Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

I really should read my own blog.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

The willow is too close to the house.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

You are here: Home / Artists In Our Midst / Artists In Our Midst

Artists In Our Midst

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Big Bunny Linocut by linocutboy on Etsy

As promised, herewith your Artists In Our Midst thread.

If you are any kind of creator – artist, writer, blogger, photographer, musician, inventor, designer, sex toy entrepreneur, gardener, whatever – professional or otherwise, and you want to give yourself or your stuff a plug, please do so.

If you’re not and you know someone who is, get in a plug for them, or ask one of our talented creators to make you something you never thought you wanted, but which would bring a bit of joy into your life.

Don’t forget our Balloon Jobs thread. There are all sorts of clever people who might be perfect for your business, and all sorts of job opportunities and suggestions on offer.

My plug is for the Etsy shop of linocutboy, whose work is just lovely, and includes the magnificent big bunny above.

Reader Interactions

137Comments

  2. 2.

    brendancalling

    I guess I’ll jump in.

    After years of getting paid in weed to make videos, I got hired by Raw Story to make videos for actual money. It’s pretty straightforward work, and I don’t get to go as crazy as I like to in my spare time.

    That job is what’s allowing me to move to Guatemala in April, where I’ll be pursuing my other passion, playing bluegrass and old time music (although not with this band).

  3. 3.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @brendancalling: Green Acres made me laugh. I’ve probably seen your work on Raw Story too. Sounds like things are going well.

    I have a new YA fantasy out, DEEP AS A TOMB. My publisher puts out the paperback first for a month or so. Eventually there’ll be an ebook. Amazon is driving me crazy with a glitch in their ordering process, but it’s available immediately on B&N and Indiebound.

  4. 4.

    Jack Canuck

    Being in the Australian time zone and actually seeing this thread early, I’ll get the ball rolling. My two creative endeavours are photography and music. Photography I picked up from my Dad, who had a pair of old Nikon SLRs and a big 8×10 camera that got used on a practically daily basis. One day I hope to scan all his negatives digitally, but there are literally thousands of them, so that’d take a while. I haven’t had as much time for photography lately, but I put what I think are my best shots up on flickr. I have got some recent ones that I haven’t put up yet, I should probably get on that.

    My other outlet for creativity is music, examples of which are up on soundcloud. It’s been years since I played live other than the occasional open mic, but I’ve been using my multitrack recording setup to work on new songs quite a bit over the last year or so, and I’ve reached the point where I really want to put a band together again. So if anyone knows any musicians in the Melbourne area that might be interested, let me or them know! The stuff on soundcloud is all me though, an honest to god one-man-band at the moment.

  5. 5.

    Mustang Bobby

    I’ve already been portrayed in Writers in Our Midst, but let me take this opportunity to shamelessly self-promote a theatre company in Orlando that will be putting on one of my ten-minute plays — its world premiere, actually — in December.

    I’m also experimenting with writing a romance novel that has some really explicit sex scenes in it. I’ve found out that writing seize-the-headboard gay sex is, uh, hard to do without becoming repetitive. And keeping the romance alive and the drama going isn’t easy either.

  6. 6.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Jack Canuck: All those photos are beautiful and make me see things I wouldn’t see for myself, but I’m astonished at the spider shots. How did you do that?

    I love the way the internet lets people share their creativity worldwide. My book’s cover artist is Italian, but my editor saw her work on Deviant Art. That would never have happened even ten years ago.

  9. 9.

    Jack Canuck

    @Iowa Old Lady: The spider was just hanging out on a web on our laundry line one morning. Almost walked into the damn thing, actually! Unusually, I actually had some time to play with, so I went back and set up my camera and tripod, and the spider was very cooperative in just sitting there. It was just my standard 14-42 lens though, I don’t have any macros to play with.

  13. 13.

    Applejinx

    @Mustang Bobby: Heh. If you’re serious about that, I hope we end up in the Balloon Juice writer’s group.

    I’m going to be starting up another novel with all those things—porn, romance and drama—and I’ve got a lot of experience with those problems, and can probably help.

  14. 14.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    @Jack Canuck: Wow. I am impressed. You are good, and in both areas. I am especially impressed with your sense of light. Those are gorgeous photographs. (And I used to shoot film also…but I’m a Canon-ite. Nothing against Nikon though!)

  17. 17.

    Applejinx

    @Mustang Bobby: specifically, think of acts and words as like the word ‘said’ or ‘the’: yes, you’re going to be seeing those words/acts over and over for functional reasons, so you’ve got to operate on the larger level of intentions and attitudes, and convey changes in mood and opinion. In a book, every sex scene ought to be a change of perspective for good or ill, and when your authorial intentions are about conveying these changes as they affect both/all characters, the acts and words fall into place because they’re just illustrative of the larger point you’re making.

    :)

  20. 20.

    Mustang Bobby

    @Applejinx: That’s what I’ve been doing. Each one is a learning experience or represents a change in the relationship between the narrator and his partner. It also doesn’t hurt to change the locale. :)

  23. 23.

    laura

    A small group of friends get our art on together and tomorrow 2 of us are making lineocut stamps for holiday cards.
    When the glorious wars in the desert began, the poet Andrei Codrescu urged the listeners to make art in response to horror, and that only art can save us -or words to that effect. Those words have stuck with me, and this post is as timely a reminder. I’m not a good arist and still, moving color around, or collaging, a haiku, the urge to seek sanctuary in art has been the most present emotion in this last year, and especially these last days.
    I hope it doesn’t come across as big footing, but there’s a role in art for the audience. You don’t have to be a musician to seek out live music experiences or open mike. People mostly like being out and around other people having a community experience and right now, sitting home doesn’t seem to be on the self care list.
    That lineocut bunny is giving me some inspiration and the breadth of talent among the wide-world of bj community members is a good place to be.
    So thanks for this, all of you all.

  28. 28.

    Joyce H

    I’m an author, with my books available in Kindle format at Amazon. I’ve written two cozy mysteries and four (so far) Regency romances.

    My author page is at:Joyce Harmon

    If you know any fans of Georgette Heyer, pass my author page link on to them, because her style is what I’m going for with the Regencies – light-hearted and humorous comedies of manners.

  29. 29.

    Mustang Bobby

    @Baud: We pay Hollywood to do that. Speaking only for myself, of course, but that’s why my narrator is a hunky twenty-something and his lover is a famous movie star with a big… secret.

  34. 34.

    Peter

    I’d like to share a music video I cut for a good friend. It’s the title track of his first solo album after many years in bands and as a successful producer/composer. It’s a wonderful album; he’s a brilliant songwriter and a killer guitar player. The song deals with his mother’s triumph over an abusive second husband. I shot the live material, but the footage of his mom making biscuits and all the old Super 8 stuff came from him and his family and I just edited it all together.

    In related news, the video appears as part of an online quarterly I edit; it’s part of an ongoing project with a restaurant that includes a big book that comes out next spring. The current issue also includes a piece I wrote about a sexual food fetish community and some other good pieces by talented people. Earlier issues include some excellent fiction, poetry, photo essays, and a piece of modern dance based on Marie Antoinette’s apocryphal “let them eat cake.”

  38. 38.

    Jack Canuck

    @3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike): For some reason the reply link on your comment directs to your website. Just wanted to say that that’s lovely work – and I’ll claim some background for that because my ex-wife was/is a jeweller, so I got very familiar with the challenges and possibilities of the work! She loved working with labradorite too, beautiful stone. Very nice stuff!

  39. 39.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    @Joyce H:Thanks, Joyce! I think I might like your work. From my screen name(s) it does seem I’m a dystopian-fiction fan (I am) but I do like period pieces. I currently read Canadian author Louise Penny (not period, but Agatha Christie style who-done-its) to get my mind off crap – a trip to Three Pines is relaxing, even if there are murders there. (It also helps my rudimentary French.)

  42. 42.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    @Jack Canuck: Well, like I said, I don’t know if I did it correctly, and I don’t know how to fix it.

    But at least it got to the website. Thanks for looking, and for the compliments. All (or almost all) of my silverwork is argentium sterling now, because it is sterling (for hardness) but fuses like fine silver does. I don’t need solder or pickle, and it doesn’t tarnish as easily as 925 sterling does. And my supplier recycles, so my metals are “green” as in recycled, not mined. (I can actually send my mistakes back for credit…)

  44. 44.

    PaulWartenberg2016

    Some of you might know I’ve self-published a handful of stories as ebooks, and I’ve also got a couple of printed books on the market. I’m currently doing a NaNoWriMo this month, so hey HUGE SHOUT-OUT to the Write-Ins and keep up with those Word Sprints everybody!

    If you own a Kindle, check out my Amazon authors page here. If you’re owning a Nook, just type in “paul wartenberg” on the B&N website and hopefully I’ll show up.

    Thank you!

  48. 48.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    @Iowa Old Lady: Yeah, after I looked at other folks links, that was it. It won’t happen again. (Glad someone noticed and helped me out!)

    I may add it to the line for “website” but I thought that might be a little brash. Maybe not though. We artists / creatives need all the publicity we can get, right?

  49. 49.

    Steeplejack

    @3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike):

    Your link works fine. Great jewelry!

    The only problem with your post is that your link has engulfed the Reply button in it. So when people try to reply to your comment they get sent to your link instead.

    I think, but I’m not sure, that this happens if you don’t put a carriage return after a link when it is the very last thing in a comment. FIY for future reference. (And I believe Alain the site fixer is looking at this.)

  51. 51.

    Suzanne

    I make ceramics/pottery. It’s just a hobby, though everyone tells me I should sell my work (including my instructor, so not making that up). But I have resisted, mostly because it is the activity I do as my creative outlet, and I would like to keep it separate from what I do for money. So I give most of it away as gifts at holiday time. But I am happy to donate to any art auction for worthy social justice or sustainability causes. Friend or message me on Book of Faces (I’m friends with Cole), and you can see some of my work and let me know what you need.

  53. 53.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    @Jack Canuck: I’m about halfway through the Bridge trilogy, for the second or third time. Gibson scares me, but I’m addicted. (And I’m almost as crazy as 3Jane.)

  54. 54.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Suzanne: I hear you. I started writing fiction in the form of Tolkien fanfic. It was completely without stakes and so much fun. I learned and got better as a writer, partly because I could try anything I wanted to and if it didn’t work out, no loss. Just move on to the next story. It was pure joy.

  56. 56.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    @Steeplejack: Yeah, I know, but after the time limit I don’t know how to undo it. But thanks for visiting the site, and the compliments!

  58. 58.

    Mustang Bobby

    @Central Planning: I’m trying to avoid repetition, especially with the same characters. And coming up with new ways to describe the action without getting either overexpressive (try and work “turgid” into a sentence without laughing) or boring is a challenge. But a fun one.

  59. 59.

    PonB

    Ok, here’s my plug, for my music project:

    Audiot Savant

    Available on all of your favorite digital services. Patreon site coming soon. Progressive rock with a slightly harder edge. “Easy music for your complicated life.”

    – PonB

  65. 65.

    Emma

    @Iowa Old Lady: Thank you! If you have a chance I posted a link to my Skye photos. That’s the place I’d like to retire to, even if it rains too bloody much and I’m always cold. Now that I can’t travel much, I’m trying to think of studio photography I can work on.

  66. 66.

    Origuy

    I’m no artist, so I’ll plug a couple of friends. Stephanie Maclean is a landscape and seascape artist, specializing in the San Francisco Bay Area and her native Scotland.Besides fine art prints at her site above, you can buy other items at Fine Art America.

    I’ve mentioned Catherine John’s new album Fandango Bragh here before. It’s a fusion of traditional Mexican and Irish music, with musicians from both genres. You can only buy downloads at the Bandcamp link, but you can give them as a gift.

  68. 68.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Emma: Once again, gorgeous. I’m not a visual artist at all, so I hesitate to say what I actually thought of when I looked at your pictures in case it’s insulting in a way I don’t understand. But I do giant jigsaw puzzles and these would be perfect pictures for them.

  70. 70.

    Mary G

    I’ve been stress-relieving by doing coloring-book apps on my tablet. Here are some of them.

    I got into drawing and painting in my 30s, but had given it up in recent years. Renoir had RA so bad that by the end of his life, he had someone tie his brush to his forearm and painted with that. I don’t have a high enough pain tolerance for that. When I found these apps, I was delighted. It’s easy to just tap, tap, tap.

    Also, I bought this mermaid for my garden on this Etsy site. It’s run by a couple of people in Northern California who fund artists in Haiti who handmake things from old oil drums.

  71. 71.

    Emma

    @Iowa Old Lady: That’s amazing. Someone mentioned that the other day. I wouldn’t know where to start! And don’t worry; I don’t have the soul of the prickly artiste. :-)

  75. 75.

    donnah

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    thanks! He lives and works downtown and I wanted to show him as a part of it. The constellation on the right side of the sky is Gemini, his birth sign, and the Big Dipper is on the left, with the North Star as his guide. And blue was his favorite color when he was little.

  76. 76.

    Mary G

    @Emma: Those are all beautiful. I like the doorknockers in Florence and the boats in Scotland especially, but they’re all beautifully atmospheric and I wish I was there now.

  80. 80.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    Does anybody want a font of their own handwriting? If so, I can make one for you for $20. All you need to do is send me a scan of a hand written alphabet, both capital and small letters, along with numbers, punctuation and any other symbols you want. Send me a scan of your signature, and you can print that out on anything you print. It’ll be solid and perfect, unlike photocopied signatures.

  82. 82.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Emma: I looked at your Scotland photos (hey, you said you wanted comments.) Since they’re scanned, I can’t tell how they were taken, but you might want to get yourself a neutral density filter. For pictures like the waterfall ones, you can lengthen the exposure and end up with something that looks more like this, which I find more attractive. That one, for example, was shot at f18, ISO 125 for 1 second.

  83. 83.

    Jack Canuck

    @3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike): I love Gibson, ever since I discovered Neuromancer back in high school when it came out. I’ve read most of his stuff, but I just read Zero History a few months ago, and I think there are one or two others I haven’t gotten to. I’m due a re-read of them all though. I just love his writing style. Something about it just works for me.

  84. 84.

    Mary G

    @Iowa Old Lady: I am eagerly awaiting the ebook. I loved your first one. I would buy the physical one, but my hands won’t hold even a paperback without hurting and there is no spare nook or cranny for books in my house, even though I’ve given away hundreds of them.

  85. 85.

    WaterGirl

    @Mustang Bobby: I could be wrong, but I don’t think what you’re going for is having the average person have to stop and look up words while they are reading what is supposed to be a hot sex scene. :-)

  87. 87.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Mary G: Bless you, Mary.

    Amazon is just making me weep over availability issues. The book is print-on-demand and my publisher says Amazon usually just gets on with ordering the book from Ingram (the distributer) as customers buy it. But for some reason, Amazon has had it listed as out of stock for over two weeks with no date for when they expect to have it in. My heroic editor contacts them daily to no avail. As I said, B&N and Indiebound have it with no problems. I feel like Amazon is killing the book, not out of malice, but because someone clicked the wrong box somewhere and now no one can figure out what’s wrong. /whine

  89. 89.

    Emma

    @Gin & Tonic: I used a Nikon 6006 and it was filtered, tho for the life of me I can’t remember how. I wasn’t using a tripod for a lot of them, which was the problem. And that picture is fantastic, though I will admit that I like the rough and tumble look for the water.

    These days since I have developed arthritis in shoulders and wrists I can’t carry a big pack as I used to. Any recommendations for a good lightweight camera?

  94. 94.

    Jack Canuck

    @Mary G: Thanks very much! My job (teaching) has taken over most of my time (along with a six year old son), so it’s always a battle to find time and energy to do the artistic stuff. Photography only happens when we go on a short holiday these days, but I’ve been a bit more successful in working on music – at least I can do some of that in the evenings, though singing and acoustic playing isn’t possible after my son’s gone to sleep. Looking forward to the end of the school year in December – six weeks or so with no classes!

  95. 95.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Emma: Sorry, can’t help much with that. I carry a D7000 with several lenses and a full-size tripod, so lightweight isn’t me. But I have to say I got my wife a Sony Alpha 6000 and have been very impressed with it.

  96. 96.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    @Jack Canuck: I still have the copy of Omni Magazine with Burning Chrome in it. He can be dense at times, and draw from really unusual sources. I have connections to New Orleans, so I understood him when he got into some Creole / Hatian voodoo references, i.e., Baron Samedi, Papa Legeba and Maman Brigette in Count Zero (I think it was Count Zero.) His style fascinates me, although I will admit I sometimes need a second or third time to “get” everything. He’s definitely not a light read. I an waiting for the sequel to The Peripheral to get his take on The Jackpot, and hope it’s better than Heinlein’s. (Think we might be headed for The Jackpot? Maybe it’s arrived, but we don’t know it yet.)

  97. 97.

    Christopher Wing

    Hey all –

    Long-time lurker. I’m a musician, currently on Dubmission Records out of London – https://mcthfg.bandcamp.com/. Living in Changwon, South Korea.

    In addition, there are lots of good teaching jobs in South Korea, and those fearing for their safety might want to consider it. I’m happy to help anyone who is looking to come.

  102. 102.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    @Mary G: You guys have given me such a boost this afternoon. I’ve been fighting depression and a couple of medical issues,and it has sort of stomped my creativity. Thanks to y’all I might have gotten a spark going again.

    It is speaking to my boho/DFH soul.

    Yay! It’s supposed to! I hit the mark! I’m also going to put up a holiday specials selection in the next week or so, and they will have, shall we say, some simple designs with comfortable price points. And I don’t tell anyone this, but every bracelet and necklace has a free pair of earrings included. (That is supposed to be a surprise when you open your box.) ;-D

  103. 103.

    Michael R

    Hello,

    Obligatory introduction of a long time lurker, thanks to the front pagers for a variety of interesting content, etc

    My wife published a story which a) is a well crafted international thriller, and b) I think meshes with the general sensibilities of the balloon-juice community. So here’s a plug.

    As Long As She Lives

    Never underestimate a woman who survived.

    “…give everyone a different part of your story, then the gossip will be all about putting your story together, not questioning it.”

    After 4 years teaching in central Africa, Caitlyn Lancaster returns to her family in Australia, telling them she’s been sent home because of looming political unrest. But Cait is more fragile than she and her Federal police handler anticipated. She’s forced to accept that childhood family friend, now police detective, Riley Duncan must be told the brutal truth if she is to keep herself and her family safe.

    With Riley’s support, Cait begins to recover her strength but civil war erupts around her friends in Umoja and her harrowing secret becomes the key to that nation’s future.

    Putting her faith in her handler, Cait takes the ultimate risk only to discover that Agent Koffa has failed to take into account one vital detail…he’s not as good at his job as he thinks he is.

    Trigger warnings: PTSD, rape as part of the backstory. Also, the villain is an African.

    Available from lots of places here as ebook or print on demand, including US Amazon, but international readers might try their local versions.

  105. 105.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mustang Bobby:

    Just to make sure, you did read some recent romance novels before starting your book, right? That’s how I learned that “cock” is perfectly acceptable nowadays and you don’t have to go with weird euphemisms like “turgid manhood” or whatever. If you’re worried that it’s too explicit, that means you have written something in the “erotic romance” category, so be sure to describe it that way when you pitch or query it.

    There are a TON of gay romance novels available now. I can track down some recommendations if you like.

    Oh, and make sure to join the RWA and your local chapter of the RWA. You’ll get a lot of connections that will help get you to agents and publishers that you might not reach with your playwrighting connections.

  106. 106.

    Mary G

    @Iowa Old Lady: I just sent this email to Amazon.

    Please provide the following information:

    1. Deep as a Tomb by Dorothy Winsor
    2. ISBN-10: 1624320244
    ISBN-13: 978-1624320248
    3. https://www.amazon.com/Deep-as-Tomb-Dorothy-Winsor/dp/1624320244
    4. Seller you’re interested in purchasing the item from (optional): Amazon.

    This book’s author is a friend of mine. I wish to buy it. It’s available immediately on B&N and Indiebound, but I’d rather get it from you. For now, I buy almost everything from you. She says there is some glitch on your end. I suggest you may want to fix it.

    Politely threatening. I have bought stuff on Amazon since 2002, according to them, but I actually started in the 90s as soon as they opened. Might help! They used to be really good at customer service and had “contact us” on every page. Now I had to search for it deep in the site. We’ll see. Will update if I hear back.

  107. 107.

    Facebones

    I’m a writer and I had my first novel published this year. Tail & Trouble is a fun urban fantasy, perfect for a little escapism that most of us could desperately use right about now. If you are a member of Kindle Unlimited, you can read it for free. Description below, check it out here.

    When Gabriel’s witch girlfriend doesn’t return from her latest trip, he gets on the road and heads out to find her. Sheila’s coven is secretive and distrustful of Gabriel, so the only help he has is Sheila’s familiar, a bulldog named Orson, who is psychically linked to both of them.

    In Florida, they walk right into an elaborate plan to steal Orson. A mysterious wizard named Yareth is behind the plot, and he may also know where Sheila is.

    Gabriel and Orson will have to fight for their lives as they navigate around all the magical roadblocks to force Yareth’s hand. They won’t give up until Sheila is safe.

  109. 109.

    Mary G

    @Facebones: I checked it out on Unlimited, Can’t guarantee I’ll read it anytime soon, as the two I got in the last Writers Among Us are still inching up the ladder, but it sounds like it’s perfect for these times. Plus, my grandfather had a bulldog named Cleo and they are big personalities suited to fiction.

  110. 110.

    Richard Fox

    I am a painter newly arrived in California- Sonoma Country. (New York transplant.) I am getting myself established here, so will be updating my website with new works and changes, generally. But this will give a good sense of what I have done in the past couple years. My website is http://www.paintaglobe.com.
    I am happy to do watercolors and oils for folks commission, so if something appeals feel free to check me out, and look me up. :-) cheers.

  111. 111.

    Central Planning

    @Mustang Bobby: I’m not a writer, so it seems to me, working “turgid” into any type of sex story would be difficult. I suspect trying to avoid repetition with any kind of story (or scene) would be important.

    So, I’ll ask – why is it different, straight vs gay? I’m not trying to give you a hard time, just trying to understand why that would be. Maybe, for example, because it would be hard to identify whose turgid-ness you were talking about with two men vs man/woman?

  113. 113.

    NMgal

    I’m a fledgling screenwriter and in-the-egg novelist. Meaning that I’ve at least actually written and am shopping a screenplay and teleplay to contests and workshops, while I’m still at the intention stage to novelize the same story. It’s a fantasy, which is hilarious because I’m not a big fan of the genre. But Lakeland wrote itself in my head as a fantasy, so I had to go with it! It’s got enough romance in it that it might qualify as paranormal romance in the novel biz.

    Pilot logline: “War throws together an illustrious queen and an imprisoned enemy commander, and her country captures his allegiance as surely as she captures his heart. His ruthless, benighted father wrecks his new life of peace and love by coercing him home, compelling the war-weary soldier to risk his fortune, birthright and life to return to her realm where he truly belongs.”

    A few days ago I got a nice surprise – notification that I’m a runner-up in the George R.R. Martin fantasy/sci-fi screenwriting grant. That sounds awesome until I tell you that it’s limited to New Mexico residents, which does tend to restrict the competition pool… But it’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as they say.

    I estimate I have a long enough story in the first narrative arc for about ten 80,000-word novels, at least three years of cable TV. A second story arc that follows on is about 75% outlined and would account for about 4 or 5 more novels. It’s fun to explore political and social themes without having to, you know, worry about real history.

  114. 114.

    Chromaticmaille

    Ok, so this thread might be on its last legs, but I’ll go ahead anyway….
    Daily reader but have only posted a handful of times (and under another name).
    About 3 years ago, I started to make chainmaille jewelry… and it led to this – http://chromaticmaille.indiemade.com
    I’ve progressed to selling at craft shows and even some fine art fairs. Maybe someday I’ll even be able to phase out some of the “day job.” Never thought my degree in music would lead to this, but somehow it seems connected to me, which explains the “brand name.” Have recently been expanding my skills in the area of polymer clay, which is amazing stuff – have some pieces out to the photographer that I hope to have up on the website soon. I do have my own amateur photos of some of those items on my Facebook business page (Chromatic Maille). If you’re so inclined, please check out either or both. Thanks!

  117. 117.

    Johannes

    May I put in a word for my novel, Phineas at Bay, the unofficial sequel to Anthony Trollope’s Palliser novels? In this time of political angst, it’s a story of a Liberal politician in Victorian England who has lost his fire, and finds his way back in the political wilderness.

    I never expected it to be topical.

  118. 118.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Jack Canuck: my family is all Leica but they are kind of assholes. You have talent. That ostrich photo looks like 60% of my law school class.

    Will check out the music later. I have a sea foam green ’57 Stratocaster but very little talent.

    My uncle takes pictures. Here is an article, if I can do the link right after three bottles of wine.

  121. 121.

    daverave

    Here’s a link to my flickr page.

    Like everyone else these days, I’m a photographer although I’ve never sold a photograph and have no plans to do so. I am truly a hobbyist who just likes making images and the whole photoshop process. I use a semi-lightweight Canon SL-1, two lenses and three filters..

    I shoot mostly landscapes in natural areas around the US but if you nose around a bit you’ll find images from NZ, Costa RIca and other exotic places. I upload new images frequently. You’ll find shots of our new camper in action and also a few of Buddy, our tabby cat who goes most places with us. He loves being in the camper and taking us on long walks in the desert (on a leash.) I will say that we never realized just how nocturnal cats are until we took a two month drive across country with him in the little camper.

  122. 122.

    Steve in the ATL

    @NMgal:

    I’m a runner-up in the George R.R. Martin fantasy/sci-fi screenwriting grant

    Congrats! I assume you killed off all of your major characters?

  126. 126.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    Okay. I have bookmarked this entire post and thread. I’m checking everyone out. We’ve got some damn talented people here, and the most eclectic of settings. I feel as though I have been at a really nice art fair all afternoon. Such a lovely break from the currently nasty world outside.

    Thanks, Sarah, for posting.

  127. 127.

    Jack Canuck

    @daverave: Thanks! My dad always did b&w when I was growing up – had a darkroom set up in the spare bedroom, the whole deal – so our house was always filled with his work, mostly from the Canadian Rockies (we lived in Calgary for years). I got the taste for it from him, and it’s kind of my default. I have to see a particular reason that a picture should be in colour to go for that over b&w.

    ETA: I’ll check out your page later; my work connection isn’t playing nice with Flickr for some reason.

  129. 129.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    I’m probably throwing this out in a dead thread, but for what it’s worth, here’s a music project I’ve been involved in called Nyther.
    And here’s some of my pyrogravure: Guitartoos

  132. 132.

    NMgal

    @Steve in the ATL: Ha! I don’t know whether Martin is involved with the selection at all or just underwrites the grant and gives out the oversize Publisher’s Clearinghouse type check. He would be disappointed — my characters tend to survive. There’s violence and sex, but nothing as intense as SoIaF or GoT. I like to think of Lakeland as more GoT crossed with Downton Abbey. Thanks for the hi5.

  134. 134.

    ted mills

    I live in Santa Barbara, so I have 200 jobs to get by.

    My current artistic endeavor is The FunkZone Podcast where I interview artists and creatives. Many are from Santa Barbara, but not all, and most everybody is online just in case you want to check out their work.

    I also do pin-up photography (NSFW) here. And I used to draw comics some years back.

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