Archive for December, 2007
Magical Child Books is proud to announce we have a winner for our first virtual book giveaway.
G.P. of St Louis, MO will be receiving the copy of Brother Wind, Sister Rain.
Didn’t win, or didn’t have a chance to enter our first contest? Not to worry! Magical Child Books is running another virtual book giveaway for January 2008. Visit Magical Child Books Virtual Book Giveway to enter the contest for this month. We will be giving away a spiral bound paperback copy of Llewellyn’s 2008 Witches’ Datebook.
Remember you can’t win if you don’t enter!
Blessings,
Lyon
The longest night of the year passed peacefully here with the DH and DD.
We drove up to the city and had sushi at our favorite sushi restaurant. The DD has developed quite a taste for smelt roe and white tuna and managed to snatch both my portions and my husband’s portions of said fishies.
I think we inhaled the fish faster than it took to prepare it. Anyway it was consumed at breakneck speed and now I will have to wait for another “occasion” to have any. Probably February, you know, valentine’s day and all is as good an excuse as any to eat horribly expensive food. :blush:
After we ate and drove home we celebrated a subdued Yule with incense and the opening of presents. Since the DD is a teenager now, we went with quality instead of quantity. She is a strange child, no lists, no hints and oddly enough was perfectly happy with her small pile. Actually, since Mom is sneaky, I’d have to say she was overjoyed with her gifts. Back in October we went clothes shopping since, being a kid, she has this distressing habit of outgrowing stuff on a regular basis. We saw a velvet coat she fell in love with but I told her it was too much money and she couldn’t have it. I went back for it later that week.
Meanwhile, I continue work on my next picture book, Watchers. The text has been through the final critique group and is finalized. I am busy working on the cover art. If all goes as planned I will post a preview of the cover here early in January.
An Ordinary Girl, A Magical Child and Aidan’s Fist Full Moon Circle are still readily available as autographed copies directly from me at either Magical Child Books Store or Magickware. Make sure you remember to let me know who to autograph the books to! Both books are also available through your local booksellers. Just ask them to order them for you.
I hear my paints and brushes calling my name, so it’s back to the drafting table for me!
Until next time,
Lyon
Well, maybe I can. Things were going too well, there had to be a evening out.
It started on Tuesday. I couldn’t stay connected to the internet. The DSL kept going out. So I think okay, no big deal, it has happened before, it’ll be better in the morning. So along comes Wednesday morning and if anything it’s worse. I waste 45 minutes trying to email a file before I gave up and put it on a pen drive and hand delivered it. I hope for the best, but there is no joy by Wednesday evening either. The DH says it might be worth a call to the provider.
Thursday morning, I call. I get a n automated system which sends me hither and yon. I persevere and finally get to speak with a live human who also happens to be someone who has an accent so thick I can’t understand him. Plus he talks so fast all his words slur together. Finally got my point across and got a call ticket – in case it happened again. I tried to get some work accomplished, which is difficult when lots of it has to be done via internet!
I struggle through the early afternoon and call back, get the automated system and get transferred to yet another strongly accented operator, she was easier to understand, who eventually hooked me up to a tech person. By 3:10 this said tech person tells me yes there is trouble with your line. (Doh!) He says he’ll try and fix and call me back in 10 minutes. 35 minutes later he calls back, says he can’t fix it remotely and makes an appointment to send a tech out to the house to “take a look”. AAARGH!!!
Meanwhile I am battling with another large corporation because they lost a shipment. Guess what? The only way to contact them is via the internet.
There was a bright spot on Thursday though. My DH was gifted two tickets to see Wicked in the theater! So we were treated to dinner and a show on someone else’s tab. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and forgot all about the issues here at the office.
Until this morning. The DSL was uncooperative until about 9:30. At which point it worked fine. Who shows up at 9:45 to a working DSL line. Yup, the tech to fix the line. He checks all the inside things, heads outside and starts poking around out there.
I am NOT a crazy person!! There is something. Seems my friendly family of squirrels have been snacking on the phone lines rendering them un-serviceable. So the tech needs to replace the phone line. It takes about an hour. No phone, no internet. FINALLY, at about 11:30, he has finished and all is back to normal. With the DSL anyway.
So I bounce back online with the lost shipment. Large corporation agrees that yes, the box appears to have been delivered to their warehouse. Where it is, is however a huge mystery. They say they’ll pay for the stuff if it hasn’t shown up in 45 days. Grump! I ask them to request another shipment to replace the lost one, and of course, the ordering dept doesn’t know what the customer service dept is doing so I have to go through the whole schpeel again.
It’s after business hours now, so I have done all I can for this week. I feel as if I have accomplished nothing. Argh!
Next week will be better. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
Mothers unite! (even if you aren’t a mom but care about kids!)
MAU is an organization committed to changing the world politically, environmentally and economically for the children. Mothers Acting Up Find out your carbon foot print, discover what you can do to help, take a pledge for action. Get a “recipe” to bring MAU into your community. Find your inner gorilla. And much more all aimed at making our world a better place for today’s and tomorrow’s children.
It’s interesting that artists and writers, while professionals, are expected to work for nothing.
Here’s a rant by one writer:
I can’t pay my bills with “good publicity” either. Go figure.
December coloring page is up.
Posted by: Lyon
December 1st, 2007 >> Finished, Illustration, Thoughts
We are down to the last month of 2007. I don’t know about you, but this year just flew by for me. I still catch myself writing April on a check every once in a while. I guess my life has moved into the speed of light, and left my brain behind!
Today I had the dubious pleasure of creating a cake in the shape of the United States (continental only) with my 13 year old. I say dubious, because every time I laughed — I was having fun — she growled at me. I miss the little girl who hung on my every word. I don’t mind the growing up part so much, but I truly am tired of being “the enemy.” I know eventually we’ll be friends again, but I want it now!!!
I am hard at work on my next picture book “Watchers” due out in the Spring of 2008. This book will just be for fun, although it will be Pagan friendly, it will not be overtly Pagan. join the Magical Child Books News for updates and pre-order announcements.
Thank you for all the folks who entered the FIRST book give-away contest. If this one is successful, I will continue to have them. I’d love your feedback and suggestions on how I can bring you more as newsletter subscribers. E-mail me with ideas, comments and kudos! Artist and writers spend an awful lot of time alone and I’d love to hear what you guys are thinking.
Newsletter subscribers have access to free down-loadable coloring pages. This month is The Dark Maid. Next month will bring the “e” Goddess in the series of Lessor Know Goddesses.
I’ll be in deep creative hibernation for the next several months finalizing “Watchers”, spending time with my family and gearing up for next year’s festival tour season. If you know of a group or book store that would like for me to make an appearance, please send me the contact information and I’ll see if I can make it out to your next of the woods.
Have a safe and happy holiday season. I’ll see you next year, and thanks for reading.
Bright chilly blessings,
Lyon
