Why should I blog?

Because I have self-published one book, I am often asked questions about writing and illustrating. I claim to be a writer and illustrator because I think I have to own it to have it happen. But self-publishing is more a matter of money than talent. I think my book should be published, I am too poor to have published it myself unless I believed that, but I would like to have a book published by someone who believed in my talent enough to pay for publishing.
There are thousands of other people that feel the same way I do. We want to write and/or illustrate for a living, but we don’t know how to make it happen. I intend to make it happen. I read books and I go to meetings, and though there isn’t a regular twelve step program there have been hundreds of suggestions of things I should do to make this dream come true. I keep careful notes and I work really hard to make myself into the writer and illustrator I know I can be.
I don’t think becoming a published writer is something anyone should do alone, what would be the fun in that? So this is where all of you come in. Because I am putting my goals very publically out there, I now have forced accountability. If I am not working on something creatively you will know. When I try new things and they work, or don’t work for me, you will know that too. Hopefully if I say I am going to try something, someone else will try it as well so that we can get feedback from a group of us on how effective the effort was. If you try something or hear of something that might interest others let us know too. This blog will keep a running record of ways I wasted time and what really helped.
This blog will:
· Give me accountability
· List events, contests, conferences
· Show current projects and illustrations
· Gather feedback and suggestions about writing and illustrating
· Show that I am moving slowly towards tangible goals
· Show the life of a wannabe writer and artist
· Give prompts, challenges
The goals I have:
· To publish books
· To make a reasonable income in writing, illustrating, and crafting
· To win the Caldecott ( I may be ninety when I get it, but I have wanted it since I was a

little girl).
· To make the “Children’s book Project” a reality

Thank you for reading this. Visit often - we all need support in our dreams!-Kassy

What I am doing today:

1) A friend of mine sent me an e-mail address for children's book writers: http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/ .

I explored their site a little, wrote down the dates for the two contests they had listed, and ordered their two free newsletters.

2) I started this blog.

3) I am working on a dragon illustration for the 4th of July weekend fair.

4) I am cleaning gourds for the Art Conspiracy class I will be teaching on Monday.( I will also be decorating one for an example).