Sept. 1 - 2, 2025 - Challenges

The last couple of days have been slow going due to challenges that have nothing to do with writing and illustrating. I broke a tooth which left an extremely rough edge at the beginning of the holiday weekend. I had to wait until today to see the dentist. Fortunately, one of my caregivers came up with a solution - she bought me some bubble gun which served as a "cap" for the rough edges of the tooth that were ripping my tongue to shreds along the side near the tooth. It made it very difficult to eat and talk.

Because of my spinal issues, I sleep in a reclining chair. A couple of days ago it stopped working. The wires inside had frayed due to normal wear and tear. Again, with the holiday, it was hard to get help. Finally, the store where I originally bought the chair 5 years ago, said they might be able to order the part from China but it could take months for it to arrive. The other alternative is to buy a new chair for a couple of thousand dollars! As a widow on pension that's a lot. My spine is so fragile I can't sleep in a bed for more that a couple of hours at a time. Long story short - my son Peter did a "MacGyver" and spliced in new wires fixing the problem. There's no knowing how long it will last but at least I can go back to sleeping in the recliner! I'm beginning to feel like a human being again with the tooth and sleep issues dealt with!

Over the past 5 days, with all these challenges (and some more I haven't mentioned) I haven't had the energy to deal with my illustrations, however, I have plugged along at them every day. The project may have been overly ambitious. I've had to start over several times in order to get the "look" I want. Finally, it's beginning to come together as you can see in the picture below. Each petal requires multiple shades of green and several layers to create the Illusion so it's very slow going and incredibly time consuming. I will need to create two such end pages - one for the title and one for the end page. I've got a cute idea for the end one. I'll show you when it's done. Please drop me a line and tell me what you think of the "illusion".

Best wishes always....

P.S. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog! My intention is to keep followers up to date on my latest writing adventures. My current focus is on fiction genres including children's picture books and YA/NA historical romanticies. I'm also preparing to write an epic fantasy for the young adult audience. As a debut author I face all the challenges of breaking into the traditional publishing market. I need your interest and support to do so! Please consider following me here and on other social media platforms, which you can access on the Home page of my author's web site. I'll be adding more in the weeks to come so please check back from time to time. Thank you so much, in advance, for following my blog. You are potentially helping me enrich the lives of future readers. I just need this break to attract my first agent representation! Your efforts will make all the difference! Thank you once again.

Work in progress! Still lots of shading and blending to do with the leaves.