Oh, dear dear strap-hanger
Holding the pole above your head
Riding the E train with the rest of us
Did you forget something this morning?
Deodorant, perhaps?
Maybe you did apply it,
But clearly, not enough
Your Right Guard is all wrong
You are no longer Sure
And it’s not a Secret anymore.
I hope one of our stops is soon
Very very soon.
Some of us are born with a tremendous amount of creativity, and some of us are not. You can see it when you observe children playing: some children can literally … Continue reading Art Imitating Life
Welcome to the first blog post for the month of August! This month, I’m going to post some author tips: things I have learned that have helped me with my … Continue reading Monday Blog: When and Where to Write
I love that moment when Amazon recommends my own book to me….
A few months ago, a couple of writers and I had a mini-debate over this topic. SO, here’s the question: do you give the chapters in your books titles, … Continue reading Chapter Titles: Love Them or Hate Them
Happy Monday, everyone! I hope all of you had a good weekend. In keeping with this month’s theme, I wanted to talk about drawing inspiration from nostalgia. I’ve been having a lot of nostalgic dreams lately, and thinking about things from my childhood. One such memory, is related to my desire to want to learn to play the guitar.
I thought this desire began when I fell in love with punk rock, but I recently realized, it started waaayyyyyy before that. When I was about seven years old, I had a large plastic boat, which was a replica of Noah’s Ark. It came with pairs of animals and everything. I used to dump the animals out of the ark, and stretch rubber bands across the top of the ark, to make a guitar. Then I moved up to using shoeboxes and rubber bands.
Of course, years later, I did acquire a real guitar, and then I began learning to play. This, combined with my love of punk rock, led to the creation of Our Lady of Righteous Rage.
I watched a lot of anime throughout my childhood, and started reading manga (or graphic novels, if you prefer). Shows such as Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Neon Genesis Evangelion, inspired me to write Fortune’s Wing and Valentine. I’ve mentioned this before, but if either of those series ever become films or TV series, I want them to be animated.
Then of course, there’s The Witch of Fulton Lane. You’re probably wondering what inspired me to write that story. I’ve always been interested in the paranormal, and The Craft is one of my favorite movies. I’ve been reading tarot cards for the past few years, and when I came up with the concept behind Fulton Lane, I was able to take all of my interests and knowledge, and work them into the story.
If you look carefully at what you’re creating now, you may find little bits and pieces of your own childhood weaved into your creation(s). This can be intentional or unintentional. Nostalgia can be very inspirational.
Until next week…
It’s Monday! It’s April! It’s time for the Monday Blog! Why am I so excited? Because Spring is here (I mean, it’s been here since March 20th, but now it actually feels like Spring). As a New Yorker, and a woman of Caribbean descent, I’m tired of the cold weather.
This month’s theme will center around inspiration. I’m also going to include Small Businesses, since I have one, and Record Shop Day is coming up on April 21. But, mostly, I will focus on inspiration.
Inspiration comes in many forms. A book, a song, your favorite movie, perhaps. Whenever I find myself in a creative rut, I turn to the things that inspire me, to help me reclaim my creativity. For example, I got stuck while working on Righteous, and picked up a copy of AP Magazine, which happened to have a section filled with inspirational quotes from musicians. Reading that issue gave me the inspiration I needed to start writing again, and it also gave me an idea for this month’s theme (so it was a twofer!).
Sometimes, inspiration comes from an act instead of a physical object. When I need to clear my head and come up with fresh ideas, a walk can be very inspirational. When I need to channel my energy, lighting incense or a candle really helps me.
So, what inspires you? Feel free to share in the comments below!
Welcome to the first Monday Blog for 2018, on a Wednesday! Monday was New Year’s Day, so I took time off to relax. But the holiday is over, so it’s time to get back to work.
Most people like to make New Year’s Resolutions. I stopped doing that a few years ago. However, this year, I have decided to set a few goals for myself, and for Woolaston Entertainment.
1. Publish 5 more books by the end of 2018.
2. Read 100 new books
3. Create new merchandise for W.E.
4. Put my books in the hands of new readers, both here in the states, and abroad.
I’m also planning to use my social media pages more often. This means, more posts on Tumblr, more tweets on Twitter, and more ads on Facebook. I’d also like to reach out to my readers: if you’ve ever read a Woolaston Entertainment book, please post a review online. Or, send me your thoughts via the contact page on this site! I would love to know what you think.
To all of my fellow writers, artists and creators: I hope you have a wonderful year. It’s January, so we’re just getting started. Best wishes to everyone and Happy New Year!
Happy Holidays, everyone! Welcome to the final blog post for 2017! I hope everyone enjoys their holiday. With 2017 coming to a close, it’s time to look ahead to 2018. But first, what happened to W.E. in 2017? I published more books this year than ever before. I’m having a comic published in my high school’s newspaper, The Bear Facts (from Bethel High in Virginia). I created a brand new story, The Witch of Fulton Lane. And, I’ve managed to use my writing to fund this website. All in all, I’d say 2017 was a great year for W.E.
The year 2018 is right around the corner. When January hits, I’m going into “beast mode”. My goal is to place more W.E. books in the hands of more readers, and start picking up some online reviews. I have plans to start a book club, which would start out with W.E. books, but would eventually expand. Our Lady of Righteous Rage is coming back, along with a side story, Dee Seybrook: Rock n’ Roll Diva. I’d also like to dive deeper into the life of Valentine’s Jo Fuentes, by giving her another stand-alone book. Plus, merchandise! Next year, there will be some merchandise (other than the books) available on woolastonentertainment.com. Calendars, posters, etc.
2017 was great, but I know 2018 will be even better. I’ll see you on the other side!
From 1994 to around 2005, there was more to Woolaston Entertainment than just books. There are comics and artwork now, but back then, my focus was spread more evenly. Watching a ton of magic-girl anime created the comic/series Enos, which later created Degenerate R. Plus, I drew other comics and a produced a few calendars to compliment the books I was working on. I didn’t have the money to have posters printed, so everything was drawn by hand. In fact, I even created a few plush dolls. Of course, I continued to write. I hand-wrote a ton of books, and every other year or so, I wrote a compendium, or a detailed account of all things W.E..
Comics
The comics eventually fell by the wayside, when the books took over. In the beginning, there was The 8th Dimension, my tribute to Gary Larson’s The Far Side. These were single-scene, black and white sketches (poorly drawn, I might add), which I created in 1995. Next, came my sci-fi series, Enos, which features some of the characters you may know from Our Lady of Righteous Rage. Enos concerned two races of aliens in a battle for a power known as the Neon White Flame: the power that was used to create the universe and the planets and was given to one race of aliens by Heaven itself. I completed the first comic book in 1995, and drew a few single comics over the following years, but ultimately wrote a series of books instead. There were also three other comics: Mike & Vanessa, Sarconi and Seybrook, which were featured in a 1999 calendar.
Hand Written Books
If you ever need proof, that the time you spent creating and drawing and being a bit of a nerd, can be useful, here it is! I started writing books for myself when I was in first grade, and I continued all the way until 2010. The only reason I stopped, is because I had finally published something (Fortune’s Wing). But all of that creative energy was not wasted. Nineteen published books and counting, with sales, positive reviews and a book signing, are proof of that. Fortune’s Wing, Valentine and Our Lady, all began as books I wrote within the pages of composition notebooks and journals. Like all of my hand written books, they had covers, spine labels, and summaries on the back.
Writing Goals
I’d like to go back to all of those old books and polish them, and publish them, one at a time. Some will need more work than others, but I believe it’s going to be a fun challenge. Someday, maybe I’ll publish a few comics, too!
Until next week…
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