I'm also extending the Torn World 'Design a Holiday' contest for an additional month. The holidays are, ironically, crazy for everyone, and I won't be here as it closes. Because it will be a longer contest, I expect more careful results, and am upping the ante by changing the prize to a tier 1 prize!
Fixed a wholesale glitch in the group projects at EMG, and an ordering problem on Gina's Goddesses of the World coloring book!
Art and Authoring
No progress, but soooo many ideas. Brain, you are evil and torture me.
Home and Health
All packed up to leave godawfulearly tomorrow morning. The house desperately needs a good cleaning.
Had lunch with Catie and Ted yesterday, and in our traditional fashion, I picked a place that was closed. We ate at Gambordella's instead, and it was delicious and much talking was had on publishing, the glamorous (ha!) life of a writer, Irish politics and construction.
Planning
I think I can finish the orders on my desk (and barters!) in about an hour, so that needs to be done. And cleaning, oh god, must clean. Then a few last packing things - my MP3 player, my phone charger, etc.
I'll be able to post minimally from my phone, but am not taking my laptop with me! I'll see you guys the second week of December! *blows kisses*
2009 may go down in my log book as 'the year of the purge.' Next up on the chopping block: Fantastic Portfolios
I am not entirely sure what happened here... the core group I recruited was wildly enthusiastic... for about 6 months. People were gung-ho about submitting to it... and never did. I feel like this is currently dead weight that I'm dragging forward on my own, having to nag and nag and remind about.
Is anyone still interested in it? I think the concept is gold - where else can you get FREE, thorough, detailed and private critique? It's HARD getting (or giving!) public critique - so much of what you say is colored by who you're saying it to and who else is seeing it. (I'm sure most of us have stories about getting bitten by trying to give helpful critique by a totally uninvolved third party who didn't understand the concept of critique and thought they were riding to the rescue...) I've tried to be really responsive about how the critiques and submissions are handled, but... maybe there's just not much interest in the concept. I've sure loved what I get from it myself (scroll down for results!), but I'm not enough of an audience all by my lonesome and I'm not enough of a workforce.
IF you are interested, would you be interested in critiquing? Or submitting? If we go forward, we are need to refresh the critics pool, and I'd need some fresh blood to make that happen...
In other news, orders are piling up by my door to go out, but I am at work right now.
Art and Authoring
I had to scan this piece today to hand over the original. That's a good thing - I've found seven more things I want to do to it, and would NEVER be done. (Much of this, note, is due to the great advice from the Fantastic Portfolios critics!)
Home and health
This weekend (and so far, this week) has been made of frustration. Finishing the stairwell? They were out of tongue and groove, no stairwell for us. So, we got a new showerhead... and the wrong attachment. ARGH. Lunch with Catie? Squashed. Sunday plans? Was in at work*.
Planning
Work. Orders. Packing. Cleaning. Do not plan to stop moving until I board the plane Wednesday morning.
*Another rant, but not a public one...
It was grueling. I am grumpy.
Now I get to fill orders. I will put off answering emails until I am less grumpy.
- 17:53 bit.ly/6kUAKh - I'm at latitude 64 and it's day 324. So little sun. #
Holy mother of sky! I am busy like a very, very busy thing. I owe a lot of people emails and I'm sorry for the delay - I will try to get everything answered today, but I'm also expecting a major drafing project on my desk any minute that MUST go out today and could be bloody, and I have to leave early, which is peeving my boss, but I have an appointment this afternoon, and my evening is looking booked.
If there's anything critical that you're waiting on me for, please feel free to ping again.
Art and Authoring
Who has time??
Home and Health
It is COLD! 22 below here at work, and supposed to drop another 10 degrees today. Brrr. I love living at a higher elevation - there's a 20 degree difference between my house and the airport - we're only 10 below and they are 29 below. Pblt!
Planning
The usual. Miracles of organization and last-minute completion of ridiculous goals. It's what I do.
~Finish covers for CoL (3, black and white ink) - first 2 are sketched
~One complete character commission (booked) - first sketch done, revision requests received
~Finish logo commission
~Sketch for mural
~
~Finish EMG-Zine anthology
~Finish steampunk coloring book
... and leaving in 6 days.
Huh.
ETA: Must be done tomorrow:
Scan Roses piece (handing over the original Saturday!)
Flight package for Sister (must be delivered by tomorrow afternoon)
Work Project
Call Mother (reserve hotel??)
Meet at 3PM for mattress exchange. Set up new mattress.
Must be done Saturday:
Stairwell.
Lunch with C.
Event 2?
Must be done Sunday:
Mail all orders! Update mailing list!
Must be done before I leave:
Set away things
Finish all orders
Get EMG-Zine stuff up
Starting the flowcharts for commission-control.com... it's pretty straight-forward!
Art and Authoring
Revised the Torn World map - here's a little segment:
( behind this cut... )
I also started the major timeline revisions and got through the stickiest part pretty well. Still need to put some more future events and several major historical events on the calendar, but well on the way.
Looking at a major wiki overhaul, too. The one that exists has a few drawbacks - tables are a pain, and it's not well integrated with the site.
Planning
I flail. I'm not sure what's a priority right now. Everything needs to be done NOWNOWNOW.
I would like to do some art tonight.
Linking
USPS steal Christmas. No more letters from Santa, kiddies.
- 09:34 YES! I have finished the paperdolls book and uploaded it for the printers. FINALLY. #
- 22:34 Woodstove = cat with no bones. #
I finally, finally, FINALLY finished Mere's paperdolls book and uploaded it for the printer. ABOUT BLOODY TIME. I'm sorry it took so long, Mere!
I'm a little panicked to realize that it's halfway through December. The things I had lined up for January seemed so distantly far off and now they're almost HERE and I'm not ready!
Torn World, in particular, is freaking me out a little - the site is ready to go and seems to be working smoothly, but there are still various holes and I realized a problem with the established timeline and have to fix it and I have so many stories that need polished and I hate that one that I already published but now I have to work around it and maybe it needs rewritten but I don't really have time and I'm not sure how we're going to start releasing stories because Idon'tknowanythingandI'mjustpretendingth
*wheeze*
I also want to get further into the coding for commission-control.com so I can get that beta-testing in January. Would people scream if I pushed that back to February? Probably not, but I'd feel guilty.
I'm also gnashing teeth over the steampunk coloring book - we have 12 awesome pieces, but is that enough? I would LOVE to have just a handful more.
Art and Authoring
Mostly, I'm timelining at Torn World to fix the problems I found, and start adding some important backhistory notes so that other people can do some storybuilding, too. I have other things I need to do.
Home and Health
I forgot exactly how much I loved having a fire going. It's been so wonderful and peaceful and warm the last few evenings in our house - a cheerful, crackling, alive presence in the room with us. The cat adores it. It's worth the hassle of chopping wood. (Which is, btw, very easy at 20 below)
I'm having a blast with my bartering offers, btw, and it's not too late to chime in if you want something. I still have many to answer! http://ellenmillion.livejournal.com/989
Planning
Tonight I want to finish the TW timeline changes and finalize a schedule of events. Not the story releases, necessarily, but the major events, at least. I also want to get rolling on the 3rd EMG-Zine anthology.
- 11:06 Notice! I will be out Nov 25 - Dec 7. International orders must be in by Nov 23 to arrive for Christmas! ellenmilliongraphics.com #
- 13:24 For Christmas this year, I'm bartering : ellenmillion.livejournal.com/989984.html #
Things I have to Offer
Everything left on this clearance page.
Prints of my art. Pretty much all of my art that isn't a limited edition is fair game. Originals are up for grabs, too!
Calendars! Old ones make great art projects, and I've got plenty of 2010 calendars left that I will also barter for.
Oracle decks and copies of the EMG-Zine anthologies. Fabulous gifts for fantasy art lovers and creators.
Teas - particularly the few remaining first batch misprints.
Stationery. Some people still write letters. Are any of them on your Christmas shopping list?
Coloring books. For grownups and coordinated kids who like fantasy.
What I'm Looking For
Art! I have a soft spot for originals, and most valuable to me would be portraits of my own characters/worlds. I'd love to talk about a commission or two. Prints and other goodies are also up for discussion.
Gifts. I have tough-to-shop-for people on my list. Geeky, funny, GUY gifts are particularly hard to find, but I have female friends and relations who may also like jewelry and other shinies. I also have two nephews (8-10ish), so toys would be awesome. Lots of cat-owners on my list... Maybe you make something that would be perfect?
Networking. My experiments with paid advertising this year have been head-shakingly un-fruitful. Word of mouth is still the most successful method I've explored, and I want to grow that some more. If you blog or tweet or facebook, and 10 or more people follow your links to my page in the next week, OR if you send them to this post and we 'close a deal,' I'll send you a few bookmarks and stickers - even if we don't barter for anything else! Link to any of the above pages or to http://ellenmilliongraphics.com/fantasy
Music. My new car plays CDs! Woot! I like a wide range of music and own nothing current. Mixes are awesome. MP3s are fine! Used is fine!
DVDs. I would love to own seasons of Avatar, BSG (new), Leverage... um... lots of things. My husband likes war documentaries and we both like really, really good nature/ancient history documentaries. I am not only fine with used DVDs, I love the idea. If you're looking at your shelf and have things you don't watch, feel free to list 'em in the comments and I'll see what I don't have and desire.
Other things I haven't thought of. Awesome icons or airplane tickets to tropical climates or costuming things? I need a good belly-dance skirt. I like fun socks. I'm wide open to ideas!
I will screen comments - feel free to make any proposal you like! I will barter in the truest sense of the word, and may counter-offer (which you are welcome to do back, of course!!).
I will be out of the office November 25-December 7!! No orders will be shipped during this time, and though I should have time to get domestic orders out for Christmas when I get back, International orders may be too late.
So, International orders - place 'em before November 24. Place domestic (US) orders by December 11!
Art and Authoring
I have a very strong start on 'Paper Butterflies,' which is a story that 'doesn't exist' that I'm liking VERY MUCH so far. I'm loving my characters.
Home and Health
I'm chilly at work today. It's only about -15, but it's a drafty office and I'm on the opposite side from the heater near the windows. *shivers* I need to start storing a sweater here.
Last night was supposed to be halibut supreme night, but the sour cream got left at Jake's work, so no surpeme for us! Instead, we ended up with a can of tomatoes with fresh onions, sausage and mushrooms, perfectly spiced, simmered and served with a toasted parmesan roll. For an 'oh crap, what will we have instead' meal, it was amazing. Better than amazing.
Our new bed is fabulous. I don't know how we managed without it. I sleep like a log and wake up in no pain, in exactly the position I went to sleep in. This morning, I woke up 5 minutes before the alarm went off. I used to do that every morning, but that went away a year or so ago. It would be nice to have that back.
Linking
http://www.wisebread.com/calling-all-ar
- 09:10 Oh, Monday. Why must you come so soon after Sunday? #
- 11:35 Brrrr! Twenty below today, and I forgot to wear long underwear. #
- 20:06 My nose can tell the temperature. Inhale deeply and see which nose hairs freeze. Hmm... between -10 and -15 F. Yup! -13. #
- 21:07 So, I finally updated the name on my credit card. Time it took to do? 5 minutes on the phone. Time it took me to get around to it?? 8 years. #
And it sort of drew me up short, because a LOT of people on my friendslist are professional or semi-pro writers, or actively pursuing non-traditional methods of publication, and... I haven't tried to sell anything I've written since high school*. I haven't even tried to put out a tip jar, or donate button.
This is not because I agree with Miss Manners that it's begging. It's not because I can't write, or can't write to spec, don't have time to write, or can't follow submission directions.
I'm not even sure it has to do with a failing of confidence - I know I'm not an awful writer (Any more. I certainly was. That's another story). And 'not awful' is an awful lot better than plenty of the stuff out there that people pay good money for. I get nice comments from my forgiving audiences.
I tallied it up, out of curiosity - trying to figure out how much I've written, and what I've done with it.
Discounting the 8+ years of blogging I've done, I have written nearly 100 short stories and 35 non-fiction articles while not being a writer. With one exception*, I have been paid nothing for this work. I posted them in my Elfwood library, at various fanfiction site (YES, I have an account at fanfiction.net. I'm not proud.), here at livejournal, at my own site, at deviantart, in Woodworks (RIP), EMG-Zine, Epitome... Even if you cut fanfiction out of that total, I've freely shared 75 odd pieces of fiction and non-fiction.
That's not amazing when compared to some people on my friendslist (*looks significantly at certain members of the padded room society*...), but I've got some staying power. I'm not an awful writer. I like to write. I'm already doing the writing. I am even a self-avowed 'shameless capitalist' who has been selling her artwork since she had to have a parent counter-sign a business license.
So, why am I not trying to sell my writing? More, why am I not asking anything for what I'm already doing? Why do I find such a chasm between art and writing in my own head? Why does even thinking about this make me feel stupid and stubborn at the same time?
I don't have any answers yet, only the questions. I might have a really good reason for this somewhere in the weird mental swirl that is my own brain.
I also find it odd is that after I started drafting this entry up, I got a notice in my email about a gaming site looking for more (potentially paid) bloggers. I have no idea how they got my email, but I suspect it wasn't a personal note. Still, within a few moments, I had an idea for a gaming-type column that I could easily write a post a week on.
Universe, you have a weird sense of humor.
*I have sold one piece of non-fiction in this time, mostly by accident, because the market I was writing for changed to a paying market, paid me, and as far as I can tell, ONLY me (because nothing else was published in the interim), before going back to a non-paying market.
I have NO idea where I was going with that, or when I wrote it.
Business as usual.
Packages stacked by the door to go out. Horrah.
So behind on emails it's almost funny.
Torn World contest results are up!
Art and Authoring
Because of the previously mentioned news, I can post my entry:
I won in the art category! I'll admit to being inspired by
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
coppervale's amazing inking. My technique is nowhere near as refined as his, but I did push myself further than I may have otherwise. Home and Health
Saturday was snow removal day - we spent a few hours outside moving snow around and clearing the driveway and turnaround. My arms still hurt.
After that was done, we put up tongue and groove siding in the stairwell until we ran out - it's about half done! Nice to have some house progress. I took before and after photos, which I'll show once we have genuine 'after' photos.
Planning
Work. Bleh. And then workout. And then... more orders. And the usual list of Things That Must Be Done. I have a post to post later about writing things.
Linking
http://stonetalker.livejournal.com/2605
stonetalker is doing a one-card draw until midnight EST.- 20:43 Oh my. Very long day - much snow removal and building accomplished. The stairwell is half done! #
- 20:52 Now that I've stopped moving, my arms are starting to hurt... #
Getting more orders than I expected to with the whole giftshop downsize. This is GOOD. I will have very little stock left at the end of the year.
Art and Authoring
Got the down payment on a commission (I will still take interesting and well-paying jobs from time to time) and sketched a draft of it and worked further on the Torn World map.
Home and Health
Oh, did it snow! It's all pretty again, but it's always too dark for photos when I leave for work and go home at night. I may have to bring my camera to work.
Planning
I have work coats to pick up, and a bed to go shopping for, need to work out (did not last night, so lazy!), and go shopping for weekend food.
- 15:44 Where, oh, where has my motivation gone...? Is it in my desk drawer? Is it in my shoe? Have you seen it? #
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- Ellen Million
- Ellen Million Graphics, Fantasy Art Emporium
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