I'm back!!! :)

I've been neglecting this blog.  Not intentionally.  I've been busy and I've had things to sort out.

So, for an update...
I've got an ipad.  I bought a keyboard for it so I can use it for writing.  I've tried doing some writing on it and it works very well.  It's small and lightweight so it's easy to take with me if I want to go somewhere.  I've been using it for all my writing as it is so comfortable to use.  I would definitely recommend that other writers get one!

I've got a job doing filing for a local factory.  It's part time work and I don't mind it.  I'd much rather be making a living off writing but I can't complain really because the job helps pay the bills.

I've been doing a lot of reading of late.  I've finished reading book-in-a-month.  I'll be posting a review on it here at some point.  I'll also be occasionally posting book reviews here in general as I finish reading them so stay tuned.  At the moment I'm reading Selina Fenech's book 'Emotionally Charged' and it's a lovely book.  I'm also reading the book 'The Productive Writer' and have discovered a few interesting tips in it to help with motivation.  I really need that at the moment.  After I've finished with those two I intend to read 'Memory's Wake' and 'Nail Your Novel.'

I've mentioned the title for my series of novels on deviantart.  The title is 'The Dawnshield Legends.' Most of the novels will be 80,000 or 90,000 words but some will be only 40,000 or 50,000.

I've also been doing some art and illustrations for my series and I've already started to release them.  Check out my deviantart page here: http://violetdolphin.deviantart.com/ for illustrations.  Check out my facebook page for daily or almost daily updates on my progress, my illustrations and anything else.  Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Violetdolphinart/366583413436724

Anyway, that's all for now. :)

Website!

I've been working on creating a website for my art and writing.  So far I've decided on a name for the site, I've worked on some of the layout and now I'm getting all the content together.  Creating a website is a lot of work but there are times when I enjoy it.

I will also be selling prints and other products through zazzle.  I'm not sure if I want to continue selling prints through deviantart yet.  I will be rescanning my nearly all my artwork so it will look its best.  There will also be a lot of new artwork.  I'm really looking forward to when I've finished creating my website!

Challenge update and a new picture

So far the challenge is going reasonably well and I will post my word count at the end of the week.  I still haven't done as much as I'd like though. 

I've called this new picture 'Butterfly Friends.'

I did this one last year and finally decided to upload it.
No reference was used.
HB & 2B pencils

The start of the July challenge!!

I know I'm a day late for this challenge but it's better late than never!  I had this challenge planned about a week ago but on the first day I forgot about it.  So I have a day of catching up to do.
I've got 9000 words to go and I better get started soon!  Wish me luck!!

The New Challenge!

I had problems with the old challenge.  I had set aside 2 hours a day to complete to complete the daily word count.  Instead of taking 2 hours to complete it, it took 4 hours.  I don't have enough spare time for 4 hours and I'm really out of practice with writing so I decided that 300 words a day would be better.

So next month I'll be starting the new challenge to do 9k words in a month.  Unfortunately that means it's going to take nearly a year to complete the rought draft.  Things are so busy these days that I have no choice.  The days when I had time to complete 50k words in a month are long gone.  I suppose I could still do it but the novel wouldn't be as high in quality.

I look forward to the new challenge.  If all goes well I'll be doing again the month after that.

2nd day of the Writing Challenge

I haven't written anything yet today but I still have time.
Yesterday I managed to write over the necessary 834 words per day.  At first I had writer's block because I was at a tough bit in the story but I managed to keep writing.  I ended up writing on and off for most of the day.  I'm out of practice so it was slow going.  Hopefully I will get more practiced again and be able to write a lot quicker.

Writing Challenge

Tomorrow I'm going to start a writing challenge to do 25k words of my novel during May.  I would do 50k but I'm out of practice.  Every few days I'm going to do an update here about my progress.
Unfortunately I haven't been doing much art and I'm not likely to be doing much next month either.   I bought the book 'No Plot? No Problem!' to help with ideas for motivation with novel writing.  I've also roughly planned out all the scenes for the novel so I don't get stuck for ideas.
If this challenge is successful I might do it in other months.