My dear friends, I have had the enormous pleasure of getting to know this delightful new artist-author: Roz MacLean.
 
     Throughout her life, this creatively-insatiable gal has been a devoted book worm greatly inspired by many writers. Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series for starters, “It was very important to me as a young adult,” Roz says. “And I had a deep emotional connection to Anne Mcaffrey and her Pern series about dragons.”
 
     She still loves picture books, and her favorite illustrator is Shaun Tan; especially his books The Arrival and The Red Tree (both excellent reads!). Roz also loves graphic novels and comics, and has immense admiration for comic journalist Joe Sacco, not to mention Kate Beaton, and Lisa Hanawalt’s work.
 
     “Growing up, I was a big English and art nerd, but I also played sports,” Roz says.
     She played soccer and field hockey, and earned the Female Athlete of the Year award in both 11th and 12th grade. “But I think I mostly won because I was so enthusiastically supportive of my teammates,” laughs Roz.
    
     She loves the outdoors and rides her bike most places. “Like many Vancouverites I love sushi!” Tuna sashimi with tons of ginger is her favorite.

     “I have a reaaallly cool pair of rain pants for the rainy weather,” Roz laughs. “I am addicted to listening to podcasts while I bike (just one ear bud of course), and like to listen to a range from comedy to world news to science.” 
    
    “Music and dancing brings me tons of joy as well, although I've embraced my lack of coordination as a gift that puts others at ease,” she says with a smile.
     
     She loves spending time in forests and near the water whenever possible. “And although I was traumatized by some early life camping experience involving a lot of rain, wet sleeping bags and many, many mosquitos, I am now trying to become a more competent camper.”
    
     To make her even more well-rounded, she is currently in love with reading non-fiction about artificial intelligence, human development and psychology. I imagine this helps her be more intuitive with her other passion, Special Education. For the past seven years, Roz has been working as an Intervenor in the field of Deafblindness. This means she supports a student who is deafblind one to one at school, helping them to communicate and understand the world around them. 
     “Much of my artwork incorporates themes of inclusion, stigma and empathy, as I'm always trying to imagine what it would be like to experience the world differently,” says Roz.
 
     Her latest book, The Body Book, illustrates in a colorful fun way just how unique each body is. I think this book will help break down stigmas in the young reader’s mind about what a body “should” look like, and help us see the beauty in diversity. I personally can’t wait to share this book with my children! Here are some lovely samples from the book:

     This adorable book will be officially released August 31st, though it can be pre-ordered at Promontory Press. https://rozmaclean.com/artwork/books/the-body-book/
 
    In an interview about her book, Roz stated:
 
     “I created The Body Book in part because of my own struggle with body image growing up, and the serious effects this had on my health.  I know that our culture shows limited options to children, and girls especially, of what type of body is ok.  On top of that, all of the fat shaming that goes on can be incredibly harmful to children's self-esteem, and can cause them to live with constant anxiety about monitoring their own size and shape. I see little girls I work with who have low self-esteem because their perfectly healthy body is not thin, and it breaks my heart. 
 
     Our society only gives people respect on the condition that their body fits a narrow norm, and that needs to change.  The Body Book is my contribution to a new kind of education of self-love and body positivity.”
 
     She spends quite a bit of time drawing and painting in her studio and has a few styles that she alternates between, such as the series of watercolor dog portraits she is currently working on.
    “Recently, I completed a series of drawings of the hand shapes that make up the American Sign Language alphabet. I know a little bit of ASL, but am excited to learn more this Fall when I take classes,” Roz says.
 
      The Body Book is the second book she’s written and illustrated, the first being Violet's Cloudy Day, which received an Honorable Mention from the Eric Hoffer Book Award in 2015. She has also illustrated nature-themed Lucy's Tree by Helen Davidson for which she was awarded the West End B.I.A. “Free Spirit Award,” as well as Mommy's 26 Careers, a book written by actress Keegan Connor Tracey that will also be coming out this Fall.
 
      “The way I reflect on new ideas is by making art about them.” –Roz Maclean.
 
 
     If you’d like to visit her website or find her on social media, you can use the links below:
 
Website: www.rozmaclean.com
Twitter: @rozmaclean
Facebook: Roz Maclean Art
Instagram: Roz_Maclean_Art

I stumbled across this golden post thanks to an amazing woman named Lisa Mangum of Shadow Mountain. I found this post a refreshing and positive take on something all writers have to face at some point or another: Bad Reviews, or feedback. I hope you guys benefit from it as much as I did! A big thank you to the wise author, Miss Josi S. Kilpack for sharing it with us on the Writer's Muse! And, without further ado---
www.josiskilpack.com

How to create life: Writing good characters and developing them.

This month we’ll be discussing how to write brilliant relatable main characters, interesting supportive characters, and successfully dynamic antagonists. I’ve composed a walkthrough of sorts, based on personal observations and experiences, and bits of wisdom I’ve collected from other writers over the years.

First Step: Write a Basic Profile for each character. This should cover the following:

         Name-

         Character type- Clarify if it is a main character, supportive character, or antagonist/ villain.

         Physical description- Age, Hair, eyes, face shape, height, build, skin tone, highlights (freckles, scars, warts, big ears, fuzzy eyebrows, etc)

          Personality- Mama’s boy, outgoing, arrogant, timid, dorky, spunky, artistic, opinionated, laidback, etc.

         Physical Quirks- Always flipping her hair, bites fingernails, hand twitches, smiles too much, nods a lot, nervous laughs, laughs like a horse, etc.

        Personality Quirks- These could include pet peeves, things they’re very interested in, emotional reactions to certain topics, chips off the shoulder, things that bring out the child in them, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, etc.

         A Brief Bio that covers- Where they’re from, what their parents did/do for a living (this can really explain a lot about a character), siblings and other relevant family members, describe their house (or apartment, car, trailer), a few sentences on how life was for them growing up, highlight defining moments relevant to the story.

 

Second Step: If all goes well, writing this basic profile should give you lots of ideas as to how to further develop this character. Just the act of filling in the blanks will get your creative juices flowing. Once you’re done writing Basic Profiles, take it to the next step, and write a one to two page background story. Be sure to highlight/underline key plot points you want to use, as well as important details like DATES, (it is really important to keep track of an accurate timeline if you want your story to be believable).

Some Tips & Words of Wisdom:

          One of my beta readers (Here's to you Cindy Sorensen!) made an excellent point that while you’re writing a character, it’s important to show what the character is feeling, not tell. It’s what can make the difference between a pretty good story and a great one. Your readers want to figure some things out on their own, and don’t always want everything handed to them cut and dried. Here is an example of Telling how someone feels in your story versus Showing:

1.      Telling: “Joey looked really sad suddenly.”

2.      Showing: “Joey’s face fell, and he turned away with slumped shoulders.”

That’s just an example off the top of my head, I’m sure you can probably come up with something better, but I hope you get the idea. Also, unless you’re writing in Omnipotent, your main character can’t always “know” what another character is feeling. If your character has to deduce what someone is feeling, then really your reader does, too.

         When writing characters, Motivation is terribly important for both protagonist and antagonist and supportive characters. When a character has realistic motivation (the reader doesn’t have to agree with their motive, just understand it), it makes them much more believable and “Brings them to Life.”

         Along those same lines, characters need to noticeably grow and change through-out the story. Personal philosophy, perspective, beliefs, opinions, all these change or adapt with experiences in real people, so it should be the same with written characters to make them more "relatable."



    I’d Love to hear your thoughts on this article. If you disagree with something or think I’ve left out something important, leave a comment. If you have another tip or thought to add, or if you found this article useful, leave a comment! I hope this has helped you in some way.

Happy Writing, my fellow storytellers. =)

~Diana J. Davidson, Author of ONE OF A KIND and THE SKYSLES OF WYN’AUREN