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I finished a quilt recently! Though it isn’t fancy, it means a lot to me. The patterned pieces in the quilt are all cats. (The anniversary of me bringing home my kitty was this last week. She became part of my household in 2006, and I had her until 2023.) The plain pieces came from shirts of my dad. I’d worn them until the cuffs and edges had all worn out. (I still have one last shirt still from my dad. It’s starting to fall apart, but I do keep wearing it.)
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I had a local company (APQS Northwest) do the actual quilting part, putting the front and the back together with the batting inside. I got the backing material from them. I’d originally made a back out of left over flannel sheets. However, moths got into them. Instead, I have a lovely piece of black and gray flannel.
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And as a follow up to the squirrels—I actually caught a photo of one eating a pine cone on the blocks at the bottom of the feeder. He eats it like a cob of corn.
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A couple weeks ago I took another truffles class from Bill at Chocolate Man. There weren’t any complete revelations this time. I did learn a few things that have made my truffles even better.
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I realized afterward that I shouldn’t have been disappointed in the class. I’ve been making truffles regularly. Of course there wasn’t a lot that he was going to teach me at a regular truffle class. I’ll have to take a class making something else, like mousse or something, if I want to feel as though I learned a lot.
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What he did do, and what I did learn, was refinement of my technique. We did a truffle that was basically a ganache inside a molded chocolate shell. I’ve made my own molded chocolates a few times now. I got to do it with him watching, and I learned a bit more technique from him.
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Refinement instead of instruction.
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For me, it’s important that I’m also making refinements in my writing as well. I’ve been asking myself how I can improve my writing. (For me, this is yet another sign that I’ve finally recovered from last year.)
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Don’t get me wrong. I’m a good writer. That doesn’t mean I can’t get better, though. That’s one of the wonderful things about the arts. There’s always another hill to climb, new techniques to learn, ways to improve my craft.
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I had to submit talk ideas to Author Nation recently. Based on feedback that I’d received, one of the talks that I proposed was a combination of two of the Business for Breakfast books that I’ve written: Improving your Craft and Growing as an Artist.
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Looking over them today, they’re both still good. They are, however, for people who don’t have as much experience as I do.
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So I need to look elsewhere for how I’m going to continue to grow as an artist. In general, I’m still reading books on craft, understanding every time I pick one up that all I’m getting are tidbits. I read (a lot) and think (a lot) about what I’m reading. I just picked up one of Kelly Link’s books of short stories White Cat, Black Dog which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She’s a better writer than I am, and I can learn a lot from her.
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One habit that I’d stopped doing, that I’m picking back up again, is setting a practice for every single piece. There are books where I practiced cliffhangers, setting, voice, using all the senses in description, etc. I don’t know what I’ll practice next. (I honestly don’t know what I’m writing next.) Once I figure it out, though, it’s time for me to focus on practicing again.
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This month's sale is...
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To celebrate the release of Witch Mirror?, the first of the water witch mysteries is on sale for this month!
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Just one more week before generally available!
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AJ's latest vision starts with a dozen people being yanked out of sight by a noose around their neck. It ends with just a single body, hanging from a beam in an open loft.
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What the heck? Did she just witness the work of a serial killer? Or a cult?
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The victim turns out to be more nefarious: a Catfisher, that is, someone who impersonates other people on the internet for attention and possibly money.
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The reality TV show that exposes catfish turns their attention to AJ. As a successful psychic, she must be a fraud. Right?
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Between being pushed for information by one of the show’s host, the machinations of her mother on the Milltown chamber of commerce, and trying to keep her relationship with Roland moving along, AJ has her hands full.
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Particularly when a second, only somewhat reformed catfish comes to her for help after being threatened...
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Witch Mirror?— a cozy paranormal woman’s mystery—continues the adventures of AJ, the quirky characters of the charming Pacific Northwest burg of Milltown, and leaves AJ with questions about magical powers and her path forward, with her family, friends, and lover.
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Let the water—and the magic—flow.
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