Summer Breezes and the Ace of Hearts...

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update on here, and a lot has changed over the last six months.

Son and Transition School

Son officially graduated and had his ceremony of achievements on June 19^th, after being at the school for two and a half years. I was fine during the achievements of the other four students who were also leaving, but bawled the entire time Jeff was praising my sweet son, and everything he accomplished while attending the school. Son was always saying he was a Lieutenant Junior Grade, and at his graduation from the transition school, he was promoted to full Lieutenant. That only made me bawl harder. His teachers there are so good with the students, and they understand every nuance, every single quirk and more. To say we’re going to miss all of them next year is an understatement.

This also marks another huge milestone – Son is finally done with the South Shore Regional Education Centre. He had been in the system since he started primary in 2010, and has finally graduated from there too.

He had started attending his work placement program 4 days a week earlier this year, and is happy to be staying there. They are full on Mondays so he’s only attending there Tuesdays to Fridays, which is fine with me. I get three days to sleep in instead of only the weekends. And if there’s a holiday like Canada Day during the week, he gets that off too. Plus any days that it’s a snow day for the SSREC kids it’s one for his crew too. The LL gang (as I call it) does a lot of things, like laundry for various businesses around the county, silk screening, shredding paper, and so much more. These amazing people of all ages (ranging from 18 to elderly) learn a lot of skills at the placement, plus they also go on outings like bowling in Lunenburg, various fairs around the South Shore, museums, visiting horse stables and various farms, selling products that are made in the shop at farm markets and so much more.

They even had their first ever prom for LL participants and full time residents (this is attached to a home for people who cannot live independently who cannot live with family, etc.). Everyone looked so wonderful dressed up, and they had so much fun at the dance. Even Son – who hates any music that’s not classical or heavy metal – loved it and hope they do it again next year.

To say they are awesome is an understatement, and I’m so happy my precious boy is there. They’ve done so much for him, he’s even more independent now, and has matured a lot in the last six months or so.

I’m so proud of him!

Lunenburg Pride’s Third Annual Pride Parade

Another year, another pride celebration in my county! I was going to walk in the parade again this year, after having so much fun last year, but unfortunately, my body decided that it wasn’t going to store iron again, and I’m extremely anemic (no laughing or you’re a horrid piece of shit!). No walking in the parade, doctor’s orders. I was allowed to watch it, as long as I stayed out of the sun, I was sitting down and guzzling water.

It wasn’t as big this year as it had been last year, but it was still tons of fun, with everyone calling “Happy Pride!” and pretty much every part of the LGBT+ community represented.

When we got to Empire Street, we saw someone walking by wearing the lesbian flag, and others wearing the Intersex Progressive Pride Flag, as well as non-binary flags, lots of Canadian flags with the rainbow where the two red panels normally go (I call it the Canadian PRIDE flag), and of course the traditional Rainbow Pride flag (six coloured one) everywhere – and that was just the spectators.

Yours truly went all out in her own flag colours – which are also my signature colours as an author. Black, grey, white, and purple galore, head to toe. Even the sneakers matched, they’re black, white, grey and lavender. Perfect for me! I did wear my PRIDE hat with the word in rainbow colours, and my rainbow bracelet, but that was it. I wore my asexual flag as a cape too. Hubby said I looked awesome and he was so proud to see me having fun and cheering on my fellow LGBT+ community members. I even saw a few people I had made friends with last year… It was so much fun and so amazing.

I hope I’m well enough to walk in it next year, as an author and representative of the asexual community in the area. If not, I’m happy to sit on the sidelines and cheer on my fellow queers again!

Writing Update

Now that the glucose is dropping a mile (almost back to normal!) and I’m losing that brain fog, I am determined to get Thorns of the Rose completed and get on with the other stories in the queue, from His Reasons to Fight to the crime drama Xek and I are working on, and so many more…

With Son gone four days a week, and Hubby working a lot of daytimes at his store (he works for a major Canadian grocery store chain), I’m getting at least two to three work days a week. I’m not always getting 5K days but I’m getting 1 to 3 K days and that’s better than nothing. You can’t edit a blank page, after all… And I’m filling mine up, faster than I thought I would be at this point. Thorns of the Rose is now over 40 thousand words, and I’m not even up to the halfway point yet.

This story will also have a bit more steam/spice in it than most of my other stories do, because I’m publishing this as an Indie published book under my own publishing company – whose name will be revealed in time, when I’m ready. I’m already researching registering it with the province and possibly with Ottawa, so it will be a legit company for my own books, and for selling art, and so much more.

I’m determined to finish draft 1 of Thorns of the Rose as soon as possible. That way I can finally finish the crime drama with Xek and the two of us can get it cleaned up, beta read and either done Indie or by one of the publishing houses we are looking at. It will not be done via Extasy Books due to them not putting many books out (I don’t want to overwhelm everyone!) and it won’t be out via Decadent because they focus on romance, and this one has no romance in it. Xek has one or two she’d like to try, and I have a couple in mind as well. Although I’m with her on her first choice, it’s my second choice, so we’ll probably submit there first.

And no, I won’t be saying when it goes out. That’s between us and the publishing house who receives it. The last thing we need is upsetting anyone else if we get a rejection. And I’m betting on at least one or two rejections before finding the right home for it.

As for His Reasons to Fight, I’ll be plugging away on that in the future. I know, I should get it finished ASAP due to Could Have Been ending on a cliffhanger… but I assure all of you out there, it will be more than worth the wait to see how Joshua and Lauren get their happy ever after. I promise!

Art

I’ve been drawing and painting again, this time using watercolors and watercolor pencils. Watercolor pencils are the bomb! I love how easy they are to use, notably for shading right and more. My only gripe is that they need a LOT of water to dissolve the pigments, especially if you layer tons of colors for shading and more. Otherwise, I love them a lot and I’m hoping to get a huge set sometime when we hit Michaels Crafts.

I just need more white multimedia paper though. I’m almost out and the Dollarama no longer carries it. Good grief.

No, I don't show my art publicly, due to companies like Google and others using it to "train" their generative AI slop without my permission. Plus I know a few people who would love to download it, print it out and use it as toilet paper, just out of spite. If you want to see my art, either check out my Discord (you have to have an invite for it) or certain places online that are not visible to the public eye.

Otherwise, everything is running smoothly and I’m doing my best not to gnaw on the monitor those days that I’m not writing.

Happy International Non-Binary Peoples Day! It’s celebrated every July 14^th, and celebrates everyone under the non-binary (enby or NBi) umbrella. I love enby people! They are so sweet, kind and down to earth. You don’t have to present a certain way to be enby either, just be yourself!

On a final note, due to recent circumstances, Generative AI is completely banned in my writing group, on my pages, on this blog and more. Any author who wants to participate in a takeover in my group must state if they used generative AI in either their writing, their covers or both. If they did, it'll be an immediate access denied and banned from the group.

Writing is not prompting.

It's hard work that takes time. You pound it out word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, page by page until the story is finished. Period. No fucking shortcuts. At all.

If you use generative AI to "ghost write" and then revise it, you are a fraud and not a real author. You are an editor and proofer. Nothing more.

It's a legal form of plagiarism, and I hope it soon becomes illegal.

Besides, you cannot copyright anything "written" or "drawn" using generative AI. 

Period. 

So sick of entitled, selfish pieces of shit who think they're an "author" by typing prompts into generative AI and using what it barfs out as "a story" that they "wrote"...

I have worked my ass off to get where I am as an author and an artist today. I'm not perfect by any means, but there's a reason why two of my books have won awards... And it's not because they were written using stuff stolen from other people's original work. 

To wrap it up, I leave you with a song that’s been running through my head the last while… “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by local classic metal band, Whom Gods Destroy. Enjoy!

It's Been a Long Year...

Time keeps slipping away from me. Every time I think I should update my blog, something distracts me, and the next thing I know, another week, month or even three months have gone by. 

My last official update was 9 months ago, right after Honestly (Feathered Tartan 3) received the Editor’s Choice Seal from Extasy Books. A lot has happened in that time.

Home Life… 

My son wrapped up his high school courses at the end of last year’s first semester in January. Since he was pretty much done, we decided it was best for him to move on to a transition school for special young adults like him. At this special school, or “house” as we call it, the students learn about more life skills like cooking, cleaning, recycling, and more – stuff that although I’ve tried teaching my son, he has refused to listen to me, expecting me to do it all for him – and things like sex education, healthy relationships, job skills and budgeting. They do volunteer work around the community like visit senior/nursing homes to entertain and talk with the residents, help out at the local animal shelter, and learn that it’s okay to be yourself and more.

He started going full time in February, and although we hit more than a few speed bumps – he’s always hated change – he has now adjusted and cannot wait to go back in September. This transition house is attached to our school board, and run by them, so we’re on their schedule, despite son no longer attending regular school.

The big news… Son is now a high school graduate! PVEC Class of 2023! And the best news of all?

He graduated with honors!

My precious boy… When his name was called, the rest of his graduating class – 259 students – all screamed in joy for him, and his teachers were clapping a mile a minute. It was a huge moment of triumph for him, and me, knowing that despite the odds of special kids not doing well in school and not being popular, he was one of the most loved and top academic students of the 2023 class.

I am so proud of him. He’s staying at the transition school for another year to two years, then off to community college for something that reinforces what they teach at the transition house, and beyond. That will happen in 2025, I think.

After that, Son hopes to take computer courses, and maybe become a computer tech… That’s if he hasn’t found something else he’d like to do, like maybe work at the local bowling alley or work in a grocery store like his father.

I know whatever he chooses to do, he will succeed and more. The sky is the limit!

Back to School…

This past semester, as son was starting his new adventures at his transition house, I made a decision that would see me putting “student” as my current “employment status” for a few months.

Back when I was attending high school, things like computer skills were not considered part of the regular curriculum. They were classed as “college” level courses, so I took a couple of years off after graduation and went to trade school to get my Business Tech course.

Nowadays, it’s all considered essential for high schoolers to get those skills, due to computers being used in so many industries. It’s classed as a Grade 12 course in Nova Scotia, but my son took it in Grade 10, so he’d have it and he could focus on other things like World History and more in his last two years.

I decided to go back and update my certifications. My course was from 1997, and I learned stuff like DOS 6 and Windows 95. My stuff was so far out of date, no one wanted to hire me as a graphics artist or even a data entry clerk.

I went back, and although I knew most of what Jeff, our instructor was teaching, I realized I lacked in a lot of areas. I have never used a Mac computer, and using one made my eyes cross, although I can use one a bit now, once I get my bearings.

However, the main thing I wanted to learn – and what most people demand in a graphics artist – is how to use Photoshop. I had been using Affinity Photo for eons, and for a while before that, GIMP, which is okay but not nearly as good as Affinity or PS. It’s only Photoshop Elements but most of what you use in regular PS is there, and it’s a great program. I learned a few things on it, like cloning, and it’s really fun. My computer isn’t fond of it though, being an old Windows 7 system upgraded/refurbished to Windows 10, but that’s okay. As long as I’m able to design covers for clients and do other things like book promos in it, I’m happy.

The course wrapped up in June, and I’m happy to say that although I wasn’t able to make the graduation ceremony for some of my classmates at the Adult High School in town, I’m glad I went. I now have the qualifications needed to do graphics and other art on the side while writing and more.

Business Name Changes…

Veridian Rose has been shut down. I made the decision this past spring, after a local client and I parted ways. I can’t go into details, but I can say I learned a hard lesson from it, notably about contracts, setting boundaries and more.

But out of the ashes of Veridian Rose rises a phoenix…

A couple of months ago, I thought others are creating art using Photoshop, Canva and other spots… So why not try it myself, and then combine things into one business, so I didn't have to jump from one business name to the other? I started V.J. Allison Art on TeePublic, and although I only have a few designs up, people like my ideas. Or seem to. I even had a sale on my first day. You can check out my page here: https://www.teepublic.com/user/art-by-author-v-j-allison and my Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/VJAllisonArt/ 

Like I said, it’s pretty bare compared to my fellow artists like TJD and Veya, but it’s something. It’s not all t-shirts either, you can get masks, mugs and more there. I do my designs in Affinity or PSE, and then upload them after converting to the proper files.

Author Page Update…

Earlier in August, I reached a goal I thought I’d never see: 500 followers on my Facebook author page! Thanks to a lot of friends – fellow authors, a lot of people in the LGBT+ community and others I’ve met in my travels – I reached that goal and more before my birthday last week.

I did a live read, and let the fans choose which book to read from. They picked Eternity’s Gamble… And only 3 people showed up, all friends of mine. *head desk* Anyway, thank you Xek, Peapod and KD for showing up and giving me the support I needed. I was floundering, big time!!! I’m pretty awkward in real life and going live was nerve wracking at best for me. However, I was told once I got into reading from the story, I got into a rhythm, and sounded more comfortable on camera.

My next goal is 750 followers by the long weekend in October. I’m closing in on 600… Will I make it?

If so, I’m doing a live read from an unfinished work in progress. Which one has not been decided yet… Unfinished could mean drafted but not edited, or just submitted to Extasy Books (the WIPs in my docs folder are all for Ex at this time).

Anyway, if there’s a live read, I’m only expecting two people to show up this time. If more than 3 do, I’m going to faint!

Works In Progress…

I’m still plugging away at Feathered Tartan Book 4. It’s been slow going due to school, taking on that local client for a few weeks this spring, homework, driving all over the county (until the car died for good in April) and remote clients for graphics and more. It’s been insane, and I’m hoping things settle down once we’re back into the school year routine, this time without me going to classes too. I just have to park my butt in the chair, and write. That’s it.

After that’s done, I hope to get on to part 2 of the story, which will wrap up what started in Book 4. Yes, this will be a duology within the Feathered Tartan Series. Unless the two books combined are within word count specifications at Extasy Books. Then I’ll be combining them into Book 4.

I also have Super-Secret Project the Second in progress, and I’m hoping to get a paranormal-horror story written sometime – that one is still forming in my head, but I have the main characters set up and the premise of the story finalized. I just have to finish the Feathered Tartan stories I have on the go before I go near that one though…

I hope all of you are well, and having a great summer so far. Although things are insane here, it’s been an awesome vacation for us. Take care everyone, and stay safe.

I leave you with one of my favorite songs of all time… My Immortal (band version) by Evanescence.