My Very Own Book Review

Last night, I had a 3-year old read my own book to me. 8 times.

While I know that "wanting" to read a book over and over again is a common trick for children to hold the attention of adults, I was more than flattered she'd enjoyed identifying the creatures in the book, expressing her concern when the fish dropped the pearl, and carrying the book around the apartment.

Child approved!

I have received a lot of feedback on my book since I sent out the pre-orders, and it has been nothing but encouraging to hear such positive words back from my friends, family, & customers. I have to say, my biggest insecurity about the book when I chose it to be printed in bulk was the fact that it had no words. I figured most people these days wouldn't buy a book without words--they wanted a cleverly written, possibly rhyming book with a profound yet simple message at the end. I even considered the possibility of adding words to it before I sent it to the printer. However, when I first created the book, my trusted advisor and mentor, Penny, told me that if writing wasn't exactly what I wanted to focus on, I should not include words in my book. My illustrations, my strengths, should be featured. I was never great with words--that was always my mother's strength. So, taking Penny's advice, I left the book colorful and wordless.

To my delighted surprise, the fact that my book has no words has been apparently what people have been enjoying most about it. Things I never thought of before have been mentioned to me, such as the fact that without words, my book is open to any age group of any nationality. You don't need to know how to speak any language at all to see a story in those images. Another wonderful thing that I noticed last night as I was being read to by my newest 3-year old fan, Marissa, was that every person that reads the book, gets a unique story out of it. She told me several different stories each time we read the book, and even pointed out that maybe the girl fish was "the Gift". Clever child.

And that's as far as I'd like to go with my winded response to my first self-published children's book. I really want to thank you all for being so supportive of me through this rough learning patch, and I appreciate every response I've gotten about The Gift SO much. It's so awesome to hear back from you all.

Love and thanks from the author/illustrator of your child's (or perhaps your inner child's) newest favorite book. ;)

- Kit Skylark

CARE PACKAGE GALORE

OH MY GOSH, I just received a care package!!

Mom, Grandma & Papa, thank you SOO much! I really needed some foody love, and today was the perfect day for it to come! :D I opened everything just now, with this huge smile, ear to ear, (I probably looked ridiculous from the street outside,) giggling as I found more things. It was like being a college freshman again and getting treats from home. (Except instead of a roommate giggling beside me, I had a nosey dog snuffling at every bag of goodies.)

Mom, I LOVE everything you put in there! Holy crap, there was SO much stuff! I didn't even know they made some of this craziness. Chili spiced pineapple?? (Not gonna lie, I opened that on sight out of sheer curiosity. Delicious, by the way.) Anyway, these are really great healthy snacks for me, and the massive amounts of protein in my cabinet now will make me strong, strong, strong!!

Grandma & Papa, I REALLY appreciate the gift card!! I love Trader Joe's food, and that's where I get all my healthy stuff for meals, so this should totally feed me for like a month! You rock! Now I can expand my cooking to new healthy meals! I'm so excited.

Thanks guys, this totally made my day. It takes a bunch of stress off me too as far as needing to buy more food goes.

ALSO: Mom, I forgot to tell you.. I know you were worried about me cutting out a lot of carbs in the new P90X diet, but I read more into the whole nutrition plan, and here's what I learned that will hopefully make you feel better: It's only for the first month that most carbs are cut out, so the body can replace fats with muscle (protein). It also says in the guide that if I start to feel tired during work-outs, I should add more carbs to my diet to give me extra energy, and I should adjust the diet to fit my own body's needs. The second month, I eat equal parts protein and carbohydrates to boost my energy and keep me feeling healthy and energized. And the third month, I actually eat a lot more carbs than proteins to maximize my endurance and give me the energy to continue to "Bring It!"

That's all, folks! :)

I'm off to Northern California in a few hours! Love to you all!

Life, etcetera

Hello all!

Lots to update on, it seems. First, I'd like to thank you all who have bought some of my ceramics, and those who have been helping me network them through friends of friends! Every little bit helps me out a TON!

You all should also know that I received my proof in the mail today from Thailand! The book looks pretty good, but there are a few changes they need to make, so I've emailed my contact, and now I wait. Hopefully I'll be able to have the books printed and in my home before the end of the year. (This is my goal.) The price has changed, so I'm going to have to compensate for that, (it went up after there was a little confusion on the layout/page numbers,) but it will work out, I think. Everyone has been very generous and helpful to me thus far!

Geoff and I have begun a new workout program called P90X. You may have seen it on the TV infomercials. It's a really, really intense 90 day work-out/diet combo that is supposed to get you really fit in just 3 months. It's been a week, and it's totally killing me. I'm SO sore every day, and the work-outs are brutal. However, I feel (and look a little) stronger ALREADY and I'm only on week 2 out of 12. Awesome.

I decided to start the program because I haven't done anything physical in about 2 months. When I don't physically exercise, I get pretty tense and irritable, so I was really glad to finally start doing something. I miss going to the climbing gym, but it's impossibly expensive, and we'd have to cut out eating if we wanted to continue climbing. I like eating, therefore, P90X.

The "diet" part of the program isn't so bad. For the first month, it cuts out most carbs/starches and fats, and we concentrate on LOTS of protein and vegetables. It teaches us to eat about 5 small meals a day, (though their version of "small" isn't so small for me!) which consist of healthy things like nuts, eggs, lean meats, salads, and protein shakes. I was never a huge meat eater, but I'm actually starting to physically feel healthier and stronger, and it feels great! I do miss things like pizza and chocolate and super cheap ramen, but this is better for my body anyway. For those of you who are afraid I am doing this to lose weight, FEAR NOT! I am happy with my weight--the diet part supplements the exercise and makes you healthier, not necessarily skinnier. In fact, I'm eating more than I would normally by doing this program, and I'm learning to cook new things too! Also, if anything, I may gain weight through this program, as muscle weighs more than fat. (And I am totally getting more muscle!!)

On a different note, Geoff and I are going up to Northern California this weekend to visit his parents. I am excited to be going somewhere.. getting a little stir-crazy here in Long Beach. Tails will probably hate the car ride up, but at least when we get there, he can play with Chance (the Luecker's big Collie). And at least we are taking the new Subaru up, (lots more space for Tails's crate,) so I can make Tails a comfy little cave to hide in. He hates riding in the car... sometimes he even gets car sick on very short drives. It's strange.. I've never met a dog that didn't like riding in the car. However, it may be that he associates car rides with going to the animal shelter when he was picked up as a stray. :( Poor thing.

Anyway, I think that covers most of what's going on with me! I hope all is well with you guys, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Ciao!

Ceramics!

Hey guys!

I am selling some of my lovely ceramic pieces on Etsy.com to help pay my bills and such. So please feel free to check them out, and tell your friends about them! Each piece is truly unique!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kitskylark

That's the link to my shop on Etsy!

Sending love to you all.

Job for Geoffrey!

Geoff got the email today!

After his interview/skills test/written test for the job with CARE Ambulance, this week he finally got "the email", which was to say that he was offered the job of a full time EMT with the company!! We're both super excited. Of course, this means he will be working shifts that are usually around 12 hours each, (minimum of 9 hours, max of 24 hours,) which will be lonely for me and Tails, but at least it's work! And I'm glad it's something Geoff loves to do.

Tomorrow, to celebrate, we are going on a picnic with Tails.

(His first journey outside into the grass at the park! ... Tails, I mean. Not Geoff.)

I'm very excited because that means it will tire him out (hopefully). Right now, he is darting around the living room throwing his new toy in the air and chasing after it. He likes to jump really high and land in Geoff's giant bean bag chair. It's super funny, but I wish we could let him run around outside. He beats me whenever we race down the hallway of the apartments. (He is so fast, it's hilarious. And he jumps so high! He would make a great agility dog.)

I just finished my commission to design the book cover/website image for my latest client. This project has changed so much since we started, and it's just taken so long, I'm so glad it's finally done. And I'll get the second half of my paycheck soon from the author, so that will be helpful. When the book gets published, I'll let you know so you can go see my image on the cover! Hehe. That's exciting.

To celebrate being done with that project, I made lemon bars! So now I'm going to go tend to those, and work on my next project--MY book! Wish me luck!

Tails

Last week, Geoff and I sent in an application for a puppy we saw a video of on Craig's List. He was taken out of a shelter in rural Kern County, and was being fostered by a woman working for the "Southland Sheltie Rescue Group". The puppy was weird looking--unlike any dog we've ever seen. He was tan and white and scruffy all over, with wavy fur and the hugest ears. He looked like OUR dog. So, we sent in an application. Soon after, I went through the phone interview, and later the home check. In about a week's time, we'd adopted a 10 pound fox-like puppy, and everything seemed just how it should be.

His name is "Tails" and he is a 5 month old Sheltie x Papillon mix (supposedly).

We decided to name him Tails because he looks so much like a little fox, and jumps so high, he can almost fly. You will recall we once owned a little hedgehog named "Sonic". Well, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the old Sega Genesis game "Sonic the Hedgehog", Sonic, the main character, had a trusty sidekick who was a fox with two tails, named appropriately, "Tails". This character could fly by rapidly whipping his tails around like a helicopter, and is the inspiration for the name we chose.

He is a typical puppy--running and playing like crazy, and then crashing in a heap of sleepy fur. He doesn't know much about walking on a leash yet, and repeatedly trips us on our otherwise peaceful strolls down the street. The vet says he probably won't get any more than 15 pounds at the most. It's kind of funny to have such a small creature running around, as Geoff and I have always loved big dogs. But, Tails is perfect for our lifestyle and our living situation. (We can basically exercise him in the apartment! Haha.)

He is also, as you can see, a great partner and inspiration for my "working from home" time! I am working on my next book, and also working on self-publishing "The Gift". I'm not going to post a ton of details on here, but you can email me if you want details about my plans. Hopefully, by next month, (cross your fingers!) I'll be publishing around 1,000 copies of my book and selling them from my website and from my home. Details are slowly unfolding, and I will keep you all up to date! I'm super excited!

Goodnight for now. It's time to put our sleepy puppy to bed. Love to you all!

Aquahydrate

So, the job search goes on.

I did sign on with one company through a friend though.

I've been working this event called "Crossfit" for a high performance sports water company called "Aquahydrate". It's a really great water, and I know a ton about it now, so feel free to ask me and I'll give you my sales pitch. ;) For now, I'll spare you. But let's just say, it's the only water I'll buy now!

This Crossfit event is a SUPER intense competition with people from all over the world doing these really intense competitive work-outs to be "the world's fittest" athlete. It's pretty cool. So basically, as event staff, I went in to the venue and worked at the booth telling people about the water and handing out samples for a few hours each day. We had our final day today, and the Aquahydrate guys are keeping my information so they can call me for the next event! It's been lots of fun, so I'm glad I at least have this part-time job. :)

That's all for now!