RIP, Ray Bradbury.

I still want to be just like you when I grow up. "In my later years I have looked in the mirror each day and found a happy person staring back. Occasionally I wonder why I can be so happy. The answer is that every day of my life I've worked only for myself and for the joy that comes from writing and creating. The image in my mirror is not optimistic, but the result of optimal behavior." --Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012

 

El carrusel de las sombras: y los niños espantosos!

Oh, hey! I can't read anything on this site because my knowledge of Spanish is limited to a few polite greetings and half the lyrics to "La Bruja," but it looks like this is one place where you can purchase EL CARRUSEL DE LAS SOMBRAS: Y LOS NIÑOS ESPANTOSOS. If you know of any other sites selling the Spanish translation of Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow, let me know! Skary Childrin in Espanol

The Latest

Since I've been away, here are some updates on, well, everything: Death & Elsie's been a little delayed due to computer problems on my part and illness/busy schedule for the narrator. I'll be in New York in a couple of weeks, but I'll be able to catch up on things soon. Boy is still on the slate for later this year. I've also just gotten my film invitation from DeviantArt, so I'll be able to upload videos to DA with a quickness! So, how are you all? Stop by Facebook or G+ and chat for a bit.

Scrivener vs. Napkins

I've moved forward on the third chapter. I now have enough notes that I can almost just paste them all together and call it done. You know, except it would be terrible. But the content's there! I've also realized that the entire fourth chapter according to my original outline is totally redundant now. That's what happens with these things. I've started using Scrivener to keep all my notes all organized and whatnot. Last time, I used several paper journals, index cards, sometimes napkins, Google Docs, and Word. Those work, of course, and it feels more authentic, but Scrivener does actually speed the process up a bit, I find. And I can never be one of those authentic writer types anyway. I'm more like some girl at the mall. "OMG! So, like, this character said this, right? And then this other character was all like, 'I'm gonna rip out your guts and feed them to the hounds!' and then I was like, wait, would that character actually say that?" You know.

Store Revamp

Upon my return to DeviantArt, I've moved  my prints out of ImageKind and over to DA! This means that most prints are a little cheaper now, and I've always been more satisfied with DA's print quality. If you already have orders pending at my ImageKind store, don't worry! They'll still be processed. If you wish to cancel or anything, you'll need to contact them. My new store page also has easy links to buy books and t-shirts. Speaking of t-shirts: a lot of the smaller sizes are sold out or almost sold out at the moment. They'll come back at a later date. If you want to snag the few that are left before the wait, better hop on it!

Return of the Prodigal DA Account

All right, all right, all right. I've heard you. I'm back on DeviantArt. I'm still in the process of re-adding all of my work and am also awaiting a Film & Animation invitation. Eventually, my store will be moved away from ImageKind and back to DA, which I always liked better anyhow. This could take a while, but it's underway! You can now find me on DA at http://katytowell.deviantart.com. (Why did I leave? Because I couldn't keep up with all the messages and comments anymore, and I felt like it was one social network too many! I can't guarantee I'll be any better about responding, so I've disabled [most] comments for now. I may enable them again once I can manage my time a little better.)

It's that time of year(s) again.

So, I'm writing my second book! After I wrote my last one, a lot of you were curious about the writing and illustrating process. It's really pretty simple. You write and illustrate the thing. You edit the thing. The thing gets printed. You scramble at the last minute to promote the thing because you didn't plan ahead when you were writing the thing. Then, if you're lucky, you get to do it again with another book, and you change the way you did some things before because maybe now you've learned some lessons but probably haven't. That's it in a nutshell.

The long version is what I'll be posting to this blog every now and then in the weeks and months to come! No sneak peeks at the book for now, though. I can't even really tell you a whole lot about it just yet except that it's spooky and sad. But you knew that.

So far, I've finished two chapters. It took me way longer than it did to write the first two chapters of Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow, but that's because I rewrote these from start to finish about four times. I've also got this nagging voice in my head that keeps telling me "It has to be better than the last one! It has to!" There are other nagging voices, but their goals are so lofty it's a little easier to laugh them off. I can't be president of the world because of one novel; that's ridiculous! (Wait. Can I?)

Now on to chapter three.

Skary on the stage!

Last year, Cory Wray from the ASU Beebe chapter of Delta Psi Omega directed a stage play with several vignettes based on stories of mine (with my permission, of course). Cory's very talented cast performed it around Halloween for a fundraiser, but they also recorded the vignettes separately. I think they did a lovely job, don't you? (Seriously, though, how great is that performance of Dr. Hex's Mind Menagerie? Also: kazoos!) http://youtu.be/1uCmc5c2Nk8

http://youtu.be/NNpto78k72s

Applause for Cory, Lindsey VanBelle, Josh Agnew, Jessica Allis, Brad Roberds, Stacey Johnson, Marty Brown, and everyone else involved in the production!

It's Dot Com!

In what will undoubtedly be more exciting news for me than for you: I have FINALLY acquired the domain skary.com! So, any day now, you'll be able to tell people to go to skary.com, and you won't have to text them later to say, "My bad. It's skary dot NET," and all those blogs that have been getting it wrong for eight years now will not have to do a darned thing. Update: Childrin R Skary has officially relocated. Any old links you have pointing to skary.net will redirect automatically. If you tell anyone about the site, make sure you waggle your eyebrows and do witchy fingers as you emphasize "dot COM!" Then watch as your friends ooh and ah before they've even seen it.

In celebration, here's a totally unrelated illustration of what Doctor Who would be like if Tom Waits were the Doctor.

Doc Waits

How to get your books signed

Lots of you have asked me how to get your copies of Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow signed, which makes me smile from ear to ear, and smiling that wide makes my face hurt. But enough of you have asked that I thought it high time I just posted the info publicly so that you have quicker access to it. If you've got a copy of the book, and you'd like to have it signed by me, here's what you do:

1. Mail your copy of the book to me along with a prepaid self-addressed envelope that's big enough to hold the book. If you're in the US, it's easiest if you use a Priority Mail flat rate envelope. Send it to:

ADDRESS TBA (I've closed the old box.)

2. Email me to let me know you've sent me something so that I'll know to go and actually, you know, check my mail. If you don't do this, you're at the mercy of my laziness.

3. Be sure to let me know what name to sign the book to and if there's any special message you want me to write. Otherwise, I'll just make out the inscription to the name on your return address.

And that's it! Easy, isn't it?

 

Without breaking a sweat, either.

I'm a little late to this one, but check out this review of Carousel from 6th grader Tam! My favorite line: "Maggie, on the other hand is uncomfortably strong. I'm talking strong as in she can carry a whole mantelpiece jam-packed of enormous heavy dictionaries in one hand, and without breaking a sweat either." So true!

Happy new year!

Goodness gracious! It's 2012 already! And I have such things planned for this year. Boy will absolutely be out, hopefully earlier rather than later. I'm working on a new book. There will be new illustrations up on the site soon. I'm working on all sorts of things, really. I can't believe this is my seventh? Eighth? year of working on Skary! Let's make this the best one yet, eh?

And the winner is...

Merry Skary Christmas, everyone! I hope that all of you are having a marvelous day, whether you celebrate or not. Now *drumroll* for the winner of the contest to win a signed copy of my book: *more drumrolling* BRYAN CALLAGHAN and his daughter. Bryan, send me an email at http://skary.com/contact and tell me where to send the book and to what name I should write the inscription. :)

And now for a nature lesson

Polish fan Joanna sent me a photo of her Nepenthes Rebecca Soper, which is a carnivorous pitcher plant. And, as many of you know, I have a particular fondness for plants that eat living things! Pitcher plants work by attracting insects - and sometimes small rodents in some of the larger plants! - to their sticky sweet fluid. Once the prey falls into the liquid, it drowns, and the liquid breaks the body down to the nutrients the plant needs to survive. Delightfully diabolical, no?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trWzDlRvv1M