So Close, Yet So Far

It seems that this year has been slathered with all kinds of ridiculous illnesses for me. I dodged the worst of a cold after our trip to Mexico in January, but then promptly got a nasty sinus infection. A couple of weeks after recovering from that, I got a raging cold and now, as I lay here typing this, I'm recovering from a fall down the stairs paired with some sort of stomach flu. I suppose now I get it, I'm overworked and under slept...and one shouldn't wear socks on the carpeted stairs - that's a disaster waiting to happen.

Anyway, an update is in store. So, first things first. As of Friday, I haven't heard back from the Science Center, but as of Saturday, some very great progress was made. I'm going to digress for just a moment, but I promise, things will all tie together. As some of you know, I've written a novel. The genre is Weird Western, with a dash of Paranormal, a pinch of Science Fiction, a hint of Romance, and a handful of Historical Fiction. After a small stream of rejection letters, a request for more from an agent (only to be shot down) and a few publishers who asked to read more after I shortened things up by 20,000 - 40,000 words, I've decided to self publish on Nook(R) and Kindle. My book is now registered with the Library of Congress and I have commissioned an amazing artist by the name of Anthony Salazar to do my cover art. He has sent me over mock-ups that captured the essence of my novel, but didn't give too much away...and I would've been thrilled with them as the final product, but Anthony and I met yesterday and he has more in store.

(And this is the part where things tie together.)

As we talked about all things art, from Picasso to Pollock, we got to talking about my new product line. I explained that I was looking for a central image, something that I could use to brand my product, but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted it to be. (I really couldn't have been more vague, as usual.) I swore him to secrecy and then shared with him the name of the upcoming line and explained its significance. He asked me if I knew of Alphonse Mucha and if I liked his style. Coincidentally, I have two tapestries of Mucha's work in my house - so that answered his question and I knew exactly where he was going...and I loved it. I immediately asked if I could commission him to design the brand image that would soon be on bottles, boxes and bags, shipped across the country an over the seas. Fortunately, he accepted!

So, once that's done, my other designer can add the font and we can figure out the label shape, etc. It feels good to be so close to checking off what is one of the most important elements of starting a brand...so close, yet still so far. All I can do now is wait, wait with bated breath.