Category Archives: photography
I Should Be Writing (a new form of procrastination!)
So I’ve developed another method to avoiding all that I should be doing. It’s addictive. It’s amazing. It let’s you snag all your favorite things from around the net and organize them into cute little pin boards for your viewing pleasure. It lets you gather idea for the upcoming holidays, remodeling jobs, organization, fashion, or whatever else interests you.
What am I talking about? Why, Pinterest of course! You can see my profile here 
If I could figure out how to grab a screen shot of it, I’d post one here just to show you how Fab it is.
My little Mock-Up will have to do:
But I’m burning daylight here and I’ve got 1,235, 998 projects calling my name. Ciao’
Weirdness Warning: Photoshop, True Blood and Arabian Horses
Life, as usual, has been getting in my creative way lately. I’ve been busy working on more post for you guys, crafting a story collection, finishing up a novel that I’m very excited about (as well as about five other literary projects) and then there’s the non-writing time-sucks:
1. Photoshop: In addition to gearing up for a Maternity photoshoot this weekend (love me some pregger’s bellies!) and a Senior portrait session with Firetrucks after that, I also have gotten some design work done.
While I do spend a fair amount of time on these things, it’s not all wasted minutes. Crafting cover art (like the mock-up below) allows me to focus a story more tightly, and often gives me the kick-in-the-pants that I need to complete it.
{I’d love to hear any thoughts or comments you have on this cover!}
2. Television: I don’t have Showtime, despite some of my favorite shows airing on that channel. Californication, Weeds, Dexter, The Real L Word… and of course, True Blood, but that goes without saying. And it’s literally killing me to not be able to watch them. Seriously. I spend hours lamenting my sad state of cable subscriptions and cooking up elaborate schemes so that I can bask in the glow that radiates from Eric Northman. I wish I was joking.
3. Parenting Lethargy: I spend so much time trying to accomplish things that sometimes it is overwhelming. Then all at once, I’m bombarded by the things I should be teaching/ doing/ sharing with my children and I want to poke June Cleaver in the eye with rusty scissors for making me feel like a crappy mom. Case-in-point: My daughter has mentioned numerous times that she wants to take horseback riding lessons.
Now, I totally understand. I felt the same at her age and thanks to my own Mother-on-a-pedestal, I rode and showed horses competitively right up until I got married and moved away. I think about getting back into it, but who has the time?
(My horse-days were before the digital era, but my Egyptian Arabian “Clyde” looked like the above.)
But back to my daughter and her equine interest. I’m scared (she’s extremely accident prone- she broke and lacerated her finger WHILE getting a school physical at the Dr’s office!), I’m not rich (lessons and attire and tack, oh my!) and I’m busy enough as it is. So I put it off, and then I feel like crud for not doing it for her. I really need to get on that, and the million other things on my lost To-Do list.
But I can’t start now. It’s late and I’m going to bed.
Until next time!
~K.
Three-Ways Thurdays: Meet Author Shéa MacLeod
I’m super -excited to bring this new feature to the website, and I hope it develops into a weekly Quirky-fest. And I can think of no-better person to start the Three-Ways than today’s spotlight author– a Quirky, fascinating chic. I love her blog, and if you do one thing, check it out and subscribe to her posts. You won’t regret it!
PART 1:
Super Secret Writer Identity: Shéa MacLeod
Blog: http://sheamacleod.wordpress.com/
Even Super Secreter Location: London
Quirky Factor: SEVERE
Random Deets: I love Fluffernutter sandwiches, Brazilian dancing, and Spock.
Best book/Worst book Picks: Best book I’ve ever read… There are three that come to mind. My all-time fave is Stephen King’s The Stand. I’ve read the unabridged ridiculously long version more than once. I love it with all my heart. The Passage by Justin Cronin was incredibly amazing. It had all the horror and great story telling of King, but with more beautiful language (As Cronin is a literary writer.). Sometimes the literary-ness of it all did get in the way of the story telling, which is why I think King is better. Keep it simple. And now here’s one out of the ballpark: Dara Joy’s Ritual of Proof. Talk about controversy! A planet where women rule and men are treated much like the women of Edwardian England? Huzzah! I won’t say it was the best written book ever, but it was audacious.
Being an Indie Writer in London vs. an Indie Writer in America: I think that being indie is LESS respected in the UK, if you can imagine. But I have a lot of chutzpah, so I pull it off. lol I do find the surroundings very inspiring. There’s so much history and it’s so OLD.
Are you working on a new book? A sequel (to the one featured below)? When can we expect to see more? YES! The second book in the Sunwalker Saga, Kissed by Fire, is off to the editor. You’ll be able to read the further adventures of Morgan Bailey (This time in London. With DRAGONS!) sometime in August 2011. I’ve got three WIPs in the works. One’s the third Sunwalker book, and the other two are unrelated series.
Addicted to any TV shows? Totally. I’m a major TV addict. I’m addicted to all the CSIs, NCISs, Criminal Minds. And Bones! I’m peeved beyond imagining that Stargate Universe was cancelled, though I’m keen to try out this new show, Falling Skies. Everything’s better with aliens.
Pets, real or make-believe? Does a Guardian Angel named Bob count?
What’s the view from your window? A leafy street lined with Edwardian period houses.
Do you write on a schedule? When the mood strikes? I admit to not being terribly good with schedules. I write much better if I’m in the mood. That said, I make a point of sitting down and writing at least five times per week. Even if I only slog out a few words.
Did you celebrate the publication of your first novel? How? Hells yes! I drank port and ate Charbonnel et Walker Pink Champagne Truffles from Selfridges. Holy moly. Then I called/emailed anyone and everyone I ever met. Then I had a BBQ at a friend’s house. And drinks at the pub. Um, yeah, I celebrated! lol
(And just so you can put a face to the name, here’s Shea, looking all Mysterious and Writerly.)
PART 2:
Kissed by Darkness, Book One in the Sunwalker Saga
AVAILABLE AT:
THE BLURB: Danger is always on the menu for Morgan Bailey, a sexy and street-smart bounty hunter, who prowls the dark underworld of Portland, Oregon hunting creatures of the night. Morgan’s never met a vampire she couldn’t dust or a demon she couldn’t kill until she’s hired to destroy a new kind of mystical threat: the Sunwalker.
A powerful immortal once believed myth, the Sunwalker carries with him an ancient secret which, if left unchecked, will destroy Morgan’s world. Pursued by a passionate Templar Knight and the target of the local vampire clans, an ancient power is awakened within her, unlike anything she’s ever known. Morgan must uncover the truth behind her mission and about herself, before the Darkness lurking inside swallows her whole.
PART 3:
Random Thoughts of Awesome from Shea:
Yeah, don’t have any. But there are a few things I’ve learned in life. Important stuff I think you all should know. Probably your life will be incomplete if you don’t know these things.
1. Never say “fanny” in the UK. Trust me on this. It does NOT mean butt.
2. Photographs of Paris look way cooler if you use the grayscale setting on your camera. Even if you’re a crap photographer.
3. Richard Hatch made a better Apollo than Jamie Bamber. I should know. I was in love with Apollo. I was six. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, shame on you. You are out of the geek club.)
4. Even numbered Trek films don’t suck.
5. Agatha Christie was a flipping genius. Every author should have to study her in depth before ever putting pen to paper.
6. Not all food in Rome is good. However the wine makes everything go down easier.
7. Never, ever wish your life was more exciting. You might just get what you wished for.
8. Everything’s better with dragons.
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Thanks for checking out THREE-WAYS THURSDAYS! I hope you’ll come back next week for our next victim, er, I mean Author.
And thanks to the Fabulous Shéa MacLeod for stopping by!
~Karen
I dreamed of Irises
I found out a while back that one of my photographs was chosen for publication in BellaOnline’s Literary Journal. You can see the picture here, and while you’re there, check out the rest of the fantastic fiction, poetry and artwork. Bon Appetite!
Getting Creative, Even if it Kills Me
So, once again I find myself railing against the mundane, normalcy of my life. I get up, I go to work, I herd cattle (I mean kids), and I clean my never-clean home. I miss the beauty of life, the joy in the creative. So i must find it again.
I’ve been shooting pictures for a long time, and every now and then I manage to capture a gem. You know, one of those photos that you return to again and again because it is just so moving– to the one who took it, at least.
So I’m trying to get pseudo-serious this time. I’m going to try. So that I could keep my better shots organized, i created my own Photography site– Karen Fowler Photography. If you have a sec, check it out!
Meanwhile, here’s a taste!
This one is “Little Boy Bass”, a.k.a my son holding his very impressive first catch of the season.
Fall on Your Knees
I had a poem published and wanted to share. It was one of those situations where I was minding my own business, probably surfing Facebook, when a poem up and wrote itself in my head over a matter of a few minutes. And this was the result.
The online literary journal, by BellaOnline was taking submissions for its publication Mused. Most of my fiction is not Pollyanna enough for the general public, but some of my poems are, so I sent in the aformentioned Manna-from-Heaven and what do you know? It was accepted. I guess the lesson her is to never look a Gift Poem in the mouth
On another note, perhaps it was during a similar excursion like this one, when I conjured those words via inspiration. Here, I’m looking down at a few of the wild ponies on Assateague Island, just few minutes from my hometown.
