Muck Runners and Shaolin Masters

The book is 1/4 finished. Good news - my darling editor in Scotland is now OUT of the hospital and as soon as she is settled comfortably back home I'll be sending her this first 1/4 for editing.

I am in a really good creative space right now. Ideas are flowing, writing feels easy and drawing is sheer joy. My Muse and I are conversing in a way that is so very fluid and easy - it feels like a gentle effortless summer breeze.

I heard someone use the term, "Running amok" earlier today and immediately my imagination seized on an image of men with lanterns in rowboats traversing a river late at night, transporting secret cargo draped with canvas sheets, and these men were called, "Muck Runners." I so love my imagination and how it just takes off on its own like that. Rest assured the Muck Runners will make an appearance in the book.

It took me quite a while to settle back down to my studio work after my last foray into the virtual world. More and more I find myself acknowledging the unhealthy nature of living two lives in two different worlds and trying to be a creator in both. I recently heard a remark that really sums up my feelings about it - "You can't sharpen 2 knives at the same time." I also acknowledge the seductive and addictive nature of leading a virtual life where I could pretend to be everything I could never be in real life - but that came with a price inherent in living a lie for over 10 years that I can no longer afford to pay. What once was a fun pastime has, over the years, morphed into something very ugly and emotionally painful. One cannot pretend their way out of unwanted reality.

Painfully, I repeatedly discovered that a world built on lies attracts people who lie. And so, the time has come for the part of my psyche named 'Drew Mysterious' to close his bookshop and matriculate into reality. (his name was an inside joke relating to my work as an illustrator) That's him in the photo below with his pet rabbit, Peter.

This was his last build - https://mysterioustravelersl.wixsite.com/mysterious-traveler

I listen to tons of podcasts and TedTalks on a myriad of topics while I am drawing.

I ran across one that I really enjoyed today so I am sharing it here - it is a lengthy one at 1 hour 50 minutes.

Until next time ...