Sandra Madera's Blog, page 15
September 3, 2011
Feedback
I wanted to take the time to thank everyone who has posted reviews or sent me emails. I appreciate the feedback and kind words. I do take into account what the readers say, and thankfully, most of the reviews are quite positive.
For those that have not left reviews, please take the time out to leave feedback. Whether it is positive or negative, I take what you think into account when I come up with other works. What you think is important as my target audience, and no voice is too small so start reviewing!!!
Thank you to everyone that has written. I hope you don't mind that I share your writings... There are so many more I want to share so look out for more posts in the future.
Some of Your Words:
ZBomb0:
- 5 stars - Weeping Willow 1 and 2Weeping Willow was "An intriguing though short tale after reading both I know I love these characters and the story behind it this was a fun read and I look forward to more like it. Honestly a sweet short lovely two books if you haven't yet these are a must read."
Joni:
"You do such a good job of putting down a story and not a bunch of unneeded blah! You know what I mean. (You) get to the story and tell it!!!!! Cannot wait for more! Congratulations. Wonderful storyteller. Hope you can post this somewhere for reviews."
LFF:
- 5 stars - Weeping Willow 1"Action at its best! Madera could give Stephanie Meyer a run for her money with Weeping Willow."
-5 stars - Weeping Willow 2"A must read!!! Awesome! The only regret is that it is over, I could keep reading the Willow Saga for as long as possible. Thank you!"
Anonymous:
- 4 stars - Weeping Willow 2"Should be a movie!!!!! ;) Awesome nice twist in the middle just short. But some times the shorter it gets the better it is! ;)
Anonymous:
- 5 stars - Weeping Willow 2"OMG. Read it my only complaint is that it wasnt longer jst read it and hope she start to write longer books."
Anonymous
-5 stars - Weeping Willow 2"A must read. A good storyline, developed characters that keep you interested. My only complaint is the book is too short! I can't believe this book was free."
August 7, 2011
Perhaps... Weeping Willow 3???
I have gotten some emails about
Weeping Willow
. Most readers write about how they fell in love with the characters of Nalin and Willow. Others ask me if there is going to be another installment.
I always intended Weeping Willow to be a two part short story and I never intended to write another installment. I wouldn't exactly know how to go about writing another installment right now. But you never know... Maybe in the future. Perhaps Daphne will stage a rebellion!
However, I think that if I do write it than it will not be distributed as freely as I have made the others. I think it would be an exclusive short story for members of my blog. Or maybe I will start up a newsletter and make the short story a perk of joining. I am still kind of toying around with the idea so nothing is set in stone. Right now, I am engrossed in writing my novel Lament so I don't have any plans for more short stories at this moment.
I always intended Weeping Willow to be a two part short story and I never intended to write another installment. I wouldn't exactly know how to go about writing another installment right now. But you never know... Maybe in the future. Perhaps Daphne will stage a rebellion!
However, I think that if I do write it than it will not be distributed as freely as I have made the others. I think it would be an exclusive short story for members of my blog. Or maybe I will start up a newsletter and make the short story a perk of joining. I am still kind of toying around with the idea so nothing is set in stone. Right now, I am engrossed in writing my novel Lament so I don't have any plans for more short stories at this moment.
Perhaps... WW3
I have gotten some emails about Weeping Willow. Most readers write about how they fell in love with the characters of Nalin and Willow. Others ask me if there is going to be another installment.
I always intended Weeping Willow to be a two part short story and I never intended to write another installment. I wouldn't exactly know how to go about writing another installment right now. But you never know... Maybe in the future. Perhaps Daphne will stage a rebellion!
July 31, 2011
Painting a Self Portrait in Oils
A lot of people don't know this, but I paint. Well, comparing my painting to a seasoned artist is like comparing a kids drawing to a Picasso, but I do paint none-the-less. I have painted with watercolor, but I prefer oils.
In any case, I have always loved self-portraits of the Regency and Victorian eras. I wanted to do one of my niece, wearing a Victorian gown, but I didn't have a large canvas on hand so I decided on a head to shoulders shot. Deciding to go with the Flemish style of portraiture, I drew out my figure which resembled my niece (at least at first) and covered the whole canvas in an sheer burnt umber.
I left it sitting there to dry for a few days since the oil had to be thinned and I used seed oil to do that. Then the next step is to outline and shade with burnt umber. Which I did, but I noticed that with color the portrait started to look more like me than my niece. So, I just decided it would be a self-portrait rather than fixing it to look like my niece.
That step of the painting process took two weeks to dry, but everyone who saw it thought it looked like me and thought I had it painted for me. I laughed, because no one ever guessed that I painted it myself. The next step in the Flemish process is the moonlit layer. In this step, you completely cover your umber layer with shades of gray.
The painting appeared completely transformed. I shaded the face severely and the neck area which didn't matter, because I knew in later steps I could brighten it. The shades of gray gave it a creepy feel. I was going to paint color on that layer which was the next step, but there was still burnt umber undertones in some areas. So I decided it called for another moonlit layer and some more shading.
The end product was more realistic and looks so much like me it was like I intended to do a self portrait to start off with. My dilemma is whether I should leave it as is or do the final color layer over it. I am having a hard time deciding, because I love the way it looks and I would hate to ruin it. I am still debating it. What if the color makes it look more realistic, but then again, the gray tones match my decor. Decisions... Decisions...
My favorite youtube video on the Flemish technique is Portrait of Anna by Artpapacom For more on the Flemish technique visit Explore Drawing and Painting and Oil Painting Techniques
In any case, I have always loved self-portraits of the Regency and Victorian eras. I wanted to do one of my niece, wearing a Victorian gown, but I didn't have a large canvas on hand so I decided on a head to shoulders shot. Deciding to go with the Flemish style of portraiture, I drew out my figure which resembled my niece (at least at first) and covered the whole canvas in an sheer burnt umber.
I left it sitting there to dry for a few days since the oil had to be thinned and I used seed oil to do that. Then the next step is to outline and shade with burnt umber. Which I did, but I noticed that with color the portrait started to look more like me than my niece. So, I just decided it would be a self-portrait rather than fixing it to look like my niece.
That step of the painting process took two weeks to dry, but everyone who saw it thought it looked like me and thought I had it painted for me. I laughed, because no one ever guessed that I painted it myself. The next step in the Flemish process is the moonlit layer. In this step, you completely cover your umber layer with shades of gray.
The painting appeared completely transformed. I shaded the face severely and the neck area which didn't matter, because I knew in later steps I could brighten it. The shades of gray gave it a creepy feel. I was going to paint color on that layer which was the next step, but there was still burnt umber undertones in some areas. So I decided it called for another moonlit layer and some more shading.
The end product was more realistic and looks so much like me it was like I intended to do a self portrait to start off with. My dilemma is whether I should leave it as is or do the final color layer over it. I am having a hard time deciding, because I love the way it looks and I would hate to ruin it. I am still debating it. What if the color makes it look more realistic, but then again, the gray tones match my decor. Decisions... Decisions...
My favorite youtube video on the Flemish technique is Portrait of Anna by Artpapacom For more on the Flemish technique visit Explore Drawing and Painting and Oil Painting Techniques
Egyptian Hieroglyphs Project
A few months back, my niece was learning about Egyptian culture in school and I had to help her with a project. She had to write a sentence which included her name in hieroglyphs. So, we decided on something simple like "My name is Jennifer ________." Simple.
The Egyptian alphabet seems simple enough, but in drawing them out, I realized some of these characters are detailed animals... On top of that, I was doing this on papyrus paper which you can buy at any art store. Papyrus is very bumpy because it was made by hand and it is not perfectly square. It isn't the best surface for paint to be used on either.So I drew it out and went over the lines with black oil paint. It tended to look blotchy in some areas and I second guessed whether I did the right thing using black oil paint. Yet, I forged ahead. Then I painted the animals in dull colors using my bright colors sparsely to give it an aged appearance. The end result was beautiful!!! I am thinking of doing one for myself, but it is something anyone can do for a little bit of money.
To write your name in Egyption Hieroglyphs go to Hieroglyph Typewriter
July 28, 2011
Overboard Short Story Teaser
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Overboard
(FREE short story, coming soon!)
Brenna Maren just graduated high school and is in desperate need of some fun and relaxation. When a group of her closest friends decide to spend their summer sailing to the Florida Keys, Brenna is all in... Until tragedy strikes. When she learns her best friend, Marissa, is lost at sea, she instantly suspects foul play. Now Brenna will do anything to find out who pushed Marissa overboard.
Today I was writing part of my short story, Overboard . I am probably a third of the way through it.
It is actually an idea I conceived when I was in the fifth grade, but I couldn't execute it. I remember typing some of the story on my typewriter and creating a cover, but I never actually finished the story. As a child, I was full of ideas, but hardly saw those ideas through to the end.
This time around, however, my ideas for Overboard are much more fluid. Finding the perfect time to write is a problem, because I have so much going on in my life right now. Yet, finding time is the challenge presented to any writer. I am lucky not to have writers block, but I do have personal barriers that are preventing me from finishing this task. But like so many times in the past, I will overcome and deliver this story to retailers this summer. Hopefully, I will have it done by late August so that I can start editing Lament .
Although I am finding it much more difficult to write, the key points of the story are taking shape, and I can't wait to see them through to the end.
Brenna Maren just graduated high school and is in desperate need of some fun and relaxation. When a group of her closest friends decide to spend their summer sailing to the Florida Keys, Brenna is all in... Until tragedy strikes. When she learns her best friend, Marissa, is lost at sea, she instantly suspects foul play. Now Brenna will do anything to find out who pushed Marissa overboard.
Today I was writing part of my short story, Overboard . I am probably a third of the way through it.
It is actually an idea I conceived when I was in the fifth grade, but I couldn't execute it. I remember typing some of the story on my typewriter and creating a cover, but I never actually finished the story. As a child, I was full of ideas, but hardly saw those ideas through to the end.
This time around, however, my ideas for Overboard are much more fluid. Finding the perfect time to write is a problem, because I have so much going on in my life right now. Yet, finding time is the challenge presented to any writer. I am lucky not to have writers block, but I do have personal barriers that are preventing me from finishing this task. But like so many times in the past, I will overcome and deliver this story to retailers this summer. Hopefully, I will have it done by late August so that I can start editing Lament .
Although I am finding it much more difficult to write, the key points of the story are taking shape, and I can't wait to see them through to the end.
Today
[image error]
Overboard
(FREE short story, coming soon!)
Brenna Maren just graduated high school and is in desperate need of some fun and relaxation. When a group of her closest friends decide to spend their summer sailing to the Florida Keys, Brenna is all in... Until tragedy strikes. When she learns her best friend, Marissa, is lost at sea, she instantly suspects foul play. Now Brenna will do anything to find out who pushed Marissa overboard.
Today I was writing part of my short story, Overboard . I am probably a third of the way through it.
It is actually an idea I conceived when I was in the fifth grade, but I couldn't execute it. I remember typing some of the story on my typewriter and creating a cover, but I never actually finished the story. As a child, I was full of ideas, but hardly saw those ideas through to the end.
This time around, however, my ideas for Overboard are much more fluid. Finding the perfect time to write is a problem, because I have so much going on in my life right now. Yet, finding time is the challenge presented to any writer. I am lucky not to have writers block, but I do have personal barriers that are preventing me from finishing this task. But like so many times in the past, I will overcome and deliver this story to retailers this summer. Hopefully, I will have it done by late August so that I can start editing Lament .
Although I am finding it much more difficult to write, the key points of the story are taking shape, and I can't wait to see them through to the end.
Brenna Maren just graduated high school and is in desperate need of some fun and relaxation. When a group of her closest friends decide to spend their summer sailing to the Florida Keys, Brenna is all in... Until tragedy strikes. When she learns her best friend, Marissa, is lost at sea, she instantly suspects foul play. Now Brenna will do anything to find out who pushed Marissa overboard.
Today I was writing part of my short story, Overboard . I am probably a third of the way through it.
It is actually an idea I conceived when I was in the fifth grade, but I couldn't execute it. I remember typing some of the story on my typewriter and creating a cover, but I never actually finished the story. As a child, I was full of ideas, but hardly saw those ideas through to the end.
This time around, however, my ideas for Overboard are much more fluid. Finding the perfect time to write is a problem, because I have so much going on in my life right now. Yet, finding time is the challenge presented to any writer. I am lucky not to have writers block, but I do have personal barriers that are preventing me from finishing this task. But like so many times in the past, I will overcome and deliver this story to retailers this summer. Hopefully, I will have it done by late August so that I can start editing Lament .
Although I am finding it much more difficult to write, the key points of the story are taking shape, and I can't wait to see them through to the end.
July 26, 2011
July 19, 2011
Restraint Reviewed!!!
Books Complete Me blog reviewed Restraint!
Restraint received 4 out of 5 stars, meaning they loved it!!!
"Indie, or self-published books, are doing good in the book world. Madera's book is no different! I enjoyed reading this book, and the best part, the story isn't over. Lament will be published late this year or early next year!" - Books Complete Me Blog
To Read the Entire Review, click the link above.
Restraint received 4 out of 5 stars, meaning they loved it!!!
"Indie, or self-published books, are doing good in the book world. Madera's book is no different! I enjoyed reading this book, and the best part, the story isn't over. Lament will be published late this year or early next year!" - Books Complete Me Blog
To Read the Entire Review, click the link above.
Restraint Reviewed
Books Complete Me blog reviewed Restraint.
"Indie, or self-published books, are doing good in the book world. Madera's book is no different! I enjoyed reading this book, and the best part, the story isn't over. Lament will be published late this year or early next year!" - Books Complete Me Blog
To Read the Entire Review, click the link above.
"Indie, or self-published books, are doing good in the book world. Madera's book is no different! I enjoyed reading this book, and the best part, the story isn't over. Lament will be published late this year or early next year!" - Books Complete Me Blog
To Read the Entire Review, click the link above.
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