My October 2020’s Monthly Update

Every month I do these quick update videos on my YouTube channel. They are my version of video newsletters.

They are focused specifically on my art business, which includes both my visual art and writing. I do sometimes add personal life updates since they may affect my business.

I will be starting to add them here, on my site, so that it is easy for all to access them. Starting next month the updates will post here a bit earlier in the month. However, you can always get notified of them if you subscribe to my channel.

My October 2020 Monthly Update

Life Is (A Poem)

Life is a poem
Life is a dance,
swirling and twirling
moving all around.

Life is a journey, 
learning and growing
moving all around.

Life is a battle,
striving and fighting
moving all around.

Life is always changing 
as we dane on journey on
fighting our battles as we stand our grounds.
Want More?

If you would like to read more of my poetry please take a look at my portfolio. You can also watch a few of my poetry readings.

Egg (A Poem)

Egg (A Poem) image
I'm boiled and bruised
Just like you.
No longer liquid inside
Life has cooked me,
There was no place to hide.
I was heated on all sides,
Break down my walls,
my outer self.
I'm ready to be consumed.
Let my life nurish your body.

Egg is a short poem that relates me to a hard-boiled egg. It is meant to be both fun and moving. I enjoyed writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it.

Want More

If you would like to read more of my poetry please take a look at my portfolio. You can also watch a few of my poetry readings.

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Tal’s Tales #1: The Unusual Stranger In A Town Of Dust

Focus: Scenery and location.
The Unusual Stranger In A Town Of Dust

Dust and dry dirt covered the wide main road in this little town that was forgotten as the 2 suns met high in the sky. They caused the delicate vegetation to wither away and fragile creatures to seek shelter. In a few weeks, life would flourish. Soon this little town would be full of color and life from the now withered vegetation and fragile creatures. For now, it was only gray, beige, and unbearably hot. Until the suns passed each other, this town would remain lifeless.

Not even rain clouds would venture out of wherever they hid. The only storms that showed themselves were windstorms. These storms caused the dust and dirt to dance around the buildings with the passion and violence of an angry lover scorned.

A well-dressed stranger arrived in a bright blue metallic carriage powered by the latest travel technology, while the 2 suns still fought for the sky. He wore a rich violet suit with a lush emerald shirt. This unusual stranger was accompanied by an even more unique figure who was tinted silver. The silver one tried to cover as much as he could as he got out of the carriage. He carried a bag filled with medical and mechanical tools, while the well-dressed stranger carried nothing.

As they walked into the saloon, the doors swung closed. The wind welcomed them to town by dancing around the main road, causing the once clean and fancy vehicle to match its surroundings.

The stranger saw this through the dust crusted windows and tighten his jaw. His mouth nearly disappeared and his eyebrows furrowed. The dirt covering his carriage would not suit him at all.

He looked around at the saloon and it matched the rest of the town. It was gray, dirty, and lifeless, except for the barkeep that blended into the bar he was sitting at. “You’re either a week late or 3 weeks early.” He said not getting up from his stool.

Want More

All of the stories in this series can be found in the Tal’s Tales section of this site. I also post snippets on my Instagram account and Facebook page.

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Tal’s Tales: A Fun New Project Starting

If you watch my update videos, you will know my writing direction is shifting. I am moving away from articles and blogs. Instead, I will write more stories and poetry. As part of this change in direction, I have started a short story series called Tal’s Tales. The stories will be part of a larger story and use the same characters. However, each story will also be enjoyable as a standalone story. Each installment will focus on a different storytelling or writing aspect.

The major reason I’m writing this series is to improve my writing, so it is more engaging. A secondary benefit is that I hope to reach more of my target audience and show my fiction writing skills.

I’m starting with 30 story focuses. A few of the focus notes will be difficult to pull off, but being challenged is the best way to grow. I am excited to share this series with you and see where it goes.

Why am I telling you all this?

I am finishing up the article series Tiff’s Tips and have put my other series Love Nerd on the back-burner. I may post a few more articles here and there, but my writing focus will be on Tal’s Tales and my other project Royal Memories. Since this will be a shift for the site, creating a post about it seemed appropriate.

What are Tal’s Tales about?

Tal’s Tales is about a group of characters who travel the universe in a living spaceship. Each character is a different species. The overarching focus is how they interact with each other in different situations. It will feel like a wacky sitcom at points and will be a fun read.

Please, give any and all feedback. This is for me to grow as an author, so I welcome all feedback.

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Tiff’s Tips: Regularly Reflect On Your Journey

Regularly reflect on your journey Tiff's tips series

As you take risks, embrace change, and achieve your goals, reflect regularly on your journey.

Some times it’s hard to be aware of your progress and track valuable milestones. Creating goals often and assessing the goals may not be enough. It is easy to lose track of your overall progress and forget how far you’ve come in your art journey.

We all start somewhere with our creative life and we can get caught up in creating that we forget that we’re making progress. I started with art and writing as a passionate hobby. It would rub me the wrong way when someone called it a hobby, but that is what it was. My desire was for my creativity to be more. However, at the start of my journey it was only something I did in my free time.

My Journey

I then took actions and plan more time around my writing and painting. The act of planning my time around my creative was the first actual step in my artistic career. It was not my last step, though. I shifted my life more and more so I could make it a business and my career. I’m still working on making it a successful business, but I have been meeting wonderful milestones.

One way I track my milestones is to write achievements in a notebook. This way when I’m unaware of my progress, I can look back at all the wonderful stuff I’ve done. Some milestones are things I can control, like publishing “To Love.” Other milestones are outside my control, like making $100 from “To Love”. It is a wonderful practice to track both what your actions and the actions of your audience.

In the recent past, I’ve also used time tracking apps to see how I’ve increased in my time spent on different projects and on my art business.

My personal journal also has notes on my artist journey. When I journal, I do reflect on how my art has changed and looking at how I feel my goals and dreams are going.

I do also have an art business notebook where I take notes on ideas, research, and plan out my business and career. I can go back and examine how my business has morphed and changed over time, which is helpful in keeping me moving forward.

All this regular reflection has kept me motivated and recharges my inspiration. I have evidence written down that I’m already making progress, so I want to keep going.

Want More?

This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.

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Church (A Poem)

I've been in battle 
with the word all my life.
The hard distant pews 
were too hard of seats for me.
It meant too much 
then too little.
I saw the rules as chains
so it's funny
that when my soul breathed
church is where those chains were broken
and I was truly set free.
Want More?

If you would like to read more of my poetry please take a look at my portfolio. You can also watch a few of my poetry readings.

I'll Wait: A Throwback Video

I’ll Wait: A Throwback Video

I’ll wait is a poem I wrote in 2014 and a throwback video. It performed well on my site, so I did a poetry reading recording of it for YouTube. It then did pretty well on YouTube and is one of my throwback posts.

My throwback posts are my attempt to highlight some of my older work to display my growth, while making sure the work is properly promoted.

I will wait for inspiration to come
for thoughts like a word bubble 
to appear above my head.

I will wait 
until my mind is ready
and my brain turns on
like a computer boting up.

I will wait until my body tells me
it is time to write
and then when patience is no longer needed
and inspiration comes
I will write.

I will write 
watever my mind tells me to write.
My mind whispers to my fingers
and what is scribbled 
in the thought bubble above my head.
When I know what to write
I will ready my body
unleash my mind
and write
but until then
I will wait.
Want More?

If you would like to read more of my poetry please take a look at my portfolio. You can also watch a few of my poetry readings.

Breathe a poem

Breathe (A Poem)

I remind myself
Breathe.
Close your eyes if you must
but breathe.

One, Two, Three.
Inhale the exhale.
Your heart doesn't need to beat so loud.

Breathe. 
There is no real danger,
nothing to truly fear,
so breathe.

Breathe
in with the peace that surrounds you
out with the anxiety that built.

Breathe
in with the love we share
out with the bottled up fear.

Breathe
sometimes I need to remind myself 
to breathe.
Want More?

If you would like to read more of my poetry please take a look at my portfolio. You can also watch a few of my poetry readings.