Socializing

Hello friends!  How are you today?  I have had a good week.  Life sometimes changes things up on you, and I am going with the flow.  For those of you who don't know me very well, I am a decorative painter by trade.  I work by contract and when work is slow I am happy to be the one cooking breakfast for my daughter in the mornings and taking trips to the park.  I am also very grateful when my painting schedule fills up and I get to load up my ipod for a day of painting and podcast listening.  I am all up to date on my "This American Life", so I have been searching for informative podcasts that inspire and expand my mind.  

I had listened to one woman's podcast a few times, but hadn't really got into it until recently.  Katie Davis's "Brain Burps About Books" is all about kidlit and the business of writing and illustrating children's literature.  http://katiedavis.com/category/podcast/  This past week, I decided to start at the beginning with her episodes.  Only just this week has she reached 100, but I am still in the 20's at this point.  Long story, short, I am learning so much.  One of the big themes so far has included the dual challenge of marketing yourself as a writer and/or illustrator and connecting on a personal level with your audience while doing so.  I, frankly, am so grateful for the small audience of supporters that I have ,and I would love for you guys to challenge me to stay connected by letting me know you are out there.  

Marketing these days is heavily influenced by Social Media.  Facebook has been vital in me sharing this blog so far, though I still need to set up a professional Facebook page.  I also use my Linked In account to share the news, but until recently that is as far as I dabble.  It can definitely be a time sucker if I allow myself to just browse mindlessly.  I discovered that when I set up my new Pinterest account.  However, it can also be utterly inspiring.  The ability to have others at your fingertips who share your passion or just believe you are worthy is priceless.  So, I decided to take Ms. Katie Davis's advise and set up a twitter account @paintdrawlove.  You should also be able to find me through my name.  

Please, if you follow me, give me time to figure out the lingo.  There is definitely a learning curve to this form of communication.  After my family goes to bed and the house settles down, my computer comes to life.  

I am also still working towards readying myself for August's conference.  I have been going through my check list and when I start to feel stuck in one area I can always find something else with a different slant that needs my attention.  Tonight I felt like drawing something and decided on my logo.  I will be needing business cards to share with any new contacts.  Please take a look at the sketch I came up with tonight.  Thoughts?  I would love to hear them.

Copyright Carrie Cartier 2012

Thank you for reading!

Carrie

I've gotta make this one quick.  I feel terribly guilty for not keeping up on my once a week blog schedule and leaving folks hanging about my trip to the library.  Man out of town, sick baby, new all consuming pinterest habit... I know, Excuses! Excuses!  I'm back though and I have been working.  Let's get down to business.
The library reading went okay.  I learned an important lesson about proofreading materials before a presentation.  I decided to redo my dummy book to allow for larger pictures for the kids to see, so I used a folder with clear plastic sleeves.  Well, in filling the sleeves, I managed to reverse two of the pages.  I had even drawn on the pages that way and still didn't notice it.  It only became clear when somewhere in the middle of my reading I thought, hmm, that didn't make sense.  I'm sure none of the kids noticed, but it kinda threw off my flow and concentration.  Oh, well. C'est la vie.  It was fun practice chatting with the kids about how to make your very own book.  And when asked the question, "Did you think the story was interesting or boring?", they were nice enough to say interesting.
I also had my book club (generally grownup books) humor me and give me their input on the story.  And finally, I read it to a dear friend from Portland, OR, who was visiting.  She is an educator and was very helpful in reminding me about my grammar rules.  I get a little sloppy with independent clauses apparently.
So in the end, (that was an independent clause right there :) I was able to get my manuscript in the mail to arrive in L.A. yesterday for the professional consultation I will subject myself to at the SCBWI Summer Conference in August.

My next goal is to prepare to submit my story board, character sketches, and a couple of finished illustrations for July's deadline.  This will have to do with Illustrator's Intensive I'll participate in at the end of the conference.  Even though I haven't been blogging, I have been painting whenever possible this past week.  I'll leave you with one of my favorites.  I'm really working on improving my watercolor skills.  I will probably redo it at least one more time on nicer paper, but I think this captures some of the emotion I'd like my story to convey.  I'd love to hear what you think about it.

Copyright Carrie Cartier 2012