Hi.
I was just thinking about whether or not I really want to be a children's book author and illustrator. Do I really want to sit down and squeeze my brain every day? Well, I decided that making money usually involves work, and no matter what job I do there will probably be certain aspects of it I do not enjoy, so, I guess I will try writing a book this summer and see how it goes. Does anybody have any ideas? If you could write a Christian children's book about anything what would you write about. The answers from my non-Christian blog readers would probably be the most interesting. Anyway, if I try to write a book and it goes terribly and I really enjoy it then I will write another, but if it goes terribly and I hate it then I will look into some new careers. Maybe even if it goes wonderfully and I still hate it I might still do something else because I just can not see myself spending my life doing something I do not enjoy at all.

I have realized one thing this week, sometimes one needs to sacrifice a little detail for time. I usually do drawings that are very detailed and take up to eighteen hours to complete. Well, since I am very busy this week I decided to do a more loose drawing this time, with not so much detail. It took a lot less time, and it bothered me a little that it was not absolutly perfect, but it is a big relief to have it out of the way. Now I do not have to spend 18 hours of my week drawing and I can do some other stuff. I should remember this if I make art in my future, I may want to consider the time I have to get things done. I should find a good balance between detail and not spending forever on everything.

Well, hello. I just finished working on a drawing of the little mermaid. It came out wonderfully. It has lots of texture. I have been thinking a lot lately about what medium would be best for illustration. I know lots of people like to use water color and now-a-days people like to do things on the computer. I want to do somehthing different. I want something inexpensive that will be really bright and colorful. Something like collage out of recycled materials would be interesting. I wonder if it would be more time consuming than other materials. That would really be fun. You know, I will be creating Christian books. Could you imagine some of the characters of the Bible made out of recycled materials? King David with button eyes and an old dish cloth for hair? Queen Esther wearing a gown made out of bottle caps? If I was a little kid this would be interesting to me. Of cource the books would not have all these bottle caps and such glued into them, I would create the images and then photograph them or scan them. I guess I will just see what happens.

I have already mentioned that I would like to make children’s books with Christian themes. Some may wonder why I have to include my religious convictions in my books. Well, I will tell you. Lets say you found the cure for cancer. Would you keep it all to yourself? No, you would share it with the world so that people around you could be healed. Well, I have found that if you give God your life it can cure something much more than cancer. Everyone does what is wrong and the penalty for doing wrong is eternal death. I realized that I certainly deserved this death, since I have broken God’s laws. In exchange for my soul God forgave me of my wrong doing and even sent his Perfect Son Jesus Christ to pay for my sins by dying on a cross 2,000 years ago. Giving up your soul might sound terrible to you. You may think being a Christian is like being confined and having to follow a bunch of rules. No, it is freeing and amazing. I want to share it with every body. What is so amazing? First of all, I am never alone. God’s love is so deep and perfect, it can satisfy and fill during even the hardest of times. There is always Somebody looking out for me, speaking to me, and giving hope. A love so divine could not be a figment of one’s imagination. If you think it is, you have not experienced it. Like I said, I want to share this with everybody, and I might as well use the creative talent God gave me to do this. Children often have an easier time understanding these concepts because they do not over think things. They are also more willing to let somebody take care of them like God takes care of me as my Heavenly Father. Now, I still mess up. I am still very human, but God will never leave me. If I ever begin to doubt I just look out the window at the beautiful world he created for us. What better way to share this good news than write books for children and their families to read.

Business concept statement:
Who: Me, Naomi Miller
What: Christian children's books illustrated and written by Naomi Miller
When: I would like to have set hours when I work with time for a break. I would probably work Monday through Friday from eight to four. I would like to start working on my first book this summer
Where: I will eventually like to have some sort of designated spot in my house later in life, but for now my work space will probably be in my upstairs or in my office for now.
Why: I would be doing this to not only make money, but also to teach children Christian concepts. Another 'why' would be to have an outlet for my creativity.
How: I will eventually need funding for supplies later. Right now I have a large amount of supplies to get myself started. I will also need money for advertizing. How will I get this? I do not know at the moment. It just depends on exactly how much money I need. There will probably lots of things I will not know I need until I get strarted.

An author and illustrator that really inspires me is Beatrix Potter. I remember reading stories written by her when I was a child. Her characters are memorable and her illustrations are really facinating. She was a master and it is amaizing that even after all this time (she wrote those stories a while ago) her stories are still very popular and many people are familiar with her characters. If I become an author illustrator I will stive to make my work as memorable as Beatrix Potter's.

Why Happily Ever After?

I named my blog Happily Ever After for various reasons. One reason is because of the fairy tale themes that run heavily through my work. The idea of a happy ending is something people often give up on and never hope for something more. The characters in fairy tales often had to go through a lot before they found their happily ever after, but they never stopped believing and hoping it would come. For many of the fairy tale princesses their happy ending involved finding a man, but people can have all sorts of different dreams. The idea of a happily ever after also has a lot to do with my belief in God. My happily ever after in this life may be finding contentment in a job or a good husband or various other things, who knows, but, when I die I believe I will find the ultimate happy ending in Heaven, with God. A crucial step in getting to Heaven is believing and having hope and faith in God. Now you all know why I named my blog 'Happily Ever After'.