Driving South on Interstate 5
I grew up traveling South on 5 with my parents. Our quest? Disneyland. The eight hour journey down I5 was filled with adventure. Car sickness, bathroom stops, too many cars and not enough chips. There were trials, but there were also champions. A truck driver blasting his horn at my command, generous drive-thru workers and…
Illustration a Day – The Chef
In all, the slow cooked turkey, stuffing and silver serving platter weight closed to twenty-three pounds, but Chef Dornsy balanced it on one hand as if it were a plate of spinach. These casual feats of strength did not go unnoticed by the campers. Rumors about “Doomsday Dornsy” had being spreading like wildfire since the…
Illustration a Day – High Dive
Camp Flop is known for one thing. The Super High Dive. At the end of the summer first year campers gather at the base of its impossibly tall ladder and ascend the rungs to take their inaugural leap of fun. Campers aren’t required to leap from the towering platform into the tiny pool below, but…
Illustration a Day – Dewey Dude
Illustration a day is personal challenge to create an original illustration using a variety of styles five days a week. Today I took a shot at a surfer character that was sketched in Photoshop, inked in illustrator and then it was back to Photoshop for color.
Writing Advice
Writing a story is tricky. Advice about writing? Even trickier. Certain strategies make no sense, until they do. Outlining is the best approach, until it’s not. Writing by the seat of your pants is inefficient, until it unwinds truth. My advice –enjoy the process. Like, really enjoy it. Don’t be afraid to plan, to waste,…
First Drafts
I sit at my computer an eager keyboard below my fingers. It’s time. The story is clear and clarified. The characters are named and renamed. Pre-draft work is complete. It’s time to write a novel. The first sentence of the first draft irritates my inability to write it, the second and third itch and scratch….
Piano Practice
Seven years ago I was raised from a peaceful slumber by a terrible noise. My neighbor was learning the piano. Soon, I discovered it was the neighbor’s four year old son at the helm. He attempted Mary Had a Little Lamb, The Itsy Bitsy Spider and, the dreadful, Row, Row, Row Your Boat . For…
Making Writing Progress
I write four days a week, the other three I write code. Not a bad split, right? Still, I’m not making enough progress on my novel. It’s like cutting down a tree with a butter knife. Wood chips on the ground show effort, but the thick trunk looks barely scratched. Why can’t I write faster,…
The Applause of Waves
The sea glides in, waves build and white water crashes onto the beach. On a wood planked pier, a delivery truck rumbles along. In its bed, wood crates and tackle tumble amongst rope and wire. A large orange buoy bounces from the back. Its tether snags the trucks bumper preventing its escape. The driver removes…