Kristin Butcher... has novel ideas

... a rose by any other name would smell as sweet ...

Well, I'm over halfway through the first draft of the second book in the Zach and Zoe series, and I'm quite pleased with the way the story is unfolding. It's not actually presenting itself in strict accordance with the outline, but that happens -- in fact, it's a good thing when that happens, because it means I'm allowing the story to move forward naturally instead of pushing it.

No, they're not. I lied. Sorry. I couldn't help myself. It's just that I'm as excited as Steve Martin in whatever movie that was where he jumps around, ecstatic ('E' word) that the new phone books have arrived. The new books are indeed here, but they aren't phone books -- not a single yellow page in the works. I'm talking about Zach & Zoe and the Bank Robber. Yay! It's here at last.

This is my twelfth published book, but holding that first copy in my hand never gets old. It feels great -- better than great -- it's magic.

At my River Writers gathering the other night, we were extolling the musical sound of 'E' words. Okay, I was doing the extolling; the rest of the group was sitting back, laughing at me. What can I say? I am drawn to words beginning with 'E' -- egregious, epistle, eulogy, emote, ephemeral, enclave, enigmatic, ensconce, etcetera.

The second annual Spring Book Hatching is coming up on June 14th at the Vancouver Public Library. It's a great opportunity to meet about thirty of B.C.'s authors and illustrators of children's books. Blackberry Books will be on hand with copies of all the titles being hatched, so buy your favourites and get them autographed right there.

For more information, check out the CWILL blog.

... and I ain't got nobody.

As you can see, I'm still playing with the photo-editing program -- learning more all the time too. I pretty much figured out how the layering works yesterday, and today I want to explore the composite operation feature. Anyway, here's my latest creation. On the left is an eagle I painted in water colour. On the right is the same eagle after photo-editing. Man, he looks evil -- kind of reminds me of Poe's Raven. I think this would make a great book cover. Hmm ... now let me think. What story would go with that picture?

While I wait to hear back from editors, I am trying to learn how to use my new photo-editing program. As I study the program's features, I'm trying them out. It's wicked! I love it. Yay! -- Something new to waste my time on. So far this morning I've been playing with the basic tools, and this is what I've come up with.