Working on my Children's Book in 365 Days

Day 365

2008-09-17T05:03:00.000-07:00

Well, unfortunately my goal of 365 days wasn't realised. I can make excuses all I want - I had a rough year in university, I moved, I have a new job - but still it comes down to the fact that I just didn't work hard enough.

It's hard to believe I've been working on Rosehips for a year now, and to be honest, I'm a little angry with myself. A year and nothing to show for it. The book isn't finished like I said it would be. I got snagged in the halfway mark like so many authors do. At this point of the book, writing it is bland and sort of boring.

. . . But does that mean I'll give up?
Of course not.

This means that I just have to work harder. This goal was for absolutely no one but myself and it remains as such. So as not to disappoint myself further, I have a new goal.

I will absolutely finish this book by Oct. 31. Absolutely. National Novel Writing Month is coming up on Nov. 1, so I will finish Rosehips before that, work on something different, then edit and work on the formatting of Rosehips. I don't know when the book will be finished, but the manuscript will ne complete Oct. 31, or sooner.

Hopefully I'll have a new excerpt up soon. I'm going to stop recording things in days now and just post whenever I have news. Mind you, I'm pleased I DID keep up with the blog updating and such for as long as I did. If I ever take on a project like this, I will see it through, beyond excuses and rationalisations. That is a promise to me. The promise to you is that I will write you all an amazing book that hopefully everyone will enjoy.

Thanks for the support, everyone.
K.

Day 229

2008-05-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right - I've started recording the days again, which means I've started writing again! I finished chapter six - again - this morning; I had lost the end of it when my computer died. I'm backing it up on my USB key as I go, so there should be no trouble actually holding onto the whole file this time.

I've been working on cover design as well. It remains to be seen if I will do the artwork myself or commission some. It likely means I will have to manually give royalties, however, if I do commission cover art. We'll see.

I have two new creatures as well. I'll get some of the concept art coming and show you!

K.

Day something

2008-04-08T21:58:00.001-07:00

Two new creatures for you today. The first is featured on the right here.

This little fellow is a Wishing Lemon, and its name is Growth. Wishing Lemons are magical creatures that live in the Lemon Forest and hide among the lemon trees. They aren't exactly animate lemons, but they look like them and live among the trees, so they were given that name. Each of them have distinct patterns on them and they make little jingling noises from the trees; that's how you know they're nearby. They're very rare and difficult to find, but rumor as it that if you see one and make a wish, something very good will happen to you.

I decided to make one of these the other day and I'm not really sure why. I really like making them, though. They're going to be a big part of the universe, though whether or not they'll appear in this book I haven't yet decided.

I've started concepts for riverseals, which are tiny freshwater seals. I had a dream about them once a very long time ago and was reminded of them today when looking into the semi-flooded backyard of my great aunt's house. I'll work on some concept art.

No new writing just yet, but many, many new ideas!

K.

Book update

2008-03-23T08:34:00.000-07:00

Spring's here, though it doesn't really look it at present. Things are beginning to melt and thaw and grass, while not green yet, is at least starting to show up.

I think that means it's time for some fresh ideas!

I was working on some ideas last night, meaning that I will get back into working on Rosehips very soon. Life has been hectic but things have calmed down considerably now. I'm finishing one other writing project but when that is complete, Rosehips will be back!

The next thing is calculating what day this is in conjunction with the 365 I have to do this all in! The planned release is still for the fall, by the way. It just means I'll have to work a bit harder.

The ideas from last night are a bit secret. I have some plans for them, though, and I'm back to drawing maps.

Hopefully I'll talk more soon!

K.

Update

2008-01-18T10:09:00.000-08:00

I haven't worked on the book for a number of reasons.

- Christmas and exam-time was ridiculously hectic.
- There was a death in the family.
- My computer ate itself.

Rosehips is safe and still planning on being worked on, but with my computer dying, I have some other projects that need immediate attention as the computer-death affected them.

It will still be done this year. You can count on that. I'm just not ready to pick it up again until I have some other projects cleaned up. I hope you understand.

K.

Day 73

2007-11-28T22:40:00.001-08:00

I didn't get any writing done today, but I finished the map and wrote several pages worth of encyclopedia info.

K.

Day 72

2007-11-27T23:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of updates. End of term, and the exams that come with it, approaches!
Writing is not something I have a whole lot of time for at present, sadly. I just did a bit of writing today, and a lot of work on the map of Lemon Forest. I think it looks quite nice. I'm just doing up a rough sketch of it on lined paper, but I'm going to do a large inked version to go in the book! I'll just show you guys the pre-production, and no one else, because there are a few secrets to be found! Nothing that will be explained, of course, but definitely a few interesting things. I'm not sure when this will be done, or how much I'll be able to update over the coming weeks, but nonetheless. . . .

Also, I changed the name of the Lemon Betallion to Lemon-Aid! We can thank my mother for that one!

K.

Day 69

2007-11-24T20:54:00.000-08:00

Just a small bit of writing today. I wasn't going to update, but I knew I had to work at least a little bit!

K.

Day 68 + excerpt

2007-11-23T23:13:00.000-08:00

Hello hello! I had a nice evening today. My boyfriend and I stayed in and watched The Village and Sleepy Hollow. It was my first time seeing these films and I enjoyed them very much, especially The Village.

In any event, I got some writing done today and I thought I'd share some of it with you. I started chapter seven, which I'm already enjoying, and I hope you enjoy it, too. Comments, criticism and carrot cake are always welcome!

Excerpt of chapter seven

Rosehips awoke in the morning to the sight of burning embers in the fireplace. She stretched and yawned, still feeling some semblance of warmth from the dying flames, and she sat up and glanced around.
A warm morning light was pouring through the nearby window, and Rosehips could see book dust dancing in its glow. Outside the window, the sky was blue and bright, with but a few fluffy, white clouds scattered here and there. Rosehips spied the book Marcus had been reading the night before, shut and with a gold ribbon bookmark placed somewhere near the middle. It sat alone on the nearby table, where an old white candle with a blackened wick and layers of melted wax sat in a bronze holder. Rosehips stood and drifted over to the book. Stamped on its dark blue cover and written in gold were the words "A Book of Fairy Tales". The book was much too heavy for Rosehips to pick up and read, but all the same, she pushed the cover open.
"Snow White and Rose Red?" she read aloud. "But none of these are about fairies!"
"Rosehips?" came Marcus' voice came from the other room. "Is that you?"
"Yes!" Rosehips called back, shutting the cover. This kicked up a bit of dust that had Rosehips coughing.
"Good, ye're awake!" came Marcus' voice again. "Come into the kitchen when ye're ready." Rosehips caught her breath, shooing the book dust away with a tiny hand, and made her way into the kitchen.

K.

Day 67

2007-11-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

And I'm back! The Forehead launch went really well and I'm feeling better, also. Finally, I had some time to myself to write today. I was definitely feeling inspired thanks to a video I watched.

Sorry about skipping the progress report this week, but I wasn't in any fine state to write one. To make up for it, on my own terms particularly, I finished chapter six this evening. I'm very happy because I think chapter seven is going to be very interesting. Actually, I'm hoping that the subsequent chapters will be interesting. Six was a little uneventful, but it picked up at the end, and I unintentionally tied together a plot inconsistancy I was having trouble with! Excellent!

I also worked a small bit on the encyclopedia today. Not too much, but I did start a new entry on "Humans and the Lemon Forest".

I'm hoping to get some writing done this weekend. I'm thinking of cover ideas and book titles as well at the moment.

K.

Day 64

2007-11-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

Only a very little bit of writing tonight. I was distracted by this 24-hour flu I seem to have. YUCK! I won't be able to do much writing this week, either, so this may be the last update until Thursday. I apologise in advance. I can't wait until the end of December when I'll finally have some time to do stuff!

K.

Day 63

2007-11-18T22:25:00.000-08:00

Sorry for my lack of productivity yesterday! I was working on making some Christmas presents for my family and friends. I was up late in so doing and away from the computer, so I didn't really get any writing done.

I didn't get much done tonight, either. I'm working on the Forehead, which is a student review from the English department of my university. I'm its present editor. It's a once-per-semester deal, so I don't have to worry too much about it eating lots of my time, but at the moment it's what I'm doing.

As far as writing goes, I'm nearing the end of chapter six. I haven't been terribly productive lately, but chapter six is a bit slow. It's picking up, at least. Interestingly, there's some good character development on Citron. She's more mysterious than I initially thought she would be, and it's fun to write.

K.

Day 61

2007-11-16T22:44:00.000-08:00

Not much writing today. I missed out on my walk because it was a horrible day. I ended up doing some retail therapy instead, hah. It helped a bit but didn't inspire me as much as a walk would have, so I didn't write as much as I would have liked.

I finished the picture of Citron I was working on. She's quite cute and I'm pleased with how she turned out, especially since I haven't really drawn in a couple of months. I'll post it over the next few days.

K.

Day 60

2007-11-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

Ugh, sorry for my lack of updates. I've had a few days' worth of schoolwork and an exam. I also haven't been feeling myself at all and I'm not feeling very confident with anything. My writing, singing and "art" is all suffering because I don't feel like I'm doing a good job with any of it. I won't get into it now.

Anyway, I got just a bit of writing done today, but I'm working on a character drawing. Tomorrow's supposed to be kind of a nice, so I might go for a walk or something to help me feel better and to inspire me. I have SAD (seasonal affective disorder) so I'm feeling drained, uninspired and generally displeased of late. I apologise for it; I'm sure it will pass soon.

K.

Day 56

2007-11-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

Just a bit of writing both today and yesterday. I have a linguistics exam on Tuesday so I have to study lots for it. I may not update tomorrow, either. I'll try to work hard on this soon and I'm sorry.

K.

Day 54

2007-11-09T19:16:00.001-08:00

The two you see here are Chauncey and Trees, the boar and beetle from chapter two. I started writing chapter six today, and this duo made an appearance, so I thought today would be a good day to do an illustration of them. Here you are! I think they're kind of cute. I just wanted to do a little illustration so it's not in colour, but imagine, if you will, Chauncey with an enormous pink snout and the bow around his neck blue, and imagine Trees is a bright, emerald green that glitters in the light!

I got a few paragraphs of chapter six done today. It wasn't the most work I've done in awhile, but it was a fair amount and I'm more or less pleased with how it's going.

Chauncey and Trees are part of the Lemon Betallion, which is Lemon's personal army. Trees is the brains of the duo, and Chauncey is the brawn. As a symbol of being in the Lemon Betallion, Chauncey later comes to wear a miniature lemon on a green chain. There is only one place to find the miniature lemon, and that is in Lemon's quarters, where she grows them. Miniature lemons are often used to prove authenticity with Lemon, as she doesn't show herself often.

I'm working on a noble fairy at present, and I may post up a concept drawing of her tomorrow or anoter time soon.

K.

Day 53

2007-11-08T20:22:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of an update last night - I was working on something for an event I'm planning and by the time I even thought to write anything, it was 3 am! So, I went to bed!!

I got chapeter five finished today! I really like that chapter as it's so nice and peaceful, though it ends on a slight note of urgency. Tomorrow will end the peace for another while, as I'll start writing on chapter six, which I am anticipating to be full of action!

I really like Marcus. When you read his description, you think of him as being a somewhat grumpy and weathered man, but as he is better introduced he is shown not to be like that at all, but rather a very nice old man. He's the sort who should have been a grandfather but never got the chance. Ohh! I just gave something away! I've said too much!

I got a bit of work on the encyclopedia today as I was waiting for my hair appointment and had the book with me.

I hope everyone's having a good week! Let me know how you're doing, will you?

K.

Day 51

2007-11-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

Just a very small bit of writing today. I wasn't home much and I had a really bad day, so my mom and I went to see Bee Movie, which was very cute and fun and it definitely cheered me up! Who knew Jerry Seinfeld would make a great voice actor?

I'm sure I will get to write more tomorrow, as today I didn't get home until 11 pm! Tuesdays are so busy!

K.

Day 50 + Milestone report

2007-11-05T20:26:00.000-08:00

Today marks fifty days since I've started this project. I've made a lot of progress! First, I'll talk about today's progress, then I'll go into the milestone report. This will take place of the weekly progress report.

Quite a bit of good writing in today, as well as some brainstorming. I'm going to try making this blog flashier sometime soon, just to make it more pleasing to the eyes. I got another good chunk of chapter five done and if I progress like I did today, I may be able to have this chapter done by tomorrow. I'm also starting concepts on cover art for this book. I haven't made any decisions or anything, but I will likely do up some sketches for feedback's sake.

Milestone report

Last milestone report: Never!
Next milestone report: Day 100

I will do this on any large day number that marks a milestone in this project. This will probably be 50, 100, 150, 200, 300 and 350.

I really can't believe it's already been fifty days since I started this project. I'm still really enjoying it and I do try to work on it every day, even if there are days that I don't do anything. Over the last fifty days, I have written nearly five chapters of fiction, eleven pages of background encyclopedia work, and I have drawn numerous concept sketches. This is a full-colour drawing of Rosehips, for example, this is a picture of Bluebell welcoming you to Lemon Forest, as well as Lemon Forest itself, and this is a concept picture of Wildflower. There are also several others I have not made public, some of them being too rough, unfinished, or just secret! In addition to these drawings, I have also made a Rosehips doll. She sits on my desk and sends me inspiration.

That is my progress, so far, since day one of my project. I still have 315 days left to go.

I just might make it.

K.

Day 49

2007-11-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

No real progress today, on this or anything. It was my last day of study break, so I decided to protest by doing nothing. This wasn't very effective. Ah well.

I will hopefully get some work done tomorrow, and maybe even tonight before bed. I just felt a bit like vegging out and relaxing today before heading back to school regularly again. One thing that's nice about writing a children's book (among the many nice things) is that I can feel like a child again while writing this. I really miss being a child sometimes! I hope that any child readers I gain through this book will cherish their younger years and not wish themselves to be adults. I did that when I was a child and I regret it.

Tomorrow, I'm reaching a milestone in this project. It will be my fiftieth day! It's hard to believe it, but I will be about 1/6th of the way through my time on the project. I'm already doing very well with length, too. I won't give any sort of estimation regarding my expected time to be finished, but I want everyone to know that the writing is progressing very well and I'm still enjoying it very much, regardless of my non-productive days such as today!

K.

Day 48

2007-11-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

I wrote off and on all day today, what with how nasty the weather was. I didn't have anything else I'd rather be doing. Because of that, I got a good chunk of chapter five finished, and I got to work on another story I've kind of been putting off for awhile. I need to write faster, though I am doing fairly well at about 1/3 of my story! It's not going to be terribly long, keep in mind, though it may be longer than I was originally anticipating. We shall see.

This entire chapter revolves around Marcus McGillp and Rosehips. I will not say how, because I don't want to spoil anything. The next chapter will focus on the main line of plot, and I will likely alternate those two until they intertwine.

I'm really enjoying this chapter. Marcus is a nice character to write about. In all the stories which feature people who aren't what they say they are, it's nice to write about a character who's really genuine.

K.

Day 47

2007-11-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

Some good progress today! I wrote a small chunk of chapter five, and I got to introduce Marcus! Here is a small bit for you to read. This is how I've described Marcus. Feel free to let me know what you think! Positive and negative is all great for me!

Looking down at her was a man's face. He had a pipe sticking out of the corner of his mouth and a dark blue cap on his head. His face looked like it had seen better days, with weathered, cracked wrinkles snaking through his complexion, and a rough grey beard across his jawline. Despite this, however, he had the kindest dark blue eyes Rosehips had ever seen. They were the kind of eyes that couldn't lie to you, even if the mouth was. They were the colour of the ocean at night, but they weren't at all as cold.

There he is! I won't dare draw him because I have such a clear image of how he looks that I wouldn't want to ruin it by drawing a terrible picture! Besides, I'm sure you can imagine him, too.

K.

Day 46

2007-11-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

I surprised myself tofay by getting through chapter four. I said I'd finish it by the end of the week, and I guess I did! It ended on a suspenseful note. One thing I learned about writing from reading is that you should always end the chapter mysteriously so as to keep the reader interested, then to begin the next chapter with something different to hold onto the suspense. That was one thing I loved about reading when I was younger.

In chapter five, I will introduce Marcus McGillp, the lighthouse-keeper. I like him a lot, and I'm happy I'll be writing about him soon!

K.

PS: I'm going to try working on this more often rather than working on NaNoWriMo this year. Perhaps next year, but I have too much going on now, and I'm trying to work on a polished novel by next year anyway,

PPS: I've also decided I will only self-publish this book, after a lot of thought. The children's literature market is very competitive, and I don't like competition - it makes me an unpleasant person. It may sound selfish, but I'd rather do things the way I want. This isn't about making money, after all, it's about persuing my dream! I'm looking into lulu.com's publishing service. Wish me luck!

Day 45 + Synopsis

2007-10-31T20:48:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween, everyone! I didn't get a whole lot of work done today because I was busy doing Halloween-y things, but that's okay, because I am going to give to you now a SYNOPSIS. Thanks to someone on the Nightwish forums, I realised that people are reading my blog without having the foggiest of what the book is actually about! I hope I can rectify that!

This book is about a fairy named Rosehips. She's a very kind and hard-working fairy, and she is asked to take the place of Bluebell, the guardian fairy of the Lemon Forest, who is going away for a few days. It takes a lot of trust, but Bluebell is confident Rosehips will do well. She does . . . at first. Things go out of control, however, when she falls asleep on her patrol and something breaks into the forest. When she finds she cannot cope, she leaves the forest altogether, with no one at all to protect the gates. Things go horribly amok in the Lemon Forest, but Wildflower is there, at least, to help protect it. Will Rosehips be able to face coming back to the Lemon Forest to clean up her mess, or will she stay away from Lemon Forest forever? What will Bluebell say when she comes back to such a disaster as Lemon Forest has never before witnessed?

There you have it! Short, but sweet. I hope you get the gist of things; that explains the general plot overview, but doesn't go into too much detail. I still have lots of little surprises and other things going on behind the scenes!

Happy Halloween, everyone, and don't get too sick from the candy.
K.

Day 44

2007-10-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello! I apologise for taking such a hiatus, but I needed a week or so to get my bearings together again. I'm into my study week, so I have more free time and I'm starting to get back into the swing of things. I decided to wait until after the weekly progress report so that I would be able to fully remember what I did for next week's progress report.

My goal for this coming week, meaning to be accomplished by Monday, is to finish chapter four and get started on chapter five.

Today I got a bit of writing done and I named the lighthouse-keeper. His name is Marcus McGillp. He will appear soon, so I've been working on his character a bit. I like him a lot. I wrote a fairly large bit as well and changed what I was working on. I didn't like the direction it was heading in at first, so I completely turned it around and now I'm pleased.

Please feel free to read the writing sample beneath this one and let me know how you feel about it. Constructive criticism is always welcomed and appreciated, and I hope you enjoy! Sorry about the wide gap between updates. I hope that won't happen again.

K.

Day 33 + writing sample

2007-10-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

No writing today. I've been busy doing stuff before I go away tomorrow! There's so much to do! Since I'll be away, I'll be unable to work on the book. In any event, here is the sample I promised! I hope you enjoy it! It's not very short, so it should give followers of the blog a little something to read while I'm away! Enjoy!

K.

Wildflower was a fairy who loved to travel. She was named for that, as when she was younger she would often get lost in the Forest and her parents would never know where she was. She was wild and free, and she liked nothing more than soaring through the open sky and letting the wind blow through her red and gold hair. She couldn't stay away for too long, though, and she often found herself coming back to Lemon Forest for a few days to talk with friends of her travels and to give them trinkets from her travels. She looked ahead of her and saw the Forest, the lemons on the branches shining like yellow gems in the sunlight. She noticed the Forest seemed to be enveloped with a sort of fog, but things looked otherwise peaceful. As she neared the Forest, though, she realised how very wrong that was. She took a look at the entrance and saw that it had been cracked entirely in two! Such things never happened in Lemon Forest, so she was clearly very surprised.
"Bluebell?" she called as she drew ever nearer. "Bluebell, dear, are you in?" As she stopped by the base of the tower, she looked up and watched as Bluebell came down from the tower.
"Oh, hello," she said vaguely, landing beside Wildflower. "Who are you?" Wildflower stared at her.
"Bluebell, it's me, Wildflower," she said, shocked. "I've only been away for two weeks. Surely you haven't forgotten me in that small time!"
"Oh yes. What can I do for you, then?" Bluebell asked, waving her hand.
"Bluebell, what happened to the gates? They're completely split!" Wildflower cried.
"Oh, just renovating a little. Go on in," Bluebell replied. "No big deal." Wildflower watched Bluebell suspiciously, but she entered the Forest nevertheless. She noticed the deep, gouging footsteps in the path that led into the forest and she felt ill. There was something wrong. There was something about Bluebell, too, that was suspicious. It wasn't just the way she acted, but there was something that looked different, too. It was as though that same sweet Bluebell Wildflower knew had disappeared. She couldn't place what was different about Bluebell's face, but something had certainly changed.
Wildflower decided to take the train to her house. She stopped by the train station, which was a mossy, hollowed-out stump with a brown flag waving from above, and she waited outside. Within a few minutes, she saw the train spiral down a nearby tree. The whistle sounded as the train pulled into the station, coming to a full stop with a mighty screech. From the train came a number of elves, fairies, and their pets. A few stopped to say hello to Wildflower, some squeezing her arm affectionately and asking her how her latest travels went. She gave them half-hearted smiles, her mind obviously elsewhere, and she boarded the train.
"Been awhile, Wildflower!" called Acorn the elf, the train's conductor, from his seat in the front of the train. Wildflower took a seat near the front, as always, so she could tell Acorn of her travels.
"Hello, Acorn," she replied. "I hope you've been well."
"You know me," said Acorn with a big smile. "So long as the train is going, so am I! Tell me about yourself, though. Where have you been these weeks? What have you seen?" As he asked that, a few last stragglers boarded the train and Acorn shut the doors, tugging the train's whistle.
"I saw something strange," said Wildflower, lowering her voice. "Something . . . urgent, here in the forest." Acorn frowned.
"What ever could you mean?" he asked loudly. "In the Lemon Forest? Bluebell wouldn't allow it!"
"That's just what I mean," Rosehips replied, hushing even more to try and keep Acorn from startling passengers on the train. "It was Bluebell who looked strange. And the gate to the forest was broken, but she tried to pass it off as repairs." Acorn frowned even more deeply.
"That doesn't sound right," he said. "Something must be wrong." Wildflower nodded in agreement.
"Have you seen anything strange?" she asked. Acorn shook his head.
"Everything's been right as rain, up until today," he replied. "I can't imagine-"
Suddenly, one of the train's passengers gave out a mighty shriek. Directly following, a violent tremor rocked the train. Wildflower toppled to the ground, and Acorn pounded on the train's brakes.
"Everybody out!" he bellowed.
"What's happening?" Wildflower groaned as she picked herself up off the floor.
"It's a human!" a young-looking elf woman cried on her way out of the train.
"A human?" said Wildflower quietly. "But why would a human try to harm us? Especially if Bluebell let the human in?" Before anyone could answer her question, a sickening crack could be heard, and everything was a blur. When Wildflower was aware of what was happening again, she was outside, and she could see the ruins of the train, broken and splintered and everywhere. Fairies and elves were lying everywhere, but thankfully no one looked injured.
"Wake up!" Wildflower cried. A few elves and fairies stirred, and Wildflower watched as the human walked deeper into the woods.
"We have to do something," she said. "He's going into the Lemon Forest!"
"My train. . . ." groaned Acorn, looking mournfully at the pile of rubble which was once his train.
"We'll have it repaired later," Wildflower replied hastily, waving her hand. "We really need to do something, though! We can't let him get away with this. If he would do this to your train for no reason, what do you think he'll do to the Lemon Forest once he gets in?"
Within moments, Wildflower and everyone who was on the train at the time was heading in the direction led by the human's footsteps in the ground. Wildflower, while not often in Lemon Forest, was fond of the place she called home, and she was determined to protect it, regardless of the cost.

Day 32

2007-10-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

I started character design on Jealousy today. I haven't felt much like drawing so I didn't finish her, but she's pretty cute! I might finish drawing her tomorrow, if I feel like it, and I will post her picture if I do. She is very saucy and not nice at all, and as you can probably assume, she is a very jealous girl!

Just a bit of writing done today. Poor Rosehips! That's all I'll say! I'll do some writing tomorrow and post up a sample.

K.

Day 31

2007-10-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

Some good progress today! There's a lot of conflict going on in the writing right now, but it's all good conflict and I'm sure it'll be resolved eventually! I wrote in a very nasty villain today. Her name is Jealousy, and she's a wicked fairy from the South Forest. I won't say what place she holds in the story, but let's say that our dear little Rosehips isn't feeling very confident right now.

I made a decision today. This Rosehips book is no longer going to be an illustrated book. I decided on this because I like to encourage children to have an imagination, and to be able to picture things in their minds as well. Because of this, I decided that I would be discouraging children's imaginations by spoonfeeding them images that they could be picturing. I will have a nice cover and back for the book, but I will not do illustrations. I may do a few small black and white drawings for chapter headings, but they will not be relevant to events in the chapter if so. Also, the current events in the story will likely be very confusing when put to an illustration.

K.

Day 30

2007-10-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

I was a bit unhappy tonight, so I forced myself to write quite a bit and not surprisingly, I feel a little better. I got chapter three finished! In addition, I wrote a few paragraphs on chapter four. I got through the bit with Wildflower, and perhaps I should have posted that today, but I'd rather post it before I go away this weekend to give you guys something to read while I'm away from the computer!

I feel a little better now that I've written, so I'm going to go work on a few other things now.

K.

Day 29 + weekly progress report

2007-10-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

Eeeshhhh. No, I haven't died, and nor have I given up. Just this past weekend has been busy! I was at a wedding and Halloween party (not the same thing though) on Saturday, I was working on homework yesterday and homework today. So yeah, not a whole lot in the writing department, I'm afraid. Tomorrow is my busiest day of the week, but I hope I'll at least get SOME writing done. I usually manage well enough on Tuesdays. I'm really sorry for the lack of updates. I'm not giving up, though!

Weekly progress report

Once again, I didn't meet my goal of finishing chapter three. That's all right, though; it will all come in time. I really didn't get much done at all in the past week! That's no good! As I'm going away this weekend, I'm going to have to work especially hard on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm going to try my hardest to complete chapter three this week, but I won't beat myself up about it.

I've decided not to do NaNoWriMo after all this year. I'm working on AACG and Rosehips, so hopefully that will be enough. I also have other things on the go, such as singing lessons and other things, so I'd rather focus on that. Plus, I'm writing plenty without NaNoWriMo!

K.

Day 26

2007-10-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

No update today because I'm working on a costume for a Halloween party tomorrow! I'll post either tomorrow or Sunday with updates.

K.

Day 25

2007-10-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

I got into a good part today, so I got some writing done! Once this part is done, I will put it up here for all of you to enjoy, criticise or comment on! It's an interesting part with a bit of suspense.

I'm feeling better today. Actually, in some non-book-related news, I'm going to be performing solo at the music conservatory's Christmas concert! Singing! Kind of scary!

K.

Day 24

2007-10-10T19:57:00.001-07:00

I hardly wrote today. Started character design for a villain, but other than that, not really anything productive. I'm not really feeling up to par so I hope I can do a real update tomorrow.

K.

Day 23

2007-10-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

I forced myself to write today. I really didn't feel like it, but I decided I had to write at least a bit, especially with regard to how unproductive I've been lately. It's been a long day, but I won't let that be an excuse. I got some writing done, so I'm happy and I don't feel quite like I'm slacking, thanks to that. I'm at a part right now that doesn't really focus on Rosehips, as she's doing other things in the background which we will know about soon!

I may post the entire bit about Wildflower as a sample, once I've finished writing it and once I've polished it a bit.

K.

Day 22 + Weekly Progress Report

2007-10-08T19:53:00.001-07:00

Past two days have been completely without work, so my aim to complete chapter three failed, sadly. I was really busy yesterday; a friend of mine got married and I was really too tired to write when I came back. Today I've been on the move and studying for tomorrow's Spanish exam, so I didn't manage to get much writing done. Tomorrow will probably yield more creativity, or I hope so. I should be able to get chapter three done by this weekend, I think, though this weekend will also be quite busy.

Weekly progress report

Since last week, I have completed chapter two and gone to chapter three. I also did a character sketch for a new character, named Wildflower, and I've gotten some work done on the encyclopedia as well.

Clicking the Google ads will also help me out with fees for the book!

Day 20

2007-10-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

The picture on the left is a concept drawing from my notebook. That's Wildflower, a new character I introduced to the story today. She's named for the fact that she is such a free spirit; she loves to wander far from Lemon Forest and explore with nothing but the wind in her wings and a pack on her back. As I was writing about her, I found myself somewhat conflicted regarding her appearance, so I decided to Google "wildflower" and use the first picture I found as a reference. I found this picture, and it made me quite happy because it was so unique and pretty! I think it suits Wildflower's free personality quite well.

I got quite a lot of writing done today, but mostly early this morning as opposed to tonight! Usually I'm quite productive at night, but I guess there was something in this morning's sun that made me want to write. I believe I'm about halfway through the third chapter, now.

I introduced something else aside from Wildflower today, that being the train system in Lemon Forest. The train is run by Acorn, an elf, and it goes all over Lemon Forest. It goes up, between and down trees, to people's homes, and even all the way to Lemon's palace, though no one is ever lucky enough to see her. The train station is a hollowed out, mossy stump with a little brown flag coming out the top.

I'd tell you a bit about Lemon but this post is getting a bit too long! If I have nothing significant to tell about tomorrow, I'll let you know a bit about Lemon.

K.

Day 19

2007-10-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

I got some work on both the novella and the encyclopedia done today! Not a lot on the encyclopedia, just some work on the elves of the Lemon Forest.

The elves are ground-dwelling creatures, small like the fairies, and they live in patches of mushrooms. They live longer than the fairies because they directly take care of creatures and plants of the Lemon Forest. They like riding snails to get around, and they're close friends with fairies because they grow the shelf fungi houses that fairies live in. They like eating salad.

As far as novella work goes, I started an interesting part that should go by fairly quickly! I'm going on a hike in the woods tomorrow, so I'm hoping that will inspire me as well.

As usual, Nightwish has also inspired me. I was listening to the song the Islander and it made me think of lighthouses, so I'm going to have some kind of lighthouse in the area outside of Lemon Forest, probably on a cliff. I haven't decided if it will show up in this novella or another, but I will write it into the encyclopedia and see where it goes from there!

K.

Day 18

2007-10-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

Ummm. Literally no progress today. I only have myself to apologise to, but I will make it up to myself tomorrow. I'm really happy to be home for the weekend to this inspiring autumn atmosphere as opposed to the stinky, noisy city I usually live in. I'll try to write a lot tomorrow!

Sorry to disappoint with the lack of update, but it really was a busy, long day.

K.

Day 17

2007-10-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

Quite a bit of writing done today! I finished the second chapter with a somewhat forboding note in order to keep the reader interested. This chapter was fun to write because I included a pair of comical characters named Trees and Chauncey. Trees is an emerald beetle with a large moustache, a monocle and a top hat, and Chauncey is his trusted steed: he is a big, ugly boar with a blue ribbon
with a bow around his neck. I drew sketches of them today, and I'd like to do some inked illustrations of them for the book.

I worked very little on the encyclopedia today, but I'm working on the entry about elves. They're fun little creatures!

This weekend I'll be going home, which is something I'm really excited about. It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and the fall colours are so beautiful and inspiring! I hope I'll be able to write quite a bit this weekend and possibly work on my other project. Check out my main blog if you're interested in that.

K.

Day 16

2007-10-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

Not a very productive day. This is directly proportionate to dance class and the new Nightwish album. Which is amazing, by the way.

Just a few lines, mostly. I'm trying to set up the universe by using context; as far as I'm concerned, that's the best way to do it, instead of writing long, boring paragraphs of sprawling description and history!

I also failed a midterm today. Sigh.

K.

Day 15 + weekly progress report

2007-10-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

Today's progress and other news

Back from my brief vacation! I had a great time, and I managed to get a lot of work on the personal encyclopedia done. I didn't work on the novella as I was away, but I wrote several entries on the fairies, elves and creatures of the Lemon Forest.

Today I got a bit of work done. I've slowed down a little but I'm heading into midterm season. In addition, I've got lots of other stuff going on this month, including two weddings, two or more Halloween parties and a weekend trip to Montreal. A . . . bit busy. Then, next month is NaNoWriMo. I'm insane but I'm going to try and work on NaNoWriMo daily . . . and work on Rosehips daily. While still going to university. Yeah. Goodbye, life!

Weekly progress report

Since last week, I managed to complete my Rosehips doll (she can be seen here). I also worked on eleven pages worth of encyclopedia information, which I may compile to a full project once I have completed this book and, possibly, other Rosehips books. I haven't written much on the novella itself, though. I only have about a chapter and a half. I'll continue working away at it, though!

K.

Day 11

2007-09-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

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