Updates AT LAST!!!!! :D

Well, friends, I can see from the date of my last post that I have been out of commission for some time! At least blogging wise. And recently, one of my friends on Facebook got a hold of me through message, and asked when on earth I was going to post some updates? This wasn’t the first time I was asked, either; I had been asked the same thing by a blog follower just the day before. So I definitely know that it is time to get everyone up to speed. 

Well, let’s start with my regular life. I’ve been writing A LOT more lately. Way more than I could have even hoped to during the school year. My novel, “Song of the Daystar”, now has a (very nearly complete) history behind the plot, the world, and the story itself, and because of that history, all of the little plot holes that I was struggling with are starting to fill up and make sense. And, quite honestly, the whole thing sort of worked itself out all by itself and came at me from out of nowhere. I’m reworking the beginning of the book yet again, but this time I’m opening with my villain and (though I haven’t completely decided on the specific time period of the scene) at the moment it is a scene that happened four years before my MC’s story. (That may change in the near future, if I can’t figure out how to work in the four year skip with grace… :P)

Besides writing, though, I’m still working on art commissions. Right now I’m all backed up. I have quite a few illustrations I’m working on from several different authors, and I have some deadlines coming up for them really soon (both personal and otherwise) so the pressure is really on. So far so good… hopefully I can get myself completely dug out within the next month. Or maybe two, if there are any complications. I still don’t have a scanner of my own, which means I’m still relying on my local Library and my school’s computer lab, but hopefully before too long this problem will be fixed as well.

Which leads nicely into the third bit of news regarding my personal life: I’ve got a job! It’s a part time job working as an In-Home care CNA for a wonderfully sweet woman who just happens to be the mother of a good friend. This has made life so much more manageable, since I can now rely almost entirely on myself, and I thank God every day for this gift. Besides, a portion of the money is going into a business fund for Magpie Eclectic, while another portion is taking care of bills, and another portion is going in a savings fund for my planned move this fall.

You read that right, friends. I’m hoping (though it’s still too early to say for certain) that I will be able to move out of my parents’ house for the fall 2012 and spring 2013 semesters and live on campus (or somewhere much nearer campus than my parents’ house) during that time. I still need to figure out a proper mode of transportation, since I’m currently using my parents’ van, but the thought of finally being on my own is a sweet one. Besides, with gas prices what they are, it’s getting ridiculous for me to drive an hour to school and an hour back every day of the week (usually including Saturday), and then an hour to church in the same direction on Sunday. I might as well live close as spend all that money on gas! Lol!

I also may be going to the big Ren-fair in Wisconsin coming up in a few weeks. I’m excited about that. Been working on embroidering and beading my big renaissance dress for the occasion. Hopefully when I get it done, I can post pictures of all my hard work. I’m excited to get it finished… I absolutely can’t WAIT to wear it at the fair! :D

And now for news concerning Magpie Eclectic Press and the Anthology Project – just in case any of you were curious about it. The submission process for the Anthology Project is going well. Currently we have four short stories that will be included in the anthology, and two poems. I will not be announcing names until after submissions are closed, and only if I get the authors’ permissions to announce them. As of the moment there is still no submission deadline, and if any of you have submitted something but haven’t heard back from me yet, just know that I’m getting to it. :D Some of the stories are still being debated over, but as soon as a solid decision is made I’ll be sure to contact the author with the results. I’m really getting excited about this project. Using the stories that have been decided on as a base, I’ve started to work out a design for the cover and have begun to brainstorm Anthology titles. Within a couple months time I will probably be setting up a pole to see what readers think of the potential anthology titles. 

I’ve also set up a new blog for the company… well, actually for me; to chronicle my journey into the publishing world as a company. It is called “Aspiring Endnotes”, and the title was inspired by the fact that I learn as I work… so basically my blog posts are likely to be “notes” on the lessons I learned after the fact. Lol! Currently there are no posts, but I have a couple that I’m working on. When I set up the first post, I will put a link up on this blog for those of you who are interested in reading it.

Some of you are probably wondering why I would set up a separate blog for that, when I could just post everything here at the P&P. But the truth is, every time I posted something about Magpie Eclectic here, I felt like I was self-promoting – advertising. That’s not really the purpose of the P&P, so I thought I would set up a separate blog for that sort of stuff… for talking about publishing through the eyes of one who is learning how to become a publisher. This blog here (the P&P) is for my personal journey as a writer… the Aspiring Endnotes blog is for my personal journey as a publisher. I’ve found that I look at the world of writing and publishing through different eyes, depending on which subject I’m working on, and which roll I take on as I’m working on it (writer, or publisher). So I feel like it’s just better to have my two views on the subjects separated... to keep them from getting mixed up. 

On another note entirely, yesterday I opened my business inbox to a new submission that I found quite intriguing. Since magpie has opened I’ve been surprised at the amount of submissions I’ve received already. After all, this is a fairly new press, and I haven’t even been given the chance to prove myself in the publishing world yet; I only have what I know, what I’ve studied, and what I believe – bunches of promises and this blog, but no books. And yet Magpie is still receiving submissions. :D However, up until this point, although I saw potential in several of the manuscripts, this is the first submission that I feel could possibly have more to it… this is the first one I’ve read that has made me want to request more. And it’s not just the writing or the style (by which I found myself pleasantly surprised when it drew me straight in), but it is also the subject idea. Now, of course it’s still WAY too early to say more than that or to get any hopes up – I still don’t know much about the rest of the book or how everything will play out, etc… and I haven’t even talked to the author yet – but this submission has made me wonder… I’ll be sure to keep you all posted over at Aspiring Endnotes.

Besides that… well, there really isn’t any “besides”. That pretty much sums up my life and current situation in a nutshell. I’ve been keeping myself busy. :D I have several book reviews that I should be getting up soon… but with everything else I’ve been working on, it seems so easy to push a book review to the side for a few days… and then a few more days… and then a few more… I can’t put it off forever though. Lol! There are also a couple of posts I would like to blog about, having to do with some insights into the lessons behind certain scenes of “The Chronicles of Narnia” books. I’ve been re-listening to the audio dramas of the books as I work on my ren-dress, and just the other day I had a revelation about the scene in “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” where Aslan turns Dragon Eustace back into a boy. It should be a very interesting post. 

If you’ve made it through this entire post, then I congratulate you for surviving my rambling! Hopefully my next post will be more focused (although I promise nothing… ;D)
Bye for now! And Happy Writing. ^_^

Nichole White

Writing Days -- Excuses That Shouldn't Exist

Ok, so I didn't lie in my last post, exactly, but I may not have spoken with complete accuracy. :P  This post is NOT a book review... (although I did write a book review when I said I did, but I'm waiting for a better time to post it. :D)

Instead, this post is about something that I seriously struggle with...

Writing.

For those of you who have been reading this blog for a while now, you know I absolutely LOVE the activity.  Beyond love it.  I could live on it.  I could eat, sleep, and breathe it.  It is what I want my life career to revolve around, and that is no small wish... it is a wish that I am slowly (and with God's help) working to see become a life-long reality.

But it seems that lately I've had a sort of love/hate relationship with my writing.  And that has lead to some serious procrastination.

Is it that I am having writer's block, you ask?  No actually, I don't have writer's block. :P  I could sit down and write a whole chapter if I really wanted to without even blinking an eye...

But that's just the problem.  While I don't have writer's block, I do have a handful of excuses that should have no business in my life, but that have taken over anyway... excuses for why I don't have time to write.  Most of these excuses revolve around school work and finding a job.  And for those of you who know me well, you know that a job is EXTREMELY important right now.

But here's the interesting thing: even though I've applied all over my area, no one seems willing to hire me.  I've wondered if it's because I'm a full-time student, or perhaps because I was discharged from my last job (for no good reason, I might add, but it's a long story that I won't get into here...).  I've wondered if the places that are hiring are looking for someone who looks different than me... (yes, I've wondered that; I'm sure looks are a factor in the hiring process... :P).  I've wondered if I don't have enough experience, or if people look at my majors and immediately assume that I could not qualify for the positions I've applied for.

I've wondered all of this and more.  But what interests me the most is the fact that every time I talk to people I know about the problem, or ask them to pray for me, they've told me the exact same thing: God has the right job for you... he knows what he's doing, and this may be a test.

Now, if only one person had told me this, I might think it was just coincidence, but you don't get a whole group of people saying basically the exact same thing to you every day.  It just doesn't happen.  And to make things even more curious, I've wondered why this all seems to be happening at the same time I'm trying to launch Magpie Eclectic Press.

Curiouser and Curiouser, as Alice would say.

Through all of this, though, there is one thing that I haven't been doing; I haven't been writing.  Not everyday... not for a very long time.  I've justified this by saying that I am too busy to write: I just don't have time.  But in all honesty, I know that I'm just putting it off.

Why?  I love writing, so why am I avoiding it?

Quite honestly, I'm not really sure why.  I think part of it might have to do with exhaustion... with everything that's been happening lately, I've been pushed and pushed until I feel like I have nothing left to give, and even though I have some time in which I could be writing, I haven't written anything because I think I'm just trying to avoid thinking in and of itself.  Writing is work, I won't deny it.  But it's work that I love.  Even though I'm tired, I shouldn't be avoiding it. :P

Well, today I sat down and started working on SOTD again.  It truly felt refreshing, and I'm hoping I will have more time to work on it later today, if I can find a quiet nook to hang out in on a rather crowded school campus.

The point of this post is now lost to me... :P  It has become rambling.  But I feel like the point I was trying to get at revolves around a confession... perhaps if I confess the trouble I am having, it will come easier for me.  *shrug*

Later I want to post about writing as a daily business.  Hopefully it won't ramble like this post. :P

Updates, updates, updates... :D and My Portfolio

This isn't going to be a very long post, so there's no need to go and get all comfortable unless you want to.  Recently I've felt the need to update The Pen and Parchment yet again.  So I've been adding pages.  I finally got my entire Art Portfolio downloaded to the site (check it out at the top of my blog. :D), and I'm thinking about changing the look once more.  I also want to add a poetry page and a page that explains my art commission rates.  Just thinks to look for in the future.

It must be a sign of change you know, this sudden need to update things.  Update my profile pic on FB, update my blog, update my book... and school's coming up in another month: I'll be a writing consultant and the secretary of the choirs.  I'll be meeting Brock Eastman and working more on SOTD while learning Music and Writing theory and singing my head off.  And I bet you I'll love every minute of it. :)  This next semester promises not to be as difficult as last semester (so far), so I'm actually looking forward to it.  And in the meantime, I'm enjoying my time off.  Recently I've simply been doing... nothing. *sighs blissfully*  Nothing much, anyway.

So that's all for now my friends.  Sorry this post is just rambling, but I felt the need to ramble and update.

See ya later!

Nichole