The Book, The Ginger Cat, The Life…..
Hi All,
Some folks had asked for a little more info on the process of making my book and how I am going about it:)
To be perfectly Honest I am playing it by ear.
My wonderful friend at The Bindery made some suggestions as to how to get started. She said Picking the Font was very Important. She advised that I spend a great deal of time on that one.
So, What I did was instead of picking one I actually chose 2 different fonts and decided to experiment with creating a collage effect, similar to poison pen. My story is finished and ready so I set about beginning the beginning of this crazy process. The two fonts I chose are Both big so That the lettering will be easy to read for the little ones.
I wanted to come up with a way that kept reading interesting, the process of reading In itself. So That if It is a kid who is l reading, the act of reading becomes challenging and fun. I’m not sure if how I have done it so far is the best way but Once I am done with the first version of the book I am going to take it to a show and tell at a kid’s school and ask the kids what they think of it. Did they like it?, was it fun?, how would it be better for them or more interesting? One of the many things about kids that is so cool is that they are very open about their opinions, they are pretty definite about what they like and dislike and why .
I am still finishing this first process. Almost all of the drawings are finished. They are very simple line drawings. I have done them on a thinner grade art paper, and they are only temporarily attached to the sample pages. I am going to put the drawings on both sides, not just the right side as many people do, and also I want to incorporate some of the smaller drawings onto the pages where the writing is. Some of the pages are in handwriting also. It is QUITE experimental.
I used a heavier grade paper for the actual pages so that It can support the collage glue and various other things I’ve done to it. It is still very much in it’s primary stages. I am learning as I go. I have a huge love of book art, that is the art of bookmaking. This is a new world to me and every day I am finding fascinating examples of just how different and creative a book can actually be. I have used several different kinds of paper ,from handmade japanese paper, to origami, different grades of bristol and sketch paper to create different textures. Some of the pages fold out accordion style, some of them have little envelopes you unfold to read that particular page. The writing sometimes goes around the page or in columns, different for each page.It’s an interesting idea and I think it is one I would have liked as a kid.
Part of me worries that a publishing company might think it was too schizophrenic because it changes so much but that’s the whole point! I want it to be fun! It has been a cool challenge to try to come up with a different way of doing the collages for every page. Not easy but I love a challenge. I don’t want to give TOO much of it away yet:)
So the next step is once I am finished with this part of it, I have to find a good printing place. I will get it printed then take it to my dear friend at the bindery:) Then I will have my FIRST copy of MY BOOK!! hahahahahahah! I am just so excited:) This has been so much fun to do, You guys gotta try it!! If you write poetry, or you draw, you write stories, whatever you do to be creative, this is SO MUCH FUN i highly recommend it;)
I must say, I have definitely caught a bug for bookmaking:) I cannot WAIT until this one is done and I can show everyone!
I am thinking of doing a moto-bun book too:)! it IS the year of the Rabbit after all!
In terms of the” book of memoirs” I am still working away at it but that one is going to be a long haul of a project. I know there is alot of good advice I could give to actors and people who want to get into entertainment. The thing is, I am too honest i think. It’s been one hell of a journey, my stories are pretty wild. I thought I was too young to be doing a book of memoirs but the other day at Borders I saw a book justin Bieber/beiber? had supposedly written about his life (LOL) a book of memoirs at 13! Well, why not I guess? I wouldn’t be able to just write about the good stuff, I would have to tell the whole crazy thing, the ugly side of this biz as well.There is an unspoken code in my industry, as in many. It is TIGHT lipped, to a level that is really bizarre. So many secrets…. They want so desperately to keep the myth of hollywood going. It;s really kind of ridiculous if you ask me.I think people are getting really tired of all the fakery in this world, they want the truth about things, At least I do………It will all surface one of these days…..mouahahahahaha:)
Anyway, I digress,_It is a very time consuming project, making this book, but it’s something I have always wanted to do. I have my fingers crossed that it will be picked up by a publishing house as I could reach alot more people that way but if not, well, self publishing is pretty cool too, you can keep it just the way you want it I would think/hope.:)
My new porch kitty decided to let himself INTO the HOUSE 3 days ago!!! He just strolled in, Big Red Tom that he is!!! My 2 girls were not thrilled but they are slowly adjusting. I let him in 2/3 times a day and he comes and eats and hangs out for awhile then goes back out to prowl the neighborhood!:) I picked up my violin last night and started practicing and his ears went up , his eyes went wide and he looked so surprised!!! He had never heard live music i guess. He liked the slower sadder gypsy music over any of the fast stuff:) hihihihi, Maybe he was Tzigane in his last life!? If he decides to stay he is going to have to learn to be a traveling cat like my girls, I can’t stay landlocked for long or I go nuts. I put up his flyers so we shall see what comes of that.
I am waiting on a friend to get his computer back and working properly so I can get my kickstarter page up and running. I am aching to record my album. Just putting out ONE single feels so desperately … well, NOT ENOUGH!… I am thinking of releasing some of my older stuff, Its alot louder and more punk, Guitar heavy. At least you could hear a little bit more of what I have done. I also want to do an album of Roma music with my family. Trying to get that started also.
I put up some Tshirt ideas but no one seems interested. Give me feedback, How can I do this better? What would you Like?
I am blasting Taraf De Haidouks on my stereo, the sun is going down, My cat is dancing with me, My heart is happy right now and I feel blessed. I send huge love out to you all who read this and I hope you are having a great day.
xoxoxoxoxo
F
11 Responses to “The Book, The Ginger Cat, The Life…..”
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Hey Fairuza!
I love hearing about the process going into your book. I’m definately looking forward to having my own copy. I think that you should put out some of your older music to hold everyone over until you finish the album. I’m still loving Stormwinds though…
Sounds like a splendid process, making a book! I know that many others have said this on here or your twitter/facebook, but it is really refreshing to hear of the real life of a celebrity. All you ever hear these days is “so and so” Is bashing the industry/fame and whats-his-name is on a binge of some type… I think many people place famous people on a pedestal. It is nice to hear about little things like stray cats! - speaking of which, I can not even imagine what it would be like to get in touch with someone because they found my cat, and it was a performer who’s work I enjoyed! that seems like a 2x win.
The T shirts are something I am certainly interested in- I just have to wait for a little while for the money to be available. Not that the price is a lot for the quality I am sure we will be getting- but things come up- you know how it is- haha…
I am certainly looking forward to the start of the Kickstarter… Anything we can do to help get this album off the ground, I am confident that the loyal fans will be there waiting!
Hope this finds you and yours well- have an epic night!
Also, I agree with Jason- Older music would be great!
Sounds like it will be an interesting book. On publishers try the smaller press ones. They tend to be safer for collage type books to start.
Put up music you might be surprised at what reaction you get. I say if it is good to you then others would like it too.
Got to love cats! They are travelers in their own way going wherever they can get away with.
I understand the memoirs, as I have seen both sides growing up here. It’s the mystique that they want to keep going. Frustrating it is to know that is all it is really.
On the shirts try Etsy.com, it is a crafters site sort of like Ebay.com for everything else.
The music you could put up on several places to get it out there and selling for you.
I know a couple of places I am working through. Reverbnation.com, which is linked with both facebook and myspace, which sends the links back to reverbnation. There’s also garage.com as well.
If you need more that are highly inexpensive to look for let me know, it’s what i’m good at, finding things inexpensive but good quality.
sliante fairuza
These blogs you post are so enjoyable to read. I had a big smile on my face the whole time I read this one. Everything sounds awesome, the children’s book sounds very creative and like I commented in another blog, it would be awesome to give to my cousin so she can read it to her son Caden who’s the cutest kid. Plus when he gets a few years older I gotta buy them Return To Oz (hopefully it’ll be on blu-ray then.) Also the memories sound so freaking cool. I can’t even imagine all the stories there would be to tell, especially in a career where you’ve worked with some amazing actors like Kathy Bates, who still gives me the creeps since I saw her in Misery lol. Can’t imagine how many famous people get stuck with fans like that. Also I really like the idea for the older music you have, I mostly listen to punk nowadays and I’d really like to see how your take on the genre was.
Hi Fairuza,
Sounds like you have a lot of cool ideas for your book. I love the idea of some of the pages being handwritten. I would have loved a book like that when I was little! It would have given it such a cool feel.
As others have expressed, I would be interested to hear your older punk stuff, but I must be honest… I would absolutely *love* to hear your violin playing, especially the slower, sadder gypsy stuff that your cat likes, hehe. I think the violin is an instrument that doesn’t get enough attention, at least not outside of an orchestra.
I didn’t know you had put up t-shirt ideas, so now I’m off to look for them, and I will offer my thoughts once I find them =)
Hi again Fairuza,
I guess I should have checked out the t-shirts and posted my feedback all in my previous comment… but maybe this way will be easier for you to review (won’t have to sift through my other chatter):
Well, I like all the current designs… the Flying Rom Wheel is very nice, although I just may have to get LoLo… I’m sure that would have a lot of people asking questions about just what was on my shirt =)
I did have one thought about another possible design:
Perhaps a sketch of a Rom girl playing a violin? It could be a closeup of just her face and the violin, or it could be something from further away, the whole body visible, hair blowing in the wind… possibly obscuring her face… the mysterious violin playing girl!
One other thought just occurred to me… a shirt depicting a single peacock feather could be very interesting.
Okay, those are my thoughts about the t-shirts =)
Have a wonderful day and night.
The book sounds awesome. I can’t wait to read it. :-D
And I definitely would be interested in reading a memiores book. I’ll be starting classes in television production later this year, on top of doing stand-up comedy. So I’d certainly benefit from a warts-and-all inside look at the entertainment industry from someone further along in her career.
That cat sounds a lot like one of the cats who used to make themselves at home in my last apartment. Sometimes, they just claim your home as their own. (A friend of mine said they were familiars.)
Hi Fairuza,
I’m just curious, what kind of violin do you have? I’m learning, and the one I have now is a good starter instrument, but eventually I think I would like to get another one with somewhat richer tones.
Hope you and the kitties are all doing well =)
My Violin is a bit of a Frankenstein. It survived ww2 and a concentration camp, it is very old, no one is sure just HOW old it is or what Kind of Violin it is. It has been repaired many MANY times. it’s a spooky one. it has a star in mother of pearl inlaid on the back. I will post a pic maybe.
XO
F
I WANT A T-SHIRT! you could put anything you want on it and I would buy it! Sorry, I have only just joined so I am catching up on the blogs :) xx