Last May I thought I had finished writing a novel. I wrote 80,000 words, sent it off to my friend Ksenia who edited it for me, and what I received back was a lot of red and feedback that I hadn’t properly written a book…just a summary of a book. And man, was she spot on.

That launched me into the most splendid year ever.

I have always valued books and writing above most other things, but truth be told, I wasn’t a reader. I had read books, and I’d read a couple a year, but I wasn’t really a reader. That was the problem with my writing. If I learned how to be a better reader, I could learn how to be a better writer.

So, when June rolled around, I started reading. A lot. And I can proudly say that in the past year, I have developed a routine, a habit, of making time for reading.

In the past year, I managed to finish 41 books.

That is really huge. I know it might not seem like a big number to some of you, and it might seem massive to others. That doesn’t matter. It’s not a contest.

What I did was dedicate myself fully to a practice that I knew would get me closer to my dreams.

One year and 41 books later, I am closer. That much closer.

Here is what I learned from my first year of dedicated reading:

1. You learn as much from bad books as you do good books. It is very valuable to ask why something doesn’t work for you and to incorporate that knowledge into what informs your craft.
2. The value of story structure should not be overlooked. I’ve studied and practiced seeing and writing story structure (mostly a traditional 3 act) and now I see it everywhere. When I sit with my husband to watch a movie we discuss it. I see it in TV and sometimes even video games. A story without structure usually just doesn’t deliver.
3. Outlining is my jam. I pantsed (wrote on the fly) the first draft of my book. By the end, I had a mess of partial conflicts that never got resolved, and mostly, no conflicts at all. I’m only about a quarter of the way through the outline for my 2nd draft. I’m a planner, always have been, probably always will be. No shame in that!
4. I’ve been given permission to use poetic language in my book. That was something I shied away from a bit because I thought that wasn’t how it is done. But now that I’ve read all sorts of books and really paid attention, I know that having your own unique writing style is exactly what counts for artistic flair.
5. I love first-person POV. I never thought I would, but “The Fifth Season” and “Red Rising” changed my mind. I’m a convert…though I don’t think my first book will utilize that.
6. My love of dark imagery is sustained in books as well as visual arts. Any book that can poetically describe something sad is everything to me.
7. The more specific the character, the more I love the character.
8. If a character has very clear desires, I as a reader desire that thing as well. When the desires are unclear, I don’t want anything out of the book.
9. Anything is possible to write, as long as it 1) makes sense within the world, and 2) moves the story forward.
10. I’m becoming a better reader! I’ve always considered myself a slow reader. However, and I should have seen this coming, reading is like anything else. It is a muscle, it takes practice. I used to only be able to hold my attention long enough to get through 15 minutes of reading at a time. Now I can get through hours. I read smarter, faster, and I enjoy myself more.
11. Books have replaced my phone. Well, not entirely. But, where I used to keep my phone by my side, I’ve actively replaced it with a book. Now, when I have the urge to waste time on my phone, I read in those micro-moments instead.
12. My writing will be heavily influenced by imagery. My first draft wasn’t at all image-tastic. Which is inherently weird for a visual artist. But, now that I see how great authors weave visuals into every sentence of their books, I know how to do the same. I’ve got some awesome visuals planned for my novel!
13. I am very serious about writing. I knew I wanted to be a writing, but now that I’ve dedicated myself to this craft in such a big way (it’s no easy task reading that many books in a year while running a full-time business), I’m more in it than ever before.
14. The best books are the ones that make me wish I lived in their worlds. I want to make a world like that, too. They are blossoming inside my head.
15. At best, protagonists are your best friends. At worst, they are acquaintances. At best, antagonists are tragically wounded friends. At worst, they are pure evil. Note: I love the antagonist in my book!

For those asking, my book is shaping up to be Fantasy, and maybe Young Adult. I was originally going to only do one, but it is looking like it needs a sequel or a trilogy. I’m already excited for the expanded horizons I will offer.

Here’s my really, really rough pitch so far: Twins are born into a world on the brink of death. Separate, their powers could destroy everyone in existence, but together, they could save the Tree of Life and all of Her children.

It’s a massive work in progress, and I feel no pressure to go faster. I am taking my time with this, letting my passion seep into every crevice before I start writing out each chapter. Until then, I’ll continue going on early morning hikes with my Love to discuss new details, writing my outline, and enjoying new books.

Here is a list of all the books I read this past year. I’ve put in bold my absolute top recommendations. If they are part of a trilogy, I only highlighted the first. The one that is bold and red is my favorite of the whole list.

Let me know if you’ve read any of these and which are your favorites!
Also, tell me your favorite book!
Extra points for fantasy or science fiction!

“The Graveyard Book” by Niel Gaiman
“Myst: Book of Atrus” by Rand and Robyn Miller
“Myst: Book of Ti’ana” Rand Miller
“American Gods” by Niel Gaiman
“Myst: Book of D’ni” by Rand Miller
“Story” by Robert McKee
“Sabriel” by Garth Nix
“The Story Grid” by Shawn Coyne
“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
“Lirael” by Garth Nix
“Abhorsen” by Garth Nix
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling
“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” by J.K. Rowling
“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” by J.K. Rowling
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” by J.K. Rowling
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” by J.K. Rowling
“Good Omens” by Terry Prachett & Niel Gaiman
“Structuring Your Novel” by K.M. Wieland
“Outlining Your Novel” by K.M. Wieland
“Everworld, Volume 1” by K.A. Applegate
“The Fifth Season” by N.K. Jemisin
“The Lost Years of Merlin” by T.A. Barron
“A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle
“The Obelisk Gate” by N.K. Jemisin
“The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho
“The Strange Library” by Haruki Murakami
“Unaccustomed Earth” by Jhumpa Lahiri
“From Here to Eternity” by Caitlin Doherty
“The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ” by Philip Pullman
“Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep” by Philip K. Dick
“Many Waters” by Madeleine L’Engle
“The Martian” by Andy Weir
“Pawn of Prophesy” by David Eddings
“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly
“Down Among the Sticks and Bones” by Seanan McGuire
“Mistborn: The Final Empire” by Brandon Sanderson
“Mistborn: The Well of Ascension” by Brandon Sanderson
“Mistborn: The Hero of Ages” by Brandon Sanderson
“Red Rising” by Pierce Brown
“The Three-Body Problem” by Cixin Liu
“Golden Son” by Pierce Brown

Excuse me while I go devour Morning Star.

When I finished editing the image on air, and the cameras went off, everyone in the room let out a big sigh. We all knew it didn’t really work out but we were happy we tried. When I got home from Seattle I decided to start editing it again. I tried twice more and it still wasn’t coming together. That was when I took a slightly different approach.

I started choosing new shots to work with – a higher angle of my subject as well as different house shots from the kiddie pool so that you could see more of the house under the water, thus adding to the believability effect. Those changes made a world of difference for me, fixing some perspective issues as well as changing what was a very static shot.

I have been on a book kick lately, really wanting to experiment with how books (stories, really) can transport you to another reality. Books are old, universally recognized, and provide an amazing symbol for anyone to latch on to. There are many different emotions attached to books, but one thing remains the same. If you read, you take your imagination to a different level. What an amazing metaphor for creating.

I ended up using all of the same techniques to edit this image when I was home as I did during the CreativeLive editing segment for this picture. Some of the featured tools were the Background Eraser Tool, Curves Adjustment Layers, and changing of the Lighting Dynamics. I think something that brought the image together for me in the end was the choice of clouds, and really creating a light source as well as light variation so that some of the image was in darkness and some in light.

Thankfully the light for this image was quite natural, with no extreme highlights or shadows, so changing the light slightly was not a problem. Of course, I can’t say if the image did ever come together or not, but it did satisfy a dream I’ve had. I always know when a picture is finished when I feel it matches what I saw in my imagination…so I want to thank you for watching and for supporting this photo shoot through your encouraging words as well as to CreativeLive for setting this up for me!

I have been creating so many images lately with heavy compositing, and I was loving that experimentation. I have no plans on stopping, either. But in that haze of image editing I decided to try for a simpler composition and shoot in my favorite spot in the forest. I went with my friend Kyna to take some photos. We had tea and chocolate and then sat in the ivy, burning candles and playing with wax.

Earlier in the day we visited a local Goodwill and found many books for the photo shoot. I bought about 25 of them and decided to make do with those. One that we found, which was extra special, was a huge anthology of Shakespeare’s works, with illustrations. It was incredible timing, as I was fashioning the character of the image around Ophelia.

When we got to the forest I opened up the Shakespeare book and turned to Hamlet where I found the page you see in the final image. I put a vine in her hair and posed her quite similar to the woman in the book, and decided to go for a play on characters: one mimicking the other.

To read is to escape; to become someone else; to wish for a new life. So much of reading is becoming, not just imagining. We can feel what they feel, and in doing so, become those characters, even if for a brief time. Escape, release, and imagination. These emotions are what books are made of. Enchantment.

Who are your favorite storybook characters?