Archive for the ‘Thoughts’ Category
Crafts to do & celebrate with your child for Imbolc
Posted by: Lyon
January 21st, 2010 >> Thoughts, Uncategorized
Celebrate Imbolc – family style.
Imbolc season starts with February. Whether you celebrate on the 1st or the 2nd or during the time afterwards, this is the time of new beginnings. It is a perfect opportunity to introduce your children to Pagan festivals. In An Ordinary Girl, Rabbit and her mother celebrate the holiday by buying and planting seeds in preparation for the garden they tend outdoors in the warmer months. Other families make corn dollies to place in Brigit’s beds. There are a many fun and safe activities for teaching children about Wiccan holidays like Imbolc. You can make butter; leave bread out for the fairies; make a god’s eye or Brigit’s cross. This site lists many ideas and has links to instructions for some of them.
“T” Goddess coloring page and new book news
Posted by: Lyon
December 24th, 2009 >> Books, Finished, Illustration, New Releases, Thoughts
It’s been a while since the last update. I have been really busy with a NEW BOOK. It’s called ‘Smoky and the Feast of Mabon’ written by award winning fantasy author Catherynne Valente. As you probably surmised from the title, it’s a book about Mabon. We are both really excited about the project and can’t wait till we can tell (and show) you more about it. Because it’s a Mabon book, it will be officially released a month before the holiday in August 2010, but people who place pre-orders through the publisher (Magical Child Books) web site may be able to get it sooner. AT least that’s what the rumor is. It’s up in their shop for pre-order now. Catherynne has finished her part in it and I am diligently working my fingers to the bone to make the art deadline with all the pictures. I think this book’s art is going to be my best yet and I am really pushing myself to stretch the envelope.
I have had a few people ask about coloring pages with Gods and the answer is yes, I will be doing the ABCs of Lessor known Gods after the Goddesses are finished. That will be very soon as I only have U,V, W, X, Y and Z left. And I am not sure there are any x goddesses! If you haven’t signed up for the newsletter yet, please do. All the other pages are archived for the members. I hope you all have a very blessed end of the year and stay tuned to this blog for updates on the new book. I’ll share art as soon as I can!
New coloring page is ready!
Posted by: Lyon
November 9th, 2009 >> Books, Illustration, New Releases, Thoughts
Merry hi dear Friends!
It’s been a while since I last wrote to you, I have been busy with a number of interesting projects which I am sure you will be excited to learn about.
The first one is a new picture book! Due out next year, it is authored by none other than acclaimed and award winning fantasy writer Catherynne M. Valente. Her wonderful story, called ‘Smoky and the Feast of Mabon,’ is as magical and entertaining as her adult and young adult fiction novels. And, as you probably guessed from the title, it is a Mabon story. The publisher will be taking pre-orders on their web site (http://magicalchild books.com) soon. Meanwhile, the book is in production and moving along nicely.
Speaking of books, all 4 other titles are still available at the web site as well. There are bundled purchase choices too which are money saving deals! And the publisher now accepts Discover Cards! Remember that a book is the best buy dollar for dollar of any form of entertainment. Please add one of the books to your lists when considering what gifts to get the young children in your life.
The other project I am working on is with author, Ashleen O’Gaea. Our Pagan parenting book has been picked up by an agent for representation. While the book is still in a holding pattern, both of us are hopeful it will find a home soon. I’ll keep you informed when there is more news.
I spent a rather cold and soggy October touring around the Midwest. It was wonderful to see some of you at the events I traveled to. I am always grateful and humbled by the kindness and joy with which I am greeted. Your support is what makes this all worthwhile. I am currently scheduling my 2010 events, and this year I am adding something new. I will be doing school visits! Programs for elementary through college level classes include things like how to make a picture book, story telling and what the life of an illustrator is like. If your kid’s school has visiting authors or illustrators, please let me know who hires the visiting creatives and maybe I can arrange a visit to your child’s school.
And last but not least, the newest coloring page for the ABCs of Lesser Known Goddesses is ready for download. Go to the publisher’s web site to sign up to the Yahoo newsgroup to get access to this one and all previous coloring pages. This page’s letter is “S.” The Goddess, Srahman is North African from the Kaffir peoples. She is a dryad spirit who teaches travelers the way of the woods.
As always, I love to hear from you. Please let me know what you think of the coloring pages, my books or if you have any questions about them or suggestions for upcoming new stories.
I am now on Twitter. My username is lyonmartin. Please friend me if you have a Twitter account.
Until next time!
Bright Blessings,
Lyon
The 'P' of ABC Lesser known Goddesses is ready
Posted by: Lyon
July 31st, 2009 >> Finished, Illustration, Thoughts
I’ve been very busy this month. Last month I decided to do a daily doodle. The reasons behind this are many, but mainly, I wanted to get into the habit of drawing something (anything) every day. When I was much younger, the daily drawing habit was something I never had to think about. With the responsibilities of adulthood, like mortgage and bills and parenting, the days seem to be much shorter.
Obviously, there are still 24 hours in a day, it’s just that they’ve become clogged with other things.
I also have been working hard behind the scenes to update (and upgrade) my web presence. I am on myspace, facebook, live journal and a half a dozen other networking sites. I have not twittered yet, but that may change eventually as many of my art friends have been forming twitter groups to network with each other. I hate to think I may be missing something.
Since my injury earlier this year, I have been home a lot more than usual because I wasn’t able to travel for my usual tour season this spring and summer. It’s put a dent in my income that I will have a hard time recovering from in the remaining months, but the down time has allowed me to concentrate on the many chores that piled up because I was either packing, traveling or unpacking for much of the years previously.
I have high hopes that 2010 will bring many new events, friends and opportunities. I just have to be patient and lay the ground work.
This month’s ABC Goddess is Pax, a Roman Goddess of Peace. Her festival day happens in July, so it seemed a perfect choice for the free coloring page. Enjoy.
June 2009 coloring page is ready NOW!
Posted by: Lyon
June 24th, 2009 >> Books, Illustration, Thoughts, Tour/Appearance
June has been an extremely busy month. It feels good to finally be able to get back to my normal crazed schedule.
My first event of the year was Memorial Day weekend in Arkansas. I returned to the lovely land of Pyrth Annwn for WytcheHaven Weekend #10. As always, my hosts, the lovely Rio and the wonderful Brennan, went above and beyond to see to my comfort and needs. Since I was still weak from the events in the winter, I was surrounded by my own harem of burden boys. I didn’t have to lift, drag or haul anything. I was even reprimanded for raking leaves from in front of my book booth. I do do like being spoiled. 
Early in June, I received word from the publisher that my first book, ‘An Ordinary Girl, A Magical Child,’ was selected as a finalist for the 2009 COVR (Coalition of Visionary Resources) Visionary Awards. Three finalists are chosen from all entries for each category. The winner for each category is announced at the INATS (International New Age Trade Show) West held in Denver, CO. This year’s Awards Banquet is on June 27th. I will be flying out to Denver to accept the finalist award and hopefully a winning trophy. I am very honored and humbled for my book to be chosen for this prestigious award.
My second event for this year was the St. Louis Pagan Picnic in mid June. (June 13 & 14) Now in its 18th year, it is the largest free Pagan event in the Midwest. St. Louis is in my backyard and personal stomping ground. It is always a pleasure to meet and greet all the local Pagan community members who over the last 5 years have gone from being strangers to fast friends.
Above is a copy of the coloring page installment for June. “O” is for Opet. An Egyptian Goddess, Opet is the subject for “O” in the ABCs of Lesser Known Goddesses. Please visit Magical Child Books’ (the publisher) web site to sign up for the mailing list and get the link to download your FREE copy. There are links to previous coloring pages for newsletter members there as well.
In addition to the newsletter, please friend me on LiveJournal, MySpace, GoodReads, LinkedIn or FaceBook. The publisher also has a fan page on FaceBook, become a fan today.
I recently gave myself a daily challenge with a 30 minute daily doodle. Watch my progress on my illustration blog.
As always, my books, ‘An Ordinary Girl, A Magical Child,” “Aidan’s First Full Moon Circle,” “Watchers,” and “Rabbit’s Song,” are all available from the publisher, on my personal website – magickware.com, at your favorite online or brick and mortar bookseller and possibly even you local public library. I know times are tough all over, but dollar for dollar a book is one of the best deals for your entertainment budget. Consider buying one of the above titles for your family or friends. Or ask your local librarian to add them to the children’s section collection.
In closing, I thank each and everyone of you, whether you have purchased a book or not, for joining me on this wonderful and wacky trip of mine. It is because of your unending support that I am living my dream. Your friendship is a true blessing and I am honored to have it.
That’s right. It’s like a proud parent moment. Except they are not the parent, and well, Querytracker.net isn’t a kid. But it’s the same excitement!
Because they’re having a party!
Click on the here for more details.
The grand prize of this hulla-baloo is a FREE CUSTOM WEBSITE designed by the awesome Carolyn Kaufman and QT’s daddy, Patrick McDonald. That’s right. FREE. (They’re the Purple Squirrel Web Designers. Check ‘em out.)
You want that, don’t you? Um, yeah.
You get one entry into the grand prize drawing for every contest you enter.
To celebrate QT’s second birthday, they are holding several fun contests spread out over three weeks.
The first two weeks they will be announcing the contests and taking entries.
On the third week, they will award prizes for each contest (one each day), and culminate with the grand finale prize on Friday, June 5th.
Help them advertise. Post in your blog an announcement like this. Be sure to EMAIL elanajohnson (at) querytracker (dot) net your link and real name so she can put your name in the drawing. You can link to this post so everyone knows how to make sure they’re entered for the FREE WEBSITE!
And hurry! You must have your blog post up by next Saturday, May 23 to get an extra entry.
Spread the word! Win a website!
Dec coloring page brought to you by the letter 'M'
Posted by: Lyon
December 26th, 2008 >> Finished, Illustration, Thoughts
Brisk wintery greetings one and all!
The beginning of the week saw temperatures in the single digits here. But by late Tuesday the thermometer had crept up into the high 40s. And that’s when the precipitation in the form of rain and pea sized hail balls came down in a deluge. It continued along with thunder storms for most of the day and finally wore itself out late in the evening. The skies cleared and the temperature dropped back to “normal” for the season and area yesterday. The sun was beautiful after so much dreariness, but there was no snow. Oh well. Maybe next year.
We spent the afternoon at my mother-in-law’s house in the usual feeding frenzy and gift exchange. I spent the majority of my time in the kitchen preparing various and assorted side dishes. The high point in excitement for the before feast events was the stove catching fire. No worries. I don’t tend to panic. The first burst of flames went out when the pot was removed from the burner. However when we attempted to use the burner again, the flames came right back. I dumped a half a box of baking soda on the element, smothered the fire and opened all the windows to let the smoke out. That’s when the smoke detector decided to go off. My husband came running to control the emergency, which, of course, was already dealt with. We had him battle the smoke detector into submission so he could fulfill his manly obligations. The food was delicious, by the way.
This month’s coloring page features the 3 Fates, also known as the Moerae. They determine the course of each person’s life. The youngest Goddess, Clotho spins the thread and the other two weave the life story and finally cut the thread at the life’s ending. I thought this group of Goddesses was perfect for this time of year when we retreat from the world for the winter months. They are usually portrayed as old crones, but in my imagination they have never been elderly.
You can join the mailing list now to download this and other free coloring pages by going to http://magicalchildbooks.com/newsletter.html and signing up.
If you have been meaning to purchase a copy of Rabbit’s Song with the autographs of myself, SJ Tucker and Trudy Herring, there are only 5 copies left. I don’t know when or if the three of us will be all together in the same place again to sign more. Avoid disappointment and grab yours now. The special pre-release offer of an original story about Rabbit and his friends as told by SJ and Trudy in MP3 download is still available to all purchasers of Rabbit’s Song. The MP3 will remain on the web site until February 14th, the official release date of Rabbit’s Song to the general public. Visit Magical Child Books’ web site http://magicalchildbooks.com to order your special copy now.
Of course, all the other wonderful Pagan children’s books that Magical Child Books offers are still available there, too.
I am working on an adult non-fiction book with Ashleen O’Gaea (Raising Witches) which is almost complete. We will be searching for a publisher soon. In the mean time, we need your help. The book contains several of my holiday recipes. I am a seat of the pants type chef and cook by using a pinch of this and a dash of that. I have done my best to recreate my family favorites into measured recipes to include in the book. How can you help? I need a few adventurous souls to be recipe testers. If you want to take part, email me back for the details. I will add your name to the book as a contributor int he acknowledgments.
And last but not least, my publisher has informed me that they are seeking new manuscripts for Spring 2010 and beyond. If you have a story about Pagan children celebrating any of the assorted Earth Religion based holidays or activities, check out the submissions page on the web site. Who knows? I might be selected to illustrate your story! http://magicalchildbooks.com/submissions.html
A very happy 2009 to all of you.
Blessings,
Lyon
P.S. Remember, send your budding artists’ renditions of this month’s coloring page to me as a jpg (less than 1 MB, please) and I will post it on my blog!
Here’s hoping all your wishes and dreams come true in the coming year. Have a wonderful holiday season.
I know I’m a party pooper, but I seriously hate this time of year. I do my best to get into the mood of the season, but for the most part I feel alienated and lonely.
Possibly I have a bit of SAD going on, and the weather has been typically winter dreary most of the week. The sun was out briefly this morning and I opened the front door to let it stream in and allow the cats to peer at the outside world through the safety of the storm door glass.
I packed up a flurry of last minute orders from Magickware.com and headed out of the house to run my morning errands in good spirits. Fill up the gas tank on the car, swing by K-mart and pick up some meds, finish off by shipping out the packages over at the post office. The wind was fierce and whipped around me while I was filling up the tank. The price of gas has dropped dramatically so I was able to do it for less than a king’s ransom. I drove over to K-Mart and decided I’d better get some non-denominational, un religious cards to send out to friends and family who don’t celebrate Christmas. I wanted something cute and happy. I like cute and happy.
After berating myself for yet another year when I didn’t complete a painting for holiday cards, I poured over the shelves of boxed cards. They had cute. They had happy. Only ALL the cute and/or happy cards had santas or verses inside wishing the recipient a Merry Christmas. I ended up with a basic winter woodland painting type thing with what is in all likelihood a couple of deer. All very bland. But not blatantly Christmassy. I have since lost motivation to address and write short notes in them today. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be in a more holidayish mood.
My husband and I had made tentative plans to welcome back the sun this year by walking on the river banks, but seems that the weather will be dangerously cold on Sunday night. We would be better off staying home instead of tempting possible frost bite down on the edge of the river. So I asked the family what they’d rather do instead. “I dunno” was the unanimous response.
I will make my infamous almond crescent cakes on Sunday. My step-sons would never forgive me if I failed to provide them. One year I was having a difficult time finding almond flour and one of my sons said he would grind the almonds himself if he had to, so we would not go without the confection.
The pile of presents is all wrapped and awaiting delivery to their recipients. Last night, instead of working on my December coloring page, I helped my daughter complete her holiday gifts for her school mates. I spent the evening crocheting a long skinny red scarf.
Maybe I’ll finish my holiday painting tomorrow and send it instead of the lame winter scene I settled for at the store.
Oh, and my X called me by accident when trying to call his girl friend. I think my amusement at his expense didn’t go over very well. But, hey, I wasn’t the one calling the wrong number and asking for someone who isn’t me. Bwahaha. My husband thought it was as humorous as I did.
Winter officially begins on Sunday and I find myself longing for the stirrings of spring already. Maybe it will snow. I like the snow. I miss a real snowfall. A dreary winter day is all so much prettier under a blanket of white fluff. Building a snowman would be fun…
