♥ Crystal Writer ♥'s photostream  

Currently About Crystal: I'm a Christian writer with a variety of works in progress. Some of my projects were put on hold as I recovered from neck surgery (surgery images in my Flickr stream), but I am beginning to make strides toward the completion of a trilogy of novels about a man who runs from home as a boy to avoid foster care and ends up homeless. The first novel's working title is Cloudy Days on Sunshine Street and is in serious editing mode as I also work to create proposals recently requested by agents and editors at the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) conference in September, 2011. I'm learning that writing is way more fun than time-wasting activities like television, and I'm glad I'm finally able to type more so i can once again enjoy it.

Crystal the Compassionate:I love people and I love animals, and I try to be there for both whenever I can. One way I've learned as a simple way to help others is through clicking daily at sites hosted by "GreaterGood Network.". I have included banners for all their causes below, so my visitors here can easily click to support their favorite cause or all causes.

For my kitties...

For my retired U.S. Army Hubby...

In memory of my Grandma (RIP-1988)...

Because I've been hungry and homeless before...

In honor of the mommies I know who care for kids with autism or Asperger's Syndrome...

For kids who need health to have hope for the future...

Because I'm a writer and writer's need readers...

For the wild animals who need wild homes...

THANKS FOR CLICKING ANY OR ALL OF THE ABOVE! ;-)

Crystal the Professional: Writer & Business Profile:



Crystal the Designer and Flickr-er: Most of my pictures here will be manipulated kaleidoscope images and tessellations. Many will be from images taken of the designs inside actual kaleidoscopes, and others will be from fractals or actual photos. I like all of them because of the color & design, but also because they remind me of how I think God sees the world and people He has made: God's creations are all different yet all beautiful, and - like kaleidoscopes - they are the most beautiful when (His) light shines through them.

The world's best visitors stop by here, so here's a graph of the visitors who have stopped by to view my stream in the past month ...



And here's where some of my visitors are from ...



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A LITTLE BIT MORE...

Crystal the Poet: One day hope to combine a book of my kaleidoscope designs with some of my poetry and haiku. My poetic claim to fame is a parody of Psalm 23 for Christian writers entitled The Lord is my Editor; I Shall Rewrite to which I have a page at Facebook dedicated at www.facebook.com/TheLordismyEditor. There are also a few items with this slogan among an eclectic mix of items I sell at My Zazzle Store.

Crystal the Photographer: Amateur is a bit of an understatement, but I'm getting more and more interested in digital photography and photo editing. My first camera was one of those instant 35mm where ya gotta wind everything manually. Then, I got a real 35mm SLR by Chinon at K-Mart. My first digital was a 1MP joke since I had no idea what I was buying, but it said it took photos and video. Yuck!

Finally, I got my first digital point and shoot, which is where some of my earliest photos on here (and many I have yet to post) come from. It's a Minolta Dimage S414 that I still own but rarely use because it needs rechargeable AA batteries. Plus, it's pretty heavy. Next, I got myself an Olympus FE230, which helped me get some great macro shots from inside my kaleidoscope, but with far more noise than I would like. I graduated from that to an Olympus Stylus 840 which has a few more settings than the FE, but still a lot of noise. I have some posts from an old cellphone camera, and some I like better from my new Samsung Epic that even takes great HD videos.

Currently, I have been loaned an older model Canon Rebel to try and learn the world of DSLR. Maybe I can move up a little bit past amateur as I spend time with it. It's somewhat harder to get used to, especially with no zoom lens yet, but I'm excited to learn more and to post my creations as I do. Flickr has been a great place to share this artistic part of myself, and I am always open for critiques, tips, and the occasional compliment from my visitors. Thanks for stopping by.

Crystal the Writer: I am a freelance writer and editor. My main site as a Christian writer is a page at Shoutlife, which is a great social site for all Christians.

To inspire my writing, I've been a member of Louisville Christian Writers since about 1998 and was elected president of the group in 2008. I've also been a coordinator and part of the planning committee for the annual Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference. Recently, I joined a group that is pushing me toward more professionalism than ever. As mentioned above, ACFW is American Christian Fiction Writers, and I foresee great growth for myself as a writer because of my membership there.

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The most important thing... I have created my own website to host the central theme of my creativity and my life. It's called "For One Soul" and can be found below or at www.41soul.com. And here's why I do it all on Flickr...

"Even something as simple as a photo image can inspire others and draw them to God. His Holy Scriptures tell us that all we have to do is lift Him up, and HE will draw all men unto Himself. If we trust that we walk in the shadow of The Almighty, we know that shadow will touch every person whose path we cross. If I can be used by Him to gather more of His creation (even one person) into His loving presence, it makes every second of life worth living."

Just a little extra: I got to where I am now in Kentucky by taking a job that had me traveling around the United States selling family photographs. Because of that, the map below shows I've visited a lot of states - or at least traveled through them.


create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Finally, I try to give links for the software I use in the descriptions of the pictures I made, but I don't always have time. So, some of the software I really enjoy using can be found by clicking on the following links...

Irfanview: www.irfanview.com

Silicon Mirror: www.torpor.com

Fractal Explorer: www.eclectasy.com/Fractal-Explorer/

Repligator: www.ransen.com/Repligator/default.htm

Mehdi Plugins for Photoshop, Elements, and Irfanview: www.mehdiplugins.com/

Turbo Note, a nifty desktop sticky note program that allows me to keep quick notes about my projects: Free Download Page