This is where I bitch.

We stayed up a bit late watching End of Days, the last Dr. Who Christmas special. I know, took us forever, just no time. I liked it. The Master was creepy. I would have liked more of the previous companions, Jack and Martha especially, but I can understand why it was done the way RTD did it. We'll see how I like Smith after they start the new episodes. The theory I've heard of the next plot being "more Twilight like" worries me, though I really can't figure out what that means. Gonna be hard to top Tennent.

Tired today. Not a lot to do, so I will get some archiving issues done.

Two days until vacation. I'm hoping I can get the rest of the drawing part of Abbie's art done this weekend, so she can check it for details and then I can color it. That's the goal anyway.

Number 453 of things that will break in our house this year: the clothes dryer.

It spins, just doesn't produce heat. So I had to make a run to the laundry-mat last night with a basket of wet clothes. Still not sure what I did to warrant all of this bad luck. I would really like to know so I can remedy it.

Otherwise it was a pretty good weekend. I got a good start on my art of Cowry Catchers. I'm shooting to be more detailed this time around. Looking at the other pieces by the other artists makes me want to crawl under a rock. I wish I had the time to develop that level of skill.

The project is slowing down again, or so it seems. I won't be surprised at a sudden rush, for no good reason, those things happen. But fewer 15 hour days this week, I think. This dose mean I have time to figure out the best solution to the problem of 70% of my PDFs having the wrong size slug. It isn't causing problems with the printers, but archiving won't accept them. Keeps me busy, I guess.

Book 1 of The Guild of the Cowry Catchers was awesome. And it will just get better as more books come out. Abbie took the world of Panamindora, which I love, and pushed it into the adult world. Prophet of Panamindora had it's dark moments, but there is no denying that Cowry Catchers is leaps and bounds above that. The plot is complex, the characters are deep and well thought out. One of the best parts is the listener really can't like any one character completely. The main characters are either mean, naive, oblivious or shallow, which is a nice touch of realism. For a book who's job it is to mostly set up the backstory and plot, it has plenty of action and plot twists. And it even ends in a cliff hanger! Everyone should go listen to it.

Plus I'll have art in one or more of the episodes in the next book.

I'll have to add this to iTunes when I get home.

We only got about 3 hours of sleep last night, but we got Paul off to his car pool group and he is off to his conference for school for the weekend. I might join him, we are playing it by ear. Tomorrow Keith is coming over to help me replace the fan/light in the bathroom, so I can't go see Paul till after that. I also have no idea if I'll need to work this weekend yet. Hopefully I can figure that out early this afternoon. Plus there are a bunch of house chores and repairs that need to be done.

Busy, busy, busy...

Later I need to do a post reviewing Abbie's first book in her Guild of the Cowry Catcher's podiobook. The last episode just posted yesterday and she can use some love on iTunes.

Paid account over with, upgraded to Plus account to keep 15 user pics. Apologies if the adds annoy anyone.

Work is still random and sporadic. Latest podcast is kinda dragging, but still interesting enough that I want to listen to it to the end. I'll post about it when I'm done with it.

I had no motivation last night and got nothing done until Paul got home and we went grocery shopping. Hopefully tonight I can get started on my next piece of art for Abbie. The research for the background is done, now the drawing part.

This weekend is looking like it'll be weird. I might work, depends on the project. I might work at the mall. I might join Paul at his conference for school. I might fix the light in the bathroom with Keith's help. Who knows.

I am a commissioned and paid artist!* Screw this day job, I'm going full time artist now! (Not really, don't worry babe.)

The wonderful and talented Abbie Hilton, who wrote and narrated the Prophet of Panamindora (which I love) and is now releasing the Guild of the Cowry Catchers (which I love more and helped beta read) asked me to do a piece of art work for her book. She's putting Cowry Catchers out as an illustrated podcast (something I've not seen before). Which means for each episode (roughly 2-4 chapters) she is commissioning and posting a piece of art.

My piece isn't until Book 2, which will come out in a few months, but she said I can post it now that it's done. The main character is being seduced/taken advantage of by the high priestess. Those are wyverns swimming with them.



I'm planning on doing more. It's nice to be creative again. And I really do work better with a deadline. This is a big ego boost, something I can use these days.



* To be fair, my aunt did commission me to do a picture of my uncle and his dogs for his birthday day a year or so ago, but that is family and not quite the same thing.