this was my first one. i've got a cartoon that i also did and will post later.

the big news for me is i have finished writing out my second full novel and it turned out better than i expected. i now have the fun task of editing and i'm currently plowing my way through that so that is why i haven't been able to mess around with the cartoons as much as i would have liked. well, that's all for now and hope u all are having a great weekend! :)



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The Hills Gets a New Cast Member


this is the next cartoon i sketched and inked and then colored using my digital tablet. i was still testing out what other kinds of features i could use in the background department and i thought this one was fun. anyways i've turned it into a greeting card you can see on PigSpigot.

an update on my novel, I'm excited that i've been able keep adding to it a bit each day and i'm not getting a clear idea of how it's all going to wrap up. as of now i'm a touch over 44,000 words and have crested the point in which the 'end is in sight!' i'm excited to get the whole plot woven together; i'll give you all the details soon and once i've finished i will probably post a few excerpts too.

that's all for now and remember, proceed forward with plastic surgery at your own risk!


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If you're feeling sunk drop me a line!


i'm very excited that i got a new Wacom tablet and have been playing around with it to color in my cartoons. i'm still learning all of the features and getting better control with the pen and such, but so far i'm liking it. here is one of the first few cartoons i've colored using it, but i'm not really completely happy with the finished product as it is now. i want to learn how to do a better job with the shading and highlighting; like i said it's sort of been me bumbling through the program so i hope over time i'll get a better hold of it. in the mean time i do like that it gives the drawings a more polished look. and you can see this in its card form at PigSpigot.

on the writing front i'm still plowing forward with my latest novel idea and am sort of mapping out the rest of the plot in my head. i'm liking how it's turning out thus far but want to add in some unexpected twists; but they are going to require a little research so i'm putting my thinking cap on and hopefully i'll reach the end soon. :) that's all for now...you all are having a great weekend!


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The Little Brother Conquers


Being laid up with a gimp leg is no fun, and i've been trying to get in some quality drawing time but it's been so tough to deal with this clipboard...i miss tables! But i've been doing my best and here's a little cartoon i made for one of my friends; it depicts the ongoing saga of sibling rivalry and we can all appreciate the joy that comes when the younger brother at last is able to stand up to his older bro!

I've also been able to work on my latest novel idea, which i'm actually beginning to like more an more. I had started without a real clear picture of where the plot would eventually lead and the ending, but i had the premise in mind. this is the first time where i just kind of plunk down and start writing what comes to mind; a little experiment i guess. we'll see how this ends up.

Anyways, my dad is visiting (actually more like working like crazy!) to help me out around her. he's been AMAZING; cleaning, arranging, and doing everything for me; i feel like a spoiled little brat watching him doing all this work while i lie here and watch tv and type on the computer. gotta love the man! :)

Well, that's it for now, so until next time...


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Novel query letter round 3

Hello, hello again!

I hope you're all having a great Saturday and up to something fun. Well, I started by day off with a little run and then decided that if I'm going to keep the ball moving on my push to pursue getting some books published I should make headway on my YA novel query letter. I had posted it a while back here and also on some forums and go some good feedback. Mostly that it was too wordy and to cutout a lot of the back story and get to the point. So I started from scratch and hope that this one will meet with me some better success. I sent this one out to some agents and my goal is to keep sending those emails out until something starts to materialize! So, feel free to read my latest revision and as always any input is welcomed!

Dear Agent,

Kendra has her eyes on becoming the next prima ballerina. But, unlike what everyone else may presume she wants to do so on her own merit and not that of her already famous mother. Mother may be the wrong term to use however, as she can count the number of times she has actually seen the woman on her hand. The road she must travel is anything but easy, constantly having to ignore the icy stares of her competitors and subsequent snide remarks, but just as things begin to look promising life takes a sudden turn for the worse. Her beloved grandmother who raised her is in failing health and upon being deemed a has-been her mother bitterly returns home. Struggling to still pursue her dream, Kendra is further plagued by her own insecurities and guilt of abandoning the one person who has always been there for
her and may need her the most now as she lay dying. Given the opportunity to travel abroad and work with one of the most prominent companies world wide, Kendra is still torn between the life she envisions for herself and the one she has seemingly left behind. But she soon learns there may be other prices to pay on the path to success; entrenched in the darker, underbelly of the dance subculture she realizes that everything is not as pretty and whimsical as the lithe dances portray onstage.

DANCING IN THE DARK is a 57,000 word YA manuscript depicting a dancer's journey to becoming a prima ballerina. She must step out of the shadows of her mother's illustrious career and find the confidence to stand on her own. Wrought with inner turmoil, fueled by passive-aggressive competitors, and pressed with the rigors of training, Kendra could fulfill the dream she is chasing or be left just outside the spotlight.

I am currently a freelance writer and am looking for a long-term representation. I appreciate both your time and
consideration.

Thank you,
Caitlin


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Children's book and running stuff


Well, I'm actually proud of myself...I finally put together a dummy for the children's book I had written and drawn but had be scattered about forever! It took way too long to get put up, but I made it into an online presentation and did send out a few queries to some children's book publishing agents. Well, I do hope that something may eventually work out, I think I've got a few more ideas floating around the old noggin that I'm going to try to bring into fruition. For my next one I'd like to make it a bit more humorous in the way of adults may appreciate...you're never too old for a good picture book! Here is a picture from it, and the premise is around one Miss Tooth and all the struggles that face that fairy as she flits around the world in the bicuspid biz.

Other than that, I've been focusing on my Fitness Stop blog as I'm putting up weekly running workouts for anyone who's always wanted to get started in running or get faster but didn't think they could do it. There is a fleet footed person lurking in all of us! Hehe, so if you're into that feel free to stop on by there. Well folks, I hope you are all off to enjoy a fun weekend, and if you should be coming up short a molar or two, be sure to rest gently and don't crush Miss Tooth. :P


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My Query...


Hey there fellow freelance writers! Well, at least I hope a few of you are out there reading today. :) I'm actually excited because I've officially started sending out my query letter to literary agents about my book! I know it is going to be a long road and will be waiting weeks to hear back (hopefully!) but am happy that I got the first wave of them out. My goal is to just send a few out each day until I start hearing back and use that as motivation to really see this novel through. I really do love freelance writing jobs and writing articles, but creative writing is such an outlet for me and I've always aspired to be a published author. So in keeping with that, I've actually got my query letter below and would love any advice, tips, feedback, etc. So feel free to be brutal, be critical, or say what you like! :)

Kendra has always been mesmerized by the whimsy of lithe dancers on stage that tell their stories through movement. Even at the tender age of five, as she sat in the audience, entranced by the ballerinas of the New York City Ballet, she could feel them calling. While many would have assumed that dancing was simply in her blood, and expected the precocious child to follow in her mother's footsteps, that is not what attracted Kendra. She found that time stood still as she performed onstage; the troubles of her life seemed to slip away, and for those few precious moments she
was free of all burdens--weightless.

Abandoned by her mother in order to pursue her own career, Kendra is raised by her loving grandmother whose own health begins to fail. While the old woman is silently reluctant to let her granddaughter enter the very world that was the demise of her own daughter, she continues to be a pillar of support to Kendra. Amid the struggles of passing from adolescence into adulthood, Kendra must further cope with the cruelties of the dance subculture. With the ultimate dream of becoming the next great prima ballerina, Kendra is pegged as the girl to hate by her contemporaries. She is considered the bane of her jealous and retired mother's existence; a woman who finds it impossible to watch the illuminating career of her daughter ignite while only having dim memories left of her own. Kendra is now left to naively navigate the best she can.

As her career looks promising, she is taken under the wing of her coach and mentor, but inner demons of guilt, insecurity, and doubt continue to eat away at her. The doors of opportunity that begin to open up, may be shut inadvertently by her own hand.

DANCING IN THE DARK is a 57,000 word YA manuscript depicting a young dancer's journey to becoming a prima ballerina in her own right. She must step out from the shadows set by her mother's illustrious career, and find the confidence to stand on her own. Wrought with inner turmoil, fueled by passive-aggressive competitors, and pressed with the rigors of training, Kendra could fulfill the dream she is chasing or be left just outside the spotlight.

Thank you for your time and consideration.




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