Tag: acatherinenoon

  • The Noonhour

    Welcome to The Noonhour, a new Podcast featuring essays, children\’s stories, and other items I find interesting.  It\’s an experiment that I\’m enjoying, so sit back, relax, and listen to

    The Noonhour


  • Saturday Showcase – A Conversation with ID Locke

    I recently had the opportunity to hear from ID Locke about her process of art and writing and how they go together.  I\’m excited to share her interview with you!

    KK: Tell me a little more about what crafts you do. What do you like to make?

    IDL: Generally, I do a lot of knitting and hand sewing. Knitting is whatever strikes my fancy at the moment or something that I \”need\” to do. Currently, my \”need\” project is a baby blanket for my soon-to-arrive grandbaby #2. I have another project that I\’ve only gotten as far as casting on the required stitches before I realized that I had a month to knit said baby blanket.

    I have a collection of BJD\’s (ball-jointed dolls) that are physical representations of the characters in several of my stories. I mostly sew clothes for them, but also knit sweaters and travel blankets to provide additional protection when I take them out somewhere. Doll sweaters are fairly quick to knit even if you need to use baby/fingerling yarn and 2.5mm needles.

    I typically knit and sew while watching TV as I can\’t just sit there and do nothing. Long car rides are a challenge as I\’ve found I can\’t knit while in a car because it makes me feel queasy.

    One of my favourite things to do is pick up random balls of yarn at second-hand shops and see what I can make with them. I like the challenge of taking a ball of one colour/texture/weight and mixing it with something else to see what happens. Quite a few of the things I knit are one of a kind as I often have no idea where the yarn came from and can\’t get more of it.

    KK: When did you learn to do crafts?

    IDL: My mom got me started on sewing. She\’s a wonderful seamstress and had me using a sewing machine by the time I was 6. I saw a friend knitting when I was about 8 or 9 and thought it looked neat so I decided to try it.

    KK: Have you ever given a craft to a character? How did you go about it? What research did it require?

    IDL: I have. I have one that actually knits and another who is a face-up artist for BJD\’s on the side. The knitting aspect… well, I already do quite a bit of that so it was easy. The details about face-up work I asked face-up artists some basic information and browsed through a doll forum for info. I have a character that is a glass blower as his job and I researched that as well as spent some time watching some local glass blowers at work.

    KK: What effect does your writing have on your crafting and vice-versa? Does one fall off when the other is stronger, or do they synergize?

    IDL: I have to make time for each thing since they can\’t be done at the same time. Generally, I\’ll knit/sew after supper for an hour or two then switch to writing. On the weekends, depending on what is most pressing for me to get done is what gets worked on the most. For a while I focused exclusively on writing and learned the hard way that wasn\’t a smart thing to do. I try to be more balanced now. I also find that if I\’m working a simple pattern, my mind will go off on little day trips and either take a WIP into new territory or give me something completely new to work on.

    KK: What do you dream of making when you have the time or skills?

    IDL: I\’d love to make a tree of life sweater but the idea of following a chart pattern to that degree turns me off. If I had the money, I\’d love to make a sweater out of quivik yarn but at nearly $100/1 oz ball (and it\’s a lace weight yarn)… yeah, not gonna happen unless I win the lotto.

    KK: Where do you get ideas for your crafts?

    IDL: I usually see something I like and want to make that for myself or somebody I know who\’d really like it. When it comes to doll things, I generally need to make the various clothes as they\’re typically created species of mine and their cultural clothes doesn\’t really exist outside of my head.

    Gallery

    2 wigs for Jolen and a pair of boots I made. The outfit he\’s wearing I also made out of a pair of dress socks.

    I sewed Dakvir\’s outfit and modded his wig to add the silver-white hair

    Kysmirhea\’s wig was made out of dyed fox fur and I sewed his cat ears to it. The white top he\’s wearing is made out of a mesh glove and I also sewed the quasi military jacket, too.

    Biography

    ID Locke is an obsessive/compulsive writer who often ignores things like the need to eat and the fact she’ll be even later for work if that document isn’t closed right this minute. Writing has been a life-long obsession for her, and people have commented that she appears to get twitchy if she doesn’t do it on a regular basis.

    ID Locke has been married for more than twenty years, has a grown son and is now a grandma. She has an exceptionally dirty mind filled with kinky possibilities and enjoys writing hot man-on-man sex (with Plot no less) for her own amusement and the entertainment of others. She works, writes, and knits, squeezing reading and some anime/TV watching in there somewhere. She also enjoys creating clothes and jewellery for the ball-jointed-dolls she has turned into many of the characters from her novels. She’s blunt, sarcastic, and not afraid to speak her mind. Music is one of her loves, and she often listens to her rather eclectic collection while writing to help the creative juices flow.

  • Technology. I.Love.It.

    This is a story about a writer who wanted to have some fun.  She wanted to use her spiffy new-to-her iMac to create a Podcast to the world and play with the M-Audio keyboard (piano keyboard, folks, not typing keyboard) that she\’d bought mumble-something years ago and actually make some music, like, man.

    Therein lies the story, see, because technology, well, technology is an ugly bitch that never got picked at the high school dance and now wants to take it out on anyone walking by whether or not they were at the dance dancing or wallflowers too.  So our writer, who will remain silent on the whole dancer/wallflower thing, decided to do the simple task of taking a microphone and speaking some words into it and doing a podcast.  Simple, right?  Even a monkey can do it.

    Apparently, our writer is not a monkey.

    Four DAYS later, the software update started is done and installed and all the new whizbang instrument sounds are available, she has recorded her first (cheesy and corny but fun) podcast – but then couldn\’t figure out how to post it to Blogger because apparently Blogger doesn\’t yet host podcasts – dude, Blogger, get with it, will ya? – and posted it to YouTube and…

    Therein lies the story, see, because you can\’t upload an audio-only file to YouTube.

    Sigh.

    So, Google search revealed the secret – that one must first make a movie on iMovie.

    You with me on this?  Our poor writer, who JUST WANTED TO HAVE SOME FUN, decided to record herself in GarageBand, which then uploaded to iTunes, which then uploaded to YouTube but wouldn\’t work, now is in iMovie to add the audio to a still image, and then upload that back onto YouTube…

    For a four second clip.

    Huh?  IT\’S SUPPOSED TO BE 10 MINUTES LONG!

    Turns out, iMovie defaults four seconds of audio when you have an image.  You have to change the duration of the image from four seconds to the duration of your audio.  Still with me?  Come on, drink some coffee, you can do it…  I know it\’s confusing, but it\’s almost done.

    So.  GarageBand-to-iTunes-to-YouTube-to-iMovie-to-YouTube and FINALLY success.

    I just looked and…

    My image is too wide for the space alotted for YouTube and cuts off the words in the bottom right of the frame.

    I officially give up and call it…

    MY FIRST DRAFT.

    The others being… well… firster.

    G\’night.

  • Friday Funnies

  • Chuck the Sheep

    When I went to Wisconsin\’s Sheep and Wool Festival a couple years ago, there was a highly peculiar sheep.

  • Walking In This World

    One of the most obvious ways to ground is to work IN the ground, by gardening.  What I\’ve discovered about gardening is that weeding is like laundry – it never ends.  As you keep working in your garden, the weeds keep growing.


    The best part about gardening is the results of the growth.  I love seeing tomatoes turn red, and peppers finish growing.  We have chard that is getting huge and beautiful.  It\’s almost a shame to eat, since they\’re so pretty.  My lilies are opening and my curry plants have lots of yellow seeds that scent the air.


    Weeds remind me that daily maintenance yields positive results and that there is serenity in the everyday. 


    Do you garden?  What do you like to grow?

  • Tue Cent Twosday

    Publishing and writing are two different parts of the puzzle.  They\’re not the same thing and shouldn\’t be approached as the same thing.


    Writing is a creative art.  It\’s image-intensive, using the imagination to create stories and poetry.  Even non-fiction is as much art as science, as connections are made between facts and figures.  There are many tools to help us keep the channel clear as we create.


    Publishing is a business.  It\’s about producing product that customers want to buy.  It\’s changed a lot in the last fifteen years, from the consolidation of traditional publishing houses to the explosion of ereaders and ebooks.  Genre definitions have blurred and fractionated because the internet allows authors to give readers many different tags for a particular book that would be impossible to duplicate in a brick-and-mortar store.  


    It\’s important to remember that these two \”jobs,\” if you will, aren\’t the same and that they require different skills.  Luckily, there are many places to learn the skills that will help you succeed at both, but the firs step is to recognize the differences between them.

  • New Blog Today, and a New Job!

    LGBT Fantasy Fans and Writers has launched.  From the \”About Us\” page: \”Welcome to our little corner of the ‘net. This is going to be a blog that appreciates LGBT fantasy in all its forms and incarnations- books, movies, games, art, whatever! Dark, light, urban, epic, romantic, sword and sorcery, classic… We love it all.\”

    Together with Alex Beecroft, Jennifer Thorne, Kay Barisford, Melanie Tushmore, and Violetta Vane, I\’ll be talking about one of my favorite subjects – the fantasy genre in all its wonderful variety, and specifically looking at the GLBT subset within it. We will offer flash fiction, essays, and excerpts from our own works. I hope you enjoy!

    My first entry is up today, \”Worldbuilding – M/M Style.\” I talk about some of the unique challenges presented to authors of M/M romance as they venture into creating worlds of their own.  Stop on by!

    Today is also my day at the Writer\’s Retreat Blog, where I talk about new beginnings.

    In addition, I start a new job today.  I\’m very excited.  Wish me luck!

  • New Job Today!

    I\’m at the Writer\’s Retreat today, sharing some thoughts on working and writing.  Come on by!

    Writer\’s Retreat Blog

    Write on!

  • Sunday Box Talk

    I like to start my week on Sunday, since that\’s what makes the most sense to me for how my schedule works.  Sunday is a day of rest for our family, but we don\’t necessarily mean rest as in nothing to do.  Typically large laundry day (sheets and such), we don\’t tend to get out of our pajamas most of, or all of, the day.  It\’s a day for large projects like knitting or photo editing (my husband\’s a professional photographer), web development, and family feast meal.  Sometimes we\’ll do a movie.

    It\’s also the day I start my Artist\’s Way week, when I read the essays for the week and get started on the tasks.  It\’s a more contemplative time since I don\’t schedule anything for this day and my friends know that.  I provides a nice break between the week that was and the week that is coming.

    What kinds of routines do you establish for yourself for the week?  When we\’re in school, this is done for us; but when we graduate, there are no more quarters and semesters, finals, and back-to-school.  Even if we have kids of our own for whom we do these tasks, they don\’t really apply to us and it\’s very easy for one day to bleed into the next.

    Richard Nelson Bolles, in his book The Three Boxes of Life and How to Get Out of Them talks about Learning, Working, and Leisure or Play.  The way most of us organize our lives is we play as children, we learn in school and university, and then we spend the rest of our lives working.  But one way to accomplish balance is to re-think what\’s possible in our daily round.  This week, think about these three concepts and how you develop them in your own life.  Even if you haven\’t yet set aside time for all three, just thinking about how you might begin to do so can open doors for you in terms of your personal planning.

    Do you have a routine during your week?  I\’d love to know; tell me in the comments.

  • MJ Frederick is at Knoontime Knitting Today!

    Stop by for another in my series of Author Interviews, today with author and seamstress MJ Frederick.  MJ talks about her passion for sewing, which is almost as deep as her passion for writing.  She shares pictures of a skirt she made that she even wore on the plane recently.  Stop by and leave a comment today!

    Saturday Showcase – MJ Frederick Talks About Her Passion – the Other One!

  • Saturday Showcase – MJ Fredrick Talks About Her Passion – The Other One!

    KK: Tell me a little more about what crafts you do. What do you like to make?

    MJF: I love to do all kinds of things, but am probably best at sewing. I love love love matching fabric and patterns, and compared to writing, sewing is instant gratification!

    KK: When did you learn to do crafts?

    MJF: When I was 14, my mom told me she didn’t have time to sew for both of us, so she started me out making simple drawstring shorts and halter tops. When I was in high school, I worked in the fabric department at the local five and dime. All my money went back to them for fabric! Some nights I’d go home from work and make an outfit to wear the next day!

    KK: Have you ever given a craft to a character? How did you go about it? What research did it require?

    MJF: Not that I can recall. I do have a heroine in a future novel who’s a gardener and will be opening a nursery. I’ve been pinning ideas for her nursery on Pinterest, lol.

    KK: What effect does your writing have on your crafting and vice-versa? Does one fall off when the other is stronger, or do they synergize?

    MJF: Oh, the writing definitely falls off when I craft. Last summer I managed to balance it pretty well–I’d write in the morning and sew for an hour when All My Children was on 😉 Then at the end of summer I got a new machine and started making things like purses, e-book reader covers and laptop bags, you know, when you see some cool fabric but you’re not sure what to do with it? So I barely wrote in the fall. So far this summer, I’ve spent more time on crafts than writing, mainly because I have a lot of nervous energy and can’t sit still!

    Look at the interesting fabric effects in the center of this design!  Wow! -KK

    KK: What do you dream of making when you have the time or skills?

    MJF: Something retro, like from the 40s or 50s. There was a time, before I got serious about writing, that I could make anything if I just sat down to it. These days I just don’t trust myself to try. Also, I avoid labor-intensive crafts, especially when I know I should be writing.

    KK: Where do you get ideas for your crafts?

    MJF: Pinterest! Evil, evil Pinterest! Although I’ve been inspired by Project Runway, or even just seeing things at the store. Nothing will inspire me to sew like seeing a $400 skirt.

    Biography:

    MJ Fredrick knows about chasing dreams. Twelve years after she completed her first novel, she signed her first publishing contract. Now she divides her days between teaching fourth grade students how to write, and diving into her own writing—traveling everywhere in her mind, from Belize to Honduras to Africa to the past.

    Website | Blog | Facebook | @MJFredrick | PINTEREST

    Addendum

    MJ went shopping today and found a ninety-nine cent sale at JoAnn Fabrics.  Here\’s what she bought:
    MJ says, \”Here are two I\’ll probably never make.\”
    MJ says, \”Going to make this fabric in this pattern.\” 
    MJ says, \”Going to make this fabric in one of these patterns.\”

    MJ says, \”I think I may already have this pattern but I bought it anyway!\”
    She also plans to make a flip flop wreathe, and here\’s a link.
    And also, this.
    Sounds like a productive shopping trip, MJ!

    …

    LOL.  I just got another email from MJ, and she wants to make this skirt on Pinterest.

    I think we\’re going to have to bring MJ back in a month or two and see what she\’s made, yes?  Yes!  MJ, come baaaack!

    ~happy sewing~