Carey Burns

Today, I present to you an interview with the amazing Jill Hejl, the illustrator of my book Haiku Horror Stories . CB:  Thank you for letting me interview you! You know I've been following your progress in your 365 challenge. How do you keep yourself on-task to art each day? JH:  Well, it's hard! It's a commitment that I made to myself that I wanted to honor, but probably announcing it publicly made the possibility of letting a day slide by impossible! ha! I think to myself, you HAVE to get it done! The weekends aren't as bad, but during the week when I work full-time, and don't get a chance to start until 8 p.m. or later, it is sheer force of will that says, I've GOT to go paint or draw a picture. CB:  Do you remember the first piece of art you sold? What feelings and thoughts were going on inside your head and heart? JH:  I think the first large sale I had was a huge, oversized planter and it's accompanying dish that I painted and sold at a lo...

Oh August, you went by so quickly.  My day job sapped quite a bit of my time, energy, and enthusiasm but I'm back now and have my feet planted on the floor and my head is in writer mode. Except for when I have to be in crafter mode.  Or teacher mode.  Let's see what's new, I've signed up for a festival and will be selling my jewelry along with some neato aluminum or copper wall art.  I'm even venturing into the realm of hair accessories, so that should be interesting.  This is one of the pendants I'll be selling.  (if I can bear to part with it) I was a very good girl and turned my contract and class handouts in incredibly early and I even have been putting together the kits for the steampunk-inspired necklace class I'm teaching in November.  Yes.  November.  Can I NaNoWriMo and teach a class in November?  I hope so.  Every year, I declare that I will win and this year is no exception.  I want to say "I finished!" The...

Well, last we spoke, I was taking all of July off to get stuff done and I'm pretty proud of how well I did.  Yes, Facebook lured me back as did Twitter, but I wasn't spending every waking moment posting or scrolling, so hey, that's progress.  Several of my "must-do" items did get completed and I've begun one that's been lingering for years on a shelf...the dreaded pile of story ideas scrawled on a napkin, the first page of a genius story that has been abandoned to time and forgetfulness, handwritten stories complete but in need of a red pen.  Who knew I had so much backlog?  (and that so much of that backlog was utter crap?) July was a sad, strange, entertaining month.  I lost a couple family members, discovered strange health issues, and I ended the month going full Indiana Jones into the dense woods and not finding a lost military fort, but a mess of poison ivy.  *cue the violins*  And now in August, I sit with steroid-induced "moon face," re...