Catching up with CJ Yeats
There is a strange mischief inherent to moving. When you’re exhausted from driving all day and don’t know where the light switches are in your new place, naturally the first one you hit is the garbage disposal. And the coffee maker? It doesn’t matter which box of “kitchen stuff” you start with—that little guy will be at the bottom of the last box you open.
I like my creature comforts. That is something I become extremely aware of in the months surrounding a move. Since neither my partner nor I enjoy staring down piles of cardboard boxes, we decided we’d get the house put together and feeling cozy as quickly as possible. Our plan worked well. Everything felt better once we had a functional living space again. I spent a week painting my new craft room a deep purple color and getting art hung up on the walls around the house.
Newly painted craft room
Shortly before we moved, I took a photo of the sky looking particularly beautiful. That is, I was out for a run and got rained on, but when it cleared, the clouds were amazing. So, I did an acrylic landscape painting of the scene once I got my craft room set up. It felt like a nice send-off to remember the neighborhood we left.
Landscape painting of the sky and field after rain
After we moved, it took a few months before I got back in the headspace for writing. In a way, that was good because it gave my manuscript time to rest and me some fresher eyes. I’m happy to report that this year I finished my space fantasy novel—think magical space travel, spooky sorcerers, and cosmic gods. This is the second book I’ve completed. My first was a science fiction novel called We Leapt Into the Sky, a story about a researcher who becomes trapped on a distant planet where she encounters an incorporeal alien being. I illustrated that book and posted it in serial format on my website. I saw it as a sort of capstone project to highlight my last few years of independently studying writing and illustration.
I’ve known for a long time now that I wanted to seek traditional publication for my space fantasy novel. In late October, I sent my first queries to literary agents. Starting the querying process has been a transition as well, as I’m no longer thinking of this manuscript as my work in progress but as a complete, polished story that I hope finds the right agent. I’ve been working on different iterations of this book since 2021, and I love the manuscript I’m sending out.
Though I’m not formally illustrating this book, I still adore drawing my characters. In my last guest post, I included art of my protagonists, Remy and Felix, and this year I have two new character portraits of them. It’s great to see the progress I’ve made in both my art and writing.
Website: https://www.cjyeates.com/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@cj.yeates
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cj.yeates/