3:00 am

Early this morning, at 3:00 am, I finished my last photo shoot for my current project that is a holiday children's story and I have had so much fun creating the new characters and sets to be photographed over the past year. I struck the last set this morning after getting some sleep. Now comes the hard part for me. Beginning the editing process and finishing the writing of the story. I have never categorized myself as a writer. Instead I call myself an artist who likes to tell stories. So the writing process is sometimes difficult for me.

I allowed myself to take some time off over the holidays but now that the holidays are all over it is time to get back to work! It is so easy not to write and say I will start tomorrow, but all that does is prolong the process. I have always found that I do my best work at night after the sun has gone down and distractions are at a minimum. So while we are still in day light savings time I need to push through this project. I have heard of all the tricks to help with writing, such as having a clean space set up a dedicated as a writing space or setting aside time out of each day just for the purpose of writing, but none of these things work for me. It might make it easier but it does not motivate me to do more writing.

The only thing that can make me write is me! I will find myself thinking about a section of the story all day until I have worked it out in my head then I need to commit it to paper before I lose it. That's right I still write out all my stories in long hand on paper before I put it into my computer! Just like the process that I use to do all my photo illustrations I starts out with old world techniques and then I bring the work into the 21st century with all the technology at my disposal for a final polishing. During the creative process this makes it all that much more real for me and I hope that comes through to you, my audience. I like the feel of a pen and paper, it seems more personal, like I am writing someone a letter. With all that said, I am still the only one that can make me do the work and many days that is exactly what it is, WORK. I enjoy many aspects of the work but with all work some of it can be laborious.

So it is time for me to get back to work because I have several projects in the pipeline right now and I want to be able to get my next book out to all of you so that you can enjoy it as much as I have so far.

P.S. I would also like to thank Tara for sharing with me how her child asks her ( she said bugs her ) every night to tell him all about Cuddles again and again. ( Cuddles is one of the creatures that lives in The Deep Black Pond. ) Thanks for the Photo too.