Vacation, Camp and New Blog!

Okay, I'm terrible at remembering to get to this blog and post stuff. I'd love to say that I've just been super busy, but the truth is that I've been trying some new things to help spread the word about Charming Academy.

So, here are the updates: I'm back from vacation and have been for a while in all honesty. It was great seeing family and spending some time with them. It means that I didn't make my June word goal, but c'est la vie! July has been busy with my birthday, third anniversary and my baby boy is eighteen months old today.  And I've got a new blog going that I've been doing better at updating. If you are on Goodreads, you can find my blog under my author profile. This is the link:

http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/2745825-a-sneak-peek

Reason for updating that more frequently you might ask. Well, in all truth it's because Goodreads is dedicated to readers and those are the people I need to grab. It's not that I don't enjoy this blog and I'll be trying to get better about updating this one too, but I've also got to try every way of promoting and marketing my book that I can. After all, being self-published means I don't have someone else doing that part for me. It'd sure be nice sometimes though! :) So please, feel free to follow my Goodreads blog which will have more regular updates on my writing and other little things that are happening in my life.

The next thing for you to know is that August session of Camp NaNoWriMo is coming up soon. (Ten days, sweet!) That means that I will be busy, busy, busy!!! :) I'll be working on two books actually. I'll be continuing work on Finding Prince Charming so that it gets finished reasonably quickly. But I'll also be starting a new project called Mischief, Mayhem and NOT Burning the House Down. It'll be a fun project to work on and no, it has nothing to do with fairy tales. I'm going to be taking a short break (very short) from the fairy tale stories once Finding Prince Charming is finished. I've got so many other ideas and projects that I'd like to do as well. And that will help me continue to enjoy the stories that have been milling around in my head.

Anyway, that's what's new with me. I hope that each of you is well and having a terrific summer. It seems that summer never lasts long enough! But, I'm enjoying time at the pool with my little guy, trying to keep my poor garden alive and writing my stories.

Hugs!
Jess

Charming Academy Re-Release Special!

Well, everyone, the dust has settled and Charming Academy is available once again. To celebrate being totally done with revisions and edits, I'm offering 20% off when you order through the CreateSpace eStore. Just go to www.createspace.com/3784472 to place your order. When you get to checkout, use code: QXW962R8. 

I hope that each of you will enjoy this updated version of the story. After so much work getting it trimmed down and edited, I really feel that this is what the story should have been all along. Still trying to figure out what to do with the 12 original release books I have sitting in my apartment, but I'm sure I'll think of something soon.

Well, I'm way behind in my word count for the day. So I must go back to writing. Finding Prince Charming is coming along well and hopefully I'll be able to get some new announcements up about that soon. In fact, once Camp NaNoWriMo is over (June 30), I might just put up an excerpt to give you a taste of where the story is going. :)

Calling All Readers!

It's been a crazy couple of months. Such is life, yes? :) So here are a few updates plus a really exciting announcement.

Spread the L-O-V-E - I've been slacking, I'm not going to lie. But, I've also been doing a lot of stuff to help people out and when people help me, I do try to remember to say thank you. So, I'm slacking in cute projects to show, but trust me, I'm still as busy!

Finding Prince Charming - This is the first time I've ever done something like this: I started completely over again. I hear those of you who read the little excerpts groaning and I hear the readers dying to find out what happens next gasping. But there is a good reason. I HATED that first start. I hated it so much that I couldn't bring myself to work on it even when I did have the time to do it. Since I can't very well leave my readers hanging on what happens with Allegra and Adrian, there was only one solution. Scrap the first draft (or rather the attempt at a first draft) and start from scratch. I'm happy to say that I am LOVING this new start. Now that I'm not sick (which makes me miserable and vindictive to my poor characters) and I'm not on medication (which make me loopy and write really off-the-wall stuff) I've got my flow back. So now the story is coming along nicely and I suspect that even with the start over I'll be able to reach my end goal of having this novel done by the end of summer. In fact, I'm hoping to have it done by the end of July. I'm participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this month which is helping to motivate me to write, write, write! Word goal wise, I'm behind; but it's nothing I can't catch up to. It'll be an adventure, that's for sure. My estimated date of release: fall or winter 2012. But, please don't hold me too closely to that; life does happen and I am pregnant. (Forgive me J. K. Rowling for the horrible things I said while waiting for you to finish your book while pregnant. I understand now!)

Charming Academy - First, I know what you're thinking: Jess, Charming Academy comes before Finding Prince Charming. Shouldn't it be listed first? This time, no it shouldn't because this is my big news! And you always save the best for last. :) No, I haven't gotten a "big" publisher yet. But, the final edits are finished and I am happy to say that mistakes or no, I am not touching the text of Charming Academy again...until a "big" publisher forces me to. :) (And I promise that after this final go-through there really shouldn't be any major mistakes. In fact, I'm hoping that there aren't even minor mistakes anymore!) More than that, to celebrate being totally finished, I am offering five free signed copies of this newly revised edition of Charming Academy through Goodreads.com. There is a widget on the sidebar of the blog; go check it out! If you have friends who love a good fairy tale story, tell them about it too. After all, there's not a better price than free! :)

So, that is my life right now. My new baby is growing and developing the way that he/she should. I just had sonograms done and have decided not to find out the gender of my baby. I like surprises, so you all get to be surprised too! :) My son is doing awesome and growing like a weed! My husband is so wonderfully supportive and I appreciate all of the help that he has given me in getting Charming Academy out there and giving me time to work on Finding Prince Charming. He's awesome and I love him so much!

Hugs All!

Jess

Long Absence Explained...

I've been MIA for a long while and I promise I have not died or dropped off the face of the planet. :) It's been a rough month, but in a good way.

I'm pregnant! :)

My hubby and I are super excited to be welcoming a second little one into our family. Official due date as of now is Nov. 5, though my doctor is considering pushing the date back based on an early sonogram. He's sticking with it for now, but we'll see what happens.

But as exciting as pregnancy is, it also comes with its challenges. Morning sickness has really drained my energy and I'm finally starting to get back to a semi-normal energy level. Hopefully as the weeks progress I'll regain even more energy.

So, what does this mean for all my projects? It means that Charming Academy is still waiting minor edits before being sent out to publishers/agents. Finding Prince Charming is sitting in its file not being worked on. And my little acts of L-O-V-E have all been verbal or small and random.

My goal for the remainder of April is to begin on some promotional illustrations for Charming Academy and to finally take care of those minor edits and send it out to the first publisher on my list. By May I hope to be back to writing and getting Finding Prince Charming written so that it can soon be made available. My original goal had been to finish it by the end of June, however with the amount of time it has spent sitting, I'm moving my goal back to the end of August. (Sorry folks, I just don't have time for 24/7 writing!) My Spread the L-O-V-E projects will probably continue to be little, verbal, random things for a while until I am back to full energy (or at least almost full energy).

Enjoy the rest of the month and hopefully I'll be on again soon! :)

Spread the L-O-V-E - Birthday Card

I've finally had time to get back to crafting for a bit! So here's the latest. 

Project: Birthday Card

Details: Today is my grandma Boardman's birthday. (Happy birthday Grandma!!) When I think of her I think of days at the pool, pedicures and laughter. It's always fun to visit Grandma. :) So I wanted her card to reflect the kind of youthful fun that Grandma embodies. Tell me what you think!

This is one of my favorite summertime sets. It's called Do Nothing from Close to My Heart. 

To help keep the card close and to give a little definition to the card, I added these little daisies and used pink brads to keep them in place.

Using my Liquid Glass, I traced around "do nothing" in the quote to make it stand out more.

I also traced around the girl.

I stamped the base paper using hollyhock and ocean to make the paper more interesting.

Inside the card. I loved the daisy paper and so added that to the side.

It's not a birthday card if you don't say Happy Birthday inside! :)

Gary wanted to wish his GG a happy birthday too.

Grandma I hope that your birthday is awesome! Your card will be in the mail first thing tomorrow morning so that everyone has a chance to sign it. Love you lots! <3 

Apologies

Well friends, it has been a crazy few weeks, so I apologize for not posting in so long. Here's a basic recap on everything going on at Charming Crafts.

Spread the L-O-V-E:
In the past weeks I've done just some little things for a variety of people. None of them were necessarily picturesque moments.My little guy was sick for quite a while (and we're still battling the never-ending runny nose). So much of my focus has been on helping him feel better and rest easier. As challenging as it sometimes is to be Mommy when kids are sick, I have cherished this time with him. For all the fussing, there were quiet, peaceful moments when he'd cuddle in my arms and sleep, knowing that I had him safe. For all the tears, there were smiles and giggles. And on the days he was feeling better, we spent time together lying on Daddy's hammock, enjoying the warm weather. Also during that time, Jonathan was away for a couple days and Gary and I spent some time cleaning up the apartment and baking cookies. (After all, who doesn't love to come home to fresh baked cookies?) So while I don't have anything creative to show for the last few weeks, I do have a healthy son and a happy hubby, which makes life worthwhile!

Charming Academy:
The contest didn't bring about the results that I had hoped for. The second round came and I didn't move up. However, rather than let the disappointment linger, I've looked at the good that came out of it. The contest forced me to speed-edit which made Charming Academy better in the long run. It is now a better length for catching publishers' interest. It's also less slow-moving and has a more succinct format. Probably best of all was being able to reformat it so that it is much easier to read. It's available now on my CreateSpace estore. While the story is still the same, there are some nice changes to the story and hopefully this will make it a better and more enjoyable read. I am currently getting things together to submit Charming Academy to Penguin Group publishers, starting at the top of the list and working my way down. It is my hope that someone will pick it up and say, "Wow, this is a great book! We should publish it!" Until then, it will continue to be on CreateSpace.

Finding Prince Charming:
With Gary having been sick, you can imagine how much I've been able to do on Finding Prince Charming. Yep, that's right. Not much. But, now that he's doing better and beginning to go back into a regular routine, I"m starting to have the time I need to work on it and write more. My goal is still to have it read for proofing by the end of June. We'll see how well I do! :)

Well, I think that's all. Thank you my dear, dear friends and family for being so supportive. For holding me up and giving me encouragement and love. You are my most cherished treasures and I love you each individually so very much! Have a fantastic Tuesday and wonderful week!

Using a Sick Day :)

My sweet baby and I both have pretty nasty colds. And so we stayed home from church today so that we wouldn't spread our germs or catch any new ones. :) Since I was home all day and Gary was actually sleeping most of the afternoon, (yes, the angels were singing Hallelujah!) I decided to work on my wedding album. Yes, you read that right, wedding album. I am notoriously slow in part because I am a perfectionist. And a wedding album should be the very epitome of perfection, right? So there are now four pages compete and one page just awaiting journaling. I don't have the right color pen yet. (Time for a trip to Scrappin' Time!)

Here are the pictures. I hope you'll enjoy! :) It's not for Spread the L-O-V-E and it's not Charming Academy related, but since it is me essentially writing my own fairy tale, it still fits in on this blog. :)

I actually did this page quite a while ago (like a year and a half ago). But it's the first page of the album and it's pretty so I thought I'd share it anyway. I love illumination and since I kind of had a fairy-tale/stars theme for my wedding, I thought this would be the perfect place to use it.  So I used the computer to write out the words (my handwriting isn't anywhere near that good) and traced them onto the paper.

It's hard to see, but I traced the edges of our names with a glitter pen to give it sparkle.
Then I added the flair to the sides.

The flowers around the "O" are the same that were in my wedding bouquet: lavender, blue stephenotis, lavender and white roses. 

I'm not doing the pages in any particular order. Just whichever pictures inspire me. So first I did some of the landscape-y pictures. I loved the butterfly picture from Grandma Pollmann, and so had to make that part of the pages.

The left-hand page.

I love my stamp set "Butterfly Wings" from Close to my Heart. With the butterfly picture, this seemed to be the perfect message to add to the page. (It says "Love is like a butterfly. It goes where it pleases and pleases where it goes.")

The journaling.

More close-up on the other page.

This is the second set of pages I got done today. I fell in love with a lot of the wrapping paper my wedding presents came in. And so naturally, I saved it! :) On these pages, I used a rose motif wrapping paper for accents.

Close-up on the right-hand page. I debated using the same color as the other page, but really loved this periwinkle color.  These pictures are of the detail on the train of my dress. The blank spot is where the journaling will be as soon as I have the right color pen to do it in.

The left-hand page. Thank you so much to Linda Goold for giving me these beautiful purple and blue flowers! They made the perfect accent and helped tie the two pages together. :)

The flowers and a better picture of the wrapping paper accent.

I want to carry the font used in the title page throughout the  album. I considered illuminating this as well, but decided against. Instead, I added the little rose and flourish below to add color and definition. This also uses the glitter pen.

The flowers on the left-hand page.

Anyway, these are the pages that I've gotten done. I've still got tons of pictures left to put in, but I've at least got it started. Hopefully I'll have some more time to work on this. :) Tell me your thoughts!