Introducing: The Minstrel Cycle

Hear me out on this. Plus, '90s bling and a new book!

Funny Story

Today I'm announcing the reimagining of my first picture book, The Bear, The Box, and the Boy, into a delightfully fun coloring and activity storybook. So it's only fitting that this episode’s funny story be about the transformation of something I can’t actually change into something adventurous and whimsical.

You've heard of a menstrual cycle. Don't worry, I'm not going into any detail there; we all know they're no fun. But what if we could replace them with (cue the lute)...

Yes, for five to seven days every three weeks (yeah, that often. Thumbs down.), I shall transform into the wonderful warbling woman. Instead of despair, panic attacks and debilitating pain and nausea, I will compose clever ballads and spread the magic of music.

Goodbye, velveteen leisure pants. Gone are the days of tea and dark chocolate, for I have embarked upon the winding path of joy and storytelling and gallivanting in song.

I shall encourage brave warriors in their fearlessness facing certain death. I shall rise from Annoyee to Annoyer. And the people shall mark their calendars and clear a path, for they know that a woman on her minstrel cycle musn’t be disturbed. It's genius, I tell you.

Here's me looking somewhat medieval to help you picture the frolic (by Rachel at Penry Studio. She is an artistic genius. Book her post-haste). And here's a link to me singing in Russian and playing a Ye Olde Balalaika, so you can imagine Old English and a dulcimer. Huzzah!

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Book News

Guys, I’m 5 chapters into my revisions for the novel that comes out this year! But in the meantime, behold, the aforementioned coloring and activity book!

I wrote The Bear, the Box, and the Boy over ten years ago, along with another two picture books. I updated the illustrations and some of the writing for the latter two, but I promised myself not to mess with my first ever publication. I want to honor the beginning of the journey. So instead of changing it, I expanded it into a companion coloring story and activity book. It’s over 100 pages of fun coloring, tracing and activity pages, and I made it cheap ($7.95) so it would be as accessible as possible.

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Unsolicited Advice

My story up there wandered well into the realm of silliness, but symptoms of PMDD, depression, anxiety, etc. that so many of us grapple with are no joke. There is merit in finding something positive or distracting enough to hold on to during difficult days and hours—something to distract from the pull of the downward spiral until we can properly breathe again. For me, it’s music or art for art’s sake, just focusing on teaching myself a new song or pulling a brush across the paper. What is that thing for you? Maybe it’s riding your bike, or journaling, or baking. If you need ideas, reach out!

Along these lines, I wrote a guest blog post for Operation Awesome way back in 2017, about keeping joy in your writing, even when it becomes a job. I agree with most of what I said back then, so here it is. But the TL;DR is this:

[…] Whatever your goals are as an author, writing for fun, or writing for the love of writing, is essential to your success, both personally and professionally. […] it is easy to tell which of my paintings I attempted with monetary gain as my sole focus. Because they’re in the trash. […] The energy you put into a piece is the energy that will be there when it is received.
[…]
Writing is fun, but editing and querying and deadlines and everything having to do with the money side of things can be stressful. […] don’t start your writing day thinking ‘Hey, I really need to make some money on a book today,’ because there are approximately zero readers out there starting out their day thinking ‘Hey, I really need to spend some money on a book today.’ A reader’s goal is not to lose money, it’s to lose herself in an amazing book that the writer obviously had a great time writing. […]

The part I don’t quite agree with is that writing is fun. It is most of the time, but when it isn’t, and you’re on deadline, you still have to do it. You might have to slog through it, hating every minute. And you know what? It will probably be trash. But the reader will never read that draft. They won’t experience the story until you’ve had a chance to polish and perfect it until it shines, and radiates a much more beautiful energy than what you felt pushing through. As my dear friend and critique partner, Kara Reynolds says,

“We can fix garbage. We can’t fix nothing.”

Language Gone Wild

I take screenshots of misused language I come across online, especially when it’s funny. Here’s the latest, where someone is identifying a strange-looking device used to iron clothing:

Garnaments! My brain immediately made that an actual thing, like ornaments for clothing. Sweater danglies. Or maybe when you ornament your garments with one of these things from the ‘90s, they become garnaments.

Thanks for reading, I hope I got a smile or two and I’d love to see you back here next time! Leave a comment if you’d like to add to the theories about what gets you through dark days, or the actual definition of “garnament.” Share with a friend who might appreciate swapping PMS for a flute and the best dress at the ren fest.

May your day be full of bling and dulcimers,

Taryn Skipper