It's been a busy few months. I'll start with a research update and then give you the big picture.
From mid-April to mid-May was spent on a research trip to Europe. It was amazing and wonderful and really useful with some very nice surprises.
Dennis is an archer, bowyer and fletcher; as well as a fantastic cook.
Teresa is a ceramics artst, from Studio 101 Ceramics and Kerstyn's Zeramika.
Leslie is a dancer and dance teacher and also interested in historical mothering practices (I found a Persian statue of a woman breast-feeding at a museum in Germany, I was so proud of myself)
We went to London, Oxford, Paris, Lyon and Berlin and I was able to conduct research in each city.
I could not have asked for better travel companions.
But there has been some interesting developments in the rest of my life, too. As most of you know, I finished a Masters degree in Humanistic Psychology at the University of West Georgia in 2015 (my main ares of interest are the positive mental health aspects of creative endeavors, and diversity issues in counseling) and I've been applying to Ph.d programs.
I've been accepted to the New School for Social Research in Clinical Psychology. The New School is an amazing place. It is also in New York City. So as long as I have funding in place, I'll be moving to NYC in late January.
(If you are interested, here's a link to the school. http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/about-us/
Our mascot is...the narwhal. How cool and weird is that?)
I will be working on the caftan book as my main project from now until I go to school. If all goes well, at the end of January 2018 I'll be turning the manuscript and images over to my editor, proof readers and designer for an early spring publication date.
Spring semester will see me working on Kickstarter rewards and fulfillment one day a week until they are all done.
I am starting to do 'pre-orders' for the book and those will be fulfilled after all the Kickstarter copies go out. Only after all Kickstarter and pre-orders are done will I officially publish the book through Amazon, my website etc.
Summer of 2018 will be finishing up any tasks related to Kickstarter and hopefully traveling a bit to give some workshops on the caftans. If you have an idea for where you'd like to see me give workshops, send me an email.
Thanks to all the Kickstarter supporters for your assistance and your faith in me.