Monday, September 7, 2015

Feeding Your Creative Side by Annette M. Irby



Coloring page by AMI

Happy Labor Day, friends! Are you camping this weekend? Relaxing? Reading a good novel? Or are you (gasp) working?? Here’s hoping you’ve found some leisure time this weekend to recharge for the week ahead.

I’m writing this on Friday and hoping for some creative time before Monday. Favorite creative endeavor lately? Coloring!

No doubt you’ve heard the ravings of many an adult who has rediscovered how relaxing and challenging and enjoyable coloring is. But we’re using grownup books that fall under the category of “adult coloring books.” But don’t let the name fool you. Nothing unseemly here.

I’m one of those people how never left drawing, painting, or coloring behind when I grew up. Didn’t matter whether I was good at it or not, I loved to use color and pen/pencil/pastel chalks/paint to bring an image to life. Before now, the only books I could choose from were Disney characters, princesses, or baby animals. Not anymore.

I’m buddies with a slew of writers and editors on FB, and I’ve watched this craze grow among this crowd. I first heard about adult coloring books back at the beginning of the year sometime. And then I dove in around May. So far, I’ve only finished a few pictures. Why? Because they’re detailed. (Sometimes to the extreme, which isn't very relaxing, at least for me.) But I also decided I didn’t want to just fill in the open spaces, I wanted to use gradients and shading and blending of colors. So I take my time. I included one of the pages I’ve completed in this post. (Not the best photo, but you get the idea.)

We writers need to keep our creativity alive, sometimes outside the act of writing. For me, creativity extends through words to color to art. I can spin a story or paint a canvas. What types of leisure activities keep you motivated, inspired, and help you relax?

Color on (ahem-write on), friends!


~~~~~ 




Her Nerdy Cowboy



Whoever heard of a bookish cowboy? When Logan McDaniel’s brother-in-law dies, he steps in to help his beloved sister run her ranch. But what does a city boy know of herding cattle? Claire Langley loved her cousin. After he dies, she agrees to serve as a temporary nanny for two heartbroken children. 

Claire and Logan find they share a love of books, and Claire can’t resist the nerdy uncle who is great with children, and who reads to her of pirate romance. Claire’s ailing mother needs her in Seattle. Can she break away? And if she does, can there ever be a future for Logan and her?




~~~~~ 

Annette M. Irby


Annette M. Irby has three published books and 
runs her own freelance editing business, AMI Editing
See her page here on Seriously Write for more information.