Meet Our Members ~ Grace Augustine Art

Not only is Grace Augustine an author and editor, she also dabbles in acrylic painting on canvas. Her love for art began in her early teens and carried through high school. After 40 years, she picked up the paints and brushes and found solace in the art on canvas. Click here to view her artwork.

Tables are a Girl's Best Friend...NOT! ~ by Author Andi Lawrencovna

     

I want to talk a little bit about design. Design of what?
     Well, since you asked…design of your display and the way you represent yourself as an author online and at events.
     Unfortunately for me, who, though I can make a good show of being an extrovert when I need to (thank you Father for your YEARS of making me talk to people at events I dreaded going to…), I am a hard-core, leave-me-the-heck-alone, introvert. I like silence. It suits me 99% of the time.
     But let’s talk about that other 1% here. That 1% of the time in which you have to make a sale, and you’re not just selling your books at an event table or in an online post, but you’re selling yourself to a reader.
     A lot of readers, especially now with all the social media platforms available, like to be able to and want to get to know their authors. Having that moment of connection between them helps: 1. Make the sale of the book, and 2. Keep them coming back for future releases. (I am not that mercenary by nature, I swear, but like any other business, you have to look at writing AS a business, too.)
     

     So, two goals: 

           1. Sell your book

           2. Sell yourself.

     Goal 1: As on “Facebook,” so in person. Know your brand. Marj Ivancic’s POST about elevator speeches is key. You need to be able to define your product in a way that entices the consumer to come in and take a closer look at it.
     For me, personally, at the consumer level, I look for “neat and orderly.” If I walk into a store, and the display I’m looking at is a

rat’s nest of “stuff,” I’m gone. I want to be able to focus on a particular product and draw conclusions about it from one glance. I don’t want to be distracted by the mess around it.
     In terms of a book display at an author signing, I want to be able to walk down a row of authors’ tables and see the books they are selling. If it is one book or one hundred, I’m looking at the covers, and the way they are displayed. I don’t want to see five hundred copies of one book, because if there are 500 copies of the same book on a table, my mind automatically thinks: “Well no one else is buying them, why should I?”
     If you have a lot of books, having them organized at the same height tends to block the covers so that I can’t see them, which will also send me along to the next table well in advance of taking a look at yours!
     Even though everyone has heard the phrase: DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER…online or at an event, EVERYONE judges the book by its cover, at least to a percentage. The cover is what draws the attention and drags the reader in. If I can’t see your covers, I’m going to walk on by. I know a romance author because the covers of his/her books are romantic. I know fantasy because there is some sort of magic involved. SyFy has aliens and spaceships. We have to market to and towards our genre specific.
     

So, SHOW ME YOUR COVER. Your books should always be the center of your display. Now, let me clarify there, I do not mean that your books need to be in the actual “physical” center. If you’re creating a book promo-ad for Facebook, you generally put your cover to the side so you have room to write a bit about the book on the other. Same as with an in person event (debatable, but we’ll get back to this). For now, organize your books as a pseudo-bottle-neck.
     Huh?
     Hear me out. You want your books (if you have enough that they’re on both sides of the table), to lean in towards you at the center of the table.
     Keeping the books turned in towards the center of the display subconsciously cues the reader/consumer to move in, it’s “not leading them on” to the next table down the line. I have to give complete credit to Author Savannah Verte for that tidbit, and I hope I wrote it correctly. Basically, you’re leading the eye and the reader towards the center of the table which is you, or which is a book you want featured or a special part of your display.
     Now, remember that “debatable” throw away line up above? So, if you have only one book out that you’re selling, make it the center of your display. Keep the clutter around it to a minimum because you want the focus to go automatically to that book.
     

BUT, and this is the part that freaks me out so apologies in advance, you need to leave a clean line of sight to yourself (for in person events only) so that readers walking by will see YOU, and know that YOU are the author and know that YOU are approachable and want to talk about YOUR books. It makes it easier for signing the books they buy, and for author/reader photos.
 

     Goal 2: You are part of your display, part of the marketing platform that you’re running. You’re meant to be seen. People like having a face to relate to on social media and platforms. They like knowing who they’re looking for at events by those photos.
     For in person events though, remembering that open line of sight to you from above, you need to act your part.
     Who do you want your readers to think you are when they see you? Are you going to dress up like your characters or in period clothes to match your story settings? Are you going to call yourself a crazy-cat-lady and gimmick your way into readers memories? Are you going to be the quiet one that lets readers come to you?
     For the record: ALL VALID OPTIONS! They’re just “your choice” options, and you need to know what you are comfortable doing and how you want people to approach you when you set out doing these events.
     I’m as snarky and sarcastic in person as I am online. I don’t try

to hide my personality in my profile or on my face. I might be a bit more vocal online than I normally am in person, but I do my best to be an open person. I don’t try to “reel” people in. I let them come to me. I know a few people who will do everything they can to make sure they’re seen up front and center at and for everything, and good for them. But thinking about that gives me a bit of anxiety, so I’m sticking with who I am now.
     The point is, remember that you are marketing yourself and your style as much as you are your books at any in person event or online posting, so you always have to be conscious of it.
     Now, when that reader sees your display and has to move their

eyes from the outer edges towards the center where you’re waiting like a spider in the web, ready to reel them in…oh, wait, uhm, anyways…the reader is always going to judge the book by two things up front before you or they even open their mouths: the cover, and what you look like/how you represent yourself. 

     Know what you’re doing and why, and make those decisions a conscious choice, because step two is that elevator speech, but you’ve either hooked a reader by that point or not, so…good luck!

Photos courtesy of pexelsfreephotos.com or personal images

The Hawaiian Legend of the Lehua Blossom ~ by Jacquolyn McMurray

In keeping with my post from last month, I'm sharing my version of another Hawaiian love story through the Legend of the Lehua Blossom. 

It is said...

Lehua, a favorite child of a southern Hawaiian village, blossomed into one of the most beautiful young woman of her time. Many of the young men swarmed around her and begged for her attention, but Lehua was enamored with Ohi’a, the strongest and most handsome fisherman. 

 And even though Ohi’a only had eyes for Lehua,         he was too shy to approach the beauty.

Lehua used every charm she knew—she brushed her long black hair and applied coconut oil until it shone like the sun and pounded taro into the finest poi to serve to Ohi’a. Lehua prayed to the love goddess that Ohi’a would profess his love for her and her alone.

After many starlit nights of waiting for Ohi’a to speak to her, Lehua took the fisherman’s hand and led him to the forest where they picked flowers and strung them into lei. She sang the sweetest songs to him, and after a time, Ohi’a shared his own stories with Lehua.

Ohi’a waited more than three full moons before he made Lehua his wife. Only days after the young coupled settled into their own hut, Ohi’a was on the shoreline fishing when a beautiful young woman called his name. He turned to face the woman and recognized her as Pele, goddess of the volcano, whom he’d seen in human form many years prior. She beckoned him to walk with her, but he refused. 

Disheartened, Pele retrieved into a lava cave. The next day, she called to him again and told him she had watched him from afar for many years as he grew into a man and she had fallen in love with him. Again, she beckoned him to join her. Ohi’a proclaimed his love for his mortal wife and sent Pele away.

Many days later, Ohi’a walked with Lehua along a forest path. Pele stopped in front of the young couple and commanded Lehua to leave Ohi’a so that she could have him as her own. Fearful of Pele, Lehua clung to her husband.

When Ohi’a refused Pele again, she surrounded him with hot lava. Anxious to protect his wife from the lava, he held her above his head while his own feet were covered with the molten rock.  No longer able to move, Ohi’a realized there was no escape and he and Lehua would die together. They vowed their love would keep them united for all eternity.

It is said…

If you pluck a lehua blossom from the ohi’a tree, it will rain, for the separation of Lehua from her husband causes her tears to flow.

Daily Joy ~ by Kristine Raymond

That's a difficult concept for me sometimes.  Daily Joy.  When things in my life aren't going well, finding anything to be joyful about on any given day is often a challenging prospect.  Oh, I have a lot to be thankful for - my husband, my fur babies, my family and friends, the roof over my head and food to eat, decent health.  Not a day goes by that I don't count my blessings for what I have, but appreciation is not the same as joy.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of joy (noun) is "A feeling of great pleasure and happiness."  Sounds simple enough, but I've had days where that feeling's been as elusive as a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.  On those days, a bit of effort is required on my part but when I slow down, take a breath, and become cognizant of the world around me, I never fail to find what I'm searching for.
 
As I'm typing this, a white-throated sparrow is singing outside of my window, it's call clear and pure, the sound filling me with happiness.  Ahhh...that elusive joy. 

For those times when nature fails to uplift my spirits, I turn to one of my cherished books, Daily Joy - 365 Days of Inspiration.
  

This volume sits on my desk, my favorite pages marked.  Like this one - "Let the beauty of what you love be what you do." ~ Rumi.  How could those words not fill one's soul with pleasure?

It doesn't take money to be joyful or require a huge investment of time.  Joy is all around us if we just take a moment to recognize it.  A baby's gurgling laugh.  The soft rumbling of a cat's purr.  Our dog's wagging tail telling us he's delighted we're home.  That first sip of tea (or coffee).  A bird's song.  A fragrant bloom.  Spring leaves rustling in the wind.  The opening notes of our favorite song.

The list could go on forever, and mine would be different than yours because we all find joy - that feeling of great pleasure and happiness - in different ways.  The important thing is to take a moment - each day - to discover yours.

  
If you'd like to pick up your own copy of Daily Joy - 365 Days of Inspiration, you can get it here.

Drawing, Adding colour, and Printing ~ by UK Artist Amanda Jayne White

     

I started my career in Community Arts, making art with people, for people. I was most passionate about young people, which eventually led me into teaching,  my full-time job for nearly 20 years.
     I have created sea monsters 40 ft. long for community carnivals and made a story book chair for a whole class to sit on for story time. It's been great. Then late in life I met my husband. He was always editing photographs and I was left thinking, what should I be doing with my time? I started drawing.
     I might have a confident CV, but drawing was not my most confident aspect of my creative career. However, I loved colour and pattern and had been teaching myself digital software. Working digitally meant I was with my husband and I wasn’t making a room full of mess. I could indulge myself in things I had loved as a child, just for me. I was creating for the ‘hell of it.’ 
     My past had been full of colouring in books, felt tip pens, books, and cartoons. I hadn’t realised but my favourite book given to me was a Disney book, illustrated by Mary Blair. I can still see the pages in my head, long after the book wore away from too much love and not enough care. I was buying drawing materials, pencils, sketchbooks, pens, and my ultimate markers and brush pens. I

could be a child again.
     I think I would describe my work as somewhat ‘childish.’ Some may see that as a negative, but my view was, if it delights me what does it matter what other people might think? What other people think of my work has been important. Nervous at first, I put images on Instagram under a pseudonym, Mandascat, playfully suggesting my cats did the drawing. 
     Then the husband did something that sent me swirling, he bought a printer. That was the start of it. I could draw, digitalise and now print. Coupled with a friend needing some illustrations for her soon to start Folk Festival, people began to see my work. It was amazing to see peoples' reactions at my first stall, and selling my work!

     I draw first, then using a light box I make new lines, my chance to refine and develop my first pencil lines. At this point I start using Japanese Calligraphy pens to get different thickness or weights to my lines, this makes the drawings more interesting.

     Then it's time to add the colour, that’s the really fun bit. I find my favourite pens of the moment and make patterns. These are scanned into the computer and I use these patterns to do my colouring in. This pattern here is the actual one used to colour the flying cat. I can get so many colour combinations from one tiny pattern. I use my favourites time and time again. 

     My passion for Community Art projects has not completely left me as I am often working to help people.  

     One of my favourites is a pub sign, for my local pub. I love

it and so do they. 

In the background you find local scenery of the pub’s vicinity, the local Church, the cranes on the dockside, and the cottages on the sea wall.  All the elements of this image are drawn separately and then put on the computer to move them around.  

     Those lovable seagulls are found in many of my images. I love them, which is not the case for my husband. However, I have sold many seagull pictures.     

     Lots has happened in 3 years, my work is used by the local council, two local festivals, my own range of cat illustrated jewelery, upholstered furniture, clothing, and product range. 

     Who knows what’s next, I am always interested in something new to try. So, I finally thrive on what people think of my work.       

Amanda Jayne White lives in the UK with her husband and cats. You can contact Amanda at her WEBSITE and browse the entire Mandascat line of artwork.