Tweaking, or editing, as it is more officially known, can be difficult. Psychologically, one is attached. Effort is required. Finishing touches or wholesale redoing require some objectivity and patience. This is not the time for a lovely flow of ideas, but for making the ideas of the past, the ones already translated into text and/or images, shine on their own.

In that effort, I partially learned - quite partially, as in tip of the iceberg - to edit my hand drawn images on procreate for my book. While tons can be accomplished with that program, I would need a year before I could be sufficiently proficient to attempt reaching that goal. I do not want to lose the simplicity and rough edges of the drawings and watercolors. Much of what I see with digital artwork lacks a hand done look. (That is certainly not to say that amazing art is not created with those tools. Not even a question.) 

Since I have used papers for some of the backgrounds on the book pages, I am going to add colored, decorative papers for the two pages that are not yet ready.

Both of those pages are in the middle; both are depicting in pictures and describing in text the transformation of the main character as someone who is coming to know his neighbors and then to be adored by them. I bought these sweet papers, two in green and one in orange, to do the background work, whether cut up in fragments, as frames for smaller images, or across the page and underneath everything else.

The paper order is ready; I will walk over tomorrow to I pick it up at my favorite local art supply store, and my editing work will start in earnest. I cannot wait.

What I really need to concentrate on next, even before the book is absolutely 100 percent, is to begin networking with people I know who have had children’s books published and I know a few. 

Just got to do it. I have to get over that people do not mind being asked to share their expertise and they might even be delighted to help.