Book Update

I figured I was well past the time when I should have updated the blog.  Unfortunately there’s nothing really newsworthy that’s happened lately, hence the long delay.

I have sent off “The Darkness of Shadows” to two other publishers for consideration and am waiting to hear back from them.  The nice thing is that they accept simultaneous submissions so I can keep submitting it to other publishers.  The time consuming part will be to weed through all the entries on the Writer’s Market web site.  I can search by genre and whatnot but I’ll get publishers who are looking for novellas, or children’s book or ones that aren’t accepting submissions.  And as far as I know, there’s no way to exclude those from the search.  And when I go back to search, I’ll forget where I left off, what publishers have new entries etc… but I think I’ve got a system that should work, I just need to try it out.

I’ve got several more Nightcat related commissions uploaded (and a few more on the way).  I’ve also added a few more pics of my own over the past few months.  And there’s a ton more I wanted to get sketched out but I seem to run out of time.

I’ve also embarked on another Nightcat related hobby.  (The nice thing is about owning this character is whenever I want to do some artsy type thing I never have to worry too much about subject matter.)     I was doing up a bunch of cross stitch Christmas presents and what not so now I’m back into the crafting mode.  I also crocheted a Nibbler (from Futurama) and sold it just before Halloween.  I created that pattern a while back and figured why not create one for Nightcat?  So I am.    I’m still working out a bunch of the kinks but so far I’ve got the torso and legs done.  The arms should be easy enough to do and I have an idea on how to do the head, but that’s going to be interesting.  As is the hair because I want it shaped to some degree.  Once I get it finished (and cleaned up cause she’s covered in dog hair right now) I’ll upload some pictures.

I am now on deviantart.com which also houses all my NIghtcat pictures as well as the NC commissions.  The URL is jlmacdonald.deviantart.com if you want to have a peek.  The journel I keep there isn’t necessarily Nightcat related (which is what I’ve tried to keep the subject matter of this journal to).  Again, it’s hard to update journels/blogs regularily when you don’t really have much going on.  LOL

Until next time….

Minor Update

Not a whole lot this time around but I figured that because I had some time to kill I might as well write in the blog. I’m pretty sure in the last entry I mentioned that the first draft of WTDD had been completed and I’ve edited it several times and now it’s gone off to my unofficial editor for more editing/proofing. WTDD is quite a bit longer that TDOS. I think TDOS was around 85,000 words and WTDD is about 105,000 words, so yeah, it’s a bit longer. I hope that there won’t be a lot that gets chopped out but we’ll have to wait an see. While the book may be longer in word count, there is also a lot more going on so it’s not like it’s rambling on and dragging out. (At least I hope) But if I need to chop a lot of things out to make it a better story, then so be it. I may be able to take those ideas/scenes and put them in an upcoming book. But I’ll wait and see what (if anything) gets whacked.

I’m still working on the model cars, and I’m rather impressed I’ve managed not to loose interest. Usually I jump around from project to project and sometimes I have a bad habit of not finishing things. But I have run into several painting challenges that really set me back. The VW is almost done, really this time. I have the interior all fixed up and the body is almost done. I just need to add a few plastic parts for lights and fix up some gloss coat on the top of the car. As for the interior, I just have one more seatbelt to attach but other than that, it’s pretty much done. Once I’m finished, I’ll take some pictures and post them here. The Jag is also nearly finished. I just have to attach the hood and fix the windshield. It was a rather delicate piece and I manages to snap it a couple times so I’m going to rebuilt it from scratch.

I’m also in the process of building a case for all the cars. I have a bit of filling and sanding to do then it’s going to get painted a nice rust colour. I just need to find a spot for the darn thing when it’s finished. I may have to make some room on one of the living room walls.

And as a final note, I did finish a picture of Victor and it’s in the gallery as well as in the bio section. I have several sketches half finished and would love to get them up as soon as I can. Problem is with the nice weather approaching, I find myself in the house less and less and working outside more and more. I can’t even remember the last time I wrote anything. I have so many ideas for book 3 and I haven’t even gone so far as to write them in my writing journal so I don’t forget them. But I may take a small break from writing for a bit. I find when I do, I seem to get more creative when I get back in the writing mode. And if I’m going to write I want to be able to sit down for a hour or more and write, hence why I’m reluctant to write say over lunch hours when I’m home from the office. I find if I do get in the writing mode and go back to work, I can’t focus and my mind wanders.

I am reconfiguring the web site so it’ll work in 1024×768 as opposed to 800X600 so some pages may look a little weirded out until I fix them, but all the links should be OK.

That’s about it for now, but when I finally get some more content, I shall let you know.

Some actual news!

I admit I’ve been motivationally challenged as of late but I do have some updates worth mentioning. I received my Nightcat sculpture a few weeks ago and she is now fully painted. I have pictures that I will be uploading at some point. (Maybe I’ll get around to it over the Christmas break).

Yesterday officially marked the completion of the first draft for book 2, “Where the Devil Dwells”. I was hoping to put the little short story as as epilogue thing for WTDD but think it’ll do much better in book 3, which has no tentative title just yet.

I have started writing bits and pieces of it and have a general plot outline for it. 3 new villains will be introduced and we will learn a lot more about Victor and his personal life.

Another Nightcat related hobby of mine lately has been model cars. I know, you’re thinking what the heck does model cars have to do with Nightcat? Well in book 2 we learn the Dana drives a blue Honda Civic, Victor drives a Jag. I was researching information on these cars and ended up buying model kits. The Jag is mostly done, Dana’s Civic is barely out of the box, I have a police car that I will do for a Grace City Police Cruiser and I also have Trinity’s VW, which is nearly completed. (I’m waiting for a spare part to come because in my clumsiness I knocked over some junk on the windshield and snapped it.) The interior is basically done although there are a few minor things I want to add. Suffice to say this little yellow bug is turning out to be a real Tweety mobile! I did take some interior pictures but haven’t gotten the hang of taking close ups. (And yes, I have read the manual but unfortunately it wasn’t much help)

And just in time for the Christmas season, I have completed a Christmas themed NC picture which should be going up in the gallery very soon.

Again with the Sculpture :)

Most of today was spend painting Nightcat again. Most of the base colours are now on her so I’m thinking tomorrow I might actually be able to start shading a bit. Maybe. I still have a hand and her hair that I need to prime first but that doesn’t take long to dry. But the hair needs some sanding and smoothing out before I prime. I have her face almost finished (sans shading) and even did up her eyes. One is a bit lopsided but can easily be fixed. The other is just the way I want it. The only thing I may change is the black “eyeliner” around her eyes. Right now it’s a gloss black and looks OK close up but farther away the lighting off of it takes away from the eyes which are also glossy. But that’s an easy fix.

NC Sculpture progress

I’m still working feverishly on painting the statue. I think I’ve filled in the all the little airholes and whatnot so I was able to get most of her primed. One leg is painted, the other has a first coat of paint so it’s pretty transparent right now and I’ve also painted her costume. I’m quite excited. I used Testor’s gloss black for the costume and regular Folkart acrylic paint for her fur. The contrast is rather stunning I think. And once I’ve finished drybrushing her and whatnot, I think it’ll look very snazzy.

And now that I have an airbrush (and because of my fairly recent discovery that Testor’s paint is now acrylic and not oil based) I’ve decided to get back into model making. I know what you’re thinking, “How is this Nightcat related?” Well, I’ve bought a 2000 Honda Civic, a New Beetle and a 1953 Jaguar XK 120 1/24 scale models. This probably doesn’t mean a whole lot to anyone else but those are the vehicles some of the main characters drive. Dana has the Civic, Trin has the beetle and Victor has the Jag. So it’s sorta Nightcat related. And yes, I have too much time on my hands.

Nightcat sculpture has arrived!!

I feel like a kid in a candy store. I just received my Nightcat sculpture and she looks absolutely gorgeous. Only problem is I’m so busy getting ready to my upcoming trip to Ontario, I won’t have time to paint her before I head out. But it’s just as well I suppose. I want to take my time and not be rushed.