Good News

I don't know why, but I am always hesitant to share good news.

I have another book deal with Fox Hollow Publications . This is with a publisher from Midway, Utah. They are a new publisher but their first book is estimated to come out in November-ish. I am happy to say the other two announced authors are good friends of mine. I have read parts of one book and all of the other and I am stoked. They are awesome.

The book they accepted was my futuristic urban fantasy called FUTURE OF LIES. It is what I refer to as my bounty hunter story. It is one of my favorite books I have written. I don't have as much work to do on it as well. I will keep y'all updated as I learn more.

Fox Hollow Publications

Trouble by the Foot

I am not especially tall. In fact, out of a family of 7 I am second shortest (I guess I should accept the fact that my younger sister is taller than me). Granted, short in my family is not actually short. I am 5'8"-ish. The trouble isn't my height, but rather my feet. As my great-uncle would say, I would be taller if I wasn't turned under so much. I wear size 11-12 in women's. Usually I purchase men's shoes. That works really well until I have to find dress shoes to wear with my dresses. I don't mind wearing some heel, but I prefer to wear shoes I don't wobble in. For some reason the dress shoes available in my size are bland loafers, stiletto hooker shoes, or boots that don't fit around my calves. Some shoe stores don't even carry my size. When I find a pair of shoes I like I hold on to them for dear life.

This weekend I went looking for trousers. (Something else I hate looking for . . . I guess I should say I hate shopping, unless it involves cooking equipment.) While I was at the store I decided that it couldn't hurt to look. It was a boot sale, which depressed me. I wandered to the aisle that had my size and picked up a boot. It fit. I was so excited. Granted only one style fit, but it was a style I like. I bought them. I am so excited. I now have a pair of knee high black boots that are comfy and I can wear them with my costume.

It amazes me the small things that can brighten my day. Like a child at school saying I look pretty. . .

Banzai!

Last week I said I might post pictures of our costumes for anime banzai. I am actually feeling positive about them so I decided I would. For those who don't know, Moose and I are going as characters from the anime series, GUNDAM WING. I am pleased to say that I don't have as much work to do. I still have to make our trousers, but the trousers don't have trimmings so they shouldn't take too long. I have roughly 2 1/2 weeks left to finish them.

And now for a side note. Lately, when my friends learn I am making costumes for an anime convention they say "Have you seen HEROES OF COSPLAY?" This is a show on SyFy that follows dedicated cosplay artists as they tour around conventions. (If you are interested there are three episodes available on the SyFy website.) These people are crazy. They build insane costumes in less than a week. And Moose and I are hooked. Granted as we sit in our living room sewing and trying to build things out of cardboard with hot glue, we feel rather inadequate. Yet, every year my costumes get a little better. In ten years I may be comparable to what they do.

So back to the costumes. I have posted the actual characters and then what I have accomplished so far. My coat looks better on me than it does on the hanger, surprise surprise. Moose's costume is missing the buttons. I still have to do the fancy shoulder details as well. All-in-all, I am quite pleased. The other nice thing is that my costume is actually quite comfortable. I think this is the best costume I've done for myself.

As a side note we also watch PROJECT RUNWAY and FACEOFF. Between all of the shows we've gotten really good ideas for different aspects of costuming.