Fall Things & Synopsis for New Manuscript

Hello and happy almost Halloween to you all! I hope that this fall season is making you all feel right at home. We have certainly been getting the most of the season, especially with Buzz's vacation. Headed to Vermont on Saturday and I am super excited about that as I have never been before. Hoping to get in some of the local culture as well as getting some covered bridges photographed. What I could do without though are the increasingly colder temps. I am not ready to let winter in, but I had better get used to it quick. They say it will come to us earlier, like November earlier!!! Just in case, I have gotten all my sweaters out of storage and I just finished all of my winter shopping this past week. So, I think I might be ready. How about you?

Anyway, if you follow me on FB, you know that I recently finished my second manuscript last month. It was quite a milestone for me, as my last manuscript was written with a friend. While that was an amazing experience in itself, this was just lil' ole me! It was requested by some folks interested in it, that I write a synopsis. I am posting that below so you can see what I have been up to and hopefully you will like it. I have often said that writing is such a personal thing to me, (to all writers I know), and having your work well received is an amazing feeling. So, I hope this peaks your interest a bit. Should have some news on it soon. I have also begun the start of a new manuscript and have 6 chapters into it so far. I am enjoying the feeling of accomplishment that I get from writing and sharing it with you is awesome. Oh yea, I still don't have a title yet. Any thoughts?  Ok, enough of that....

Again, I hope that your fall is a warm one. I hope that your dreams are coming true and if not, that's ok my friends. There's always tomorrow :) Sometimes it's hard to keep on moving forward, sometimes it's hard to have hope and on those days, give yourself a break. No one is perfect, (this is something that I am learning now, lol) and things don't happen overnight, as much as we would like them too. But one day, you will get there...no matter what your goal is. Here's to dreams my friends!!!!

Synopsis of

Serena Blaine, free-lance history writer, raven haired beauty is an average girl living a single life in Phoenix AZ and she is looking for love. Not just a one night stand kind of love and not her all-consuming shoe lust kind of love…the kind of love that steals her breath away and has her begging for more. The kind of love that she has been unlucky with her whole dating life. She knows it’s out there somewhere, it just doesn’t know her address.

Forming crushes on her current assignments tends to be the norm for her. She can always find something romanticize about them, but there is always one exception. THE father of the American Revolution.  You know, that guy…George Washington…Love him! As her assignment on him for History and Times magazine drags on, weird things start to happen. Serena starts to believe that she has traveled to the past and actually met the man. In her travels, they start a passionate affair that brings her quest for love to an end. She finds that all-consuming love that she has been searching for and a man who is a very sexy and in charge lover. His very touch brings a response from her body that she has never known before. Not at all what history books have written about him.  Becoming his confidant, his soul mate, she helps him with insights to the war that come with her knowledge of the future.

Then suddenly, proof of her love surfaces in the present and her whole world is turned upside down. The pull of the past proves too strong when her single girl life in the present is halted due to a car accident. In a deep coma surrounded by family in the future, will she decide to stay in the present or return to her love in the past? Is she in the reality that history has taught her or has she transported to an alternate reality where her life with the dashing General is an accepted one? 

Anna
Artfully Odd Photos 

Art Prints

New art prints are up and ready to view on the site.

Well hello there. How is everyone doing this weekend? Enjoying the month of October so far? Crisp fall has finally arrived here in upstate. We did not get much color in the Capital District, but that snap that the air gets this time of year, arrived today in full force. The smell of wood smoke has been in the air at night too...I totally love that. I think that if I could live in a world where it was this weather all the time, I could be very happy. Sweaters, hot tea, boots...Yea, its pretty great. I hope that whatever you are up to this fall, you are having a great time :)

I have a lot going on right now. I guess when fall comes around, the busy time picks up. Gone are the quieter days of summer. I am trying to take full advantage of it all. I have been working on a line of art prints that are turning out nicely I think. I have 2 novels in consideration as well as a short story, and my poetry has been coming along too. On top of all of that, I have a new job with an ad agency that I am quite excited about. Fall has been pretty good and for once, I am allowing myself to feel pretty good about all that's to come. I am, however, looking forward to December. Things will quiet down again for us then, and I plan to take full advantage of it. This has been a tough year for both Buzz and I. It taught us a lot of things about life...what's important and what isn't...so I am extremely thankful for everything. I hope that where ever you are on your journey friends, that you are happy and healthy and thankful.

Happy Sunday my friends.

Anna

artfullyodd.com 

Spooky Time and Senior Portraits

Hello again dear readers. I hope this finds you doing well today. As I write this, we are on the verge of another weekend. This week just flew by if you ask me and I can't believe that October is just around the corner! Technically a good thing for me, as I love all things October! I actually dug my sweaters out of storage the other day in preparation!!! Buzz and I have a couple of fun trips planned, like the Pumpkin Blaze and the haunted Albany tour. I can not wait! Hot cocoa time and all things spooky...yes, that's for me! And who knows what I will photograph :) Something spooky and beautiful I hope.

What's not spooky though, is what else comes around this time of year. Senior portrait time is here again and I was lucky enough to have a shoot just for that last weekend. She wanted to do something a little different than the norm. So I chose Washington park as our background and boy, did we get lucky with the weather. We could not have asked for anything better than last Saturday. While my style tends to lean toward the more odd, I reigned it in a bit and I think we were able to get some beautiful and interesting photos that will be totally unique to her. My tip for a session like this is to listen to your subject, discover what they really want and work together with them to create that vision. Allow them some wardrobe changes and props. Let their personality shine through :) I am posting a few below and giving a shout out to Michaella for a wonderful shoot! Congratulations to you and the class of 2015!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! Happy Haunting :)
Anna

For Mark

Well hello there. How have you all been since my last entry? Good I hope. Fall arrived here in Upstate quite quickly. To be honest, the changing of the seasons came, literally from one day to the next. I am not complaining though, because I love this time of year! Crisp air and the smell of wood smoke in the air...ah perfection.Our leaves are changing here, but slowly. I hope that in another week or so we have some really good color. Yea, photographers dream! I hope you are enjoying this time of year as much as I am.

On to other things...I was talking with a friend this morning about writing. He heard that writers should write every day no matter what. No matter if its good or not, just get the words flowing. This is true and something I tend to do every day no matter what. My house is littered with little scraps of paper with scribbled words on them, notebooks filled with stories that I write when I have writers block. Sometimes an idea will come to me while I am in the shower and I will have to jot it down as soon as I am out. Like this thought I had today, 'What would a con look like in the 1600's? And if Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were really Vampires, would they be a part of it?' You know, something ala Oceans 11 maybe. I jotted it down and it went right on the pile of scribbles. Whoever cleans out my place after I am gone will be in for a treat, lol! Lots of paper, words and library books. Did I mention that I buy old library books? Our library here sells old books, $2.00 for a bag full. I always get my bag full :)

Anyway, on to the writing. Yes, its true...writers write. Sometimes every day. I generally wake up with a mission to create something every day if possible. Photos, Painting, Writing...I try to do something every single day. That's what it's all about, isn't it. There is so much beauty out there in life, in this great big world...I like to contribute to that beauty when I can. No matter if its good or bad. No matter if anyone likes it or not, because that's what its all about. You can choose to be positive and fill your space with words that feed your mind or art even when the world outside is hard. It can be a comfort food for your soul and a soft blanket for your mind. Create my friends and see what beautiful things start to bloom! Feed your soul...

 So Mark, this is what I wrote today. It's rough, bad even, but I find it very funny and funny is good right now!

They Never Call:

Castle

Stone walls

She waits

Endless fields of green

Spread out over the vastness of time

She waits

Line of sight on the blue horizon

No horses today

She waits

Tear stained cheeks

Feelings of love lost

She waits

Years fly past

Time stands still

She waits

The Reaper’s at the door

He knocks with bony knuckles

She’s dead

Death took her in his arms

Her love never called

She waits…………..

No more

Have a wonderful week my friends.

Light & Love~Anna

Super Moon

So, I waited patiently last night to snap some photos of the last Super Moon of the year...I got 1, LOL, To my detriment, I did not have my tripod with me because I was on a sloping surface. You almost always need it to shoot something like this, but I really need is a new telephoto lens. I have been looking at new camera and lens packages, and I think I may have settled on the Nikon D3200, 24mp DSLR. If any of you have used this camera before, drop me a line and let me know how you like it. I LOVE my Olympus so I know that this will be a hard switch for me, but I think I need to step it up a bit.

Don't let this detract from the beauty of the Super Moon though! It was an amazing site and I am glad I got to witness it. How about you? Did you get any photos of the moon last night?

Hope you are having a great week out there :) Keep snapping my friends!
Anna

18 Chapters Done!!!!

Ok, so I surprised myself yesterday by writing 3 full chapters. That makes a total of 18 so far and that is also sort of a big deal for me! The manuscript I have been working on has been in the works for a few years now and it feels really good to be almost done with it. Now, fingers crossed that the rest of it writes itself as smoothly. Sometimes it's hard to get the vision in your head down on paper and sometimes your characters fight with you for a new outcome. I am excited to see where they let me take it.

Anyway, thought a would share a snippet that I wrote yesterday. This is the beginning of my chapter 17, hope you enjoy:

My Dearest Love-

I am most sorry that I was not able to travel back to the city with you. Leaving you in the care of others was a very difficult thing for me to do, however, Mary is a most capable woman with admirable qualities. She has informed me that you actually know one another and she looks forward to continuing friendship with you. I can rest assured that you, my love, are in capable hands.

I do not know when I may see you again, as this war seems to consume me. The army made some progress at Manmouth. A victory of sorts and I thought that you would want to know that I believe the tide has started to turn. Just as you said it would. I do not dare to hazard a guess at how you know the things you know, but your constant support of our cause and my men is enough to keep me moving forward.

I continue to pray for your recovery and long for the day when I might hold you in my arms again. You have become my constant in such a short amount of time, so much so, that I find it hard to fathom. We know each other it would seem, so well and yet, I long to know more. To know that your thoughts are consumed of me too is one of my greatest wishes. I meant what I said to you dear heart. I may not be able to promise you all you deserve, but I will continue to provide you with all that I have.

Please do not be cross with me when you wake. I did not know that the doctor had plans to bleed you and upon my return, I almost whipped him for it. The amount of the loss was little and I dare say that you did start to rally afterwards. Mary has continued to send me word of your health and I am encouraged by what she says. You will be well soon and we shall all be glad for it.

Until the day that I may return to you, I ask you to please remember that I love you most ardently, and If I am not to return, please know that my last thoughts were most certainly of you dear heart. I have been blessed by your grace. You are my life, you are my love, and you are my everything.

Loving regards-

(C) Anna Patten 2014

I am leaving out who it's from on purpose, lol. You will have to wait and see when it's all done. Again, I want to take a moment to thank you for all the support. It has meant more to me and has encouraged me at times when I wanted to throw in the towel. 

I hope this week is a good one for you as we go into the last days of summer. Remember to keep dreaming my friends and always try to stay on the sunny side :) Happy Monday!

Anna

Happy Friday My Friends!

Well hello and happy Friday to all my friends out there. This week went by fast, didn't it? Happy that the weekend has arrived though. Not much to report, as this month has been somewhat quieter than the last. That's good in a way, gives me more time to accomplish what I want. How has summer been for you?

I have a couple of shoots coming up and I was able to get out and take a few of myself the other day.  I have a few art donations going out too. The one below is headed to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society for their annual Art Saves Animals benefit. We found our Lola there so I am more than happy to help with this wonderful cause. I shot this in March and you can find this mural in downtown Albany off of Broadway.

I think that about wraps it up in my neck of the woods today. I hope that you are enjoying these last days of summer and are making great memories with loved ones! Stay safe and have fun my friends :)
Anna