An Overwhelmed Creative

I was browsing through graphic novels while my brother took my kids to look for new Magic: The Gathering cards in a huge comic book shop. It's been a while since I did that. I miss it, but then again - $$. It didn't matter. I treated myself to two new titles. The first one is "Farmhand". I usually check out graphic novels from the adult section at the library. I've found great ones that way: "Saga" and "Sweet Tooth" come to mind. A title that I have enjoyed but haven't continued is "Chew". This is a comic illustrated by Rob Guillory who follows a detective who can tell what's happened to something by tasting it. Interesting, right? And a little weird, I suppose. I picked up Farmhand because it was featured by the comic book store, and as I flipped the pages, I saw it was about a farm that grew organs (yes, as in, body parts). That sounded INTERESTING to me. So, I bought it. I have to tell you, it did NOT disappoin...

I got Stargirl for a dollar at the book fair last Fall. It seemed like an interesting book (and cheap), so I got it. When I got home, I found my daughter and husband had already read it. My daughter even warned me, saying I may cry. I didn't cry. The book is about being different in a world of indifference. I do not claim to be as kind and self-less as Stargirl, but I did identify with the being "different" part. Especially in a world where you don't fit in if you don't follow specific social rules. I have been bullied many times, as a child and as an adult, and it's because I'm different and I do things differently and people just don't understand. Unfortunately, there is no magic potion that will make people just be nice to different people, I suppose. Although, there should be. Stargirl keeps going even when she doubts what she's doing it's not working to get her to be "popular" and to have a lot of "friends". We...

This book by Adam Croft really inspired me. I heard him speak on the Creative Penn podcast and knew I had to get his book. I read it in three afternoons. It talked about treating your hobby as a business if you ever want it to become a business. For a while now, I've been content with writing as a hobby, but in the back of my mind, I wish it could be something I could do for a living. Unfortunately, this won't ever happen if I don't treat it as a business. Adam explains in this book how you need to change your mindset and invest in your hobby to turn it into a business. Yes, you have to invest money, there's no way around it. I have already invested over a thousand dollars in my hobby, but it all goes down the toilet because I'm not targeting this expenses. I immediately joined his Facebook page and it was there that I was finally convinced to join Mark Dawson's Self Publishing 101 Course. I highly recommend reading this book if you are serious about ...