Happy Birthday, Terence!

Some people may think it's silly to hold a birthday celebration for an imaginary character.

On the other hand, what law dictates that you can't hold a birthday celebration for an imaginary character? Besides, they say every day is worth celebrating, and this is a great segue to my own birthday.

Hard to believe I'm already in the final week of my second decade. Might as well make the most of these last days of my 20s!

So today calls for some berries and ice cream (when I can get to the store, that is), a full-length unicorn movie, and a sweeping display of gorgeous artwork, both from me and from other wonderful, amazing artists!

Happy birthday, Terence, old mate! Here's hoping you (eventually) make it to a bookshelf, and if we're both lucky, the big screen!

(If Terence ever gets filmed, I want James McAvoy to provide his voice.)

These next few images hold a lot of sentimental value, because they were drawn for me just after I lost my dad.

And these images were drawn by a lovely friend, Ziven, who sadly committed suicide in 2009. I'm lucky to still have his gifts in my possession, and I'm never, ever getting rid of them. 

I remember how much Zi (that's what I nicknamed him) adored Terence; he was even afraid to draw him at first because he thought he couldn't do him justice, and he knew about my plans to write a book and everything. I hope I can make him proud.

And these drawings were made for pure kicks; some of them go wa-a-a-ay back!

(This was the first picture of Terence I ever received, when I went by "Anonymous Author" on an old site called Elfwood, I think. The artist herself convinced me to sign up for deviantART, and this was ages before I signed up for Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, or Blogger!)

(Hey, it's the thought that counts! Besides, it's kind of cute!)

(Drawn as a sympathy gift in 2009, after a good friend in my ward died from ovarian cancer.)

(Oooh, VERY cheeky!)

(Drawn for "encouragement" when I was struggling with 2014 NaNoWriMo, my very first time doing it!)

(This was something I personally requested, after barely making it to the end of NaNoWriMo!)

And finally, we have some pictures of Terence that I actually paid people to draw. Some of these commissions were quite expensive, but every one has been worth every penny!

By the way, I recently made the decision to illustrate my own books, if they're lucky to make it to actual book form. Another artist might have better quality, but I don't think I could afford to hire that kind of quality, at least not now. Besides, I always said I wanted to be an artist as well as an author, and people do tell me my art is wonderful.

So I might as well!

 

As an added bonus, here's my boy in all the lovely pencil sketches bestowed upon me thus far! I have some incredibly generous and gifted friends, wouldn't you agree?