Randi Lee Anderson

No way I could have concentrated through that. Too much rage. Bravo!

I say this as a person who loves the novel and despises the 1992 movie.

I saw a Dracula mug at B&N that read, "I have crossed oceans of time to find you." Did they not know that quote is not in the novel, or did they just not care?

Tonight, instead of trying to be "productive," I sat out on the porch and watched the moon rise while listening to the crickets.

Fun (?) fact: while painting, I wondered why the sky was so hazy and there was so much atmospheric perspective when it wasn't humid. Turns out it was smoke from the Canada wildfires. 😵‍💫

Two watercolor plein air sketches in a small sketchbook. One is of an orange "Firebird" coneflower, and one is a landscape of hills around a lake with a winery in the foreground.

Plein air in the Finger Lakes. 🩵 This watercolor sketch was done over a glass of dry rosé at Living Roots overlooking Keuka Lake. #pleinair #watercolorpainting

A cardinal flower blooming in a small garden outside a house.

Red nasturtium growing among carrots.

End-of-July garden beauties. 💚🌱 The cardinal flowers have so many visitors, including two hummingbirds (Ruby and Reuben) and plenty of bumblebees. #garden4wildlife

Landscape painting with hydrangeas in the foreground and a ridge in the distant background.

A plein air oil painting set up on a tripod in front of some hydrangeas, a field, and some ridges in the background.

Did a little plein air at a fundraiser event today! This is a view from the RE Farm Cafe at Windswept Farm in State College, PA. Oil on 10x8 gessobord. #oilpainting #getoutside #pleinair

A large brown toad (possibly a Fowler's toad) in a corner of a garden.

Close-up of a large brown toad in a garden.

I heard a rustle in my front garden and thought it was a dirty chipmunk at first. 😂 Ah, backyard wildlife.
#toads #wildlifegarden #garden4wildlife

Screenshot of the Audible Audio cover for the fantasy novel THE THOUSAND NAMES by Django Wexler.

THE THOUSAND NAMES by Django Wexler was languishing on my TBR list for way too long. I love me some flintlock fantasy, and so far this one is not disappointing!
(Mode: listening to the audiobook and reading the ebook at the same time. Fwiw, the print/ebook cover is better.)
#booksky 📚

Screenshot of text from a fantasy novel, reading: "Minutes down the road, he closed his eyes for just a moment to drink in the peace again. When he opened them, it was night. He startled and dropped his guitar—or thought he did. The guitar was no longer there, nor was the horse beneath him. A long ribbon of road stretched out in front of him toward a sickly pale moon, swollen and round in the empty blue-black sky, with only a sliver of shadow along its side. As Felix watched, the sliver widened, sliding over the face of the moon like a curtain being drawn. From the darkness streamed a cloud, and as the cloud neared and grew larger; it quivered and twitched like a swarm of bats."

For July 20's "moon" prompt, we have the start of an unpleasant vision.
#WIPsnips #writesky #writingcommunity #epicfantasy

A small square oil painting of a spruce tree rising above other trees and catching sunlight. It sits in a pochade box in front of a garden.

A pochade box holding a small oil painting sits on a tripod in front of a garden.

This was the first day in a while that the weather was actually reasonable (looking at you, humidity), so I went out in the garden for some #pleinair practice after work. 😊
#oilpainting #getoutside

I don't understand how people don't fly into a rage or burst into tears every time they go grocery shopping. Things just keep going up.

Past me saved present me a lot of trouble by having ALREADY WRITTEN A SYNOPSIS, which I now just need to edit. 💪 #writesky

Congratulations! It's no small feat to remain consistent in a resolution like that.

For more context: she understands the language he's speaking, but he doesn't know that. She continues to use her native language while his partner interprets for him.

Apologies for the profanity, if anyone's bothered by it. Does Bluesky care about that? I'm used to random word censorship on other platforms.

Screenshot of text from a fantasy novel, reading, "The unshuttered windows of the hill-home were all dark, yet the lantern-bearing watcher pounded on the door. 'Open up!' he said. 'By authority of the Watchtower of Elna.' 'It’s no one at home,' Catirna said. The watcher paid no attention, as if she’d just muttered random syllables. He joggled the doorknob, found it locked, and shot his partner a look of annoyance. 'Tell this stonefarmer’s [redacted] to open the door.' Though what he’d asked was clear to all, Catirna waited for the polite translation before she reached into her coat pocket."

This snippet is from THE WHITEMAIDEN, in which the immigrant MC faces the disdain of authorities raiding her community. This was written a decade ago. 🤦‍♀️
#WIPsnips July 13 word prompt: "random"
#writingcommunity #writesky #epicfantasy

I love Lord Huron's "The Night We Met" (feat. Phoebe Bridgers), but I find I can't listen to it anymore. It makes me too sad.

A large 4 foot by 6 foot chalk painting on asphalt, featuring an orange lily in the foreground with mountains, mist, and a sunset in the background.

The artist poses with a large 4 foot by 6 foot chalk painting on asphalt, featuring an orange lily in the foreground with mountains, mist, and a sunset in the background.

Despite the hammam weather, I successfully finished my street painting at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts! It's a Turk's cap lily in the Smoky Mountains, based on an oil painting I did last fall after a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. #chalkart #streetpainting

That is helpful, thank you!

Sounds like some folks heard the myth of Andromeda and had a verrrrry different takeaway...

When thinned, though, can they still be allowed to stay through the heat? I'm not sure whether to let them stay or give up on them.

Carrot greens growing thick in a garden.

So, question for the gardening community, especially those in zone 6b or nearby. Every time I grow carrots in spring, they take much longer to grow than I anticipate. 🥕 It's hot now. Should I just let these grow until fall or what? 🌱

A screenshot of text from a fantasy novel, reading, "Someone stood in the crowd—it was a young woman, the matriarch of the Canda-Livet, tall and thick-limbed and heavily pregnant. Silver lion fur draped her neck and arms. 'Enough of this, Canda-Mullen,' she snapped, her voice booming through the hall. 'I’ve not come for a matriarchal roasting, nor care I whatsoever for some prissy Norlinthish counts, and I’d beg you to get on with the important business.' "

Interestingly enough, I had NO instances of "somebody" in my current draft! So my July 6 #WIPsnips post will have to be "someone," namely a minor character with outsized attitude when she comes to the defense of another woman. I love her.
#writingcommunity #writesky #epicfantasy

Immediately got "Somebody That I Used to Know" stuck in my head...

A large yellow lily in a floral arrangement.

The big bad thing that I've been dreading for several weeks happened a couple of days ago. Stuff has not been good. Fortunately, I have a Golden Retriever of a partner who knows I love flowers.

😂😂 He's just going for it!