The main character in my short story Spirit Wolf is a Mage. I don’t know why she’s a Mage as opposed to a witch or some other kind of magic user. I’m still working out what a Mage actually is.

Magic User
The clearest notion I had was that Melissa is some kind of magic user. She’s not a witch if you use the definition of witch as a magic user who approaches magic from a religious point of view. My Mages are more like physicists they work by manipulating the physical world on the molecular level. They play with energy and matter as though they were one and the same.

Secret Society
The other thing I know about Mages is that they maintain a separate society that exists within the ordinary human world. They have internet connections and ipods, but they also use magic as a tool for everyday living. They don’t have a democratic “government” the most powerful have formed a loose confederation that keeps the rest in line. There main task is to keep the existence of Mages secret. The penalty for “piercing the veil,” as they call it, is pretty drastic.

That is the kernel of what I know about the Mages. I can’t help but wonder what it must be like to have astonishing abilities, yet be forced to keep them a secret? I'd love to hear from people in the comments who are part of a "secret" segment of society.  How do you keep the secret?

Vogue Knitting Live 2012

Wow, there was so much energy at the Hilton. Knitters, Crocheters, Spinners and Weavers all out to play with the yarn. I got completely over stimulated in the market place. Anything you could use for fiber crafts was available in abundance. My only criticism was that there was no marketplace on Monday.

I took a sweater design class with Leslye Solomon, owner of Woolstock Yarn Shop , during the class, another student was making a hat out of the most fabulous blue art yarn that had peacock feathers spun in to it. We were all so enchanted by the yarn  that every student in the class wanted to run to the market place and buy some. Then we remember that there was no market place. What a bummer!

The high point for me was the Vogue Knitting fashion show. The people at Vogue had a surprise for us. Instead of showing the garments from the Winter issue they previewed the clothes from the Spring 2012 issue. The audience let out a collective squeeee! when we heard the announcement. There are some really fun trends for spring click here to see the pictures.

Textured Stitches Book Signing

I had a really great Artist Date this week. I went to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio for the Textured Stitches book signing. Connie Chang Chinchio, is a busy working mom who managed to design the patterns, write the book, commute from NJ to DC and have a baby in 2011. I was exhausted just writing that.

The book, typical of Interweave publications, is full of gorgeous detailed, photos of contemporary, wearable sweaters and accessories. Chinchio's designs feature textural accents that add a touch of elegance to simple shapes.

I want to make a sweater this year. So every time I get my hands on a knitwear designer I'm planning to ask his or her opinion of what a good construction method for a beginning sweater knitter. Chinchio recommended a top down raglan. Maybe, I'm going to look at a few to see if there's anything I like.

I got a couple of pictures of the sweaters in Textured Stitches. They look great in the book, in person the knitting was soft and lofty. The colors were much richer in person too. Check out my pics from the evening:

The Dire Wolf is my inspiration this week. I kept running into images of them. The Shifters of Lowell Island are the last remnant of the Dire Wolf in the world. Click here to see picture of what Dire Wolves might have looked like.

I didn’t get much work done on 101 Acting Questions, Answered! This was a difficult week for me. I was just getting back to work after being out sick, flat on my back in bed sick, and on my second day back to the office there was a major flood in the building. 

My schedule was completely disrupted. This week I spent a lot of my off time just trying to catch up on my work. Things should settle down somewhat. I will have a new version of the cover to show you. 

I think what I’ll do in next week’s post is put up all of the variations I’ve come up with and see what people like best. Stay tuned.

If you visit my blog at 101 Acting Questions with Nelly Odessa you'll find a post about social media for actors.

The Secret History of Lowell Island

There was an ancient painting in a cave on Lowell Island, the paintings were ancient when the first of the Algonquin peoples settled the islands of Long Island Sound. 

The cave drawings seem to show a changing of the guard after the last ice age. The time of the mega-fauna had come to an end and most of the larger carnivores died off when the last of their prey animals went extinct. This die-off included the Dire wolves. That’s the temporal explanation of the scenes depicted in the cave. 

There is another story depicted in the cave paintings that predates human habitation of North America. The paintings depict battles between wolves huge, short-faced Dire Wolves and smaller more nimble modern wolves. As the pictures progress, the Dire Wolves seem to lose territory until they were pushed right off the North American mainland, and the final picture is of three Dire Wolves on an island. 

In a universe where matter can’t be created or destroyed, it seems that the energy of the wolves may have remained behind on Lowell Island after the death of the last pack.

A DVD And Some Knitting: The Instant Artist Date

I’m working my way through Julia Cameron’s Walking In This World. Part of the program involves setting aside time each week to go out and just do something you enjoy and that feeds your creative self.
I’d planned to go to ABC Carpet and Home.

I’d had a really busy weekend, traveling and ringing in the New Year with family and friends that I was really tired on Monday. I ended up exploring some knitting blogs that I’ve been meaning to get to and then I popped Priest in my DVD player and got some long over due knitting done on a shawl project that’s been languishing unfinished in a plastic bag.

If you're reading Cameron, I'd love to hear about what you're doing for your Artist Dates.  Check out: Julia Cameron Live for more ideas for your Artist Date.