Hi and greetings!

Well, school's under way for my Bachelor's degree at Baker College Online. Let me just say this... the educational experience I'm gaining at Baker is AMAZING. Hands down, it's equal to if not superior to the experience I had at University of Alaska Anchorage. And, well, don't even get me started on the experience I had at AIU online. UGH!!!

So now it's all about adjusting to school. Hmm. Two essays every day 5 days in a row, two 3-5 page papers every week, AND.... two MORE 2-page papers with essay questions per week! I just turned in a 22 page portfolio and an annotated bibliography... I swear annotated bibliographies are the anti-art of the literary world!

That doesn't include the 200+ pages I read this week. Yep, you can say I'm a busy woman. BUT, good thing is, I'm maintaining straight A's (a 98% in Developmental Psychology, and a 91% in English Composition). Currently, I'm in week 6 (of 6) in Developmental Psychology and English Composition and about to head straight into Intermediate College Algebra (aka Trig). Loving every minute.

Anywho, I have plans to get a hold of a good graphic program like Photoshop, or MAYBE the most recent version of Paintshop Pro. Preferably free... I'm not into spending a ton of money on something until I'm better with the artwork I create. Basically, I just want something I can fine tune my skills with. Wanting to get back into photo manips (like the girl in the forest I created).

Writing will come after I adjust to schoolwork. Not that I have writers block right now, I'm just too tired to concentrate. Besides, I'm writing all these argument papers and psychology research papers. No creativity in that. I do have a partially written novel in my gallery - check it out if you're bored and like horror. It's disgusting. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I AM interested in photography, but it's going to be a long time before I can afford a decent digital camera. Wish me luck on that one. Other than artwork here are some facts about me:

Age:33
Relationship Status: Married (Happily) for 12 years
Children: 4
Education: Some College
Job / Career : full-time university student, home maker, mother.
Location: Somewhere, Alaska
Religious Views: That's personal.
Political Views: That's also personal.

That's about it. Pretty cut and dry eh? Enjoy the art, the prose, and the occasional goofy journal entry while you're here.

Who am I, and what do I do?

A writer.
A creator of prose, poetry, short stories, novellas, novels.
A composer of spoken/read lyrics.
An essayist.

The artistic endeavor with which I work now has been
birthed from the tedious rewarding tenure of a 24/7 Mother,
wife, home-school instructor, student. In me
was born an artist of text and language; evoking
emotions and mental images not likely to leave your
mind or memory, at least, any time soon. My focus is
horror fiction.



Welcome to Illusionary Endeavors. and I make a formidable force and a great team
by joining his programming + graphic design
skills with my artistic and writing focus.




I have a variety of works here, all copyright Rebecca Szumiesz in the following categories:
Fractal Art
Stationary
Photo Manips
Poetry & Prose

Q&A

Do I create artwork?
No, unfortunately I do not. My focus is now strictly on writing.

Do I write freelance?
I'd certainly like to pursue this endeavor, but with such limited writing experience I'll be building a profile instead over the following year.

Do I sell my works?
No. Currently I'm what you'd consider a "starving artist", as I don't pursue writing/art for the money, but for the simple joy of creating and sharing.

Will I? Ever sell prints?
Probably not. If I do it will be directly from my own website.

Am I published, or looking to publish my work?
Not yet. Two-Four years down the road, perhaps I will have more experience and more works to submit. Until then, my writing will be free and available from my website, and I will be 100% completely unsolicited until 2010.

Why is that?
I insist on creating free literature. By doing so, I will be putting time and energy into promoting literacy, to all classes and societies, upper and lower-class.

Will I be able to buy your work or donate?
Yes. My website will have a section giving you a list of ways you can donate. Buy my books? Sure! Any financial investment into literacy is money well-spent.

Visit my account at Myspace at:
[link]
or type in the address as follows:
www [dot] myspace [dot] com [/] rebecca_szumiesz

The wild Alaskan life called upon me 12 years ago, drawing me forth from the womb of the sun-burnt smoggy city known as Las Vegas. Within three years, from 1994 to 1997, I went from highschool graduate, to a featured artist with the Las Vegas Nevada Opera Theater, to a married mother of my first child. All ideas of music performance diminished within the wake of a new family, and a new life.

As time went by I pursued other interests, usually within the home... artwork, homeschooling all four of my kids, and taking care of my live-in elderly Mother-in-law. Beauty was found in everyday things but more so in artwork and prose.

Now that my children are older, and I'm no longer tied down with diaper duty, sleepless nights, and the overall insanity of bringing up four very young kids, I've reawakened my ability to write. The horror genre has become my new forte, with a rhythm in poetry as well.

My goals are to self-publish my first short story, on my own website, during the next 8 weeks. (Soon to be up and running as soon as , my husband and partner in literary bliss, gets it presentable.) Further down the road, I'll be pursuing self-publishing, possibly submitting my works to publishers until .. well.. until I'm published.

Please take the time to view the black & white photography in my gallery. More Photography, be it black and white or color, will be submitted as time permits, and/or as I am able to afford a decent camera, film, development of the film, etc.

Advanced critique is welcome.

Featured in my gallery will be the following:

Short Stories
Novels
Novellas
Poetry

Look for my first short story on September 28th, 2008. Until then, I'll be submitting poetry and essays. As you will see, my long fiction works will be displayed in the gallery here as a "short work"... meaning only a portion of the novel will be viewable. Then, should you enjoy what you see, a link will be provided to my own website where the work in full will be available for free download in an ebook format.

A max of one novel/novella/short story will be submitted per two to four months. Poetry will be submitted at a max of one poem every four days. I'm a firm believer that shoving a ton of my work down your throats in one jam-packed session of text is not the best way to demonstrate my literature.


Advanced Critique is welcome.