Day 11

Tiring, tiring day. I'm exhausted. Some writing done, not much, but the most important part is that the doll is finished! Click here to check her out. I'm really pleased with how she turned out.

I think I'm going to go crash. I'm exhausted. Going away for the weekend starting tomorrow, so I'll update once more on Sunday. Until then, take care!

K.

Day 10

Not a whole lot of progress on the writing today, mainly because I am exhausted and drained due to heat! I did get some writing done, but not as much as I'd hoped. Tomorrow will hopefully be less hot and more productive; it's not supposed to be this hot during the autumn!!

My doll is almost complete! I'm painting her face as I write this and can't wait to show her off. Once her face is painted, all I'll need to do is make her wings, and I'll be done! I got her hair done last night and have been working on her clothes today. Hopefully, I will have her done by tomorrow and you will all get to see her! I'm very pleased with her.

That's all for today. See you tomorrow.

K.

Day 9

Excellent progress today! It seems the writing hour works like a charm, especially if I write sporadically throughout the day. I finished the first chapter and started the second with this! Mind you, the chapters are quite short due to this being a children's book, but nevertheless the first is done and the second is on its way!

I'm celebrating this by having a cookie, even though I'm not supposed to eat after 8 PM.

Aside from the writing, I have the hair for the doll mostly finished! It just needs to be sewn onto her head, then styled. I can probably get this done before bed tonight. I also need to sew on her little pointed ears.

Another bit of progress! I am on a roll today! I started a personal encyclopedia for the Lemon Forest, which includes creatures, plants, other inhabitants and nobility among the fairy ranks. Common fairies are named after flowers, where we get Rosehips, Bluebell, and Amaranth, and noble fairies are named after fruits. I decided to make this encyclopedia in part because I am going away this weekend and will have no access to a computer for a couple of days - this also means no blog posts during those days. This means I will do work for the book, though, even if I'm gone!

K.

Day 8 + Weekly progress report

Today's progress

I'll be honest: I really didn't get a whole lot done. I have excuses, but no good ones . . . mostly due to school work and house work. I wanted to write for the past hour, but instead school work
took up my time. I did a lot of cooking tonight, too, and that didn't help.

My Rosehips doll is looking pretty cute, though! Her entire body is almost done. Her head and legs just need to be sewn on. After that, I will have to make her clothes, paint her face and do her hair. I'm still not sure what to do about her wings, though.

Weekly progress report

As of last week, I have written half of the first chapter, nearly finished the first illustration
and gotten quite far on the doll. However, I'm certainly not making the progress I would like to be. I will have to set a time each day in which I can write, and I will have to do it alone because I am fairly easily distracted.

Henceforth, I set this time from 9:30-10:30. Every night I will have to take that hour to write, now. That is my second, smaller goal.

Talk to you tomorrow, and I'll let you know how the writing hour goes.
K.

Day 7

Day seven already! Time goes by quickly! I'll make my big weekly post tomorrow. Tonight is just a regular update.

I think I will be able to work more positively now. Having a negative influence eating up your inspiration is never good, but I think I may have gotten rid of it today, so that's good! I wrote a short but pretty scene involving Rosehips' friend, Bluebell, a pan flute and some fireflies. I liked the image it evoked very much and I may do an illustration of it.

Some work on the doll tonight as well. The head is mostly sewn, and I made an excursion to fabric and craft stores today to find materials for her clothing. I'll certainly post a picture here when she is finished!

I'll write up the big post tomorrow and try to get a lot done so I can tell you all about it!
K.

Day 6

I managed to get quite a bit of writing done today! In addition
to that, I started making the Rosehips doll. Not a whole lot of progress on the doll, but she's started, anyway!

K.

Day 5

I'm selling fairy pictures on my deviantART page for $5 apiece to help further my inspiration. I managed to write quite a bit today, and I have the plushie completely designed, as well as most of the materials bought - I bought some inexpensive lace trim today, for example.

I have decided that every week, I will go back and reflect on how far I've come in the past week, as well as my overall progress on the book, just to let everyone know how I'm doing and how the book is coming along. I will continue to update each day I have access, of course, but this should give newcomers to the blog, or just those who don't want to read the other six blog entries I make a week, a good impression of what I've been working on!

Until tomorrow,
K.

Day 4

This was another day of productivity among other things! However, I did make a design for a Rosehips plush/doll which I will work on. I'm working on the details now. Not sure when I'll actually make the doll; that remains to be seen. I have most of the materials, though, so I could probably start it whenever! Perhaps having a physical portrayal of my fairy girl will help me write better!

In other news, I wrote a bit and coloured the picture - with markers, though, not watercolours as planned. The watercolours don't agree with the ink I use, but I will use watercolours for the background. Mixed media pictures usually end up looking quite nice and sharp, and the contrast between the vibrant markers and the watercolours should make the characters come to life. I'm contemplating whether I should do all Rosehips illustrations in this way. I'll show you all when I'm done, and maybe you can help me decide.

K.

Day 3

Today's progress was . . . well, there wasn't much! My progress was mostly limited to other projects, such as AACG and some drawing, but the only work I really got done on this project was a few lines of text and inking the illustration. I hope tomorrow will be a more productive day!

Day 2

My three-hour course was cancelled today, so I went home and worked a bit. I also talked to my mother for quite some time; we went out to supper together. She helped me brainstorm and I came up with some new ideas thanks to her!

As for progress, I got a bit of writing done today, and the first illustration is almost completely inked. I hope to finish the picture tomorrow if I can, and I will display it here, if so!

Not much to write this evening. I have decided, however, that there will be a new character named Amaranth. She will be an elder-fairy of the community; she is very well-respected. I should post up some concept drawings of her over the next few days.

I will let you know my progress tomorrow! Thanks for reading!

Day 1

I will use this post as an introductory to my past
writings and to this current work, as well as to let
you know of my progress so far! The project has a
simple, working title for now, and that title is
Rosehips. Funny as it may sound, it's about a little
fairy of the same name. I have a picture of her
available on my Deviantart page; you can see her here.

Writing has always been something I loved; I can't
remember a time in my life that I didn't write.
Currently, I maintain my webnovel, Adryan Andronicus
College for the Gifted. Please visit that website for
more information regarding the webnovel. Before this,
I have always written, as well. All through middle and
high school, I wrote fanfiction. The first year of my
life in university yielded much roleplay-character
history, and I attempted several novels over these
years as well. My second year produced a full children's
novel, which I attempted to have published, and last year
left me with about 1/3 of a novel.

Not this year.

By September 17, 2008, I will be holding a completed
copy of my illustrated novella in my hands. This will
not be a year of almost-productivity; this is the real
deal.

Now. . . .

Enough babbling and more of this productivity of which
we speak, right? So, here's how I'm doing right now.

I have concept drawings strewn throughout my various
notebooks, I have a full drawing - see here - of the
general appearance of the world. Minus the lemons.
I'll explain those later. In addition, I'm working on
a personal website which incorporates the world in the
novella's setting. I have also started writing the
novella; slowly, but surely! Now that I have a clear
goal I will be able to work faster. I have begun the
first chapter's illustration, also. The sketch is
complete. The picture I previously showed of Rosehips
is the style in which all of the novella's fairies
will be drawn.

About the illustrations: they will be drawn and inked,
then painted with watercolours. The finer details will
be done with markers. I will do one per chapter, and
the pictures will either be at the beginning or at the
end of the chapter, depending on how the layouts progress.

TODAY'S PROGRESS

Well, this blog is a good step, I would say! Not much in
the way of progress today, but the sketch is about ready
to be inked, and then it will be painted. I will work on
the writing tomorrow, hopefully before I have to get to
class, and I may get started on the inking before bed.

I hope you'll stick with me while I continue to work on
this project. Wish me luck, please! I just might need it!!

K.

Welcome

Hi there, and welcome to my new Blog! This will be about
number five for me, but this one is going to be a very
important one for the next 365 days of my life. Inspired
by a thread in the Nightwish forums, I am going to
chronicle my latest goal/project, and I'm going to
complete this project in 365 days.

This project involves me doing what I have always wanted
to do: I am writing and illustrating a children's fantasy
novella. This isn't the first I have written, but it is
the first I have extensively planned and the first I will
have published, for certain, by next year.

This isn't to say, necessarily, that publication companies
might be interested. Not at all. If I am unsuccessful in
getting the book published with a group, I will see that it
is self-published and self-distributed. I am determined to
do so.

Why am I doing this, especially while I'm in university?
Am I crazy? Am I impatient? Am I crying for attention?

Life is short. I could die at any time, and if I did,
I would die without living my lifelong dream: to be a
published author. Writing is my passion; it's something
I can't imagine myself not doing, and I want to share
what I write with the world. Every day, if I have access
to a computer, I will write in this Blog to tell those
following my progress with my book.

In closing, I would like to tell everyone this: follow
your dream. Be proud of it. Do what you want with your
life. I would encourage you to read this post I found
on the Nightwish forums, as well, and to take this same
challenge.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!
K. Cooper