As you know…. If you have been following along (if not read here my first blog post), I submitted a few stories to a couple of competitions.  I told you here about the rejection, BUT in my email this week, I received a couple of reviews on two of my stories from the CANSCAIP jury.  These emails are like gems in my inbox, I am so happy to have some feedback, who cares that I didn’t win!  For the feedback of each story, I found it to be helpful.  As an example, one talked about perspective and that I could make a note to clarify the perspective change for the illustrator (I didn’t know I could do that).   I had feedback on expanding the story or character in certain ways.

I have also had a bit of rejuvenation as I signed up for a Children’s book writing webinar.  I am excited about that, more people are following my pictures and the SCBWI newsletter came out which feels refreshing to read about what else is going on in the industry.  I even had an idea I want to present to the local art guild about a resource for artists locally who are on social media.  You know, support local by ‘following’ and ‘liking’ and showing your support to local artists this way that you otherwise wouldn’t know about.  You may only find out about someone by stumbling upon them on Instagram when you click on a hashtag (example – #vancouverislandartist) and click on an image out of curiosity to see who the artist is and then you don’t necessarily know what area they work in.

Lots of people who practice art don’t necessarily have a studio to allow people to visit and tour.  If there was a resource or database or artists who are on social media then you know who you can support in your area, and it’s not so scary if it is your local art guild.  I don’t know if that is needed or a dumb idea, but I love to think of ideas, problem solve and develop them.

It is fun to make progress and feel excited about what is coming next and what advancements I can make.  I love to feel excited about working on my craft.  It doesn’t feel like work!   I’d love to hear from you too, let me know what progress you are excited about!

Xo

Devon