Sugar and Spice

Just when my friends and family thought they were off the hook for a while of having to subjectively give an opinion about another creative venture of mine, I come up with Sugar and Spice. I know there is nothing worse than having to give any sort of artist an honest opinion of their work--I mean, they tell you they REALLY want to know what you think, when honestly, deep down, they REALLY don't want to hear you say that you think said work really sucks. So here is an official apology--SORRY! And now, when you hear Sugar and Spice, please tell me what you think! :-)

No, Sugar and Spice is not a new band venture (already been done), or even a new song. (not exactly metal.) At some point in the recent past I decided I really needed to write a children's story. This particular one came to me on a walk with my kids, actually, talking about cats and good names for them. I thought Sugar and Spice would be great for a pair of cat friends, and my brain immediately flooded with ideas about them and their little adventures. Hence, Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice was born. I'm hoping it will be the first installment of many books about them. (I honestly think we are not conscious of the stories that come into our brains--they just mysteriously write themselves!)

I've puttered with different story lines over the past year or so, and finally finished a complete story. Of course, that is the fun part. Trying to actually DO something with it is a whole other, well, story! I love the creative part of it, but not the 'work' part. My illustrious husband came up with a great idea to help me with this--to use our Warbride studio and record the book on CD! Now I realize that the written books normally preceed the audio ones...but I figure if nothing else it will be fun to hear it, (I think I've mentioned before that I love to hear myself talk) and a good way to try to shop it around, if there actually is some interest in it. It's been really fun, and as always with something like this, more work than you think it will be. Reading a story out loud? No big deal, I thought, I read to my kids all the time and enjoy making goofy voices and being really dramatic. (I know, such a surprise, coming from me...!) It really has been more of a challenge than I imagined. Reading so slowly and affected that you feel like you sound like an idiot, when actually as the 'tape' rolls back, it sounds just right. And trying to get the voices of the characters spot on. It's not an easy thing and makes me have even more respect for anyone who does voice-over work. (that includes you, Mr. Gary Bingner!)

So! That's the latest around here. Just another project to try to squeeze into an already very short day. Soon there will be a website you can go to, to eventually hear a 'snippet' of the story and where I can shamelessly ask you to buy it. Like it or not, I'll keep you posted. :-)