Winter Doodle

With virtually no snow through the entire Minnesota winter, a disturbing political situation (what on earth has happened to the republicans?) and the world in turmoil (love and peace to the people of Gaza, Ukraine and the survivors of Hamas horrific attack), I’ve been trying to avoid my normal news-junkie fixation with some creative outlets. I’m happy to be in final proofing of book two of my Morgan, The Last Immortal series (hoping to publish this summer), and I did do a new doodle. Sigh. Trying to keep John Lennon’s “Imagine” in mind every day.

My heart is breaking

I put this website together to promote my books, but in light of today’s horrors across the globe, I wanted to somehow publicly express my deepest condolences and sympathy to the innocents currently dying daily.

My heart breaks for the families in Israel murdered and kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. But my heart also breaks for the innocent families in Gaza who are being killed and starved behind an even more restrictive blockade because of their leadership today but also because of a decision made nearly 70 years ago.

My heart breaks for the people of Ukraine who have shown incredible strength and resiliency against a ruthless invader.

My heart breaks for those suffering in conflicts within and between countries all across the world; conflicts most American’s have no clue are happening. It’s time for our media to step up and show the horrors of war and hate in EVERY country.

So, how can one find solutions when vengeance takes hold of your heart? It’s certainly never been accomplished in the conflicts I’ve witnessed in my life. While I am an agnostic, I believe in the teachings of many religious leaders with Jesus’ admonition to turn the other cheek and live by the golden rule at the top of the list. I hope the love of our earth and all its people will finally come to fruition soon, but after 70 years on this planet, I’m afraid it will take much longer than the starry eyes of youth made me believe.

I ran across this letter I wrote way back in the aftermath of 9/11 and the lead up to our invasion of Iraq. I still believe every word.

Hello.  Hello?  Is anybody out there?

We listen to threats and promises of invasion.  Yes Invasion.  Who was the last tyrant that invaded another country?  It’s a long list but they all have one thing in common, history records their deeds as wrong, evil, immoral.

Now George W. Bush and company are rattling their sabres, the US press is blandly reporting the likely probability of war, and the pundits are discussing when and how.  Nowhere within the mainstream do we hear the clear voices of opposition, do we hear the cries of STOP.

What in the heck is wrong with us.  We stood by with our hands over our hearts offering up our freedoms as Bush and Ashcroft, with the help of virtually every elected senator and representative, stole them away in the name of fighting terror.  We now stand idly by as war talk becomes a casual discussion on the evening news.

Where is our morality?  Certainly Saddam Hussein is not a nice guy.  He’s poisoned his own people for heaven’s sake.  BUT that does not give us the unilateral right to invade.  We are NO BETTER than he is if we do so.  There’s no way we can go to war in today’s world without KILLING INNOCENT CIVILIANS.  This is not collateral damage, this is killing people just like the nearly 3,000 people killed on Sept. 11th.

The average citizen of the US has been taught from grade school that we are the greatest country ever.  We stand for freedom and goodness and right.  But whatever freedom, goodness and right that we once could claim has all but disappeared in a fog of greed and nationalism.  We’re #1 and we’re going to make sure everyone else knows it.

So now we’ll remove a tyrant from ruling a country across the globe.  No other country, with the possible exception of a few in power in Great Britain is behind this.  And so we bomb Iraq and follow up with ground troops to clean out the bad guys.  First we haven’t a very good track record of knowing exactly who the bad guys are.  And second which mother among us will be glad to give up her son or daughter to this cause?  There will be many.

Then we’ll leave a country in ruin (ala Afganistan) with no intention of providing the dollars (billions) and people (troops) to rebuild.  And then who’s next.  Qaddafi?  Castro?  But what about other tyrants that we happen to support?  Remember, we gave the Taliban billions of dollars in May of 2001 — just months before we began bombing in retaliation for acts for which they were not responsible except in spirit.

The US was a great experiment in democracy and freedom.  The shining star that beckons to people world-wide is not the US that chooses invasion.  It is not the US that imprisons anyone without due process.  It is not the US that asks neighbors to spy on neighbors.  

Those that insist we must do this to protect American interests are lying.  They mean we must do this to protect the interests of a few.  This is a war about oil.  A war about power. A war that will make our lives less safe.  Freedom isn’t about safety.  It includes a great deal of risk.  

Please, speak out.  Say no to invasion. 

It’s been awhile

While I haven’t been doodling much, I have been working on a novel…well, actually a series of novels. I’m completing the final edits for my first volume which tells the story of Morgan, an immortal and daughter of Osiris, a traveler from a distant star. Book One covers Morgan’s capture at age 12 by Merlin, another immortal. I’m just getting started on Book Two which will retell the Camelot myth, which is, of course, quite a bit different than most legends. Actually, Arthur is the son of Merlin (as is Sir Percival). Morgan will become known as Morgan le Fey, and Viviane (Nimui) is also a key character. Book Three will wrap up when Morgan finally meets her father, Osiris, the last of the Atlians.

New Big WendyDoodles Coloring Book

I just uploaded my new BIG WendyDoodles coloring book to Amazon. It includes all sorts of doodles (107 pages worth) that range from complex to easy. All are freeform doodles and include DoodleBlooms (decidedly floral doodles), Cock-A-Doodles (fanciful bird-inspired doodles), DoodleBugs (funny flying bugs) plus both basic WendyDoodles (abstract easy to color designs) and more intricate Doodles like my notecards below.

Order yours from Amazon here.

New Childrens Book

The paperback version of my newest childrens’ book, The Bird Brothers Prophesy is now available in paperback! The kindle e-reader version has been up for awhile.

This book has a distinct racial equity theme, and is appropriate for 7-12 year olds.

It tells the story of Louis and Gus, two hatchlings from the same nest. Louis is white as snow and Gus is like their parents, black as night. The two discover how dangerous the world can be when their nest gets blown away by a tornado and they try to find their way home. In their journey they meet many creatures, including Bentley the raccoon, Aaliyah the gold finch, Foster the frog and Elliot the praying mantis, not to mention the entire colony of gulls which includes Alessa who had laid her egg in a stranger’s nest. They learn about friendship, fear and hate, all the while showing resilience, kindness and love. In the end, they find a whole new family to love while fulfilling the bird brothers prophesy that finally brings peace between the gulls and crows.

You can order the e-book here.

And order the paperback book here.

DoodleBugs

I’ve been apparently really affected by the coronavirus bug — it’s inspired all sorts of bug themed doodles. Here are a few:

Wendy doodle DoodleBug b/w
Black and white bugs are fun and let me do intricate designs.
Another in black and white.
Color on black wendydoodle doodlebugs
Here are a few in color on black.
and here are a few more!

Black & White Doodles are my favorites

I’ve been spending way too much time doodling this winter. In addition to not wanting to go outside much, hubby had his knee replaced so plenty of time between nursing tasks (and household tasks he can’t do for a bit). I’m also a news junkie and with the current state of affairs, having my doodle pad in my lap helps me avoid throwing something at the TV.

Here are a few new doodles:

Wendydoodle #38
I tried using a little wider pen size on this one. I think he’s watching me 😉
Wendydoodle #37
This is using the smallest “gel pen” size on ProCreate. I like the finer detailing.
Wendydoodle #35
Another with the finer size pen but more black filled in. Apparently my brain likes to create fantasy creatures.

Creatures keep emerging

I’ve been enjoying ProCreate on my iPad, and exploring colored doodles. It appears that my subconscious tends to create odd creatures like these:

This one feels like it should be swimming in the deep sea.
I also envision this one prowling the deep ocean vents.
And this one may be in the furthest reaches of the universe.