Photos while bike riding

Yeah. It probably isn't a good idea to take photos while you're actually moving on the bike, but I couldn't resist.

Great Allegheny Passage from Confluence to Fort Hill. Cleared the cobwebs. Got me focused.

A few days ago I had written about 12 important pages for the end of my latest novel, and they felt like I just wanted to get it done. I thought about them on the trail, about what the problems were, about what questions really needed to be solved better (or solved period) and about what needed more explanation. When I sat down after I got home, I started handwriting ideas out that I didn't want to forget on scrap paper. After the third sheet and I still wasn't finished, I decided to finish up on the computer.

Two pages single-spaced later, I've got problems solved that I didn't even realize I had.

Tomorrow, we write.

Website Listing Service scam

I don't like getting junk snail mail. It's annoying and not very earth friendly. But I got a piece of junk mail the other day that's a little worse than annoying. First, here's the front and back:

It looks like a legitimate bill, doesn't it? Except for that print in the middle of the front page that says "THIS IS NOT A BILL," it would be hard to tell that it wasn't. They've even perforated the bottom of the page to send with your "remittance." This page and a return envelope were the only things in the mailing, which makes it look even more like a bill.

A few things:

1. You people suck. If you want to get business, how about doing a great job at what you do.
2. Do you really think I would patronize a business that's trying to con me into using their business? Those aren't the kind of people I want to deal with.
3. The name of the company is Web Listings Inc. Their email address is info@web-listings.net. I'm not saying you should spam them or anything. Just know who they are when you're the one they contact.
 

Shirley Jones

When I grew up, I remember thinking my mother and Shirley Jones were equals. She (Shirley Jones, not my mother) grew up in a small town (Smithton, Pennsylvania) that was pretty close to where I grew up (although my mother grew up in a town that was even closer), which I thought was terribly exciting and made the two of them practically sisters.



I wasn't quite six years old when The Partridge Family debuted, but I was instantly in love. I wanted to be in a band. My dad told me later that the reason I played drums in school was because on that very first episode a little girl drummer showed up Chris Partridge on the show. I don't remember it happening that way, but I believe him that it did.

Anyway, the point of this was that I ran across this painting I did of Shirley Jones from way back, maybe ten years ago. For those of you who follow this blog and have seen my work, yes, it was in fact painted by me. Acrylic on bristol. Before I escaped to the dark side.

Hand Lettering in Gettysburg

I can't help it. When I see lettering or graphic design that I like, I have to take a photo. I found some hand lettering at a place called The Pub & Restaurant right in the middle of Gettysburg on Lincoln Square. (If you take a look at their website, you'll see these lettering examples aren't carried through the rest of their design. As a matter of fact, the site is a bit annoying, to be honest.)

When I was taking the photo of the lettering in the bathroom, I tried to hurry before the lady came out of the stall there, but I didn't make it. I had to explain that I was a type geek. She said that was fine. That might have been her way of backing away slowly.

You know what? I'm still proud of this drawing.

I submitted this and a few other drawings to a certain industry newsletter (I won't mention names) over a year ago, and I'm getting the impression they aren't interested. I found all those submissions lying around recently and realized I'm a little proud of the work. I think she's cute, and I think she wants to be seen.

So here she is. Her name is Paula, and she's really into books.

Like I said, NO SPEC!

So as I've posted a couple of times before here and here, spec work for designers and artists shouldn't even be something we're discussing now that we have minimum wage and the robber barons have long since disappeared and all. For those people who still aren't "getting" what the problem is, here's a little video I ran across that might explain it better:

The Kirkus review is out!

My book Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1 got reviewed by Kirkus Reviews!

http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nora-thompson/twisted-xobcEFVd/

Some highlights:

"A clever collection of stories and comics by debut author Thompson.

An experienced illustrator and graphic designer, Thompson organizes this flash-fiction book into 28 extremely brief chapters on many subjects and uses both text and spacing to heighten interest. Her artwork tends toward the gory, though the drawings also contain elements of humor. The words themselves are arranged on the page for an atypical and interesting reading experience...Thompson shines at using unexpected or multiple perspectives to breathe new life into conventional tales, with story endings that are surprising and skillfully foreshadowed. This balance between the unpredictable and the expected rewards rereading. Thompson uses amusing chapter titles like “Cleaver Over-Achiever” and “Lobotomy Pie,” and her phrasing is often similarly adroit...

An assortment of repulsive yet funny chapters makes for a quick and enjoyable read."

Although I'm not sure about reporting that my artwork "tends toward the gory," I'll take it. Alfred Hitchcock banked his career on people seeing things that he never had to show, so I think I'm in good company.