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On 1 December 1860, Charles Dickens published the first installment of Great Expectations in All the Year Round, the weekly literary periodical that he had founded in 1859. Perhaps Dickens’s best-loved work, it tells the story of young Pip, who lives with his sister and her husband the blacksmith. He has few prospects for advancement until a mysterious benefaction takes him from the Kent marshes to London. Pip is haunted by figures from his past — the escaped convict Magwitch, the time-withered Miss Havisham, and her proud and beautiful ward, Estella — and in time uncovers not just the origins of his great expectations but the mystery of his own heart.

A powerful and moving novel, Great Expectations is suffused with Dickens’s memories of the past and its grip on the present, and it raises disturbing questions about the extent to which individuals affect each other’s lives. Below is a sequence of podcasts with Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, editor of the Oxford World’s Classics edition of Great Expectations, recorded by George Miller of Podularity.

Title page of first edition of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, 1861

- What was going on in Dickens’s private life at the time?

[See post to listen to audio]

- Both Dickens and Pip were haunted by the ghosts of the past.

[See post to listen to audio]

- Are gentlemen in Victorian England born or made?

[See post to listen to audio]

- Why was Dickens persuaded to change his original ending to the novel?

[See post to listen to audio]

- Why does Great Expectations continue to hold such appeal for readers?

[See post to listen to audio]

- If you loved this novel, try…

[See post to listen to audio]

Charles Dickens was one of the most important writers of the 19th century and 2012 is the 200th anniversary year of his birth. The Oxford World’s Classics edition of Great Expectations reprints the definitive Clarendon text. Robert Douglas-Fairhurst’s new introduction ranges widely across critical issues raised by the novel: its biographical genesis, ideas of origin and progress and what makes a “gentleman,” memory, melodrama, and the book’s critical reception.

For over 100 years Oxford World’s Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford’s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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First for the winner of the anthology PLAYTHINGS OF THE GODS and a ten page critique - CORINNE!

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By: Molly Blaisdell, on 11/24/2010
Blog: Seize the Day (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Golden Coffee Cup, art reflection molly blaisdell, chris eboch, Haunted, Add a tag

Click here to learn more about the Golden Coffee Cup.
Oh, I hope you are on track! If you have swerved off the path, get back on track now. If you are tired, take a deep breath, center and get going again. You can do this!

Today’s hot java comes from my friend Chris Eboch. Chris is a powerhouse author of several books, most recently, her HAUNTED series. Here she is with a "Resting on a big hike" high five.

Here's a note from Chris: Here I am in the Grand Canyon last June. The hike in was 14 miles, during a heat wave, with temps over 100°. Here, we are 3 miles from the top during the 10-mile, 5000 feet-elevation gain hike out. Do I look tired? I was beyond exhausted. Kind of like how you feel during your umteenth revision, when you know in theory you're getting closer but the end still seems too far to reach. And the key to success is the same with writing and with hiking. Take a break if you need one. Give yourself plenty of fuel. Give and receive encouragement to others slogging along the path.

Best advice ever, and I hop you listen to it. You are going to reach your goals. Keep going. I know what it is like to be weary, too. Be kind to yourself. Come back refreshed and ready for more piping hot java.

And a last thought to ponder as you go forward today.
Life always gets harder toward the summit - the cold increases, the responsibility increases. Friedrich Nietzsche

2 Comments on Day 24: The Golden Coffee Cup -- A Big Hike, last added: 11/27/2010

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Anonymous said, on 11/26/2010 9:39:00 AM

Well I don't know if Nietzsche every climbed Everest, but I did last year...and the closer you are to the summit, the greater the risk and the cost of failure...on the other hand, when we can see the summit in sight, for some reason, you get an amazing amount of energy to get there....and when you arrive, the satisfaction is enormous...but in the end, it's all the hard work you do before you get there that really counts...without that, the summit is but an illusion.

MollyMom103 said, on 11/27/2010 8:24:00 AM

Oooh, thanks for posting! This is a blazing hot thought! Thanks for sharing. I agree that all the steps you take before you summit are part of the journey.

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By: Cat, on 11/17/2010
Blog: LadyStar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  enchanted forests, haunted, beautiful jewels, Cecilia Daichi, Jessica Hoshi and the Ajan Warriors, cold night, Chronicler's Lantern, LadyStar, Add a tag

Comment! Contribute!Visit the Gift Shop!E-mail Jessie’s Letters!

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All the buzz right now is about the latest book in a certain trilogy. Some of us on this site have written series or sequels. I wrote the Haunted series and Linda Joy Singleton’s work includes the Dead Girl and The Seer series. Joni Sensel’s The Farwalker’s Quest was recently followed by a sequel.

What author wouldn’t like to have a series, whether the original contract is for several books, or a single title is so popular that readers (and the editor) want a sequel? And what reader wouldn’t want to return to a favorite literary world?

And yet, series can be a hard sell. Some publishers of course focus on series, typically the direct to paperback, open-ended type. I sold Haunted (about kids who travel with a ghost hunter TV show, for ages 8 to 12) based on a first manuscript, series proposal, and outlines for books 2 and 3, to Aladdin, a paperback series publisher. But most publishers want to see how a first book does before they request a sequel.

“Characters that carry over a number of books certainly work well, but this isn’t the same thing as a series,” a former Llewellyn Acquisitions Editor said in an interview. “I’d rather see a strong standalone with sequel potential. If a single title works and the main character isn’t too old, it’s rarely a problem to continue the story into a new book, if there’s interest.”

Another editor commented, “I wonder how many trilogies or series were conceived as such—and how many began as one-offs that performed well and/or became bestsellers, at which point authors are often encouraged to write a follow-up.”

I wonder as well. As a writer, perhaps the best thing you can do is to bring your first book to a satisfactory conclusion, but leave the sense that the characters will go on to have other adventures — and wouldn’t it be nice to read about those?

This is also comforting for the author, who doesn’t feel as much like she’s abandoning her characters forever. (I ended my historical fiction novel The Well of Sacrifice with the characters heading off to a new Mayan city. I imagined their adventures, though I never wrote a sequel. Some teachers who use the book in the classroom have students write about what happens next.) This is a bit different from “And they lived happily ever after” — unless you believe that happily ever after would involve new challenges and adventures!

As readers — or writers — do you like to feel that a book is complete and self-contained, with no questions or concerns left for the characters? Or do you prefer an ambiguous ending that suggests challenges ahead? Something in between?

The Well of Sacrifice is a drama set in 9th-century Mayan Guatemala.

Chris Eboch likes happy endings!

Filed under: Chris Eboch Tagged: Dead Girl, Haunted, Display Comments

Michael L. Martin Jr. said, on 8/30/2010 9:18:00 AM

As both a writer and a reader, I’m a fan of the series, whether it stands alone or ends on a cliffhanger. If I loved the first book, I have no problem spending more time with the characters and their world. Some of my greatest reads are or part of a series. Some stories are just genuinely too big to fit in one book and shouldn’t be confined.

From the writer’s stand point though, the only issue with a first book that ends on a cliffhanger is that if it performs poorly, you can forget about a sequel. And any reader that happened to want a sequel is left looking like Batman without his utility belt.

But even with a standalone, I still appreciate loose ends or ambiguous endings. It depends on the story. Not all are the same. Or should be.

Unless it’s a crime/mystery novel–I’m thinking more in terms of sci-fi/fantasy–I think every series should have some sort of overlaying plot that binds the collective…and not just the characters.

Which is why, to me, it seems that authors who outlined or planned to write a series from the beginning usually end up with the better result than authors who became bestsellers and were enticed to continue that story. Sometimes a story should have ended with the greatness of Book 1 and nobody would have ever missed the unnecessary follow up.

As both a writer and a reader, I just want to enjoy the story however long or short, series or one-off.

Jaleta Clegg said, on 8/30/2010 10:34:00 AM

It’s a real dilemma. I hate series books where the story doesn’t get resolved at the end of each book, at least the main parts. I hate cliff-hanger endings where I have to wait sometimes for years to find out if the characters are even still alive. But I like reading about the same people.

I sold my books as a series, though each book does have a complete story. They just all tie together. I hope I hit the balance of resolving the current problems while leaving future ones open for more stories. It’s difficult.

On the other hand, I went back to my characters to write some shorts just for fun (the books are all written, just waiting on editing and publication). It was like putting on a pair of old slippers – comfy and very familiar. I know these characters, I know the setting. I’ve already done most of the work. I just have to pull a story out of them. I think that’s what readers enjoy about series. It’s like hanging out with old friends.

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Yesterday I discussed speculative trends for teen readers. (By the way, I forgot to mention some prime paranormal examples: the Dead Girl series by our own Linda Joy Singleton, the Ghost Huntress series by Marley Gibson, Dead Is the New Black by Marlene Perez, and ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley.)

So what about middle grade readers? Vampire romances and dystopian suspense haven’t trickled down to preteens, but paranormal is supposed to be on the rise with preteens. That should be good news for my Haunted series. But how new and strong is this trend, really?

Most of the current ghost series are targeted at teenagers, like the ones I mentioned above. It seems like most of the single title, middle grade ghost stories I pick up at the library are from the 80s and 90s.

Of course The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is a recent bestseller. Peg Kehret has been writing suspense novels for years, mostly contemporary realistic stories involving robbers or kidnappers. She came out with The Ghost’s Grave in 2007

But let’s look back a bit…. Richard Peck’s series that began with The Ghost Belonged to Me started in 1975, and that title was re-released in 1997. Bruce Coville released The Ghost in the Third Row in 1987, and continued the trilogy with The Ghost Wore Gray in 1988 and The Ghost in the Big Brass Bed in 1991. Haunting at Home Plate by David Patneaude came out in 2000.

(Read my Amazon list mania “More spooky ghost books” for brief descriptions and links to all these books.)

Then, of course, there’s Goosebumps. According to Wikipedia, the Goosebumps umbrella featured 62 books published between 1992 and 1997. An average of 10 books per year from one author, and that doesn’t even count his Ghosts of Fear Street (a spinoff of Fear Street targeted at younger readers), which started in 1995. Now THAT’S a trend.

So when, exactly, did paranormal go away? Based on this very unofficial survey, it seems like the 90s were a prime paranormal time, though the trend may have dipped in the early to mid-2000s.

Maybe the lesson here is that some topics are eternal (just ask Dracula, who made his appearance in 1897). Or perhaps there’s a message about the futility of trying to write to trends. Or the inaccuracy of all this trend prediction, anyway (look at yesterday’s post about the supposed decline in fantasy). Or maybe the real point is, we just shouldn’t worry about it, and focus on reading and writing what we enjoy.

Chris Eboch needs to go investigate that strange noise in the basement now. Oh wait, she doesn’t have a basement. CREEPY!

Filed under: Chris Eboch Tagged: books, ghosts, Haunted, MG, middle grade, paranormal, trends 1 Comments on Middle Grade Trends in Speculative Fiction, last added: 5/8/2010

Glory! We have reached day 24 of the Golden Coffee Cup! I know this is a busy week but try to carve out time to feed your creative soul. Post your successes and I will do some holy snappin'! Snap! Snap! Snap!

No clue what a Golden Coffee Cup is? Click here.

Today we get a-gripping-the-wall high five from Chris Eboch. Chris is the author of a wonderful spooky mystery series, HAUNTED. There are three titles currently: THE GHOST ON THE STAIRS, THE KNIGHT IN THE SHADOWS, and THE RIVER BOAT PHANTOM. I hope lots of Christmas trees have these stacked underneath. :)



In max adventure form, today Chris pours out the piping hot stuff:

Sometimes getting through a manuscript feels like climbing a cliff. But people do climb cliffs, with the right training and equipment. You can climb your way through your manuscript, with your writing tools, and your support group holding onto the other end of the rope. Take a rest when you need to, but keep heading for the top, one desperate fingerhold at a time -- the view from up there is worth it.

All good writers know we must drag our characters through hell and back before they can achieve their goal and win their rewards. It's only fair that we struggle too, as we get those stories down on paper. Then their joy in achievement will reflect our own.


Well, I hope you all are hanging out there on a rope. Don't let go! Keep climbing. You are about to achieve something fantastic! Come back tomorrow for another hot cup of java.

Creating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place. It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting points and its rich environment. But the point from which we started out still exists and can be seen, although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by the mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way up. Albert Einstein.

Hey, Golden Coffee Cuppers. (No clue about The Golden Coffee Cup? Click here.) Writing books is an incredible struggle and early on in our goals, going forward is like climbing a mountain. Let’s give big kudos for Chris Eboch. Chris is a friend, and she’s really hung in there. Here’s a climbing the side of a mountain high five:



Chris is a former participant in the Golden Coffee Cup, proof positive this little event is part of the journey to better things. Look out for Chris’’ new mystery series, HAUNTED, Aladdin, 2009 - ghost whispering for the elementary/middle school set with a splash of TV glamour and brother and sister interaction. Snap! Snap! Snap!

Here’s a sneak peek at the cover of Chris's first book in her new series:



And big bonus, Chris's best writing advice --

Writing is fun. Yes, it's also difficult and sometimes frustrating and emotionally draining. But first and foremost, it should be fun. If it's not, it's time to rethink what you're doing or how you are doing it.

Enjoy the process!

Well, folks, remember expending all this energy is emotionally draining. Take care of yourself! Take some time to rethink if your having trouble having a good time. Let me know how it is going, and I will do some more 'holy snapping'.

Ammon Shea recently spent a year of his life reading the OED from start to finish. Over the next few months he will be posting weekly blogs about the insights, gems, and thoughts on language that came from this experience. His book, Reading the OED, has been published by Perigee, so go check it out in your local bookstore. In the post below Ammon reflects on Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson’s unusual editing actions.

A pair of purportedly well-intentioned young men who have an avowed interest in fixing our language have recently proved to me that the road to hell is not only paved with good intentions (or at least self-righteous ones), but also that this road has the capacity to be rather expensive.

According to a story last week that ran in the Associated Press, and several other gloating publications, Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson ran afoul of the law after they had completed a several-week long quest, during which they crossed a wide part of the country, fixing many typographical and grammatical errors that they found on various signs. They appear to have mostly done so with the knowledge of those who owned the signs. But supposing you are a young man, brimming with vigor and the dissatisfaction that comes from overmuch reading of the Chicago Manual of Style, and you come across a sign that is positively reeking of poor grammar, with no visible owner in sight – what then do you do? Well, you take out your magic marker and fix it.

And then you brag about it on your blog.

Unfortunately for Deck and Herson, the sign in question happened to be hand-painted by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the architect who had designed that which the sign described – a 1930s watchtower in the Grand Canyon National Park. They have been ordered to pay a fine of $3,035, and are banned from fixing public signage or entering national parks for a year.

According to the Associated Press, “Authorities said a diary written by Deck reported that while visiting the watchtower, he and Herson “discovered a hand-rendered sign inside that, I regret to report, contained a few errors.”” Deck then proceeded to ‘fix’ these errors, which amounted to a misplaced pair of apostrophes and an added comma, but neglected to fix the far more egregious spelling of the word ‘emense’. Said Deck in his diary “I think I shall be haunted by that perversity, emense, in my train-whistle-blighted dreams tonight.”

Personally, I believe that Deck will be haunted by the absence of the several thousands of dollars more than he will be by the alternative spelling of this word, but maybe I’m wrong. In fact, I sincerely hope that I am wrong – I would love it if this self-righteous prig were haunted in his dreams, tonight and for many nights to come. Because I would like to point out to him that the sign he saw is hardly the only incidence of immense being written ‘emense’. It comes up in the OED - Caxton used it in Eneydos in 1490. And a quick perusal of Google Books shows that it was use in the Journal of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and also in Metrical Legends of Exalted Characters (by Joanna Baillie in 1821), and also in 476 other sources listed. If Mr. Deck has the courage of his convictions, and if his diary was telling the truth, it would be appropriate if he has ‘train-whistle-blighted dreams’ once for every one of those 478 emenses found in Google Books.

When I lived in Queens, there was a nail salon just down the street from me, with the wonderfully improbable title on its awning ‘Hannah And Her Sister’s Nail’. Every day I walked by this store on my way to the train. And every day as I did so I imagined that somewhere in the back of the store Hannah sat arguing with her sister’s nail, or perhaps asking the nail if it wanted a cup of tea. The misspelling gave a personality to the store that an ordinary nail salon could never have, and in being so in need of fixing it managed to make me smile every day.

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he Vicereine picked her way down the gentle slope of the gully step by step. She stopped near where Cici had fallen and very slowly began to crouch down. Using her staff for support, she allowed her hands to slide down the smooth twisted wood bit by bit. She winced and groaned in pain several times before coming to rest on her knees. She sat hunched over for a moment as if exhausted, clutching her staff to the side of her head. Her cowl hung down, covering her face. A few locks of white hair were visible along her back and along the edge of the cowl. Cici tried again to stop crying, but her ankle was very swollen by now, and her shoe was beginning to hurt her foot.

After a few moments, Reina finally placed the staff flat on the ground next to her. Cici felt a hand under her own and turned her head. She gasped as she saw a grayish slender hand with jewel-encrusted rings on all four fingers reach down and take her by the wrist. Cici sniffled and looked up. The woman seemed to be busy concentrating on something.

“Do not pull against the tree trunk.” Reina said.

Cici sniffled again. She didn’t know what to think. She was sure the robed woman was really mean, but now she sounded different. Reina looked at Cici’s dirt-streaked and astonished face. The woman’s gold-colored eyes made Cici feel better.

“I am not your enemy,” Reina said. “Sit up.”

Cici realized she wasn’t really stuck. She was just snagged on the tree and had been pulling in the wrong direction. She stopped pushing against the ground and gradually crawled sideways far enough that she could push herself up. The moment she tried to move her foot, however, she was rewarded with a stab of pain from her ankle. Cici cried out and pulled her foot up to her hands.

“Will you help me cast a healing spell?” Reina asked. Cici looked down through the blur of tears at her right foot. Her ankle was swollen and the skin around it was darker. She sniffled and looked up at Reina, then nodded.

“Sit up slowly this time,” Reina said. “Place your foot flat against the Earth. Gently.” Cici gingerly pushed herself up with one hand as Reina reached over and retrieved the Chronicler’s Lantern lying sideways on the ground. The robed woman placed the shining gold lantern upright next to her staff. The light from the lantern illuminated the side of the gully nicely. By now Cici was sitting up and rubbing her face with her hand, only succeeding in adding another layer of dirt.

“I am called Reina. What is your name?”

“I’m Cici. How come you wear so many rings?” Cici asked quietly, pointing at Reina’s hand while still rubbing her nose. Then she sniffled again.

“Because I like to collect beautiful things,” Reina replied, impressed by Cici’s inquisitiveness. “Do you like this ring, Cecilia?” she asked. Cici nodded, eyes wide. Reina indicated a heavy gold ring on her right hand set with a nearly transparent delicately faceted blue stone and decorated with a dozen smaller white gems.

“This ring is called the Soaring Chime. It was given to me long ago by a scribe named Giho skilled in the arts of gemcutting. He lives on an island in a place called the Princesses Crowns far away in the eastern sea. There are men there who dig deep into the mountains to find raw stones such as this one. The scribe spends years cutting and shaping them into Chimes. Chime stones can make sounds with magical properties.”

“What’s magical properties?” Cici asked, enthralled.

“It means this stone can ring, and the sound from it can heal your ankle,” Reina replied. “Will you help me make the Soaring Chime ring?”

“Can I?” Cici asked.

“Look carefully at the stone,” Reina said, offering her hand so Cici could see. “Do you see the upper edge? Where the tiny symbol is carved into the gold?”

Cici looked carefully and saw that the edge of the setting just above the oval-shaped sky-blue stone had a tiny symbol carved into the polished gold. If Reina hadn’t mentioned it, Cici would never have noticed it.

“All you must do is tap that symbol with your finger as if you are trying to make a bell ring,” Reina said. “Then, listen for the sound.”

Cici peered at the stone and the tiny symbol, then slowly reached up with her hand and held her finger over the ring for a moment. Then she flicked her hand, tapping the edge of the ring with her finger as if testing something she had been told was very hot.

A very soft and faint glow appeared in the center of the stone and Cici began to hear the sounds of chimes and bells all around her. First one, then a second. They began to play cascades of three tones, then five. Then ten. It sounded like someone drawing a stick along a series of bells, each one larger than the one before it, making a luxurious sound like the playing of all the strings of a harp from smallest to largest.

Cici looked at her foot and was startled by the greenish swirl of energy around her ankle. She saw a pale blue glow along the outer edge of her hand where she had been cut, and a silver shower of sparkling energy around the bruise on her knee. Her ankle felt much better. The music was so beautiful that Cici didn’t want it to end. All of her wounds and bruises were healed, and the music faded peacefully along with the glow of the Soaring Chime.

“It’s magic just like my lantern! Are you a warrior like me?” Cici asked. Reina’s expression changed.

“I am all that remains,” Reina replied.

LadyStar™ Call of the Huntress is Copyright © 2007 2008 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Teko’s Magical Treasure of the Week!

“Teko found the hooded sweatshirt with the Fury of the Venom Legion Winged Crimson Heart logo, which is the Magical Treasure of the Week! Be sure to visit our Gift Shop today. We made a ton of new stuff this week, and we’ll have more new designs soon!”

Teko’s Magical Treasure of the Week!

“Looks like this week’s Magical Treasure is our brand new Ajan Warrior of the Sunrise black t-shirt.”

“Ooh, nice design. I guess this means we’re going to have a new Sunrise page in the Hall of Warriors pretty soon.”

“Yeeeee! I can’t wait. The best part is Shannon-sama donates some of what the Gift Shop makes to benefit the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls! We got lots more gifts in Shannon-sama’s shop too. See ya!”

“Hiiii everybody, it’s me Jessie! This week’s LadyStar Chapter of the Week is a real neat one. It’s from our first book, The Dreamspeaker, and it’s a chapter that’s called Swifty River. It’s about when Talitha found this real spooky forest where these little lights float around the trees and a pond. There’s this little bridge that’s real important later too. We hope you like our story! Be sure to visit us every week for a new best chapter! Ja!”

Editorial illustration for HOMME magazine for an article comparing rugby to financial investments ... heh it was a toughie to conceptualize (I'm NOT a sporty person!) but I hope they're happy with the result ...

I'm happy as I have two months "holiday" now ... no deadline jobs so I can concentrate on a personal project and on my daily drawings again! yay. And on visiting everyone's sites -- I miss that! I love the challenge of the editorial illustrations but they take up SO much time and I need to just sit down and draw again. Cheers!

Editorial illustration for HOMME magazine for an article comparing rugby to financial investments ... heh it was a toughie to conceptualize (I'm NOT a sporty person!) but I hope they're happy with the result ...

I'm happy as I have two months "holiday" now ... no deadline jobs so I can concentrate on a personal project and on my daily drawings again! yay. And on visiting everyone's sites -- I miss that! I love the challenge of the editorial illustrations but they take up SO much time and I need to just sit down and draw again. Cheers!

Editorial illustration for HOMME magazine based on an article about plane travel that references Shanghai Lil (the role played by Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express).

Colored pencil.

Editorial illustration for HOMME magazine. I was given very specific instructions for this and a very very tight deadline so didn't have time to do as much research or preliminary sketches as I'd have liked to, but am not tooooo unhappy with the way it turned out.

Raja Malek is a brilliant set designer and talented all-around creative mind, who is also an old friend of mine, so I tried to portray both his sweetness and determination and I hope I've come close -- with the only photograph i had to work from!

ON a different note I've been doing up a card and some products for a friend of mine who will be turning 40 soon. As I don't think she peeks into this blog too often (neither do my family!!!) I think it's safe to post them up here ...

The one I did up for her actually has her name on it -- I did this version to put up on my online stores. Phew. Am now off to find something to draw for today! Cheers!

Editorial illustration for HOMME magazine. Acrylics and ink.

Sigh, I feel exhausted but this is, I think (barring any surprises) the last of my jobs for the month. Don't know what I think about it, I enjoy the drawing/painting process but am recently very dissatisfied with the results, though I DID enjoy playing with acrylics again for this, my third attempt.

Tomorrow I have to clean my home! And then get my very long TO-Do list out and start cracking on other projects, some pretty exciting, that I have to muse over. And get more drawings done. And visit all your sites and enjoy everyone's art and get inspired! See you there!

Commissioned by HOMME magazine. And below is my version with gifts in the sack so that I could turn it into a Christmas card :)

Have been feeling heavy and headachy all day, I think it's the stormy-ish weather that's hanging around without actually breaking. Not very inspiring I'm afraid, so tonight am just going to veg out ... Cheers.

Editorial illustration for HOMME magazine: Zahim Albakri, hugely talented Malaysian actor and director (and old friend!).

Perhaps because I know Zahim too well, this was a difficult one to do. Wanted to show the variation and contrasts of his styles so chose to juxtapose a "clean" and "grundgy" look ... let's hope he doesn't kill me heh. Cheers!

Editorial illustration to accompany an article for HOMME magazine. A rush job ... been working on this one the last few days and am now exhausted!

I also have to thank Joan for giving me a Rockin' Girl Blogger award! I'm truly honoured as I consider her a great artist and a wonderful and supportive friend -- thank you Joan!

It's a meme that was started by Roberta Ferguson and I have to pass it on but there are so many great bloggers out there and my brain is refusing to cooperate, so I shall add names later! Time to sleep I think ...

Illustration to accompany a magazine article.

My first digital (semi) illustration! I have a new tablet PC that's absolutely wonderful but it took some time to get used to drawing on it, which is why I've disappeared for a bit :) For this job I drew a couple of trees and then textured them and copied and pasted and changed things a bit ... the landscape was just flat colour with a bit of the film grain filter set on it so that it wouldn't be TOO flat. Drew the chef and ladder and propped them up then added details on the whole thing. Had tons of fun doing it!

Digital can't replace "real" paper drawing for me but it's a great way to finish up a sketch or add to it (I love the UNDO button!!). Phew, time for a break I think.

A drawing of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur -- until 2004 they were the world's tallest buildings. Illustrated to accompany a magazine article.

Am quite spent now, it's been another BUSY week! So am going to sit back and relax for a while!

An illustration to accompany a magazine article ...