Masks @emprazeman - Tumblr Blog

OMG I’ve missed you so much!

I’ve been away from tumblr literally forever. As in, an infinite has passed and everything has changed.

Well, maybe not everything...

I love that I came back to posts by the people I follow. So much art. So much creativity. I love you guys!

So I’ve been doing all the things. After finishing a book and sending it to my editor, I got read the riot act. Apparently I can’t leave some cool stuff in back story. That stuff needs to be a book. Only, it turned out to be three books.

I’m working on the real book one right now. Also, I went to Ohio for an author signing. Also, holidays happened. Also, started a modeling career. Weird, right? I’m so old, LOL. But I’m loving it. And hell, I’ve been saying for an infinite now that diversity in book cover art and fashion and all the things should be a thing. So, me with my very ethnic face and being over 50, I should not be fucking shy about being in front of a camera. If I can’t do it, if I can’t believe that I’m worthy to be a model, then who the fuck am I to go on rants about wanting more diversity in models???

And the models I’ve worked with are all the things. Black American, Korean, older, younger, bigger, smaller, beer bellies, six packs with an awesome V, gray hair, receding hairline, gloriously long flowing hair, big afro...

One of them, a very close friend, approached a photographer at a recent event (not Ohio) and was going to give her a card when she said, (seriously!) “I don’t work with black men. They don’t sell.” Fuck. That. Shit.

Please don’t pirate these images. Just enjoy them, share with attribution, all that good stuff. Because it’s hard enough to get a photographer to take a chance on older, bigger, POC, etc. models. If the images don’t sell, then the jerks like the photographer that said no to my friend win.

What do you think? Should we go away because no one wants to see us on a book cover or in a magazine? Or do we belong? The first one is me. The second one is my friend Ricco who was turned down because apparently he’s the wrong color.

#diversity #model #long time no see #still writing

I think that when people imagine having a shoulder kitty, they imagine that the kitty remains perched with their weight perched evenly on both shoulders behind the neck, or on one shoulder balanced neatly beside one ear.

Sheldon starts out on both shoulders behind my neck. But then he’ll sort of drape himself over one shoulder. And then the legs come down and make muffins on my forearm. And then he descends, not into my lap, but across my chest.

Also, something that most people don’t think about when it comes to shoulder kitties is the way one gets up to get more tea. When the kitty is balanced for your writing, you’re usually sitting (although I do have a standing desk.) Even if your posture is pretty good (mine’s pretty good) with a cat on your shoulders your body accommodates this with a slight hunch. But when you stand everything shifts and you end up walking hunched over to get more tea. If you’re lucky the cat won’t slide down and you won’t end up walking bent completely over with the cat in the small of your back. Because they’re really hard to dislodge once they’re there without ending up with little claw marks...

Or you’ll end up with the cat’s butt creeping up toward your face and his face rubbing against your hand. Not impossible to type, but it takes some practice.

#writingwithcats

I’m such a neglectful human being...

I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long! I really am. I’ve missed tumblr a lot. I’ve just had a ton going on, most of it good.

OryCon (an SF/F convention in Portland, Oregon) was super-amazing. If you’re in the area for next year’s con (it happens mid-November) you should totally go. It’s one of those (relatively) quiet cons where you can have long conversations with your favorite authors, as opposed to standing in a long line for an autograph sweating over what you’re going to say during your ten seconds of face time. #priceless #worthit

Same same with Radcon (Pasco, Washington), where I’m going to be a guest once again unless they figure out that I’m not all that awesome, in which case I’m sure they’ll find a polite, non-awkward way to get rid of me. This SF/F convention is truly amazing. They always have big name authors who, again, you can have extended conversations with instead of standing in line forever and paying $$ for an autograph and a selfie. This happens in February, usually around Valentine’s Day. I believe Miss Haley’s Bombshell Boutique will also be there. You HAVE to stop there. I got my favorite corset there, and they have all kinds of men’s wear and accessories in addition to the incredible array of corsets, skirts, boleros, boots (drool) and all things that are fantasy period. They should totally give me a discount because I’m always dragging friends and random people over to the booth to buy stuff with me.

I have been writing. A lot. In fact, I have a little something to show off:

I’m still working on Grim Champion, of course. It’s the first draft of the second book in my new series. The first book is in revision and will soon go to my new editor. I’m excited to start working with her! She’s a student of one of my early writing mentors, Mary Rosenblum, who tragically died in a single aircraft accident. She was an amazing pilot as well as an author. Both the book and piloting communities were shocked and saddened by her loss.

I’d be hard-pressed to pick a favorite out of her books, but I think the three top contenders would be Stone Garden, Chimera, and Drylands. If you’re interested, please visit her Goodreads page.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/241236.Mary_Rosenblum

I think that’s enough for now. I hope everyone is doing well! For those of you who are participating in Nanowrimo, I wish you much prolificness.

#nanowrimo #writing #conventions #its been a while

staff

You’ve been seeing them all month long. You know the drill. It’s another edition of our interviews from celebrities and artists on Tumblr, getting their thoughts on identity, politics, and any advice they might have for all of you. Today’s interview is pretty special. It comes from none other than the most successful artists of all time…

Sir Elton John (@eltonjohn)

What advice would you give your younger self about exploring your identity?

My advice would be not to try to be someone or something I wasn’t, but to really understand and accept myself for who I am and to love myself. Then to find people who would genuinely love me for who I am.

How do you express your gender identity on a day-to-day basis?

My gender identity is as much about being a loving husband, a good parent, and a loyal friend as it is about being gay. I want people to realize that first and foremost we are all people.

What’s the most challenging part of exploring and expressing gender and orientation in today’s society? What gives you hope?

The most challenging part is still superficial judgements about what gender identity means. These are spread through the media, and sadly sometimes by religion or politics. People want to control or punish what is different. But I’m hopeful because all over the world, more people are feeling the courage to express who they are and more are being accepted. Young people care much less about sexuality than their parents.

What’s an important moment in LGBTQ history that’s important for LGBTQ youth to understand?

I think the Stonewall riots. They were the first demonstrations by the LGBTQ community against a police raid that took place in Greenwich Village in the U.S. in the early hours of June 28th 1969. They really catalyzed the liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the whole world.

What is the biggest change in the LGBTQ experience that you’ve noticed over the past 10 years? What work needs to be done to continue progress in the right direction?

Gay marriage…respecting love between two people as love, in countries as previously resistant as the UK, Ireland, Australia, is a huge change. We need laws and policies that first and foremost treat LGBTQ people as citizens like everyone else so that their human rights are protected—in the family, at work, in society.

What advice would you give to LGBTQ youth trying to find their way in the world?

Remember that change can and does happen. Not overnight, but it does happen. Don’t ever give up on yourself. Take care of yourself and don’t ever doubt that change is possible.

What about you? What’s the most challenging part of expressing your identity? What gives you hope? If you feel up to it, share your story with your followers, just like Elton. Tag it #TumblrPride so it’s easily discoverable by the community. And then follow the Rocket Man himself on Tumblr: @eltonjohn.

#love #pride month #quotes #my heart is so full

The Lightning and the Thunder

Sometimes there’s lightning and thunder.

In addition to the usual work around the farm, big things happen. Sometimes you don’t know how big until you hear that thunder. Sorry about the vagueness but it’s not just me in this situation. Anyway, the point is that it has been hard to work lately.

And yet, when I actually sit down to work, it’s awesome. I can focus on something over which I have almost complete control. That can be really healing.

It can be dangerous too, though. I often insert my own life experiences into my work, though usually the character behaves much differently and of course the outcomes are different. Hopefully the result is that there’s something real at the heart of my stories that anyone can relate to. The danger is that I might escape too much into what I wish would have happened, instead of coping with what did happen and is happening.

So now I have new chapters to my WIP because of all this. They won’t have the same context or result. They only have one point of contact, but it’s a big one.

Arguments: the things said, and left unsaid that haunt us.

Arguments usually blow over, but there are ones that linger forever and follow us around. They can impact how we communicate not only with those with whom we’ve argued, but with those who witnessed it. We might also change the way we communicate with others based on that experience. It might be too late to heal the wounds we’ve inflicted and that have been inflicted on us, but it might make our other relationships stronger.

Be compassionate out there. Take care of each other. Remember that no one is perfect. Remember that someday it might not be the things we thought we loved best about someone that sticks in our minds, but the things that we took offense to that we can look back on and see in a new context. The nag who, behind shrewish words was hiding despair and exhaustion, begging in a very poor way for some help. The perfectionist for whom nothing is ever right struggling with OCD and feelings of inadequacy. The hard-line, uncompromising person who has been betrayed countless times and is trying to build walls to protect themselves from being hurt.

Sometimes we have to get away from that environment because it’s dangerous or causes too much damage to us. In fact I think it’s imperative that we take care of ourselves and protect ourselves from abuse. But that doesn’t lessen the other person’s humanity, their own hurts, their own attempts to get by in life. I think this recognition is why so often I write really horrible people as human beings. People who should be incarcerated, shunned, or banished from our lives still do have friends, have family, have parts of themselves that are good, even admirable. They may not be redeemable, but they are a part of humanity, not monsters. Or, if they are monsters, then so are the rest of us.

By the way the following video was taken by me on our deck earlier this year.

#humanity #argument #lifejourney

New Things

I know it’s been forever since I’ve been here. I have all the usual excuses. Gardening this time of year is intense. Goat care this time of year is intense. One of our dogs needed oral surgery. And yesterday, my very first grandchild came into the world. Plus, I’ve been working on my book and on new book designs for clients. But, still. I have had time here and there. So I’ve been bad. I’ll try to be better.

Yesterday, whilst driving (I’ve been driving a lot because the baby was born forty five minutes to over an hour one way away, depending on traffic) I changed a relationship and the stakes related to that relationship between my MC and a Death vosl. So now I’m excited to write book 2, or it might be book 3, but I’m revising book 1 so with my schedule being so hectic I really can’t afford to start writing ahead of myself. Yet. I’m hoping that later on this year I can start writing ahead. I prefer to have drafts of books ahead of the one I’m working on set down so that I have a good idea of the big picture of the series. It’s the best way I’ve found to work in those little details that foreshadow the things that are to come.

Anyway, this begs the question of what’s a vosl. In these books there are elemental forces or Gods that aren’t in any way human, but are somewhat sentient. They’re just sentient on a level that humans really can’t relate to because humans are too small and the sensory experience is totally different. Anyway, although all living things (and some technically non-living things) respond and interact with these Gods, some of them are better at it than others and some of them can even shape and manipulate those forces in a cooperative way. These are vosls. The ones that can do basic things are called amphors, and the ones that can really channel and almost become something other than human for a while are called rivs. So, for example, an amphor of Light can make little rocks shine with light, while a riv of Light can intensify and pull in starlight to light a dark house through a single open doorway. And stuff like that. I don’t restrict this ability to human beings, by the way. There are animals that can do amphor or riv-like things. It’s the same percentage of living things (and some non-living things) that can interact with the God forces in this way. So a sacred space, like a cave or a mountain or a spring, interacts with and manipulates in a deliberate way one or more Gods. So you can have a glowing creek that flows uphill (Light & Land). It makes the Mother (what they call their world) a very cool but also pretty dangerous place.

I’m really excited to share the Mother and Grim and Liatris and all the other characters of this new series with everyone. But these things take time. I’m working as fast as I can!

#thekilhellion

mererecorder

Serpentine by Nimbus2005

#art

sheilkuroi

My laptop has officially died and unfortunately with a slow slow winter at work (my job is client based- and majority of my clients leave for the winter). And tax season right now (business owner which means I owe taxes - dammit). I have negative funds to afford a new lap top. So I’m opening up emergency commissions in the hopes to afford a new laptop which I use quite a bit.

If you can help out or spread the word it would mean a lot to me. If interested you can send me a note here or email to “[email protected]”

Thank you

crimson-chains

YO GUYS!!! Get a GREAT commission and also help out one of my dear artists friends! :D HIT HER UP!<3 At least give this a reblog if you can ^w^

emprazeman

Support artists! <3

#art #artists on tumblr

theprinceregent

I find you to be such an interesting person. Are you inspired by music? What sort of bands do you like to listen to? :)

Thank you!

Yeah I love music. Have done for as long as I can remember.

Sigur Ros are my all time favourite band. Their ‘Takk’ album is an experience and a piece of art alongside just a selection of music imo.

I really love musicians with abstract-yet-incredibly-poetic lyrics. Joanna Newsom, Grimes, Fiona Apple, CocoRosie and Jeniferever are just some examples of the sort of music I like a lot.

I love piano-led classical music, such as works by Chopin. I love baroque era opera as well. I’m a big fan of neoclassical too, by artists such as Nils Frahm, Soap&Skin, Olafur Arnalds, Hammock, Slow Meadow, A Winged Victory For The Sullen and Eluvium off the top of my head.

I also unashamedly love quite a lot of pop too. Ellie Goulding is one of my top five favourite artists ever and Rihanna has some absolute bangers which are great when you’re partying.

Chillwave and artists that have that otherworldly, slow, reverbed, delayed & layered sound to them always go down well with me too. Washed Out, Stumbleine, the 1975, Toro Y Moi, The Japanese House and Owsey are just some examples for you.

emprazeman

reblogging to save this list, which sounds awesome.

#music

kira-desomma

me: wow, romance novels are great! I think –

“intellectual” man: I’d like to interrupt you with my opinion, which I will now unload on you in a condescending and patronizing manner. blah blah real literature blah blah

me:

This ^^^^^

mind, back in space

I love this so much

Outfit for Feanor - Balenciaga

emprazeman

I would wear the shit out of this!

wonderworldmotion

emprazeman

magic

#magic and nature #beauty #moving art

my18thcenturysource

VIDEO

You all like and remember this video of a well-off woman getting dressed, and a few days ago, the same creative team (Crows Eye production) now brings us the working woman version. I’m sure you’ll all love it!

emprazeman

I love history!

#period clothing #19th century #living history