How It Started/How It's Going
2024 Edition
The view from here. It’s definitely not Pinterest-worthy. But it is what it is. And what it is, is me writing. And planning. And thinking about where the year started and where it’s going. So here’s where I am:
I finished a picture book dummy this summer. After feedback and looking at it after a break, I know that it needs one or two spreads redone. And the (less than practical) part of my brain keeps whispering, “But what if you rendered it like this…” at which part I start envisioning a half dozen alternative styles that I could use. And I think, “Whoa, that could look so much better,” so I think of scrapping everything and starting over again. But doing so pushes the whole project out half a year or so. Is that kind of time investment necessary in the dummy stage? Maybe not. To quote Rex Kwon Do: “Break the wrist, walk away.” So I’m going to polish up a few spreads and (hopefully) submit come early 2025.
I’m working on illustrations for a compendium of stories. It’s a collection I love and a publisher that I’m thrilled to be working with. And when I can say more, I’ll say more. But in the meantime, I’m nose to the grindstone with that.
Since last year, I’ve been noodling away at a middle grade project that revolves around An Gorta Mór (The Potato Famine). I’d originally planned it as a graphic novel, then realized certain aspects of the theme made it a challenge to illustrate. There are points in the story where I want to pull back, to allow words, rather than images, to speak to the horror. I outlined the story in 2023 and began work on the script in January. But some early feedback had me rethinking things, so I began to rewrite, with an eye to making a heavily illustrated story (not quite a graphic novel, not quite a novel). We’ll see. I’ve reached the, “I will never finish this,” and “Does anybody really want to read about the Famine?” stage. But the story keeps nagging at me, so it looks like I’ll be working on it for awhile, yet.
Other than books? I’m doing lesson planning for a Valentines-themed printmaking class in my studio (more on that in the future). I’m hard at work prepping for Open Studios, which will be here in two months. And I’m juggling two part-time jobs, illustrating and still attempting to sleep. There are days I feel like a plate spinner. And to be honest, some days the plates come crashing down and I can’t keep my eyes open past 8 pm. Anyone else utterly exhausted by the past couple years?
So that’s what the final quarter of 2024 looks like, in a nutshell.