Happy Canada Day!

Grim Reaper Image made in Photoshop

I enjoy working with Photoshop so during my lunch hours sometime I try to teach myself something new. Based on this tutorial http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-tutorials/photo-manipulation/how-to-create-a-grim-reaper-scene-artwork-in-photoshop.html I created the image below. Most of the images in the compilation came from stock.xchng

Helmet-cam: Peregrine Falcon Chicks Banded in Hamilton

Yesterday, Bryan Thomas got the unique job of belaying down the side of the Sheraton Hotel in Hamilton, Ontario to retrieve 3 Peregrine Falcon chicks from a ledge nearly twenty stories up. And if that wasn't difficult enough, he had to defend himself from repeatedly being dive bombed by the chicks' mother, Madame X.



See the retrieval from Bryan's point of view
Video Via: The Hamilton Spectator 

Once the chicks were safely retrieved they were weighed and banded by Anne Yagi, MNR management biologist. Madame X and her partner, Surge, were proud parents of 3 baby boys - Beckett (682 g), Felker   (671 g) and Tiffany (641 g) - named after 3 of the many waterfalls in Hamilton.

After their exams and some media attention, the chicks were returned to their nest.

After the ordeal it was confirmed all 4 boys were in good health - Beckett, Felker, Tiffany and Bryan Thomas, who escaped the wrath of Madame X with some holes in his shirt and a scratch.

Credit: Hamilton Community Peregrine Project and Falcon Watch site
http://falcons.hamiltonnature.org/

Editing a NaPiBoWriWee Picture Book Draft about...

I'm currently working on editing a picture book draft I wrote during NaPiBoWriWee. I'm not going to tell you too much about the story (yet) but it's about my two little critters, Amigo and Beanie.

What? You've never met the real Amigo and Beanie?

Well, here they are!

The original Amigo,

and the one and only Beanie.
I'll have to post an updated picture of Beanie because she's much bigger than this now.

UPDATE: Recent picture of Beanie

Author Tara Lazar first vlog - Taking a Break (But Not Really)

Author Tara Lazar

A couple of days ago I visited the EMU's Debuts Blog where Tara Lazar posted her first "Vloooogg!" - Taking a Break (But Not Really)

Not only is her vlog post entertaining, she also provides some very useful information for writers. She talks about how taking a break helped her land her second book contract.

I highly recommend you visit EMU's Debuts Blog and check out Tara Lazar in her comical vlog performance, Taking a Break (But Not Really)

Also be sure to visit Tara's Blog at http://taralazar.wordpress.com/

NaPiBoWriWee: Day 3,4,5,6 & 7

Here we are at the end of NaPiBoWriWee! Congratulations, you made it! How did you do? Did you pound out 7 picture book manuscripts? Did you get one manuscript done? Maybe you just got some ideas and jotted them down in point form.

Here's an important question: Did you win a prize from Paula Yoo?

I did ok this year. Not as well as I was hoping but under the circumstances, I think I did good. Just attempting the NaPiBoWriWee knowing there potential challenges that week had in store for me makes me successful in this event. I managed to write 2 completed picture book manuscripts drafts, point form for another 3 and titles for the last 2.

I did not win anything from Paula Yoo so I guess I'll just have to try again next year.

Thank you Paula for hosting this event once again.

Day 2: NaPiBoWriWee

Day two of National Picture Book Writing Week is done and I did better.

I finished a very rough draft of manuscript #1 and jotted down some ideas for manuscript #2.

I'm probably going to hold off on blogging for a few days and post a summary at then end.

Day 1: NaPiBoWriWee

Day one of National Picture Book Writing Week is done and how did I do?

Not so good.

Did I fail?

No. You can't fail NaPiBoWriWee.

After a busy day at my full time job (worked through my lunch), some not so good news - which threw me for a loop, and a long dental appointment in the evening, after I put the kids to bed I had nothing left to attempt to write a picture book draft. Excuses? Maybe. Reasons? Ya.

That does not mean I didn't think about it. So now, today, I have to roll into overtime and try to catch up. Excuses? Ya, I have a whole bunch more I could use but I won't. I am not going to leave this blog post short and see what picture book (or 2) gets written today.

I'm doing it again! I must be crazy but it's so much fun! - NaPiBoWriWee 2012

There has been so much going on I almost forgot about an annual writing challenge I've done since it began 4 years ago.

NaPiBoWriWee - National Picture Writing Week hosted by Paula Yoo.

The Challenge: Write 7 picture book drafts in 7 days.

You do not need to write a polished manuscript. These are spelling mistake ridden, ridiculously raw, gruesome grammar, problematic punctuation filled, 1st draft manuscripts. I don't think that made sense, but that's ok because that's how my manuscripts are going to be when I first write them. For me this helps me get the idea down on paper and not let the 'nitty-gritty' editing interrupt the idea flow.

One thing I didn't do this year, which usually helps me prepare for NaPiBoWriWee, is PiBoIdmo (Picture Book Idea Month) hosted by Tara Lazar. I'm really regretting it now. The concept with the PiBoIdMo challenge is to come up with a Picture Book Idea every day for the Month of November. Usually I take my 7 best ideas from this and use them for NaPiBoWriWee.

So, with a week to go I'm going to try to come up with 7 or more picture book ideas and pretend I didn't forget about it and pretend I've been prepared for it since November. With all that is going on in 'real life' right now, if I come up with one picture book manuscript I will deem the exercise successful. No excuses!

Are you ready?

The Business Cards Lesson I Learned

In February of 2012 I was fortunate to see Donna Messer, the "Queen" of networking and President of ConnectUs Canada, speak at McMaster's Inspiring From Within conference. One of the many tips I picked up from Donna, was to always carry business cards. I noticed right away Donna had a pocket full of business cards ready to be distributed. I later learned her other pocket was empty, ready to receive business cards. Of course, I didn't have any to give her (Darn it!). I didn't have any cards related to being a writer even printed.

 Since writing is currently a hobby I wasn't prepared to invest a lot of money into business cards. I've discovered a few cheap, yet effective options.

 1) Print your own business cards. From your favorite office supply store you can purchase business card paper for $10-$20

 2)Vistaprint - http://www.vistaprint.ca You can order 250 business cards online for free and only pay for the processing and shipping. You can also purchase cards; 250 for $20.00. See site for full details.

 3)Moo - http://us.moo.com/partner/sample Order a sample pack of 10 MOO Business Cards, for free. These are the ones I ordered and they are really nice cards however, they come with the moo.com URL in the corner on once side of the card since they are free. You can also purchase cards starting at 50 cards for $19.99.

So now I have 10 business cards related to writing in my purse, so I'm prepared for the next time I run into Donna, or anyone else I'm networking with.