Waiting and Doodles

 
It's been a few months since I've posted. A lot has happened since then--mainly a global pandemic. 

I think we've all been trying to keep busy while stuck at home indefinitely. Aside from trying to keep my four sons entertained 24/7, I've also tried to carve out time for self-care/ self-sanity. 

For me, that's meant:

* Writing my sixth book.

​* Taking up watercoloring. 

* Planting a garden with lots of dragon statues to guard it (like seriously... way too many dragon statues. I'm fortunate my husband supports this addiction). 

* Binge-watching The Office, Brooklyn 99, and Community. (By the way, did you know about The Office Ladies podcast with Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey? It's a ton of fun for The Office Fans!) 

* Re-reading my favorite series, Keeper of the Lost Cities while waiting impatiently for the next book to come out (not until November!!! Waaaaah!!!!)

* I also enjoyed some new reads: The Night Gardener, The Spirit of Cattail County,  The Wolf of Cape Fen, and the entire The Ever Afters series.  

I HIGHLY recommending all of these to you TBR pile. 

Other than that, I've been working on a few new story projects. Sometimes that means writing words, and other times it means outlining.

​Lately, I've spent a lot of time doodling.

I've always loved drawing. I remember drawing little story comics during class in elementary school (somehow I never got caught?) which fostered my love for doodling all the way through college--a good portion of my class notes were doodles. ;)

Nowadays, I like drawing my characters. I

've recently discovered Procreate which is an amazing drawing app. It's allowed me to do all kinds of fun things with my art. I'm still a super beginner, but it's been fun to learn and grow.

​As silly as it might sound, drawing my characters helps me feel more connected to them. So even if I don't have the energy to write, I can at least keep my head in the story through doodling. 

Just for fun, here are a few sketches from some of my stories-in-progress.

What about you? 

How have you been keeping busy during the pandemic?  Also, how do you like to connect to your story and characters when you aren't writing?