This seems to be becoming ("be becoming"? what kind of messed up English is that? and I even wrote a book...)...let me rephrase. This is aparently my new pattern. I vanish for a month; I check in. Well, I'm checking in, and I will drop by and reply to comments and comment on other folks' stuff while I'm here, and then I'll probably vanish for a while again.

My life is just too jam-packed at the moment, but I do miss the time when I could finish a new piece of art to post every weekend and had big long conversations with folks on dA. But life changes, and there's a lot on my plate at the moment. For those curious (or reading this because they are bored):

--full-time job (provided I don't get laid-off any time soon--quick, knock on wood!)

--Japanese language class, weekly, including homework

--martial arts class, weekly (but I'll be quitting at the end of this year, it's the wrong style for me, I'm going back to my original style)

--making plans for my trip to Japan! I'm going in February of 2009

--regular chore stuff, paying bills, apartment upkeep, laundry, cleaning...

--editing, designing, and illustrating my second book, and writing my third book

--rebuilding my website (which is DONE! Finally, except for updating and touching up, anyone curious, go here [link]

--fun stuff, as possible: hanging out with my pals, watching anime, movies, Jdramas, reading, keeping up with dA

--sleeping

And that pretty much takes up 190 hours a week.

Whew. I'm tired already. Actually, today is the first day in a long time that I have had totally to myself, so I'm very happy about that. Of course I won't be spending the whole day doing purely fun stuff. There is a part of me that always insists on being productive. I don't know how I got it, exactly, and it hasn't always been there. When I was a teen I could waste whole days and not care, but now, sheesh, there's this feeling of obligation, like "my time is counting down. In fifty years I'll be dead, probably, so hurry up and make use of the time!"

Actually, I hope to live to be a hundred, at least, so fifty years is inaccurate. My great grandmother, for whom I was named, lived to 98, so I had better at least make it that far, so she'll be proud of me, but both my parents have had major health problems as young as fifty, so that makes me scared. When I truly realize that I could die at any moment, it makes me want to use my time meaningfully. And I always recall that saying "if you're still talking about what you did yesterday, you haven't done anything today."

Okay okay, enough rambling.

A few folks have asked about my book. It's fiction, fantasy-adventure with a love-story that is integral to the plot but not erotica, rated about PG-13 I'd estimate. Folks most likely to like it, I expect, are girls and open-minded guys (the lead is female, and for whatever reason, the majority of guys don't tend to read books where the lead is female, for those of you who do--thanks for recognizing women/girls/females as actual people and not just "the love interest") who like intelligent fantasy. I guess that means I'm calling my book intelligent...though a friend who read the book also said it was intelligent, specifically that the love-story was for girls who were inteligent, like she and I...but that's just her opinion. I know not everyone will like my book--that's impossible--but I hope some people might.

If anyone has questions about my book, feel free to leave them, or there's more info on my website, link above, including sample pages.

While I'm here, I've been wanting to do some fan art, and hope maybe I can find the time some time soon. Does anyone have any suggestions or requests? If so, feel free to leave them below and I'll look at them next time I'm on dA and see if anything spurs me to action.

I hope everyone's doing well!

Ja, ne,
--Katri

Hi all,

I've been away for a long time...

Thank you to everyone who left comments encouraging me not to leave. I haven't left really... I feel kinda guilty, just going away for so long. I'm sorry to everyone who missed me! Please forgive me.

I guess the Orphan Works bills have not passed yet. I've been keeping up on it as much as I can, and I wrote my legislators, and it looks like a lot of groups and organizations are condemning the bills. I hope I hope they won't pass. I've gotten so tired of worrying about it that I really can't anymore. I'm just waiting to see what happens now.

So, you wonder what I've been up to these past three months?

*psst" I published my first book. Yeee! I'm afraid it's terrible and everyone will hate it, but I did it. It took a whole lot of time to get it all ready and submit it. I self-published so I could have total control over it, but that means that no publishing house has vouched for it and said it's good. So it could be awful... Here's a link in case anyone wants to find out more about it.

[link]

I haven't done hardly any new art except for my book, so I have nothing new to post. I am considering taking my fan-art out of storage and putting it back on my page since no one can really rip that off and make money off it.

Anyway, I'm pretty exhausted right now, and kinda stressed, but I may be sticking my head in here a bit more often. I do feel bad about just abandoning everything and everyone. I wouldn't say I'm really "back" but...

I have over 300 deviations and messages. I will try to get to some, but... I will at least try to respond to one of everyone's comments, deviations, or journals to say hi.

--Katri

Hi all,

I will be closing my dA account if the current bill in congress, H.R. 5889, is passed.

In the meantime, I am trying to Store all my deviations (dA isn't being very good about allowing me to), so they will no longer be public, until congress arrives at a decision on the above bill. I appologize to all the deviants who like looking at my work. As long as HR 5889 is defeated, my account will reopen in all its former (debateable) glory.

If you are not aware of bill HR 5889 (and its sister-bill in the senate), I suggest you look it up and write your representatives immediately.

Please go look at it yourself, but as I understand it, the bill will strip artists of their copyrights, allowing anyone to use your art in any application without asking your permission or compensating you unless you pay to have your art registered with several digital registries. This bill may also have an impact on international copyright law and international artists. Everyone who does not pay to register their art will be vulnerable to having their art used without their permission or compensation, without credit of any kind. Automatic, exclusive copyright (which you currently get simply by making a piece of art) will vanish, for everyone, even if you've registered your art with the Library of Congress. Basically, it will allow wholesale theft of art from every artist in the United States. To protect your art, you'll have to pay, and even then it's not guaranteed. Rip-off-ers can just say "oh, it wasn't in the digital registry I checked."

If you would like to learn more, please visit [link]

There you can read the bill itself and write your representatives (including from international locations).

I am hopeful the bill will not pass and I'll be able to return to creating art to share. If the bill should pass I will do my best to delete my entire art presence from the internet, since I cannot afford to register my hundreds of pieces of art with 5-10 registries (no idea yet what it will cost), and do not want someone else taking credit for art I created or making money off of me. I guess I'm just an arrogant American that way.

I appologize again to everyone who likes my art. Unfortunately, my art is also my work and my income, but I am a struggling artist. This new bill leaves me two choices--retract all my art from distribution, or allow it to be eternally ripped off.

If you have downloaded any of my art, please keep it for personal enjoyment only. Please do not distribute it in any form. I can't stop you, but I can ask you nicely, artist to artist, to be a decent human being and respect me, as I respect other artists.

I really can't believe it's come to this in this country. I can't believe what the government might do to artists. It will destroy my way of life (even my 9 to 5 job could be in danger), and the lives of thousands of other artists if this bill passes. It is such a wholly ridiculous bill that I hope it will be shot down, but I'm still afraid, and caught between panicked tears and being majorily pissed off.

I love sharing my art, but the idea that I will no longer have any right to call it mine or take credit for it, or get paid for it, is absolutely intolerable.

If you feel the same, please learn more about the bill, and write your representatives as soon as possible.

Best to all,
--Katri

Hi everyone! I'm still busy but I hope hope HOPE that starting Monday I'll have a little more free time.

My friend and I went to the Sakura Festival as Bleach characters (she was Renji, I was Byakuya) last Sunday! It was fun but really crowded and rather tiring. I must say, we had the best shinigami outfits there (in my opinion, and ours were made by hand--our hands! No store-bought costumes for us!), although we were not the most spectacular cosplayers overall. The judges tended to like the sexy girls instead.

There were tons of people taking photos of all the cosplayers (over 100 cosplayers). It was like one big photo shoot, especially where--after being judged--you walk to a mark on the floor in front of a bank of about 30-40 photographers with fancy cameras, tripods, and long lenses and got a minute to pose and be photoed. I thought that was fun, and my martial arts training stood me in good stead for taking some nifty poses with my Senbonzakura (sword, Byakuya's sword is named Senbonzakura).

I brought my camera and have a few photos of both me and my friend. They aren't cleaned up yet, though. They need some color correction and lighting adjustments, all that, but if I can make one look like art instead of a snapshot I will post it on dA. After all, the costumes are art--fabric art, since we made them.

There was a big Bleach crowd at the fest, too, which was awesome. I got to ask Rukia what she was doing there and scold her for hanging out with Ichigo, banter with Aizen (traitor), and even have a little chat with Ukitake who was luckily healthy enough to put in an appearance--healthy enough to even kick me at one point... I think most of the divisions were represented, too... 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13... yep, most of them. There were also two other Byakuyas there, and the three of us entertained the crowd by having a few (cautious, since we all had swords) fights. No one got hurt. It was pretty cool.

Other news: did I mention I'm busy? Well, the sak fest is over now, so I won't be sewing my every waking moment anymore. So just class and work and my other huge list of things to do. My parents are visiting this weekend, though, so I won't have free time until Monday, but it will be good to see them.

Oh, here's a question. Authors can self-publish books on Amazon.com. I have a trilogy (okay, it's not a trilogy yet, the first two books are done pending editing, but I've only just started the third). I've been working on the books for about three or four years now. I'm thinking of self-publishing with Amazon. As far as I can tell it looks like a good deal (though I won't make much money, maybe a few cents a book after Amazon's cut) but I haven't read all the fine print yet. If I published, would anybody be interested in the book? I'm not in it to make money--I know I won't--so I'll price the books as low as I can. I just want, if my story is good, for people to be able to read it, while I retain my rights to it.

Obviously, it is not Harry Potter fan-fic; it's my own characters and own story. I've gotten one good review on the first two books. It's a fantasy-adventure, with some romance that is integral to the story-line, rated PG. The lead is a twenty-something female, and there are main characters who are guys, too. I've been inspired by Mercedes Lackey, JKR, RA Salvator, Tad Williams--those sorts of authors. I'm contemplating putting the first chapter up on my personal website (to hopefully get folks hooked and give a preview) and then publishing on Amazon.

What do you think?

Later,
--Katri

I go away for a little while and when I come back--ye gods! Over 200 deviations and messages. Yow.

I haven't been on for a while because of a number of things:

1. work (40 hours a week, and all that)

2. class (my Japanese classes)

3. I moved! Into a new apt. The best I've ever had (and most expensive). I love it, but man it's taken a load of effort to get the whole thing to happen.

4. A friend and I are working feverishly on our cosplay outfits for the Sakura Festival--April 20. I will put up photos when we finish the costumes (we're starting from scratch: fabric and thread, no store-bought costumes for us) but I'm going to do it on my own website, so I can make a sort of journal about all the pieces I had to make, build, sew, sculpt, paint, and wrap, and how I did it and all that. So stand by. I'll put up a new journal with a link once the mini-site is done if anyone's interested.

5. the usual errands: laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, making meals. Sheesh, if you're still a kid--enjoy it! (Everyone always told me that, and I never believed them)

Alrighty, I must dash, but if you've left me a comment or something, I will get back to it--eventually. If it's something urgent, Note me. I may stick my head in here again on Sunday or something.

Best of everything to all!
--katri