January Recap: self-portraits, Aragorn bookmarks & more
Some of the fun things I got up to this month, including additional photos & some of my fave links
The year is 1/12 over! Here’s what I got up to in January.
Self-Portraits
I started a self-portrait photo project for this year, aiming to take one self-portrait a week. The idea came about as a way to improve my photography, from coming up with ideas to editing, but still having constraints (primarily, the same subject: me). My self-worth was also pretty crummy at the end of 2022, so I wanted to take on something fun and interesting and creative. You can view the creme de la creme here, and below are a few extras that I love.
Week 02: California Dreaming
This was particularly successful. I took a very brief trip to LA and decided to play around with a new filter I got from the holidays. I nailed what I wanted on the first shot, but also all the rest turned out really cool, too.
Week 04: The Very Serious Writer
I wanted to take an author/writer photo in my creative writing space (plus it was nice to show off my gallery wall, which I worked very hard on!). I obviously had to include my assistant.
One of the challenges of this project is going to be coming up with clever/inventive ideas for each week and having things not get stale. If you have any artists or photographers whose self-portrait work you admire then please feel free to send it along! Even just favorite pieces of art would be nice. I’ve got lots of thoughts but can always use more inspiration.
Hot Takes/Cool Recs
Many moons ago, I interviewed artist Lisa Congdon for Dieline (here), and imagine my surprise when I go to the crafts store and see darling cross stitch and embroidery kits by her! I got the cats one (obviously) and it comes with everything you need.
Feeling stressed and overwhelmed? May I offer you two hours of shrimplicity?
I thought this video on why we all need subtitles now was eye-opening. (ear-opening?)
I started volunteering at the bookstore associated with my local Habitat for Humanity this month. Looky what I found for $0.15!
The One Who Loves You by Pippa Grant was the funniest book I’ve ever read.
I purchased a bread maker, which, at the time I’m writing this, is still on sale. I have already made a French Pear Loaf and I have a Finnish Cardamom Loaf bakin’ as we speak. Any bread machine recipes welcome!
Tody has made housework a billion times easier. I’m still not sure if it’s pronounced “toad-y” or “to-dee,” but it is great at keeping me on task.
Writing Updates: Twitter Pitch Contest
I participated in my second ever Twitter pitch contest, which is basically a dedicated day, time, and hashtag that authors can use, and then agents and publishers will weed through these tweets and favorite ones they like. The first pitching contest I participated in I got a grand total of zero likes, so I went in with similar expectations here. When I saw an agent like one of my tweets, and then a publisher after that, I kept my cool.
If nothing comes of it—which, when it comes to querying, it often doesn’t!—I am still glad to have tweaked my Twitter pitch process and improved my odds of getting an agent’s attention.
Also writing-related, I did a solo at-home writing retreat and knocked out 20k words for my next book, which felt good. Can’t wait to share more of that one soon.
Hokay, that’s it for now! Chat with you in February.
- Theresa