I’ve seen a number of stories this evening involving ghosts, which I find interesting considering the odd encounter I had just a few hours ago.
Or you can click here to see a larger view of the shadowy things on the right side of the frame.
https://www.facebook.com/JoleaMHarrison?v=wall
So this post from fellow author Deborah J. Hughes summed it all for me. Hop on over and check it out.
http://deborahjhughes.com/2012/01/21/12-signs-a-ghost-is-near/
Filed under Ghost Stories, writing
I’ve always felt that writers are a multi-talented group of people. They are able to fabricate stories out of pure imagination, so it comes as no surprise to me that writers have other ways of showing their creativity. Today I’m hosting Kristy Carey of KAC Sales on the IWU blog tour. Kristy has a couple pans in the fire at the moment – a book being edited and a line of jewelry she’s creating as her other artistic outlet. We’re going to talk a little bit about both, the similarities and differences between these two art forms.
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Hi, Kristy, thanks for stopping by my blog for the tour. First off, tell us a little bit about yourself.
I always stink at this part… Never have any idea what people would like to know.
Me too. I mean, I could tell you my life story, but there’s probably not room, right? How about the basics? Stuff you like? What you are up to?
I’m 29, and just starting to figure out who I am, while trying to get several aspect of my businesses going. I enjoy a variety of things, from Art Deco style, Victorian stylings, Steampunk, SciFi and Fantasy. I like to watch old musicals, vintage film noir, modern action films, and romantic comedies, and avoid horror and drama like the plague. Being creative is the way I keep myself sane.
How did you get started making jewelry?
About October of 2010, my mom and I were at Fashion Bug and I saw a necklace that looked kinda cool. However, it was all silver and I don’t really wear silver. I thought I could make one I liked even better. A few weeks later, I went about making a few necklaces. Over the next few months, I made jewelry on and off, looking at it more as a fun side thing. In March 2011, I lost my job. Then in April, after 7 years with cancer, my mother passed away. At her celebration of life, I reconnected with an old friend and she encouraged me to push myself with my jewelry. I started to take it seriously, which marked a change in myself and my future.
I’m sorry to hear about your mother. That must have been a difficult time for you, but it’s also wonderful that the connection you made at the same time has moved you into this creative field as a serious business. I’m curious, how does the process of coming up with a new piece of jewelry compare with, say, creating a new story, or does it?
I’m a… I guess, Organic creator. I don’t tend to start things with an exact end in mind. For me, both work the same… Except that I tend to be able to make jewelry all year round, and my writing often takes special circumstances to actually happen… Circumstances like NaNoWriMo, an offer to write a short narrative for a photo or school. 
You mentioned you had a book with an editor. Tell us how you found your editor and how is that going?
Well, I found my former editor at an Etsy Power hour. The event is one where for an hour, this team I’m a member of at Etsy, The Time Travelers Team, focuses itself on one member of the team. It was during this, that Samantha offered to edit my book for me. She’s a semi professional editor. However, she’s also in the middle of school and recently told me she won’t be able to continue the project, as she can’t focus on it like she should. So, I’m once again in search of an editor, who’s willing to work for free or for in store credit at my Jewelry shop.
Do you have a timeframe for when your book might be ready for publication?
I’m hoping to have it ready for publication by the end of the year. A loose goal I know, but with my Jewelry line and my finishing school, it seems like the best option.
Are you going to go traditional or Indie? In either case, why or why not?
Indie. I decided years ago that I didn’t have the strength to take on traditional. I can handle crit, but rejection tends to send me into a funk. I know Indie publishing isn’t easy, but I’ve always been more likely to take the odd option over the traditional.
Between the two art forms, writing and jewelry making, do you have a favorite? What’s your focus now?
Not sure I could pick one I like more. It’s more that between the two I’m seeing the dream I had as a 12 year old, coming true. When I was 12, I knew that I wanted to own a bookstore. It wasn’t a childish dream, but instead a specific dream I wanted. About two year ago, I realized that my dream might need to have some alterations. My own bookstore changed to my own business. Then I did my first NaNoWriMo and wrote my first novel. I don’t think I realized that between Vintage Fusion Jewels and publishing a novel, I was seeing my dream come to life. >.> What was the question again?
That’s a great answer! How long does it take you to create a piece of jewelry to your satisfaction where it’s ready to sell? 
Depends on the piece. Some of them come together pretty quickly, but on average its about 30 minutes for an earring and closer to an hour for necklaces. They’re often sworn at repeatedly along the way.
You spoke about a site I’ve never heard of before, ESTY. What is that and how did you get involved with them?
Etsy is very much like a giant Craft Fair/Flea Market. Etsy.com is just one large community of shops, almost all of which are owned by small business people. I have two shops there, KAC Sales and Vintage Fusion Jewels. I’m staff at two groups, Time Travelers Team and Etsy Gems. I stumbled upon it a few years ago, and after my summer spent at craft fairs, I took my jewelry live there.
Lots of people have trouble with promoting through social networking without getting into trouble with spamming various groups or twitter feeds. Do you have any tips or advice on how to go about it?
Shameless Promotion, within reason. I have friends who post every single new item they post to etsy at FB and Twitter. It seems a little excessive, as I’ll get inundated by 10-20 posts in a row, right to my page. To me, the best option is to pick your favorite and post it, saying ‘This is just ONE of the new listings.’ and let others go look. A local shop, Glamarita [where I have items for sale] tends to post something about the shop, perhaps twice a week to Facebook. She posts from her Page and from the Shops page. That’s it, just a comment about the shop or a new item there. I tend to repost at least one of them to my own pages.
I think the key is to remind people about you, but not annoy them. Think about how many postings would annoy you, and do only one more or less.
I know I’ve felt quite self-conscious about getting out there and promoting myself. When you’re new at this, it feels a bit odd. How has it been for you to promote what you do?
Promoting that I’m a writer isn’t as easy as promoting my jewelry. I tend to wear a necklace out and about, so I get comments and hand out cards that way. Sort of a free promotion.
Speaking of promotion, please tell us where we can get more information about your jewelry and future projects!
I have two blogs, which I am bad at updating. I’d love to be a blogger, but some how that seems to be something I just…Can’t get. I blog hop, interview and randomly post.
www.howmanydaysinayear.blogspot.com
www.kristysvintagefusion.wordpress.com
There’s also my FB pages…
http://www.facebook.com/KACSales
http://www.facebook.com/KristyCareyAuthor
and my Etsy shops.
www.vintagefusionjewels.etsy.com
And there you have it. Please take a moment and check out Kristy’s incredible jewelry collection. That is some very nice stuff! Thanks for stopping by, and good luck with all your future endeavors, Kristy!
Filed under Indie Writers Unite Blog Tour
The f bomb. The f, eff, eph word. However you’d like to politely refer to it; lately, I’ve noticed a dramatic increase in the use of this particular profanity. It is everywhere nowadays, in the work place, all over the blogosphere, twitter, Facebook, and in the hallways of our schools. Now that the Supreme Court is looking into television decency rules that prohibit the use of the ‘seven’, I thought it time to look into why swearing is so over-done, has little to no shock value and its use ought to be limited, but not out of any sense of decency. Honestly, it just doesn’t phase me anymore. 
The f word used to be the penultimate of swear words, where its utterance would immediately cause a cessation of conversation, or get you in really big trouble with your parents- grounded for a month trouble with no TV, or worse if you’re of an age where your mother or father beat the daylights out of you.
The taboo on the use of this word wasn’t all that long ago, a few years it seems, but with the massive expansion of social networking, Facebook and twitter especially, the word is everywhere and it would seem we have become a nation of potty-mouths.
At least during WWII when there was ample reason to swear every other word, they were creative in coming up with other ways to put it – snafu, fubar. Vietnam Vets – they have earned the right to swear however they like. Not so much anyone else.
You have to consider the purpose of the use of profanity, in speaking and in writing. For shock value, or to make an emphatic point, but what’s the rational for swearing just to swear. The only time I really let loose is when a telemarketer decides they want to argue with me about whether or not I want what they are selling. You want to get your phone number taken off their call list, just say all 7 of the unallowable, creatively arranged, and they will hang up on you.
We have become a world lacking in imagination. We can’t seem to solve the problems we face. These aren’t new problems. We’ve had economic difficulties before, some would say more severe than the mess we’re in now. That was called the Great Depression and it was no joke for those in a position to solve the problems of massive homelessness and hunger. Now, we don’t work together. We have road rage and random acts of violence. We use unimaginative terms to get through our daily lives. Even our leaders get caught using it when standing too close to an open mic.
Perhaps it’s indicative of our educational decline, the over use of this word. It seems we’re graduating more and more students who can’t construct a sentence with subject verb agreement. 
They can sure talk a blue streak. I’m not talking about high school students either. I’ve run across numerous grad students seeking a master’s degree in English who can’t express themselves.
Writing is an art form but it is now taught by rote, without imagination in too many schools across the nation and around the world Until that is changed and the language is learned and used to it’s fullest effect, we could quite possibly be – as a people, as a nation, even the world – as the saying goes…
As with most profanity, the f word should be held in reserve, unused except in the most extreme and direst need not just any ole time you can’t use your brain and come up with a different turn of phrase.
Filed under writing
