I recently walled yet another “urban fantasy” after making it through several chapters of Magical Battles Against The Bad Monsters and waiting in vain for some semblance of plot to appear. Keeping the threats to the protagonist’s lifenand/or soul dialed up to 11, chapter after chapter, quickly becomes boring. I want a few scenes of normal life, characters having the leisure to engage with each, and at least the promise that there’ll be a plot beyond Magical Battles, etc., etc.
Hence the image, a piece of beadwork I finished recently. It was worked on a scrap of a hand-dyed and painted grey silk scarf with rust and gold shapes, and initially I had just planned to accentuate those shapes with rust and gold embroidery and beading. This worked beautifully for several days, until one day I glanced at the piece where I’d set it down and realized that beautiful as the embellishments might be when I had my nose up against them, from any distance they faded into the background.
The thing wanted contrast, and so the central river of turquoise was born.
Stories need contrast too.
End of sermon.
Now the PSA:
It’s been a pleasure to proofread/copyedit manuscripts, not to mention getting a chance to discover new writers. Sadly, this is one of the activities I’m going to have to give up to protect what’s left of my eyesight. My glaucoma, after being held in check by twice-daily eye drops for a long time, has come roaring back. I left the eye doctor’s with (1) prescriptions for two kinds of eye drops four times a day, (2) a leaflet extolling the virtues of having a stent surgically implanted in my eyeball, and (3) a strong recommendation that I stop doing things that make my eyes hurt. Which means much, much less staring at screens as well as a number of other lifestyle changes, including daily (hourly?) prayers of gratitude that I’m still allowed to do embroidery and beadwork.
Mad Genius Club 
13 responses to “Contrast, and an announcement”
I am so sorry to hear about your glaucoma. As poor as my eyesight is, I genuinely do not know what I’d do with myself if I lost it.
I do want to thank you for editing my thing, even though it was mostly a goofy fanfic. While I don’t know if or when I’ll be able to return to writing, I learned an immense amount from your help, and will be eternally greatful.
I wish you only the best in your endeavors, your health, and your creations.
Thank you and take care.
Beautiful bead work! And oof. That’s rough. I once had an eye doctor tell me I needed to spend less time reading. I was a history grad student at the time. I bit my tongue – hard.
Please chime in as time and vision warrants! We’ll miss you.
you might try some research into phototherapy. There is a lot of new information coming out, about it, especially red-light/NIR, and while the previous news was cover the eyes, there is more research coming out about using it for eye difficulties. So, another avenue to check into.
Thanks for the suggestion! I hadn’t heard about that, will look into it.
Lovely beadwork, esp. the contrast. Gotta have contrast, in any art.
So sorry to hear about the pending limitations!
Maybe you could try using a BIG TV for a monitor.
I got a 62″ 4K HDTV for my desktop computers and it works great. Make the text bigger and sit 6 feet or more from the screen, maybe less eye strain? Worth a try, anyway.
I did that for a while with my work from home setup, until some foulups landed me with a wired setup for headset and keyboard/mouse instead of the bluetooth implements I had been using. Tv as monitor worked great.
The beadwork is beautiful and I’m sorry about your eyes. I benefited enormously from your generous reading/editing. Thank you.
I am sorry to hear about your eyes. I hope whatever treatment you choose to pursue works out for you.
You were kind enough to proof a manuscript for a friend, and gave it a nice review on Amazon. Thank you again. I hope that one of the suggestions above help you, or that some other option becomes available.
On the other side, not only does the scarf have contrast from afar, but the closer you look, the more detail you see. People like the contrast from afar, but the intricate detail means every time they come back, they have something new to appreciate. Therein is another lesson, I guess.
Take care of yourself: you are awesome, and I hope you have many interesting projects and fun memories ahead.
Sorry this is two days late, but I too need to thank you for the many proofreads you’ve done for me. The last two Seelie Court novels probably wouldn’t have made it out on time if it weren’t for you, and you gave me some great advice in my Little Mermaid retelling. Thanks so much for everything!
Rather than a stent, has your doctor mentioned a low power laser treatment (SLT)? I’m 78, borderline glaucoma and am considering it.
And I’ve enjoyed your writing. Thanks
-DJ