A Thought, a Whimsy, and A Random Fancy (and yes, SoonerCon and a Dramatic Maki).

Good Evening, Fair Earth (and all inhabitants therein)~

It's simply been a splendid day, and I wanted to take a moment to post a bit of my delight and humble musings. What could possibly have lent toward my capricious mood this eve? Perhaps life in general - or the steamy cup of hot chocolate I just devoured (and yes, in the middle of a June evening, no less). Or perhaps it's the pleasantness in my limbs after a wonderful session of yoga? Whatever it is, I am in a contented state - a peaceful frame of mind. And I hope all fellow wordsmiths, readers, acquaintances, friends... and family may find that inner peace as well and embrace the melody of the soul. In fact, I have the perfect song to share with all of you today. Have you heard of Florence? Florence + the Machine? Well, the song, Spectrum, always lifts my spirits, so please - close your eyes, dim the lights, and take a listen. Let the music "feed your soul":





In other news, do you remember my post last year regarding my first-ever visit to SoonerCon 20? It was the year I was introduced to fantasy illustrators Darrell K. Sweet and Peter Bradley. Unfortunately, Mr. Sweet passed away December 5th of 2011. I am honored to have met him when I did. And as many of you may know, Mr. Bradley did the beautiful cover design for my recently released fantasy novel, Empyreal Fate. In fact, I will be attending this year's SoonerCon 21 (June 15th-17th) with my own table in order to sell my books. It will be my first book signing, and I am greatly looking forward to the opportunity to meet fellow readers and writers. You can find information on other guests and speakers who will be attending here. I even purchased a banner representing Hydra Publications for the event. It actually arrived in the mail today:

 

Other pieces of news: June 9th-13th, I will be participating in my first Blog Tour, hosted by AToMR. I won't say much about it now, for I will be posting the schedule and more information shortly (within the next week or so). But to keep things simple, there will be interviews, excerpts, and... you guessed it: GIVEAWAYS! Who doesn't like free books? Speaking of free, a wonderful lady by name of Jessica Lay is hosting her own Giveaway on her site. Anyone who comments on her post has the opportunity to win any free ebook of his or her choice - and from a wide range of authors and publishing houses (including Hydra and, yes, Empyreal Fate). Check out her site here.

Also - this month (being June) is JuNoWriMo (June Novel Writing Month). I'm sure most of you have heard of it before as NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month or National Novel Writing Month). Anyway, regardless of the month in which it takes place, the idea is to write 50k words in 30 days. I have never participated in such an event - nor am I currently - but I always like to support 'JuNo-ers' or 'NaNo-ers', so I wanted to let you all be aware of it. I am, however, currently working on a new novel project of the Steampunk genre. In fact, I just hit the 68k word-mark today (33k of which have been written in the month of June). So I guess - whether I call myself a 'JuNo-er' or not - I kind of am one. Anyway~

Oh yes - one more thing: my little brother (okay, so.. he just graduated from high school last month, so he's not technically 'little') left for a two-month trip to Minnesota (we used to be Northerners, so his choice of location is spot-on). However, this is the longest I have ever been away from him, so the feeling is sort of - well, strange. I'm not sure why I'm bringing it up, except for the sole fact that I do honestly miss him. I know, I know... I'm a nerdy sister. But proud~

Being I'm on a random-topic spurt, I may as well go ahead and share the newest decor piece I purchased for the Meditation Room. (Yes, we have a Meditation Room. It's brilliant for doing art, meditation, and yoga. Or just relaxing in general. But I'm sure the name is self-explanatory). Also, this is the same room that features the 8,000-piece puzzle I completed (and my family helped frame) of Raphael's The School of Athens. Anyway, as I was out shopping last week, I ran across this beautiful painting of Siddhartha. I had to share:

By the way, we painted the walls and tiled the floors of the Meditation Room ourselves. Yeah... we're quite the adventurous bunch. And - what the heck - here's the puzzle again. Just for kicks. We even hand-built the frame:

By the way, just because people usually ask, the puzzle took me about a year to complete. I worked on it during the winter, took a break over the summer, and completed it the following winter. So, I guess, perhaps you could say it took half a year?

Before I leave you all for tonight, I simply must share with you a 'dramatic Maki'. That's right - I said a 'dramatic Maki'. Don't tell me it doesn't make you crack a smile seeing it. I pull this video out every once in awhile with the hopes that it'll make someone's day (in this case, night). So, without further ado, please meet this lovely Maki:



With that, I bid you all 'adieu'. Fare thee well, my friends~

Always,
Rachel

"Words are animals, alive with a will of their own."
-Jung