Against the Storm

My forever-young aunt Linda, at the greatest lake of all the Great Lakes- Michigan. 1961

I'm currently working on making Willie into an interactive children's book! It has a bit of a learning curve but it's a lot of fun. I kind of just want to do this for the rest of my life. But anyways, it takes a lot of my free time, so I apologize for the lack of new posts. 

Since I don't have much in the way to offer for random projects, here are a few things I'm likin' that you should maybe check out... maybe:

*House of Cards

Love this new series from Netflix! Kevin Spacey is a gem. And it's not so addicting that I can't function, though don't mistake that as a reflection on the entertainment value of the show- it's really awesome. I'm excited to see what Netflix does next and moreover, how the rest of the media industry adapts.  

*The Morning Miracle

So now that I've confessed to enjoying the occasional self-help book, I recently read a good one called 'The Morning Miracle' that has really transformed my mornings. 

*The Nexus 10

I've been not so patiently waiting to own my own tablet for years now. Lots of people didn't see the value when they first came out, some still don't, but I've always known that I could definitely make it fit into my life. I actually had wanted the iPad for the longest time. I didn't even really considered other tablets, until the Nexus came out. It's fast, powerful, has a fantastic Google ecosystem, a better screen display than the iPad and all the advantages of the Android platform that I've since been without in my life. I love playing with new gadgets- and the iPad is just an extra-large iPhone, which I am overly-familiar with- this was something brand new for me to try. Best part- it's $100 cheaper than the iPad! 

*Fooducate

I was just introduced to this one last night. This is a great app for people who like to be more health-conscious about what they eat. If you've used MyFitnessPal or something similar- it's like that but better. When you're shopping, you can scan in foods and it will give you a letter grade (like school). It will warn you about certain things, like GMO, sugar content, if it's highly processed, etc. And the coolest feature is that it will suggest better alternatives in that category. The database isn't as large as others... yet! You can easily submit foods to them to add though and I suspect it will grow in popularity as more people learn about the additional awesome features. 


Your greedy consumer,
MK

Tomorrow's Delight

© 2013 Marie King

Darling World,

Is it that time once again.

Breathe deeply, sleep soundly, and dream wildly.

Always and forever yours,

MK

Our Forever

Photo © 2012 Marie King

Some days test you... they wrench your heart, they crash your plans, they try their damned hardest to break you.
But we will not give up. We will not surrender. 

We will fight for the life we deserve, 

and for the moments that make

it all worthwhile.

Cheers to this small part of our forever,

MK

Up the Rabbit Hole

Hi guys! First, Happy (belated) National Margarita Day! 

Second- I'm sorry I've abandoned you. I've been re-working my life. I was going through my library the other night and found this tiny, little book snuggled into my self-help section (please don't judge- I just love how self-help books make you feel like Superman(woman) when you read them) that I've never seen before. It was written back in the 80s (and it looks the part- slightly yellowed paper, neon lettering, comic-style cover) and has completely changed my view on life. It's called 'Doing It Now.'

I've always been a major procrastinator (especially in my personal life) and several years ago I was diagnosed with ADD. It's been a challenge to deal with since I stopped taking the medication (I was told organic was in and of course to be a hip, trendsetter, you need a fresh, sizzlin' drug-free brain; check 'er out boys ;) ). 

But anyways- FOCUS, MARIE! - I found this book, right? I don't know how it snuck into my library or where it came from, but I was feeling miserably unfocused and it was happily sitting there when I most needed it. I read one chapter before I fell asleep and the next day I woke up completely re-wired (at 5 am in the bloody morning! who just basically climbed Mount Everest? ME!). I cleaned my entire room, yoga'd it up, dressed up in some fancy threads for work (I work from home, so my usual outfit consists of sweatpants and old college t-shirts -- boy were my dogs impressed today), made myself an awesome b-fast, and took said dogs out for a stroll through the urban jungle. That night, I gobbled up one more chapter of the book before bed and the next morning, with a clean room, I started re-writing the beginning of my novel. And so it has continued – each day I check more and more things off my list. I'm a-blaze with energy; I'm a shooting star, the atomic bomb, the big bang! I'm alive!

I feel so much better! I can't tell you what this weird, little 80s books has done for me. Perhaps I was just at the right place in my life and this book wouldn't have worked otherwise, but it is the little miracle I always needed.


Climbing up the rabbit hole,
MK

P.S. Anyone else go to the Chicago Auto Show this year? How about those minivans, eh!? Just kidding... kind of. But seriously, that new Corvette Stingray was absolutely luscious (and will be available at a Chevvy near you this August!).

(<--I love this app! If you are as into over-processing photos as much as I am, you should definitely check it out, it's called 'Tiny Planets.' When you've applied your unnatural manipulation, take your finished product over to Instagram to get that final over-edited touch your photo needs)

Stuck in the Pages of My Love

Today is Valentine's Day! I don't mind that it's a highly commercial day- so what if Hallmark makes a few dollars? It's a day to celebrate love- in all its forms.

So today- I'm going to dedicate this shout-out to my library, whom I love very dearly. I designed and built my wall of shelves to help with the stacks of books that were growing on every surface of my bedroom. My consumer priorities have always been books then food, then everything else - so I have acquired a decent-sized collection over the years. With these new shelves, I thought I'd have a place to put them and have more room to keep growing. Well unfortunately, it was completely filled as soon as they were done and the stacks around my room are growing again.

Sometimes at night, I like to lay back and look at all of them and think of all the people who I read them with and the places they've been with me. I've sprinkled a few treasures from my adventures and travels in there as well- a buffalo horn from Colorado, an old WWII flask from a trip with my Grandfather, a birdhouse I built with my dad when I was 10, my Outstanding English Student award from High School, a painting from one of my best and oldest friends, 3 of my favorite beers (a Scottish pine ale, my favorite pumpkin beer, and an Alaskan ale), a deer jaw bone from a hike through the Michigan dunes, etc. It's my monument to everything I hold dear.

Valentine's day is about loving people- those we see every day, those who are far away, and even those that are stuck in the pages of novels. I hope you all know how dear you are to me!

Happy, happy love day!
Hope it's as sweet and sugary and wonderful as it should be.

Your Valentine,
MK

We've Got the Lights, Dear

Another page from the children's book. It's not finished and I've removed the text... you're going to have to read the book to get all that. 

I'm not the best photo manipulator, but I have learned a few tricks in the two years I've been doing it. As such, for any of you who want to get into it, or would just like to become more familiar with Photoshop, the most effective way I learned was from doing tutorials- actual projects. Going through a book of this is what this tool does and that's what that tool does, just doesn't click in my brain the way an application does. PSD Tuts+ is my favorite site, but there's a lot of great tutorials out there. What I like to do is carefully read the tutorial, thoroughly understand it and the new tool information, and then apply it to my own design concept in a similar fashion (instead of just copying what they've done, step-for-step). That way, as you learn, you have something to show for it that's all yours.

And the real secret: experiment. Most of the time, it's those weird random accidents that you end up loving.

Again- I'm not an expert and I wouldn't dare try to pretend that I know what I'm doing, but perhaps it will help.

Always yours, 

MK

Our Wild Youth

© Marie King 2013

I love soft dreamy words... stars, universe, woods, lost, youth, wilds, adventure, wonder, infinite, rupture, innocence, delicate. They turn my insides into goo. I suppose they are rather in vogue right now... I hope they stay that way forever. 

"There will be no edges, but curves.

Clean lines pointing only forward."

—Tracy Smith—

Also, while we're on the topic of soft, dreamy words, I just read a wonderful book of poetry titled, Life On Mars, by Tracy Smith. It was everything I was looking for, more than I imagined, and profoundly touching. I suggest you at least take a gander at the cover... it's exactly as it should be. 

Bonne nuit mes amis,

faites des beaux rêves!

MK

P.S. Hoping everyone on the east coast is staying safe and warm post-blizzard! 

Smarts & Hearts

Why do we think glasses make people look smarter? There's an awful lot of idiots out there with glasses. They correct your eyes, not your brain. I mean reading glasses- that's another story. These people clearly know their A's from their Z's. When someone busts out their half moon spectacles in your vicinity, you know shit just got serious. But when it comes to the average near-sighted, glasses wearer- well the assumption befuddles me. Admittedly, I myself am a hardcore offender - give me someone in glasses over contacts any day. Amiright?! The sight of intelligence (even pretend) always manages to lifts my spirits considerably.

I managed to lose my own glasses in one of my classes junior year and have never since gathered up the energy to go to an eye doctor. The tides are a-turning though; two and a half years later, in true procrastinating form, I'm finally getting around to it. My dad can finally stop yelling at me for stealing his for the occasional Thursday night, self-absorbed photo shoot... his are pretty dashing though, no?

Smarts & Hearts, 

MK

This Snow Globe World

“Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people's legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world.” 

— Sarah Addison Allen —

© 2013 Marie King

It finally came quietly in the night. So I left the warmth of my bed to go galavanting in the midnight cold. I never feel so warm as I do when the snow falls.

Twirling and whirling, 

MK

Lost, Not To Be Found

© 2013, Marie King

I am currently lost in the wonderful meanderings of John Steinbeck's Travels With Charley: In Search of America. Each night I read a few pages in an effort to savor and enjoy each drop of poetic wisdom that drips from his fingers. I have such a fondness for John, I fear I may never recover my spirits enough to love another.

(Well, except for the occasional crush on Chicago basketball players sporting hair buns; 

I promise my heart is not as fickle as it might appear)

Lost, not to be found, 

MK

Work & Play

It's probably not a shock, but I love to Photoshop things... 

so when I get to PS for work, well my heart skips a few beats and my eyes glaze over in delight.

Here, I manipulated the book covers (created by other artists!) into the below banners for one of our imprint's homepage. 

Click on the banners below to check out the books!  

 

 

 

 

 

One Page at a Time

I promised you a sneak peak of Sam and my latest children's book collaboration...

© Marie King & Samantha Biskup

Illustrating is a slow process but I'm getting there, one page at a time. 

Love always, 

MK

The Fullness of Her Being

I found this woman in an old box of photos my grandfather has. I don't know anything about her,

but I think I shall spend my whole life trying to be her, just as she was in this moment. 

Unabashedly yours, 

MK

Crushin' Hearts

Marie King ©

On principle, I don't give my heart to celebrities: a) they're going to cheat on you (probably because they don't realize that the two of you are dating) and b) well, my heart is a gloomy pessimist about the likelihood of these things happening (go figure).

But unfortunately, I had developed a major crush on one. Not just any celebrity- an athlete! The worst kind of celebrity, the biggest cheaters (even when they're in non-imaginary relationships). It was an affliction that all the ladies of Chicago (and probably most of the men) are dealing with... I was in love with Joakim Noah. And even though he's an awesome player and super-duper tall, what it really comes down to is that he has a charity with his mom...for kids. It's a double shot to the heart: mom, kids, mom, kids... I don't know which has me weaker at the knees.

So when I got a free ticket to the Bulls game, I thought my heart might explode. My eyes found him the moment he came into the room... absorbing all six feet, eleven inches of man with a hair bun. After a beer or two on an empty stomach (at those prices you have to have your priorities straight) – I knew like I knew that he was the one.  I professed my love at least 1,064 times that night. By the 4th quarter strangers around me were high-fiving me when he scored, saying 'That's you're guy!'

And then the next morning, just like that, I was cured. The celebrity crush was itself crushed.

And my mind said I told you so, and my heart said I know, I know...

So that concludes my senseless story of love and loss... he's now yours ladies.

Crushin' hearts in Chicago,
MK

Cups and Spoons

My first Bamboo tablet doodle in Photoshop...definitely not as easy as using a pencil. 

Unfortunately this is going to require my least favorite thing: practice. 

On a happier note, I am starting to illustrate another children's book! 

Hopefully I'll have something to show you in the next week or two. 

AND hopefully we'll have a publisher for Willie soon! 

Queries have been written, emails have been sent and fingers have been crossed! 

Cups and spoons 

and cows and moons, 

MK