headache... oh and new book

Good morning/evening/afternoon, whatever the time is wherever you are. It always amazes me that people all over the world read this blog. I hope you get a little bit of entertainment from it.

Today is the second day of one of my headaches. I've been getting these all my life and they last for three days, often on one side of the head and then after three days going to the other side of the head for another three days - even my headaches like things to be even and balanced!

I finished the book on the street cats the day before yesterday and published it through Amazon, perhaps that's why the headache hit yesterday. They seem to do that sometimes, lurk in the background until I finish something I've been focusing on and then strike.

Before I forget to share it (because headache, inefficient brain usage) here is the cover for the cat book. I had to choose between two and I liked them both for different reasons. One was a kitten close up, and the other was a kitten in front of a door. But in the end the decision was made for me because on the one of the kitten close up I couldn't get the words of the title to stand out in a thumbnail pic, so the other one became the cover and here it is:

And here is the link to the book. It's about to go into the free for five days programme, for now it's full price. So wait a few hours to get it free (or you know, go buy it and help support your local starving author)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O4BFFOC

I loved doing this book, I was completely absorbed in the history of the cat in general and in Egypt, and I'm really happy with how it's turned out. I'm going to see if I can get a print version available too.

Yesterday I had decided to take a day off writing before the headache made sure of it. Soon it will be back to Zora's Dawn, reading what I've done, editing and finishing the final chapter. I'm looking forward to that too, I've been dreaming about the werewolf the last couple of days.

So what did I do on my day off? Well I had planned to do the always fun activity of house cleaning, but with my head threatening to explode decided (reluctantly as it's soooo much fun sweeping and mopping) to put that off until I can walk a straight line. So instead I did what I've been wanting to try for quite a while. Sounds exciting right? Sadly no, not exactly exciting but enjoyable nevertheless. Also probably pretty dumb with the whole headache thing going on.

I had a go at zentangling. Now I only learned about this a week or so ago so I'm going to assume that a lot of you don't know what it is. Here's a brief explanation. Zentangling is basically a way of creating art through using repetitive patterns. The shapes used are simple ones like lines, dots, and circles. It's done on a 3.5 square inch sheet of white paper with a black pen. There is no erasing as the idea is that each zentangle is unique and there are no wrong pen strokes. You draw in pencil what they call a 'string' which is a free form shape inside the square, and then you use the divisions you have made to create your piece of art. You're supposed to focus on each penstroke, the idea being that by doing so you have a mini meditation. It's supposed to help clear the mind and reduce stress and anxiety. Here are some diagrams to illustrate better what I'm trying to explain.

Here is an example of a string:

And this is a finished zentangle:

There are many gifted artists who do this - I am not one of them, my artistic ability lies in words, not drawing. But it's a way for me to pretend I can do art. So here's my first go at it. Being me, of course I didn't do just one, no I did nine and then did extra so that there were no spaces at all left on my sheet of art paper. You will notice that my sheet is much larger than a 3.5 inch square block. Nine times in fact. Well that's because I discovered that the scissors have been glued closed (and I did it so I can't blame gamer son!). So I decided that I'd do a group of them, one at a time. 

And I did, one at a time - just all at the one sitting because once started I couldn't leave any white spaces. 

It looks kind of cool, but I have to admit it looks better in the pic than it does for real. But I'll keep practicing, it's kind of addictive. Probably easier without the little men rearranging the landscape of my brain with their tiny jackhammers though. 

Well that's it for today, I really am having trouble focusing, next time I'll write more, promise! I hope you all have a great day wherever you are and thanks for reading me! And go buy my book...