Archive | May 2021

Writing and Art and Photography and Gardening

It’s all addictive.

We had a lovely day yesterday working on preschool workbooks and watching movies and just chilling. I got some stuff done in the morning, and finally typed up my notes for the scene for You Had Me at Cougar and I was able to get a few more digital watercolors done. I managed to get to 34K on the book. I have a little more to type up today and hopefully get to the halfway point on the book. I’ll probably work on Billionaire all weekend.

I have to help my daughter with the baby, so hope to walk to her house and then we’ll go to the doctor for a checkup. It’s already hot this morning, got sidetracked with playing around with a unicorn picture. I started it with my granddaughter, but she was more interested in a squirrel picture. lol But then she got sidetracked and I went back to my unicorn picture this morning.

Well, I’m off to do my writing before I have to walk to my daughter’s house, if it’s not raining by then!

Have a great day!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
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Digital Watercolors

May20

I’ve been working hard all morning, getting things done. They’re priority, but the things I want to do with writing and such haven’t been started. I did write a scene last night that should give me about 700 words, and that will bring me to 33K on You Had Me at Cougar. But I still need to type it up.

We only had another inch of rain yesterday, despite all the severe storm warnings. So we chanced it and went to the grocery store and took two walks. That’s the hazard of telling a preschooler what you’re going to do with them the next day, if it doesn’t rain, and she only hears the part about what we’re going to do. lol. But it worked out great and by the time we were headed for home after the last walk, she was asking when we were getting home. lol I finally had worn her out!

I did more digital watercolors yesterday, and a couple this morning, but I need to get back to the story. And I’ve got to scan in a document, so need to set up the scanner again. I was never using it, so finally put it away. It’s a big clunky thing, and I was just looking to see if they had good, reputable small ones. It’s amazing how small things have gotten instead of the huge clunky things they’ve been. Even the TV was a little larger than the other, and so much lighter! And compare that to the old TVs. But the new small mobile scanners have so many negative reviews, that I think I’ll just stick with the old one, unless it doesn’t work.

Little one has been here for an hour and a half, and I just haven’t been able to get this finished. lol

Okay, off to pull out the old scanner and try to figure out how to hook it up. My hard drive went out on the old computer, so I’ve got to download drivers too. So much work to scan one page.

Have a great day!! I’m off to find the scanner.

Storms in Texas

May19

We’ve been having storms all night, electricity has been going on and off. We have thunderstorms for most of today. 4 1/2″ of rain yesterday. This was a picture I took in Crawford when I lived there of a massive storm over the cornfields. You can see the rain pouring down in the distance. It was a wild night here while we were under tornado watches and flood warnings. The lightning was striking overhead, the rain coming down in a deluge. And it’s supposed to continue for hours. We’re supposed to have a break for about an hour. Sometimes that’s the end of it, sometimes not. Last night it poured and I thought it would stop, and it would lightly rain, then pour again. And then the lightning and thunder would start up again. So I had only intermittent sleep.

Luckily, Max, my scaredy cat dog has been okay during all the storms. He usually shivers like crazy, and the one time, I had to put him in the closet, he was so terrified. But he was sleeping on my lap while I was working last night, or in his bed and was fine. And this morning, they actually went out in the pouring rain to potty.

I had planned to take a walk with little one, so I guess it’s going to be all indoor stuff today and tomorrow, if this continues, and hopefully we won’t lose our electricity all day.

I saw how bad it was for Louisiana and parts of Texas and other areas in the South and my prayers go out to them.

I’ve been doing more work on memorial photos for folks and current family photos and pets. I got mostly caught up, but had a bunch more this morning that were posted.

I’m off to post the blog before my electricity goes out again!

Have a safe day!!! I need to get to work before little one gets here, feed the dogs, and take them out in the pouring rain again!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

Rain and More Digital Photo Art

May18

I was on my way to my granddaughter’s school when I saw this and hoped we’d make it before it let loose–again. It had already poured rain in that area and the roads were filled with huge areas of water. It floods easily along those roads. That dark area looks like a mountain but it’s all dark rain.

Getting a slow start on my morning! We had 5 inches of rain yesterday. Of course it really let loose when I was trying to get my granddaughter into her house and we both got soaked. Lightning all around, one right overhead as we drove to her place. Wild day.

I was glad I walked to the ponds yesterday. Not only did I see a beautiful great white heron, but I found a baby turtle I had to rescue. He had gotten mixed up and was making his way across the grass to the sidewalk away from the pound. I carried him to the pond set him next to the water and he went right in. Yes! There’s where it is! If I hadn’t taken my walk, he might not have found his way home.

I’ve just been doing edits on the 3 books so far, not really getting anywhere much on word count, but once I reach the end, I’ve got to do something. Go back to Billionaire and finish it up or continue on with one of the stories. It just depends on what I can come up with. But I was also doing a lot of digital watercolors for friends.

I’m off to feed the dogs and then take a walk. It’s cool this morning after all the storms. We have rain coming in again this morning and we’re already under flood warnings.

Have a super great day! I need to get to work!

Terry

Memorial Digital Watercolors for Pets

May17

Well, I opened up requests to do digital watercolors for fans on Facebook and so here are some that I have done. They’re fun to do. The first two are memorial pictures, the others are not. Baby, sneaking under the fence, is my neighbor’s dog and I think she’s passed though.

I need to walk this morning though. We’re supposed to get rain at 7 and it’s 6:50, so I might not make it. 74% chance by 8. But they say things like that and then we have no rain for hours, or it comes early, so what do they know? And if I put it off, then I will be annoyed with myself. lol It’s already very warm and muggy and getting hot today.

I was fighting with myself about taking my camera yesterday, and I took it, knowing I’d be disappointed if I saw something picture worthy and didn’t take it. Sure enough, I found a beautiful great blue heron in the pond, so I took several pictures of it.

Okay, so this guy sees me taking pictures of the heron. So what does he do? Comes straight at us with his dog. Now, the bird and I are way off the beaten path. Most people just walk along the sidewalk and they hopefully clean up their dogs’ messes on the grass beside the walkways. He could have waited to walk his dog in our direction, if he just HAD to walk his dog where I was. But nope. Most everyone I meet are super friendly and really nice. If I had seen someone taking pictures like that, I would never have done that! Still, I’m thinking he could go in a book. Some people just need to be character analyzed further. If he’d been a kid, I would have understood. The kid would have wanted to get closer to the heron to see it, or chase it off.

I managed edits on You Had Me at Cougar and Angel Fae and Bear in Mind, still trying to come up with a story for the Christmas anthology. It needs to be a mystery. He’s a homicide detective, but it doesn’t have to involve dead bodies. You need an overwhelming, obsessive goal for the character and his is wanting to be turned into a wolf shifter. He works with them now, but nobody wants to turn him. So I need to just come up with the rest of the story. lol

Hope you all have a great day! My dogs want to be fed. And I need to get out and walk.

Terry

More Watercolor in Photoshop Fun

May16

Some more fun with Photoshop watercolor work as fans sent me their cat pictures. And I did one with my dogs! The one on the fence is a neighbor’s cat that I caught prowling for my birds on the feeders!

I worked on edits to Bear in Mind and Angel Fae yesterday, and will work on some more, but also on You Had Me at Cougar. I can’t decide which story to run with. They’re all around 20K. So for the young adult, Angel Fae, I need another 30K, and for the adult novels, at least 50K. And I still need to write the Christmas novella for the anthology. It will only be between 20-25K,–though sometimes they end up being around 30K, it just depends. If I can get an idea, I can actually write it in short order.

Bear in Mind and You Had Me at Cougar and Saving the White Cougar are somewhat intertwined, so I’m trying to decide which–You or Bear comes first. Saving the White Cougar is done and comes after.

So many stories, so much drama, so much figuring out. But this morning, I’m going to walk before it gets beastly hot today! I put off walking yesterday so I could walk to my daughter’s house last night for dinner, then they made the dinner an hour later and I was afraid I’d be walking in the dark. When I drove home last night, I realized I still would have probably been walking in the fading light, so I should have done it. But you see, I put walking off and then didn’t get any in.

It’s warmer this morning, so need to get this done. Once I start writing, it’s too hot out and I want to keep writing.

Well, I’m off and walking. Have a beautiful day!

Terry

Using Watercolor Brushes for Photoshop on Kitty Cats

May15

I’m really having fun with the watercolor course that Mindy offered through her Magnolia Textures. These are some my fans’ cats and I enjoyed turning them into watercolors with Photoshop. I did these last night after I had finished working on Billionaire for the night. It’s still not done, but I finished the one scene and the other scene is partly done. I have to figure out how to end it!

In the meantime though, I worked on edits of the first 20 pages of Angel Fae and of Bear in Mind before it was time to go to sleep.

Yesterday, more daylilies had come out, so I was out doing some more picture taking. I had walked the half mile to my daughter’s house to help her take her baby to the ENT since it was nice and cool out, and I carried my camera with me figuring if I didn’t, I would miss taking pictures of something interesting. I was wrong. The field of wildflowers that would normally be blooming like crazy was cut down before it even had a chance, so disappointing, and not one great heron was at any of the ponds. I saw a few turtles, but I can take better photos of them when I’m close up while we’re feeding them.

Instead of picture taking, I figured my camera was extra weight to help me exercise. You have to look at the positive. So we get to the doctor’s office, the baby’s appointment is a week later. No problem. It’s just a dry run. lol

I’m off to do edits on Angel Fae and Bear in Mind and then printing out more pages. Sometimes while I’m working on books, it will suddenly hit me where I want to go with a particular book, so I can run with it. So I’ll just do edits on a bunch that are works in progress and then really get going with one until I can finish it. I’m also working on You Had Me at Cougar, and United Shifter Force Christmas.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!! Mine is on it’s way to getting started. Have another cat picture from a fan to watercolor. So much fun!

Terry

Using Watercolor Brushes to Create Watercolor Photography

May14

I used Mindy’s watercolor brushes and course from Magnolia Textures to create these. They were fun and easy and just something new to do with Photoshop! I am still experimenting, so having fun with it when I have time. Since I couldn’t think last night about Billionaire, I worked on these pictures instead.

I took the picture of the great white heron on the walk with little one. Thankfully, she’s been very good about not scaring away the birds I’m trying to photograph. When I used to take the dogs for a walk, they would lie down while I took pictures of things. I quit taking them because they were such a nuisance with other dogs. They love little dogs and would bark to greet them. They bark at big dogs too. I would like to take them to the dog park again. Now that I’m vaccinated, I hadn’t thought of it, I can do that again!

The other picture is of an alpha male wolf at the Wildlife Center in Omaha. The one is with the original background, and the other is after I had already changed the background using a texture. I so want to go to the reserve again! The last few years I’ve gone, it has been closed due to first snowfall, even in October.

Anyway, I’m going to try and get something done this morning on Billionaire before I have to go with my daughter to the pediatrician. I just still need to figure out how to end the story!

Sometimes it’s really clear to me by the end. This time, it isn’t. I’m sure that has something to do with having so many distractions in my life right now!

It’s so nice out this morning, but the temperature’s going to heat up again!

Terry

Baby Cardinal on Feeder–Photo Art

May13

This is a baby cardinal, added an overlay and new background to create the photo art.

It was chilly all day which made for the perfect time to plant flowers. We picked up a bunch. Note to self, don’t take 4 year old to pick out flowers. She was grabbing all the colors she wanted–pink for her, purple for me. I put one back, she put it back on the cart. Okay, so I have to admit it’s one of the ones I love best! But I was trying to get a drift of colors in the same shade rather than an individual that just stuck out. It was the only one like it.

But we had a ball and after she got tired of helping me plant and weed, she unwound my hose to water things, which were already wet, so I had to show her how to wind it back up. We also went for our walk to feed the turtles. She has to sit on my lap so she doesn’t have to worry about the fire ants. What about Grandma? lol

Then we headed home and she was ready. We did work books on writing her letters. I really need to work on those with her each day she’s here.

Otherwise, we had a lovely time. We might repeat more of that today. I had bought some more rocks and a couple of more pavers that I need to put out.

We got my TV up on the wall last night too. Yeah! I was afraid with little one, she’d pull on one of the stand legs and there would go my TV. I need to figure out a way to hide the cords.

I thought of a piece of furniture on top of the furniture, something that would fit there. I’ll have to see what I can find. Maybe a bookshelf kind of think to go under the TV and then I can fill it with more books. That’s always a good thing.

Well, I did a little more editing, but I really just need to write 2 more scenes. My granddaughter wore me out yesterday, so when she went home at 6, I just watched a couple of programs. I just couldn’t think.

Maybe I can get more done tonight. No nap for little one yesterday, sigh. Maybe I can get her down for a nap today.

Have a super day!!! Ours is going to be fun filled!

Terry

The Power of Flowers

May12

A rose surrounded by purple flowers is a rose in a happy place.

Purple flowers are happy flowers.

Can you tell that I love purple flowers? They add a bit of love to a garden of flowers.

We had a thunderstorm come in last night and it really cooled down the area! Yay! My house was 80 degrees so I opened the windows and had that nice cool breeze coming in. It’s been so hot and muggy first thing in the mornings that makes it feel like the middle of summer. So this morning, it’s cool and beautiful, and my granddaughter and I will walk, feed the turtles, and do a million other things. We’re going to do some workbooks, plant the rest of the daylilies, I managed to get the rest of the flower seeds planted, make lunch together–she loves helping in all things–and whatever else we can come up with. Maybe even weed. Though I need to check our storm situation out too. Hmm, chance of storms increase by ten, so we’ll have to go out first thing.

On the book front–I’ve been working on it all week, like every week, every day, moving scenes, editing, cutting, adding, cutting, adding. And I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes it feels there isn’t one, but I went over a couple of scenes last night and they’re great. I need to finish another scene, and then I need to figure out the ending. A nice conflictive, 360 degree turn from the beginning of the story to the end–and then it’s done! Then I can just read it for editing pleasure. I can’t wait!

I love it when it comes to that. Because I can’t wait to finish up some other stories I’ve started. Like about 5 of them! Though I have a lot more that I’ve started than that. But that’s the goal. Write the story, finish the story, share with the world.

Hope you all are having a wonderful day! Mine is just about to get started!

Terry

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Terry Spear's Shifters

"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality."

Archive | May 2021

Writing and Art and Photography and Gardening

Digital Watercolors

Storms in Texas

Rain and More Digital Photo Art

Memorial Digital Watercolors for Pets

More Watercolor in Photoshop Fun

Using Watercolor Brushes for Photoshop on Kitty Cats

Using Watercolor Brushes to Create Watercolor Photography

Baby Cardinal on Feeder–Photo Art

The Power of Flowers