Why greetings my beautiful fairy friends! Sorry it's been awhile since I've done an update.
I've been quite the busy bee, both in book world and in personal life world. I have a plethora of updates for everyone. I'll have them sectioned a bit so you can get to whatever you care to know more about. And if you care about all the things, then yes! even better!
Ooooookie dokie, let's get one with the updating and the things! First things first:
Fairy Seasons
Everything is back from my amazing editor and I've been typing away on fixes, rewrites, and more. Steph had a lot of great suggestions and I feel like so much of my writing is better for it.
I unfortunately still have a weird habit of using homophones for some reason. I don't know why I do it. And I have some other really bad writing habits I'm working on. So, even after my own proofreads, I have a skilled proofreader lined up to find any oopsies I missed.
Thankfully, I got a great deal on the proofreader, too. I can just pay him in kisses. Yes, the proofreader is my husband.
I have some finished art for the book, too. I'll do even more as I edit, and even during the layout process. Every story will have at least one original art piece and / or line art. The poems, well, not all, but certainly some. There's other decorative elements as well. I just like to make my books pretty as heck.
Here's a couple fun pieces of art for y'all!
I'll be starting the layout process very soon, as well. It might be a slight struggle simply because I'll be using a new program. But once I get the hang of it, shouldn't be a problem.
I am a little more behind than I'd like to be, but sometimes it's like that. I had a big art event that I spent time preparing for that cut into Fairy Seasons time. The goal is to send off for a book proof by the end June, beginning of July. Or middle of July by the latest. And goodness, let's hope I get it right the first time! I mean, I usually do.
Oh! I updated the cover to reflect my new pen name. S.P. Green is here, queer, and ready to spread some cheer and some fear. Anyways, I'm so excited for getting this book finished and getting it into your hands. I hope you're excited, too!
Pre-Order Information I will be closing the Backerkit pre-order store on July 1st. This is so I can lock orders and get final order counts.
Once pre-orders appear in online stores and on my website, prices of the physical books will go from $15 to $20. So, if you want cheaper books, now is the time! Pre-Order now! Or convince your friends and family who have extra muns to do so!
I plan to put together some special bundles when I finally publish for people to buy. The bundles will have some of the special prints and stickers that people can get through this campaign.
I have a new book campaign coming up! For now, I'm calling it Fistfuls of Poetry. It's an Oops! All Poetry campaign in that all three books in the campaign are poetry.
Yes. You read that right. Three books!
I'd like to think of them as poetry zines rather than chapbooks. I have a good amount of poems for each already, with more to come. I can't focus on the writing of those until I finish Fairy Seasons, though.
I don't have much on my teaser page yet, but I will soon. If you're a fan of poetry or are poetry-curious, it'd be a great idea to follow the campaign. So, please, for the love of poetry! Clicky clack! Don't look back!
The Book Bazaar is currently holding a really cool Summer Bonanza. It's like a mini Book Bazaar event, but for the summer.
There's eleven awesome projects that are funding until June 30th. Only two more need to meet their initial funding goals, but heck! Toss a coin to an indie or two to pad their campaigns. I know from my own experience that extra always helps. Especially in this economy.
I have a website now! It's pretty late 90's, early 2000's looking. But, hey! It's everything I need it to be. I have blog posts and categories, some art, and a shop. It's a continuous WIP. I'm not doing too much tweaking until Fairy Seasons is more finished.
I've been adding blog posts to highlight Summer Bonanza authors and their projects. I'm a little behind on that, so I should get on it.
Other Stuff? Er…I'm hoping to get into the South Dakota Festival of Books! So far, I haven't seen anything about applications. I think it's at the end of September. I'm trying to get in early to pay the early bird fee rather than the full fee. It's, uh, spendy.
I generally don't make all my money back from events. There was one time I made a good amount for the day, but then I got super sick AND it was a miserable time because of the wind. So, I don't go for anything that has a super high fee that isn't comparable to the venue and amount of time spent as a table. It'd be nice to do more, but it's not affordable for me. Yet.
I've also been dealing with some not-so-fun health issues. I have alleged endometriosis. It's alleged because it isn't officially diagnosed in these parts without a exploratory surgery confirming it. My OBGYN thinks I have it, but it's still just supposed. So, dealing with the back and forth of doctors, trying to get appointments made, and so on, has been frustrating. I have calls I have to make right now that I've been putting off and forgetting to do.
I've been working to be kinder and more understanding with myself. That's not easy, but it has to be done. Or else things get real unpleasant.
So, with this in mind, I plan to bake extra time into future projects and campaigns. And then if I get done with them early, then woohoo! Yes!
Also, Pride! Yay Pride! I hope this Pride month treats you well. And if not, well, Pride is everyday for a some of us, so I hope many upcoming days are way better.
And that's all I have for updates. I'll have more at some time! Probably!
Ahhhh! Sorry there hasn't been an update for awhile! It's been...well, it's been.
I have lots of excited news, though!
I started going by S.P. Green for writing stuff now. And now have my personal press, Pickle Jar Press.
You can find me all over the web as Spooky Pickle, though!
Anyways, Fairy Season things! Art things are done! So, now I can send out the smoke tests. Once those are good to go, I'll send out surveys.
I'm receiving edits from my editor (The Amazing Editing Otter), so I'm working on those. Once finished with edits and proofreads, it'll be layout time. I hope to be able to send out for a proof copy of the physical version by the end of June or early July. I think things are looking to be on schedule (especially since I keep forgetting that August is a month for some reason)
That being said, I'm looking to close the pre-order store by the end of June. This is so that I can have final orders in once I get back a good-looking proof.
Also, have you heard the good word? There's a Summer Bonanza starting May 28th! You ought to check it out! It's just another cool thing The Book Bazaar is doing.
Anyways, I don't have too much else to say. So, look at some art while I slowly scoot away with an awkward expression on my face.
First up, Into Shroomen's Grove
Alt text for the painting: A photo of an acrylic painting. The painting is called "Into Shroomen Grove". A dirt path full of little white mushrooms and glowing footprints wounds its way through a mushroom forest. The end of the path is bathed in a blinding, golden light. Several mushrooms fill the forest. There are tree-sized muscara amanitas (red and orange capped with white dots), some purple mushrooms with gel-filled pustuals, large and small common mushrooms of browns, pinks, and dark grays, there are some chanterelles, and even some small puffball mushrooms.
I'll have a scanner soon, so I'll be able to get a better scan of this rather than just a photo with my phone. This was really fun to do! I love painting, especially with acrylics. I'm most familiar with them.
Alsooooo, I finished the final Make-A-Fairy. Meet them below!
The Fae Trap and Their Collection
Alt text for art piece: a digital artwork made in infinite paint. The subject is a Fae Trap. The Fae Trap has a large flower pod base as their lower half. It is light green with yellow spots. The petals surrounding the opening are yellow and orange. Out of the top opening springs the rest of the fae trap. They are made of a human spine and rib cage. Their arms are made of old, pinkish meat. Feathers and leaves are mixed into the arm from things previously digested. Various pitcher plants grow out of their body, as well as venus fly traps. Their head is made of a crumbling masquerade mask. Out of the eye sockets, more pitcher plants grow. Out of the back of their head are several venus fly traps and long, light green sundews. The fae trap stands before two torches. The torches have skulls on their tops. The background, overall, is a wall of bones and skulls.
It's a short one. Basically, I'm going over written things, doing some personal edits, before I send things off to my awesomeeditor, Steph (https://storyotters.wordpress.com/otters-editing/). While they are looking over things, I'll be working on layout elements and art things.
I have the mushroom forest to paint, and only have one remaining Make-A-Fairy to finish. Though, I do have some small details I still want to add to the Swamp critter fairy.
I'll be finally sending surveys out around the end of March, once the mushroom forest and last make-a-fairy (the venus fly trap one) are finished. I wanted all the art done before I did that.
Anyways, here's some cool art I've finished (and one sticker design I haven't finished yet):
This here is the Crystal Fairy in their final form! They're so beautiful and soooo deadly.
Now, for the swamp critter, I still have some detail stuff I want to do. I want to add scales to the lizard parts, and make the mantis arms look more dynamic. I also realized I didn't add much shadow to the critter itself. I changed the sword to a rusty machete. Thought that was more fitting for the swamp. Also, the jellyfish-like swamp friend just didn't quite fit. So, eventually I'll use that design for some cute critter sticker. If I have enough time, I might even have it ready as an option for sticker packs! I won't promise that. Though, I will absolutely try.
My version of a wisp. Well, at least one form of a wisp. I feel like they take many forms. This particular fairy creature wanders the swamp. They guide lost travelers to safety. They are not to be confused with their evil cousins, whisps. Whisps love to trick and confuse lost travelers.
There really isn't a good way to tell the difference between a wisp or whisp until it's too late.
And that's it for this State of the Fae update. I'll be sure to have more next month!
It's been awhile, huh? Surveys are ready to be sent out, however, I'm waiting another month or two to do a smoke test and then the initial send.
Things have been as chaotic as ever, but I'm mostly on schedule. I'm really glad I built in extra time for myself. I won't mention the horrors of the world directly, but oof bagoof... I'm sure many of you are aware. It's hard not to be a despondent pile of goop as your brain tries to process just what the heck is going on.
The best thing to do is to do what you can. Don't overstretch and / or overstress yourself. If it's 2 in the morning, there's not much you can do about a situation, so try not to panic about it.
Rest when you need it. It's okay to do nothing. I've been having some "do nothing" days myself. My "do nothing" is basically playing a cozy video game, napping, and eating yummy snacks. I'm not productive. I'm just existing.
There's a lot more I could say, however, a lot of things are more situational to where you live and to what's going on around you.
I hope things go okay for you. I hope you have some yummy food and some time to rest.
Where are we on the timeline? I'm still working on some stories. Of the three I have left to write, I've refined my little quick drafts (outline synopsis thingies). Once finished with those, I'll be doing touch-ups.
In March, things will be sent to the editor. During that time, I'll be working on the layout art and more. Then more edits and fixes once the wonderful editor (Otters Editing) has done their thing.
Of course, I'll be giving y'all another update in the middle of February to let you know how it's going.
Beyond March, It's art, layout, and editing until June! Then, I'll order some proofs to make sure I have things looking good. More touch-ups. Once I get a proof that's well and good, it's ordering things, packaging them up, and sending them.
I'm still planning on early September for sending out physical and digital books and rewards. However, if things go smoothly, I might do so earlier. But, well, we'll see.
ART TIME I usually work on my art things during dnd (Dungeons and Dragons) time. Unfortunately, dnd schedules have not been aligning as well as usual. It's a curse many dnd players know well. I think we'll be getting back to more of a routine schedule on all of the campaigns soon (I'm in three of them).
But, I have gotten the outline for the 1st Make-A-Fairy done! It took me a hot minute to figure out how I wanted to do the crystals and background itself.
The symmetry tool did wonders for many aspects of the fairy! I didn't end up using that when it came to the crystals though. I'm thinking a lot of blues for the color scheme. I really like how this almost has a stained glass style to it. At least, I think it does.
I also think I should add some rusty shadings. You see, the mouth for this fairy is not where the mouth is. That's just more of a mimicry. Can you guess where the actual mouth is?
Oh yeah! This design is one of the sticker designs! Isn't she cute?! A fairy holding a fairy friend! So cute! This was a fun one to make. I was going with a different color scheme originally, but these colors worked so much better.
Title Reveals Hey! Want to know what some of the titles of the short stories will be? Heck, I'll even throw in the title of a poem.
Short Stories -The Painter's Fairy Folly -The Gift of Names
Poem -What's for Supper?
Okay, that's all I'm going to bug you with! It's probably a bit longer of an update than people care for. As a quick reminder, the pre-order store is open! If you weren't able to pledge during the campaign, you can still order the book and things. And don't be afraid to share it with those you think might be interested!
How a great day! Fairy kisses and best wished to you all! -Spooky Pickle
Why hello fairy friends and fiends! It's time for a quick update.
I said I was going to do one this weekend on Bluesky. Well, Monday morning will have to do.
Basically, surveys won't be sent out until mid-January. And then, I'll give another wonderful update full of art and more.
After the craziness that was my November, things has settled (relatively). Now I'm able to put all my focus into Fairy Seasons (which I wanted to do in November, but well life and all that). I'm excited for my upcoming five day holiday weekend, and my lack of events for the foreseeable future.
I finished the sketch for the final make-a-fairy! As a reminder: carnivorous plants, mixed with bones, and no face; aside from a masquerade mask, and a hoard of bones won the polls. Now, I don't have the environment sketch done, but I'm pretty excited for what I have in mind. I have a couple other design things to finish up anyways (which I'll share in the next update).
Anyways, here this creepy thing is!
Those arms, by the way, are made of meat. I'll be adding more detail, like bird wings and other things stuck in the arms. I'm also going to have them pop out of a giant pitcher plant rather than just hold themselves up with meat arms. They tend to sleep in the plant, with their arms sticking out. The pitcher plant has roots that can act as legs to help the fairy get around. Their court is full of bones and rotten meat. And they quite like it that way.
I hope your as creeped out by this fairy as much as I am! More lore is coming!
For now, I won't keep you. I wish you some very happy holidays. I hope they are filled with warmth, joy, and peace. I think we could all use a little bit of those right now.
If you'd like smaller updates in between these big ones, I tend to use bluesky for those. I haven't been on as much as I've been taking a social media break. But, I'll be more regular soon enough. Ta ta for now!
PS: Pre-Order and Late Pledges store is open for those interested!!!
