ellenmillion

Interested in weekly wrap-ups about everything I'm working on?

Follow me at Patreon for Wednesday WIP posts: https://www.patreon.com/ellenmillion

Photography, artwork, and writing updates, in your inbox or at the Patreon site, every Wednesday. No pledge required!

SENSELESS, the Torn World short story included in the In the End anthology earlier this year, is now available independently!



Reqem is thrilled to be out on his first journey as an adult, and is dismayed to find that the barrier he came to see has vanished. Disappointment turns to excitement when he realizes that the fall of the barrier has revealed new land, unseen by any person since the Upheaval broke the world into parts.

Torn World is a share world sandbox, the setting of hundreds of short stories and playground to a dozen artists and authors. Senseless is a short story of about 6000 words, a stand-alone set about 50 years prior to our current stories.

Read now on Amazon for 99 pennies! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FPY856L
You can also read it as a subscriber at Torn World: http://www.tornworld.net/storypageview.php?id=627
And remember that patrons at the $10+ level on Patreon get EVERYTHING I write and publish, including novels: https://www.patreon.com/ellenmillion

I am always deeply grateful for reviews on Amazon or on the Torn World site.

...

I'm not expecting great things of this one in particular, but it's a stand-alone that is fully reserved for supporters, and seems like a good place to start in terms of making more of my work available in ebook format. I'm hauling myself up the formatting curve, but will be working on some more complicated collections shortly!

In the past two days, I've gotten about 4200 words written, which is amazingly good for me. My total for the month is at 6800, which gets me really close to on-track for my rough 1000/day goal. (Which would not win me NaNo, but would still put 31k in my book!)

Not bad, considering I've skipped several days and last week was frantic show prep!

The show, BTW, went very well. It's always fun to see all the familiar faces, and I love delighting people with the handpainted ornaments and specialty coloring books.

(Coloring books are waaaaay down from two years ago. Like less than half, despite having a better variety than I had that year.)

I do have some ornaments and lots of totes left, so look for those to go on sale... um... sometime soon? I will be offering them to my Patreon patrons first.

On that note, Patreon rewards are out today!



Dishes now, and more wood in the fire...

It's been a week.

A loooooong week.

I am going genuinely stir-crazy, sitting in this chair.

I am just now to the point where I previously would have said I was having a "bad back day" (how little I knew...) and I want to doooo things again, because it isn't actively hurting, and I am impatient to get stuff done.

(I'm not, no one has to waggle fingers. I am taking it very, very easy. It is counter to my nature, but I am doing very little. It is very boring.)

I've can be comfortable with the laptop again, which is nice, and I've got my not-a-book about halfway edited. I've also been able to do some promotional stuff, though it didn't happen before national coloring book day, as I'd hoped. You do have until August 6th to take advantage of this sale:



I also got my Patreon rewards out for August! I have new tiers now, and have brushed off my latent Sketch Tarot project. I'll be releasing a card a month, and for as little as $3/month, you can get a high resolution copy to print and color, and I'll give you some of my thoughts and process about each card. If you are a patron at this level (or above) for 24 months, you'll get a free basic deck when it's eventually finished.

Capitalism aside, I am improving. And posting this finally, having started it about 6 hours ago...

In case you've been on the fence about supporting me on Patreon, here is a list of perks that patrons have received since I opened my page in July of 2014! Most perks are removed when the next one is released, but starred entries continue to be available for new patrons to go back and enjoy.

I've also revamped my reward tiers - I originally had $5+ rewards going out every six months, based on your starting date, but have simplified my life so that physical rewards go out the same time for everyone, in March and in September (just September for International patrons). Yes, that means you can sign up in the next few weeks and get your rewards THIS month!

July 2014: 3 of Pentacles coloring page
August 2014: Photograph wallpapers and headers
October 2014: Candle digi stamp
November 2014: Ressa Knows/Bai Knows Better (Torn World poetry)
December 2014: Everberries coloring page

January 2015: Turned Back short story (Torn World story)
February 2015 perk: Evervale coloring page
March 2015 perk: The Thief coloring page
April 2015 perk: custom portraits (simple ink drawings, patron prompted - they get a high res download!)
May 2015: sea monster scale chart to color
June 2015: Fairy and Dragon coloring page
July 2015: Taming the Seas coloring page
August 2015: Cowbell/Snail's Journey coloring page (two mini pages)
September 2015: Never Traveling Alone short story (Torn World story)
October 2015: Winged Kitty digi stamp
November 2015: Olarali to color
December 2015: Evervale in the Desert coloring page

January 2016: Fishtank Mermaid coloring page
February 2016: Secret Not-a-Book – excerpt and invitation to request the full novel
March 2016: Maiden, Mother, Crone coloring page
April 2016: Vetch Dragon coloring page
May 2016: Sea Monster painting input
June 2016: Summer Bubbles coloring page
*July 2016: Paintings from painting class
August 2016: #Smaugust prompt (dragon sketches prompted by patrons)
September 2016: Rosehip tea coloring page
October 2016: Sponsor a #smaugust for #inktober (patrons pick sketches I did for #smaugust to finish in ink and get the high res of that piece)
November 2016: Dragon Sled to color and use for cards/bookmarks
December 2016: $5 off at Etsy

*January 2017: travel sketches and photos (8 posts)
February 2017: Morrigan and Scared coloring pages (available through March 31)
*March 2017: Sneak peeks of Secret Coloring Book Project (12 posts so far, posted throughout February, too)
April 2017: Two vintage bookmark designs to color (from 1999!)
May 2017: A sneak preview of four exclusive coloring pages that will be coming this summer + A winged kitty digistamp
June 2017: A sea monster coloring page: Arguing Over Dinner.
*July 2017: Watercolor class paintings. $3 and up get The Fool Sketch Tarot card file, $4 and up also get a coloring page of The Gathering.
August 2017: Skykitten Chaos coloring page. $3 and up get 01 The Magician, $4 and up also get Saddling Up (old Torn World) coloring page. $10+ got Railcrossing, a spicy story from Torn World!
September 2017: 2 botanical coloring images (quarter page) $3 and up get 02 The High Priestess, $4+ 4 botanical coloring images, $5+ got an aceo print, a 4x6 print, plus a random original, magnet or painted mini-tote. $10+ got an excerpt from the novella I'm working on.
October 2017: 50% off any #inktober artwork, and leave a prompt! $3+: 03 The Empress. $4+: Watergazer coloring page.
November 2017: First dibs on ornaments and totes, plus a Bad Snowy coloring page. $3: 04 The Emperor. $4: Bearing Gifts coloring page. $10: A second super spicy excerpt from my latest finished novella.
December 2017: $1 - Evervale Coloring Page #2. $3+ 05 The Heirophant. $4+ Evervale as Poison Ivy Coloring Page.

January 2018: $1+ Useful coloring page. $3+ 06 The Lovers. $4+ Green Fairy grayscale coloring page. $10+ Spicy excerpt from a novella featuring dragons and mermaids...
February 2018: $1+ Hula class video. $3+ 07 The Chariot. $4+ Dryad's Winter coloring page.
March 2018: $1+ 7 of cups (mythology) coloring page. $3+ 09 The Hermit. $4+ Waking From the Tree grayscale coloring page. $5+ Fill the bag original giveaway. $10+ Spicy scene from the not-a-book I just finished!
April 2018: $1+ 10% off Kickstarter pledges and 25% all original artwork. $3+ Wheel of Fortune. $4+ Wings From Stone coloring page
May 2018: $1+ Growing Up (Copper and Blackstone EQ) coloring page. $3+ Death. $4+ Smartarm Shifter beefcake coloring page. $10+ Spicy excerpt of a story I'm working on for my new pen name.
June 2018: $1+ Missing You card design to color, $4+ Druid's Wind coloring page.
July 2018: $1+ Portrait July - patrons can submit photos for reference (or describe characters), $4+ Great Northern Gate to color, $10+ Senseless ebook. (6000 words Torn World short story)
August 2018: $1+ Justin coloring page, $4+ Training coloring page, $10+ Rails ebook (50k novel from Torn World), AND The Girl Nest Door (ebook as Zoe Chant)
September 2018: $1+ Shifting Commic, $4 Watergazer Coloring page
October 2018: $1+ sneak preview of art in NDA, $4 Christmas Irish Elk coloring page

I'm back! Guppy and husband and I went to Hawaii for a few weeks, meeting my Mom and friend M for the first week, and on our own the second. It was warm and relaxing and I am much rejuvenated. (Though, the less said about the EIGHT HOURS we spent at the Fairbanks airport trying to get out of town, the better.)

I'm behind, but trying hard to catch up. I have an insane deadline to meet by the end of the month. (InSANE.) But I'm going to do it, and it will be amazing, and I should be able to share it with you next month.

(Unless you're a supporter at Patreon, they get to see them first! Patreon patrons also got to see photos and sketches during my recent travels, for as little as $1/month.)

Otherwise, I'm going to be more quiet than usual for February. We're getting back into the regular patterns of life, and there are Guppy things and house things and tax things and EMG things to get done... on top of the most wonderful deadline ever. Oh, and I'm releasing a book next week! Yay!

Sketch Fest is next week! https://ellenmilliongraphics.com/sketchfest

Today has had some pretty great hits at me, but I'm still on my feet fighting.

(Among other things, Internet was out for a good while, child was SUPER monstery, I managed to fudge an important link, I'm doing a few rounds with Kickstarter, and my laptop abruptly shut down with open files because the [new!!] battery is junk. Have to rescan at least one piece now. Argh. POW! SPLAT!)

Day of Doom: 5
Me: 1.5

In better news, I did get my Patreon perk up. It is this coloring page:


You can pledge as little as $1 and get awesome things like this every month! https://www.patreon.com/ellenmillion?ty=h

And there is a new sampler page up at EMG:


http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/coloringbook.php?id=67

Must rouse child now, although this has been a short nap.

I love my daughter, but I'm missing my mornings. She's been getting up before I get the husband off to work, so I've lost that hour or so I used to have to get things done. That, with shorter naps, means I'm getting more creative with my ability to cross things off.

Did get some extra cleaning done today, with lots of 'help.'

Some artwork that has gone up this week:

At Torn World:


Bears to scale. (Click to see at Torn World)


1st 3 patron portraits for Patreon. If you are a patron, please get me your description by the 25th!

Did you miss me?

I was off all week being a full-time student at the Summer Arts Festival! I took Digital Photography, and Intro to Graphic Novels, and I have had So. Much. Fun. not being Just Mom for a week. Monsterus minimus got to bond all week with her grandparents (who report that she has been very good, but also very unavoidably two, and more than a bit on the exhausting side). I got to pack myself a lunch every morning, and ride on the shuttle, and soak up a ton of useful information and be arty and creative for hours at a time. Each lunch hour, there was a 'Lunch Bites' concert with a variety of music and entertainment, and I went home with my head stuffed full of ideas and images and made dinner and washed up and danced a two-year-old to bed. (Then I'd catch up on laundry and scoop the catbox and do a little emergency programming...)

And on Thursday, $1 ice cream scoops on the deck.

Here's just a glimpse at what I'm working on now:





Oh, yeah... it's a thing. I do not know if I have it in me to do an actual long-running webcomic that tells the whole story, but I've got the first 9 pages storyboarded, and am going to try to nail that much out in the time I have allotted next week... at least to the sketch stage on all of those pages and ink for the cover. That seems manageable. Patreon sponsors will get to see a collection of the sketch work I've done, and also get a wallpaper selected from my favorite photos from the class. I have some REALLY neat photographs - I will do a more comprehensive post in the nearish future with some of the best of them. (And I, er, may have purchased a year membership to the botanical gardens...)

I cannot promise I will be resuming regular blogging next week - I have another week of the graphic novel class, and a LOT to catch up on.

Be sure to jump in on the 78 Tarot Kickstarter! Just five more days, and we're at close to 95%! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1309407051/the-78-tarot-project-a-global-art-collaboration

Inbox at 149!

Never Traveling Alone is up for subscribers at Torn World now! Here's an excerpt:

Birka squeezed Anler's hand with one mitten, and Fala's with the other.

Spring was creeping in, faster than it seemed possible; the sun was finally strong enough to soften the top layer of snow and even make little rings around the trees. The further they walked from the village, the more obvious it was that winter was losing its hold on the land. There were no green sprouts yet, but the sun was high and even warm on lifted faces, and there were even little icicles where snow had warmed enough to melt and refreeze. The age-set knew it was their last chance for the winter tests. Tetefii had not had her first moon cycle yet, but if she were to do so that summer, they were not sure that any of them wanted to wait until the following winter for their chance to become adults.

The path narrowed, and Birka had to let go of her age-mates. Fala took point, at the heels of Reqem. Did it have to be Reqem? Birka had hoped fervently that gentle Ivara would be the one to issue the first of their winter tests, not gruff Reqem, who could freeze blood with a glare.

You can sponsor this for public viewing for $20, or read the entire thing at Torn World with a subscription ($5/month or less, with longer subscriptions!). The nifty thing about subscriptions is that you get most of your payment back in 'spending credits' that you can use to directly support the work you enjoy the most. And if money is tight, you can earn karma by leaving comments or submitting work, and you can spend that karma to view reserved work!

I wish I'd been slinging my good camera when this shot presented itself. Alas, just an iphone snap:



She's "reading" to herself at my feet right now, which is adorable.

I finally figured out how to make my Patreon link something intuitive: http://www.patreon.com/ellenmillion (And look! Supporters! *shocked and delighted!*)

Lunch plans!