Meet Ron. He’s the flying ace. He’ll swoop from the sky, dive into the water, and swim anywhere for a shiny fish. 🙂
Rrr- just how do you pronounce that? I wasn’t 100% sure on that myself, so I looked it up on Youtube…
There, mystery solved. 🙂 Sure would be nice if there was a video like this for all the really long and complicated dino names, especially some of the more recent Chinese ones.
Oh, and before you ask, yes, there is evidence that pterosaurs can swim. 🙂 Ron here seems to spend most of his time in water, which might be why we have so many perfect fossils of this little guy. 🙂
He’s fast though. It took a whole bucket of fish to entice him to come over for a quick chat.
And there he goes! Ah well, if you want to know more about these guys, I know a pretty awesome blog post written by the great pterosaur expert, Mark Witton. It has lots of pretty pictures too!
Keep reading for picture book progress!
Making progress…
I’ve been adding more critter pages to the site, so more of the pictures are clickable when you head over to Meet the Critters. 🙂
It’s under construction, so still pretty messy. Since I’m not tech savvy (at all), some pages aren’t really working the way I want them too, so please forgive the ugliness of some pages. My goal at the moment is just getting their pages up, so I can make them pretty later. 🙂
In other news…slowly, ever so slowly, the chart is filling up. 😀
I’ve been making some serious consideration about when the picture book might be finished. Every time I try to get into a rhythm, schedule, or time table at all, life happens and I hardly get anything done. Not at the speed I want to anyway.
For example, I was hoping to finish updating at least 1 of the spreads up in the chart each week, but it seems I only manage to do one every two-three weeks! I finish each one very quickly once I actually sit down to do them, but I only have about an hour over naptime (if there are no interruptions). And it seems that all this month has been full of interruptions and emergencies, or the internet won’t work…etc…
It’s very disappointing, because I want to be able to make supplemental income with my work…even if it’s just the $200 a month to hire someone to help keep the house clean. That would really be a huge help. At least for a start. Heck, at the moment I’d be ecstatic if my work would fund the Netflix bill every month!
Am I venting a bit? Yes, a little, because it truly is frustrating…but I’m also writing this because I hope it may help you in your journey. Especially if, like me, you’re on a creative path to self-sufficiency. I hope that by sharing my experience, then you can learn with me. 🙂
Life has a way of giving us lovely little obstacles along the way, and we just have to be creative in how we work around them. But it helps to travel alongside someone else.
We can vent our frustrations, get a little mad or disappointed. And that’s ok! Then we can pause a little while to step back and take a breath. Knowing we’re not alone, it’s a little easier to stop and think, maybe brainstorm a new solution we didn’t think of before, then take that step forward with renewed energy.
Everyone starts somewhere, and my goal at the moment is very small. Writing is a long term business afterall. You won’t get rich quick, but you can earn a $1 million over the course of 10 or 15 years. Hopefully shorter. 😀
But to do that I need books. And the picture book is taking a long time, longer than I ever would’ve thought coming in. I’m at a point here that I need something, anything, real. Finished. A shorter, more achievable goal that I can finish quickly so I can share it with you sooner.
I have the ebook, Dippy vs. Ball, but I had originally intended that one to be free or for 99 cents. Unfortunately I haven’t figured out how to do that on Amazon yet, so it’s selling for $2.99.
It was a “practice” ebook, so now I’ve made it available on this site for free. 🙂
I’ll be fixing it up and adding more pages to sell on Amazon instead. And this time I’ll have an ebook and a print version available.
I think I’m at that point where I’m tired of digital data. I need to have something I can hold, physical proof that I’ve finished something. And I think we all get to that point, especially in this virtual age. Technology helps us achieve great things, but there’s nothing like the sense of accomplishment from something that you can touch, something that you can put up on your shelf and see your name printed on the spine…
Funny how the accomplishment feels more real when you can touch it. 🙂
Have you ever had something you really wanted to achieve that seemed to always be just out of reach? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! 😀
Coming Next Week…
He looks tough, but once you get to know him he’s loyal to the core…and more of a softie really. 🙂
Share your guess in the comments! He’s one of the critters over on the critter page. 🙂
Pete's Paleo Petshop 
Hey, considering you’ve only got about an hour a day to work on such a big project, I think you’re doing pretty well! The dummy, along with all of the little concept sketches you’ve been posting on Instagram, are making me excited for the picture book. 😀
I can definitely understand your frustration, though. :’3 Recently I’ve started working on my dream graphic novel after years of brainstorming, but progress has been crawling along at the pace of a Mars rover. Have you ever been afraid that, after years of working on your picture book, you’ll suddenly get worn out (or too busy with other things) and decide to drop your project? I’ve always been just a little nervous that that’ll happen to me.
Oh, and I want to write a little review/critique blurb on your ebook, but there isn’t a comment box on the page you linked to. 🙂
LikeLike
Hi Brownie, great to see you here, and thank you so much for commenting! 🙂
I think that fear happens to all of us, especially if we know we’re in it for the long haul (2+ years). Even 6 months can feel like a very long time if you’re working on the wrong project! That’s why I chose dinosaurs. Well, prehistoric animals, more broadly speaking…
It’s something that I’ve always had a fascination for, and I was seriously considering for a career until I was 13 and “reality” crashed down on me. Not much money in the job, and most of it is not very exciting or comfortable (if you’re out on a summer dig int he desert anyway).
But that’s where you start. If it’s something that gets your “sweet spot”, something that you daydream about or wakes you up at night, then you’ve got something good that’ll last a long time.
And when things get tough, because they always do…then you have to remember why your doing this. WHY are you investing so much time and effort into this project? Figure out why you’re doing it, and why it MATTERS, and you’ll slog through the tough times to reach the top. 🙂
The reason I’m working on this picture book? I could write a whole blog post on that…
– Partly because I want to create a source of income that can sustain us over the long haul
– Partly because it’s simply fun, and I’m like a little kid playing with this stuff 😀
– Partly because I want to create something and see my own kids enjoy it, and know that I made that
– Mostly because beauty has a way of making the world a brighter place to live, and that the prehistoric world was just as beautiful and amazing as the world we live in now. Some have difficulty recognizing the beauty in the present, and look to the past for “awesomebroness”. Others only see the prehistoric world as a realm for monsters. I want to share what a beautiful gift it is. It doesn’t matter that we’ll never see it. Part of the gift is the freedom to imagine what it could have been like. And for that imagination to bring even greater wonder and appreciation for the beauty in our own lives, and see what a precious gift we can be to our own world.
As for the review…where exactly were you trying to write it? Was it on the Amazon page? Thank you for your efforts, I just wish I knew better so I could make it easier for you. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for the advice! Very helpful. ^^
I don’t have an Amazon account and I’m not sure if I can post a review without one, so I was thinking of posting it on this website. But if it’s more effective, I can easily borrow someone else’s Amazon account so I can post a review there. 🙂
LikeLike