Writing

Well, it happened - Lydia Cooper is a Lie is finally available everywhere books are sold!

I bought cinnamon buns to celebrate.

It's a funny thing when a book you've been writing all by yourself at your little desk finally emerges into the world and is presented to readers with the hope that they like the result. Its a very quiet thing. Something the writer sits with all by themselves.

But there were cinnamon buns. So it was indeed a celebration. I also used it as an excuse to break out my acryllic markers and do some book art!

I love doing book art - I made some for the release of my middle grade fantasy The Bear House.

I used pencil crayon back then. I wanted something that wouldn't bleed through to the next page, and something that would let me still see the words through the art.

For Lydia Cooper is a Lie, I wanted to do some book art too - something in her style that would capture the vibe of the story. It couldn't be the same as The Bear House. These are two very different books. Lydia Cooper has her own edge. Her own attitude. And it's totally different from The Bear House.

So - acrylic markers it was!

I love acrylic markers - they are so bright and vivid and also milky and smooth to work with. But they are a new medium for me, one I am still trying to figure out so this was a bit of an experiment! I wanted the page to feel like a page from Lydia's notebook, or school binder. Something she doodled at lunch or recess.

Ta-da! It's bright and it's colourful and exactly something Lydia would doodle. This was a fun experiment and I am probably going to do more pages with these markers.

I hope you like reading Lydia Cooper is a Lie! She's on the shelves right now so be sure to pick up your copy before the sprayed edge version are gone! Learn more about the book and where to find it here.

Dear new story idea,

I don't know you.

You make me uncomfortable and deeply unsure of myself.

I'm not even sure I like you, to be honest.

You're awkward and undefined. When I ask questions of you, you never have answers. You just have vibes - dark, angry, frightening vibes.

But the little glimpses you give into what you're all about - they're exciting and intriguing so I'm hanging around you more than I should. I have work to do, other stories, stories and characters I know very well that need me to finish them, to be their best selves.

And you're distracting from all that.

Who invited you here anyway? I didn't ask for this. Didn't ask for you. Yet here you are, getting in my face and asking for my attention when I don't have the time or inclination to get into it with you.

No. I don't think I like you very much at all.

And even if I did like you, and all your magical flourishes, fascinating mysteries and interesting characters, even if I LIKED all that - I have more than enough other stories on my plate.

I simply don't have time.

I'm just one person! Don't you see this isn't just up to me? This is mortality talking!

Begone, new story idea. I don't want you.