Living A Beautiful Life At Any Age

Over the years I've received a variety of interesting responses to both me and my art. I've been called naive, credulous or Pollyanna. I used to think that was a bad thing. Now... I'm not so sure 'bout that!

I've been told I'm not cutting edge, and that my art was not edgy enough to be relevant today. Hmmmm...

It's taken me a long to time know what it is I want to "say".

And that is, in a nutshell: 

Carpe Diem! 

Seize the day. Life is short. 

Live it to the fullest each day, with Love and Joy.

Living Flamboyantly

by Retta Stephenson

There is a special essay written 92 years ago by Samuel Ullman that says it better than I ever could. I'll tell more about him another time. Suffice to say, he is special to me. 

Below is his essay. After you read it, you'll know why it's special to me, and why I want my art to be UPlifting. 

It may not be cutting edge or "cool", but it's what is in my heart: A zest to live a beautiful life, and to Love the best I know how.

"YOUTH"

by Samuel Ullman

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what's next and the joy of the game of living.  

In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.

In our hearts, we are Forever Young,

Retta

Spilling the Beans on My-Sister-the-Writer

It's my turn to join the Virtual Book Tour!

Galaxy Nomads: 

Chronicles of the MacKenzie Clan

by Karen Elizabeth Brown

And since it's my blog I get to choose the format. Today I'm going to reminisce a little about myself and my sister.

When we were kids, she was The Peacemaker and I was The Big Mouth. She was The Sweet One, and I was The Hard Head. And yeah, I took advantage of that, I can now admit. 

Most of growing up we were stuck sharing a bedroom. One time we had a big tiff, and I angrily stuck masking tape down the middle of the room, and DARED her to cross to my side! Yeah, I was A Snot.

Thankfully, we have both grown up, and I can see her wonderful qualities now. And I can't begin to tell you how proud of her I am. I knew she was creative, being an amazing musician. But what I did NOT know was how creative she had become at universe building. Characters, worlds, emotions and adventures, using the written word as her creative medium.

She knows I tend to be hard headed and opinionated, even now. 

So here's the inside scoop: to this day she still holds her breath to see what I've written when I do a book review for her, because she knows I'll cover it all, the good, the bad and the ugly.

That's why I was DELIGHTED when I wrote my review for Galaxy Nomads (that review can be found Here).  This is truly her best work yet. Honestly, really, truly, pinky-swear. Take it from the hard-headed older sister about My-Sister-the-Writer, Karen Elizabeth Brown.

Jet on over to either Amazon or Smashwords to get your Kindle copy of Galaxy Nomads...  you won't be sorry.

Links here:

Amazon  

Smashwords  

And if you need the free Kindle app from Amazon, it's right HERE (it's what I use, and it works fine). 

Happy summer reading!

Retta

Today: Discover How the Book Cover was Created

As part of My-Sister-the-Writer's book launch for Galaxy Nomads I thought you might enjoy seeing the "making of" the book cover.

Galaxy Nomads: Chronicles of the MacKenzie Clan

By Karen Elizabeth Brown

Since I hadn't read the book when I started, I began by asking questions from the author. I wanted info on things like characters, settings, tone, mood, themes. I may be doing the cover art, but the author has a "world" she's created in her own imagination, and I wanted to do it justice.

(Impt: Always be sure you use copyright free images and/or purchase the rights. We did both.)

Please note: for faster page loading, these are small thumbnails. You can click on any image to enlarge for details.

The first thing we needed was the right background. 

A wonderful photographer I happen to know 

(oh, gee, I'm married to him) gave us permission to use 

this photograph he took in Southern Oregon. 

Thank you to Jim R Stephenson Photography:

Cropped it:

Turned it into a night sky:

Landscaped it:

Now we need the Clan! Original graphics stock:

Modified to our Clan:

Added to background; 

yellow sunset backlighting to silhouettes:

Glow from sunset hitting our family:

Close up of the MacKenzie silhouette:

The Clan nestled onto the planet:

Now we need some stars, galaxies, night sky artifacts:

Our Ship is next! This is our original stock photo:

Sleeked out and modified:

The large intergalactic spaceship in which generations 

of MacKenzies left their home world, were born in, and died in!

The final image sans text:

And our finished book cover with text:

I hope you found this behind-the-scenes look at how the cover art was created interesting. I used a dinosaur version of Photoshop, PS Elements 6, but it did the job. If you need a source of free-to-use imagery, check out morgueFile.

I think my favorite part was creating the spaceship. It has a kind of "retro-future" look to it. No, really, that's a legit term in the art world! It cracked me up when My-Sister-the-Writer laughed and said that term was an oxymoron. Oh well, who ever said artists were normal, mwa ha ha ha.

Happy creating,

Retta

PS: for anyone interested in more detailed info on creating their own book cover, I wrote a 7 part cover art tutorial HERE. 

The Virtual Book Tour Continues!

The Virtual Book Tour continues for Galaxy Nomads today over at Defending the Pen!

Today My-Sister-The-Writer (Karen Elizabeth Brown) is being interviewed by writer Yolanda Renee. Glimpse an inside peek into my sisters life, HERE.

Happy reading,

Retta

Galaxy Nomads -It's a Book Review!

My-Sister-the-Writer recently had the Official book launch for her 7th book, Galaxy Nomads: Chronicles of the MacKenzie Clan. 

Her blog post with all the links and info is here: Karen Elizabeth Brown 

It's been an exciting week for Karen, having her book published at Amazon and Smashwords in digital form, and being on a Virtual Book Tour. She was written up on Mary Pax's blog HERE, which was fun read.

Wanna read my book review?? 

Below is a shorter version of what I wrote for Amazon and Smashwords. It will let you get a taste for the story, and if you like what you read, jet on over to either of those providers to snag a copy. It's only $1.99!! (links at the end of this post). 

Galaxy Nomads: 

Chronicles of the MacKenzie Clan

For me, the adventure began right in the title: nomads, out in space, the chronicles of a clan. And Clans can be feisty, sticking up for each other no matter what. So... I expected some action, and I was NOT disappointed.

Overall, it's a space adventure from one end of the galaxy to the other. Only, the story spans generations! Their origins, worlds and a little family history. Why they started traveling the galaxy with #1 Rat-of-a-Bad-Guy on their heels. Deceit, betrayal, loyalties, loves, plagues and pirates!  

It's divided into 4 "books" within this one book. Book 1 starts out with a bang which sets the stage for the need to escape into space, pronto.

It seems conflict and stress bring out ones true nature, and sure enough, the nature of the two main Rat-of-a-Bad-Guys emerges... In my view, the worst Rat-of-a-Bad-Guy was the first one, and he was a doozy. Come to think of it, #2 was not too likeable either...They say every good story needs a good bad guy, and these 2 filled that job just fine.

Anyway, off into the galaxy they plunge, and it was fun to read about the worlds they come across....My favorite was the planet Patchouli, full of short blue-skinned people. The author did a good job painting word pictures....

I enjoyed all of the main characters, but my favorite side character was a mystic named Hestia...I would have loved to get to know her better. 

...So many were interesting, colorful and/or quirky characters and had such potential for developement, it made you want to know them better....

It's told chronologically straight, from the first refugees to escape into space, and then following subsequent generations who are born IN space... the medical and science part of this chronicle was believable and smoothly fit right into the story.... written with enough detail and authority that it carried the story and added to it in a credible way.

Same with the aliens encountered. Though they weren't too developed, there was enough so that they flowed with the storyline, and some even gave me a chuckle. Speaking of chuckles,  the authors sense of humor is on the dry, subtle side; no silly slap stick stuff. More wry to sarcastic and/or tongue in cheek and between the lines humor...

I enjoyed the casual bantering/bickering dialogue between some of the characters. Especially the second generation "couple", Ryder and Carredyn, who fight like cats and dogs. I KNOW people like that, and it cracked me up. 

But overall I would say the theme that kept popping up was one of strength and courage from unconditional love and from loyalty; of hope and perseverance against the powerful and corrupt... there are subtle yet interesting points of view that weave in and out seamlessly within the storyline... An added layer of depth... They are short and easy to overlook, but rich little morsels.

There were a couple of plot twists I didn't see coming, which made for fun surprises. One was a shocker that had me saying out loud "no way!" But without a doubt my favorite "action" scene was the final showdown in Book 4 between our hero and the #2 Rat-of-a-Bad-Guy... the battle was INternal, not external.... I could feel the "realness" of it.... How we have to face our enemy, not run; to believe in ourself; to accept help; to stand firm and discover we have more power at our disposal than we had realized. In the story it was much more colorful, explosive and dramatic than I could tell it here, fitting into the action of the plot naturally... In short, it was an exciting battle, and had me rooting for our hero.

Bottomline, YES I would recommend this epic story to anyone who enjoys character driven action adventure stories. It's colorful, creative and full of interesting people, with enough mysteries and hints to make me hope for a second book, making the Chronicles of the MacKenzie Clan into a series. On that basis... I give it 5 stars.

(To read my complete review, just zip on over to Amazon HERE.)

To download your copy for a fun summer read:

Amazon

or

Smashwords

Happy summer reading!

Retta

PS: I don't have a Kindle or other reader, but downloaded the FREE Kindle reader APP from Amazon for my Mac. If you need one, check it out Here. Did mention it's free? ;-)

Don't miss this fun summer read! Official Launch Day for Galaxy Nomads

It's finally here: the official launch day of My-Sister-the-Writer's 7th book:

Galaxy Nomads: 

Chronicles of the MacKenzie Clan

by Karen Elizabeth Brown

I totally enjoyed creating the cover art for this epic romp thru space adventure:

(can click on image to enlarge)

Here's a little introduction to the story:

The MacKenzie clan is forced to flee from the devastating destruction of a supernova and is challenged to a ruthless game of survival. When all seems hopeless, a new generation arises to battle their worst enemy in a unique battle of wits. Will the MacKenzies survive betrayal, pirates and wormholes to the outer quadrants? Here they find a new race of people on the Patchouli planet where the female is Alpha. They learn wisdom from the mystics and seers on their jaunt through the universe and from across the galaxy two brothers are reconciled to each other. They experience love and hate in the Merridian sector when a prince is abducted and must be rescued before a cruel cousin steals the throne. An epic read that will send you spiraling at warp speed through all the MacKenzie generations.

.................................

You can find Galaxy Nomads: Chronicles of the MacKenzie Clan in digital version both on Amazon and Smashwords:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y97FB7W 

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/545574

And of course, My-Sister-The-Writers's own blog:

Karen Elizabeth Brown

And last but definitely not least we have Mary Pax, one of my favorite authors, contributing to the Official Launch Day by writing about one of the main characters from the MacKenzie clan, Ryder MacKenzie. You don't want to miss that!

The link to Mary's blog is here: M. Pax

It will be fun to see what Ryder has to say for himself about all this running around in space, plagues, pirates and... "that girl". Hmmmmmm. Haven't read the piece yet myself, so don't know what he's going to talk about. Come on, Ryder, spill the beans!

Happy reading!

Retta

How to be MORE Productive at... Whatever!

I met author Mary Pax  several years ago on the internet. She made me feel welcome, and I consider her my friend. I've watched her career blossom, and have been amazed at her level of productivity... rain or shine, illness, sick kitties, weather, you name it.

I was listening to a podcast the other day (forget the name of it) about advice for artists. And I was struck with something they mentioned in passing: Leave your STUFF at the studio door.

I always thought my art was intricately tied to how I felt. I was convinced I couldn't work - with joy - if I was upset or having a tough time in my life. Obviously, my production level was insconsistent. Life has too many ups n' downs!

But that suggestion - Leave your Stuff at the studio door - wouldn't go away. 

And I thought back to a waitress Jim and I were impressed with YEARS and years ago. She went to church with us, so we knew her backstory. Her life was NOT a bed of roses. Lots of struggle and pain. Yet she made amazing tips! She took care of her kids very well on what she earned as a waitress. She made her customers feel like they were king or queen for the day, and was cheerful and happy. So one day we asked her what her secret was?? 

She said: she left her troubles at the restaurant door.  

!!

Why didn't I get it back then???!!! The memory of what that amazing waitress told us collided with the advice on that podcast, and a NEW BELIEF was birthed in my heart: that I could do that, too.

Well, I HOPED I could. And I soon had my chance to see if the idea had, indeed, taken root deep enough inside me to actually change me. I signed up to do a post for Mary Pax's new book series, The Rifters.  Not only a post, but I got this idea to make a whole sketchbook based on the imaginary Oregon town of Settler, where her series is based. A huge project, with a looming deadline!! You can see that completed post here; yep, I made my deadline, and the drawing is still open there for a set of FREE e-books! 

No time to wait til I "felt" like it. Time to sketch, NOW.

And lo and behold... it works. It really does.

I leave my "stuff" at the studio door... crank up My music, and enjoy myself.

Who knew?!!

So, if YOU, too, want to increase your productivity: Leave your Stuff at the studio door!

I'd love to hear if you already to this... and if you have any tips for me. Thanks!

Feel free to download a copy of my Cowgirl Up poster if you think it would be a good reminder for you. I have mine hanging in my studio where I can see it every day! :-)

(Be sure to click it open before you download, so you get the full sized file to print).

Happy productivity!

Retta

My Sketchcrawl Adventure... and Win a FREE e-book!

My friend, author Mary Pax, is having another book launch!  

I'm super excited to be participating, since I enjoy her writing. It's a strange combination of urban fantasy/contemporary sci-fi/paranormal adventure/ and even steampunk. Weird is a good word for it! 

Mary has generously provided a FREE set of e-books (Books 1 & 2 of The Rifters series) to one of my lucky commenters here. I'll announce the winner on October 1st (last day to comment and be included in the drawing: Sept 30th).

The new series is called The Rifters, and Book 1 launched on Sept 8th. Here is the LINK to Mary's website, where you can read Chapter One of The Rifters; it also has links to Amazon and other sources. As of this writing, The Rifters e-book is FREE at Amazon, Smashword and others! Cool deal, yes?? 

I've read several stories by Mary Pax, and enjoyed every one. I always end up shaking my head, thinking "how in the world does she think this stuff up??!" 

I have a lot to share, so will be posting thumbnail pics from my sketchbook. Just click on them to enlarge... don't wanna crash anyones pc, with so many images to load, ha!

Without further ado, here is our "Book Launch Vacation":

(Spoiler alert: 

forget what the Settler Tourism Department says... 

there ARE weird happenings around Settler, Oregon!)

I'm one of the lucky ones. I live in Southern Oregon. The infamous town of Settler, Oregon is within a days driving for me, being up north from my town. Since my husband is a photographer, we drove up to the Caslow County Fair and Expo at the end of August. Jim wanted to take photos of the high desert country, and maybe Swit Lake if he had time before sundown. 

Me? I did a SketchCrawl.** That's where you take your sketchbook and painting/sketching paraphanalia and just hike out to... wherever. Last time we visited Settler, Francine at the Settler Mercantile let it slip that the rumors were TRUE about "otherworldly beasts" being spotted near Settler. 

We found out for ourselves this time! I had hoped to stumble on some Beasties to draw. Was thinking... "Wouldn't that be cool?? If I survive the encounter, that is! Mwa ha ha, sure wish they were for real."  Careful what you wish for!

                                 

          

Well, we DID make it home in one piece, and I am so excited to share images from our "vacation".

I really DID get to see some of the rumored "other worldly beasts". Honestly, I thought it was just "marketing hype" for the tourists, ya know?? But after Jim dropped me off so he and Joey (our Mini-schnauzer) could go exploring on their own, I took my time poking around. It was an overcast afternoon, so not too hot.

There were boulders to sit on and sketch, but it was almost dusk when the adventure REALLY started. That's when the beasties ventured out!! 

Enough jabbering... below are pics from my 5.5 x 8 inch sketchbook. Some were rough... I was trying to draw fast, the light was fading. So a few of the color touches were added from memory once we made it back home. But wow, it was amazing to see what really lives in Settler, Oregon. You've GOT to visit Settler for yourself. Honestly, if you love "weird", you'll have a blast!

You can click the pics to enlarge. I didn't caption these; they are in order, so you could read each journal entry if you'd like to know about the sketch following it.

And a few of the photos Jim took:

He thought this was funny...

Morning glow on a pansy...

And they were functional!!

Taken right before the sun came up...

He said he noticed a lot of strange things around Settler, this being one of them...

Yikes, Jim almost ran nose to nose with this guy...

He said he had a hard climb to get this view of Swit Lake, but it was worth it...

Even some of the plant life there is weird...

He stumbled upon this old house right at sunset...

A full moon!

I wonder if that full moon might explain some of the weirdness, including these strange lights he saw??

Well, what can I tell ya... I now know where Weird lives. 

Hoped you enjoyed the visuals from our vacation, and I know you will enjoy this new book series from Mary Pax. And don't forget to leave a comment by Sept 30th so I can put you into the drawing for a FREE set of e-books!

Happy painting - and reading,

Retta

=========================

**The town of Settler, Oregon is a figment of author M Pax's     imagination, as is my account of our vacation, my Sketchcrawl, and my encounters with the Beasties. Oh yes, the sketches are real!! But they were drawn right here in my own safe little studio, with Joey barking and Vevie and Butterfly meowing to be petted or fed. They are the only carnivores around here, and they don't glow green. ;-)

Edited to add:  The drawing is now closed. Thanks for looking at my sketchbook... hope you enjoyed it.