Well, I spent the Summer (so far) with Katie in New Milford and Tulsa Oklahoma. I explained before that there were a few reasons: I got to spend lots of time with my sweetheart and other rarely-seen friends, and get away from a withstandable but menial job, and get some illustrations from Mrs. Robson to accompany my short stories. I had such a wonderful time; it’s difficult to explain what a relief it is to be able to socialise with everybody without the ominous knowledge that I’ll be leaving in one week, five days, two days, surrounding every event like an uncast shadow. I’m really excited for Katie coming to England in January, when she’ll be staying for five months (and, if I’m wily, I can sneak into her Shakespeare classes at the Globe theatre…)! The Robsons got so used to me that they were looking for ways to keep me in the country, which was so sweet and very ego-inflaming. The US immigration system is set against me coming permanently, though. There are endless variations of visas available to non-US citizens, but I’m eligible for none of them. Did you know that there is a visa available for which the only criteria is a high enough salary? Incredible.

My menial job will be up for grabs again towards the end of September. That gives me a month and a half of free time, in which I’m going to try some street performing. There’s a pretty little town called Colchester a short train ride away from me - it’s the oldest recorded town in England and a tourist haven. Perfect! If I can make a half-decent living from it, I won’t return to Argos, because why would I when I can stand and play blues and entertain people all day instead, and choose my own hours?

Mrs. Robson just doesn’t have time to illustrate a whole book. She drew some concept sketches for me and they were wonderful but we both have to accept that an entire book, albeit a short one, isn’t going to happen, let alone four books. That’s fine. In fact:

That’s why it’s lucky that I discovered a delightful program called ArtRage, which is literally a virtual canvas upon which you can draw, sketch, paint, smudge and so on. The paintbrush even runs out of paint, and you have to wash it off in order to avoid the colours mingling.

I’m really pleased with the results. I have no skill at all with a tangible paintbrush, so being able to create something vaguely pleasant to look at was a nice surprise. Hopefully, soon, I’ll have finished the illustrations for my first story and somebody with a gambling personality will take an interest in publishing it…

(Click the pictures to englarge them.)
Illustrations © Kinders Kinley. All rights reserved.

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