Night Cafe' Digital Art Studio

 

Priestess of Words created on NightCafe'

So, I went and did a thing. This old broad decided to do something "new" and tried my hand at this Digital Art thing. And guess what. I'm addicted...already. It's only been a few days, but I can't stop. It's actually pretty fun.

I checked out a few sites I found through Google, but just wasn't finding anything that struck my fancy. Then, I ran across a site called Night Cafe Studios. Oh, my stars, this place is awesome. I'm still in the learning stages, but I'm having fun checking stuff out.

I had no idea what I was doing but jumped in anyway. After a few trial runs, I sort of started figuring it out. My first attempt wasn't too bad, but it wasn't stellar. I called it Horse Cart. Okay, the truth is that I just typed in the words horse cart and this is what came out.

Horse Cart created on NightCafe'

One thing I do need to say up front is that each digital image requires a certain amount of credits. Users can purchase credit packages--though will have to deal with ads on their pages. However, users can subscribe and get credits every month without ads. There are several different subscription levels, depending on the number of images the user needs to create.

BUT...here's the thing. There is a way to earn credits. Actually, several ways. The cool thing about this site is that they offer a ton of ways to earn credits and network with other artists. Creating an account, tweeting your artwork, following and/or commenting, and publishing images to your profile are just a few of the ways to earn more credits. And the really cool thing is that you get badges each time you cross a milestone. Dude, I love the badges.

NightCafe' holds daily challenges/contests. On day one, artists can submit one creation centered around whatever that day's theme may be. It might be vampires, candles, or 3D images. Once in a while, they have a "no theme" day. Anything goes. 

On the second day, submission voting begins. The voting goes on throughout the day and the artists can see stats on how well their creation is doing. I submitted one of my creations to the 3D Image challenge yesterday and have been watching it off and on all day. As of the time of this writing, my submission has a 2.94 out of 5-star rating. Not bad for my first challenge.

Laughing Pickle Face created on NightCafe'

On the third day, totals are tallied and prizes are handed out. 1st prize is 250 credits, 2nd prize is 150 credits, and 3rd prize is 50 credits. You can also win credits if your creation lands in the top 5%, 10%, or 20% of votes. I still have a couple of hours before I know how well I did. I've already created and submitted my piece for tomorrow's voting. This place could totally get me in trouble.

I want to mention that the beautiful girl at the top of the page is our priestess. While playing around, I simply typed in Priestess of Words and she appeared. I actually got a little giddy. The sad thing is I'm not exactly sure what I did to make her happen. I've started following a few of the more experienced artists and trying to learn their secrets. 

I really am having a blast doing this. I've always wanted to draw and/or paint, but I am NOT an artistic person. However, this is something I can do and, if I can do it, anyone can. If you're on NightCafe', look me up. You can probably teach me a thing or two...or ten.

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Myth Monsters Podcast

 

I love all things mythological. I've always been fascinated with gods and goddesses and heroes and legends. But it was the creatures that always kept me coming back for more. Winged horses, harpies, the Minotaur, and, of course, mermaids and sirens. I just couldn't get enough.

As I got older, I began to read up on cryptids (though I didn't know that's what they were officially called) such as Mothman, the Yeti and Sasquatch, and the Jersey Devil. Believing that there had to be a grain of truth in some of the stories, I always wanted to know how these stories began. I still do.

I've been listening to a lot of ancient history podcasts lately. I used to watch ancient history documentaries on YouTube, but I think I've pretty much seen them all. In my search, I came across a really cool podcast called Myth Monsters. Yep, I had to go check it out. So glad I did.

Myth Monsters is based out of the UK and is run by a feisty little redhead named Erin. I started listening to her podcast from the beginning and found myself both informed and entertained. She cracked me up. 

The thing I love most about this podcast is that its main focus is just the creatures. Not the heroes, not all the hype that surrounds the creature, just the beasts themselves. And it's very well done. I especially like the segment near the end of each episode where Erin talks about whether she thinks the creature is/was an actual being. And, in a few episodes, she sings. It's awesome.

Myth Monsters look at beasts from all around the world. I have to admit that I knew many of them before the podcast, but Erin's done a few about Japanese creatures that I'd never heard of before. I enjoyed learning about those. Note to self: study more Japanese mythology.

Seriously, if you're looking for a way to learn more about mythic beasts and cryptids, check out Myth Monsters. The podcasts are short and sweet, as well as fun and educational. You can find Myth Monsters on several venues including Apple and Spotify, or follow them through any of their social media sites. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some mythic monsters to go study. 

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Images used in this post are the sole property of Myth Monsters Podcast and may not be used without the owner's expressed permission. Images were used in this post with permission. All rights reserved.

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Meet My Great, Great, Great, Grandma Gray

 

Meet my great, great, great-grandmother, Rachel Gray, nee DeGroat. Born in Vermont in 1804, passing on in 1875 at the age of 71 in Little Blue, KS. When I look at this photo, my emotions run the gamut between sheer awe and total fear. She is a scary-looking lady.

 My daughter has an Ancestry.com account and has been searching for our family. I say it that way because there is an entire side to my life that has been missing since I was a small child. I have very little information about my biological father's side of the family. Not just because he and my mother divorced when I was four, but because he was adopted. 

Though she wasn't able to find much about my father's side of the family, she found a slew of information about my mother's side. Wholly Buckets!!! She was able to find leads stemming from the late 16th century. That made my history-loving heart so happy. 

What really blew me away about this picture is that I remember visiting my Aunt Donna (mom's older sister) and spending hours staring at a portrait much like this...only it was a man in a Union soldier's uniform. His name was Andrew Gray...Rachel's husband. I'm sure the look on my face when my daughter sent me this picture was priceless.

I've always had a thing for those vintage photographs. This one seems, to me, to be more of a painting, but I don't know that to be a fact. The portrait of her husband in my aunt's house looks almost exactly like this, only not as dark. I find them so haunting.

My daughter is still digging for more information, but she's hitting a brick wall. We know Rachel had only one child. A son born in 1842, though we don't have a name as of yet. And she hasn't been able to find any information on Andrew Gray. I hope at some point, we'll have more of the details. 

How far back can you trace your family roots? Where are your ancestors from? I love this kind of thing. I'm not just someone who loves history, I'm finding out that thanks to my ancestors, I actually have a history. And that makes my day.

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Shameless Self Promotion

 

I spend a lot of time on Twitter. It's where I find a lot of the sites I review for my blogs. I'm finding that the best way to find these sites is by visiting any #WriterLIft or #ShamelessSelfPromotion list. I have a really hard time promoting my own work, but as I watch others, I'm finding just how useful it could be.

I was raised to believe that you didn't boast about your own work. You gave credit to everyone else for the wonderful things they did, but you never brought attention to yourself. Even after I learned more about the online writing community, it's been horribly hard for me to say, "Hey, look at me. I did this and I want you all to see it." I know, not gonna help me in the long run. I get it and I'm working to fix it.

While cruising through Twitter this morning, I came across one of those #ShamelessSelfPromotion lists, started by a gentleman by the name of Danny Garvin, creator of the Paranormal Campfire Stories blog. I dig this guy's blog as it's filled with true stories of paranormal events that have happened to people from all over. I'm currently working on my own story to send to Danny. 

I decided to look through the list to see what kind of things other people were self-promoting. I wasn't surprised to see so many books, that's what it's all about. I did see a couple of websites that I can't wait to visit and a few other things I might look into a little further to either write about or to add to my newsletter. I'm always looking for new sites to add to the newsletter.

As I went along, I found another list created by author J.G. MacLeod. It's still all about #Self-Promotion, but there were a lot of different sites than the first list. I found a couple of sites that I'll be adding to my next newsletter coming out the 15th. I'm kind of excited. LOL

Yes, I added links to my stuff on those lists. It felt weird, but I did it. I posted a link to my newsletter on Danny's list and a link to my book of writing prompts on J.G.'s list. Will I get any hits from it? Maybe. But I'm actually more excited about how many new places I can find to talk about on my blogs. LOL. 

What about you? How do you self-promote? Leave me a comment and let me know. I might even come by and see your site. I'm always on the lookout for new sites. Yours could be next. 

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay  

Time To Wake the Priestess

 

Hi, kids. Long time, no...nothing. Yes, once again I went and let this site sit abandoned. It's not that I didn't think about it. It's just that I've gotten so busy with other things, that this one took a backseat. Well, I'm hoping to change that. Check it out.

So, here's what's been going on. The main reason I haven't done anything here since October of 2021 is that I landed a gig over at Medium.com that ended up leading to a year-long adventure. Shortly after publishing my last post on this site, I started following a publication on Medium called Promptly Written. As a prompt writer myself, I know just how helpful they can be. I found a couple of the author's prompts and wrote my brains out. It was magical.

By the end of December 2021, I had been added as an editor on the publication and started a weekly prompt post on January 1, 2022. Out of an entire year, I only missed one week and that's because of health issues. When Promptly Written took a hiatus, I gave the weekly prompts a new home. I've grown a decent following and am having the time of my life. I currently run four publications of my own and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

I've also published my second book of writing prompts. It's called Promptly Questioned: 300 questions for the fiction writer to answer. I've published this book through Gumroad.com rather than Amazon. I have to admit that I wasn't happy with Amazon and have even taken my first book off their site. As soon as I clear the 90-day mark, I'll be adding it to Gumroad as well. 

I have completely revamped my personal blog, Graves Publications. A year ago, I had seven different blogs all running at the same time. I was having a great time with it, but quickly got burned out trying to keep up with all of them. One day, I'd had enough and I shut them all down. Completely! It didn't last long, however. I decided to bring my main site back and just added all my sub-blogs to it. Now, rather than trying to add a new post for each site, I can just do one or two a month and still keep my blog updated on a regular basis. 

I've just launched a bi-monthly newsletter for writers. It's called Graves Publications News and covers all kinds of things. I talk about some of the things I've written here, on Medium, and at Graves Publications. I talk about other writing sites, such as book depositories, publishers, book bloggers, graphic designers, and more. I also add links to online publications that are accepting submissions. At some point, I may start offering ad space, but that's something to look forward to in the future.

Now, it's time for me to integrate this blog into the mix. After all, this site is technically part of the Graves Publications catalog. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do, but I have a couple of ideas. I've thought about making this a site dedicated to all things fantasy. Sites, books, graphic artists, and whatever else I can find that I think fits in this category. And as far as I'm concerned, that's an awfully big category.

So, stick around and see where we take this site. I won't make any promises, but I've kept this site alive for more than 10 years, I'm not about to let it die now. 

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Image by Vlad Min from Pixabay