art

Lost Fonts? How to Fix That

Sunayna Prasad

Adobe Suite changes over time, including Photoshop. That means they gain new features as well as alter existing ones. Unfortunately, a handful of elements go away, too, such as fonts.

When my computer needed to be rebooted due to some virus, I had to reinstall and download everything. So, when I downloaded Photoshop, it was a newer version. Therefore, changes have been made and I had to adjust to them.

But when I opened a file of an image I had with text, the fonts were missing. So, I could not use them. I had to delete them and replace them with available fonts.

However, this was a cover of a published book that needed to be updated. I was giving the story a new title. So, without the designated font, I had to figure out what to do.

I considered downloading the font from the Internet, which you can do. I might have found that removed font. However, it didn’t seem to make it into the software.

That was when I came up with another solution. I opened Microsoft word, and luckily, I could still get that font there. So, I wrote some letters in big sizes, took a screenshot, opened that file in Photoshop, and altered them to match the font I’d originally used. I also created a library designated for symbols of that font.

But they are images and not symbols you can use your keypads with. For instance, you can’t delete them with the backspace, move them with a space or return key, and so forth. If you want to make a word, you have to drag them with your mouse or touchpad. You can use keyboard shortcuts to put them near or far from each other with the transport tool, though.

I think it would be good for anyone to create a library of different symbols in various fonts, just in case they go. If they’re common or standard fonts, such as “Times New Roman”, then it’s unlikely that they’ll disappear from a program. Still—better prepared than to have to scramble for the same or similar styles.

travel

My Top 3 Unique Travel Moments

Sunayna Prasad
Image from Pixabay

I’ve traveled so many times throughout my life that I’ve learned so much about other areas, cultures, and much more. I can’t even keep track of how many places I’ve been to.

Anyway, when you travel a lot, you may experience unique moments or activities. So, without further ado, here are the top 3 unique moments.

3: A trip to a cooking school and getting to prepare a meal

Now this one was not out of town, although I still consider it unusual, but in a good way. When I was in 10th grade, the students who took Italian as a foreign language got to go on a trip to a small cooking school several minutes away. We were assigned different foods to cook. After we finished, we got to eat. I got the polenta group (we worked in teams), but when I ate it, I didn’t like the taste. Nevertheless, the trip was fun.

2: Visiting the “Harry Potter” exhibit in Discovery Times Square

Unfortunately, Discovery Times Square has gone out of business and the space is now for a National Geographic Museum. However, I went to Discovery Times Square in 2011, and there was an exhibit with the “Harry Potter” films’ props, costumes, and more. No phone use, touching, or photographing anything was permitted. Yet it was still exciting to see the items used in the movies. I was especially surprised and amazed at the life-sized Hagrid model. It stood so high that I found it strange that Hagrid never seemed to get stares in the muggle world in either the books or the movies. I remember thinking that real people that size would probably receive tons of stares in public, which would make me feel sorry for them.

And now…drumroll

1: Running into a former school classmate and doing an activity with her

This was back when I was in 5th grade. A girl who was in my 4th grade class and I ran into each other in Cozumel, Mexico. I recall that she’d left my elementary school starting in 5th grade. Not only did I hang out with her for a bit, but we also participated in a dolphin-swim that same day. What a miracle! Not many people run into former school classmates on vacations and get to do activities with them.

So, there you have it.

art, cooking

It’s Fun to Draw Cakes

Sunayna Prasad

Although it’s unlikely typical for people to want to draw designs for their cakes, no matter the reasons, I enjoyed it in my youth and still do now.

As a creative and artistic person, I’ve constantly come up with various ideas and specific envisions for just about anything.  With cakes, I’ve drawn how I wanted them to look. Sometimes I’ve had my own drawings scanned onto them. During that time, I also discovered that copyrighted images could not be scanned onto cakes. So, I had to stick with my own ideas.

I would also illustrate a few different ideas of one cake. I did that for my sweet 16 cake, and used every possible point-of-view (except the bottom, obviously). The bakery used one of the designs and that pleased me.

Recent years, though, I’ve designed cake appearances for me to bake from scratch. One of my college friends is allergic to peanuts, and unfortunately, there aren’t many commercial options near me that are 100 percent safe for those with nut allergies. It sounds strange, especially since I live close to New York City. But even there, I had trouble finding a place I could trust to be fully nut-free. There are some, but they’re also dairy-free, gluten-free, and so on.

Even though I’ve been cooking since I was 12, some of the cake designs I’ve envisioned were a little too advanced for me, like the ones below.

The gradient technique is called an ombre. It looks beautiful, but I’m not sure if I know how to do it properly (in spite of researching it). And some of the flowers are probably best for elite and highly talented bakers. Here’s another cake image I drew that I felt was too hard to actually do in real life.

It most likely would be easier than the one with the ombre and detailed flowers. However, this would have involved a lot of work.

So, at times, less can be more with designing and decorating cakes, especially if it’s a casual party at your house with a group of friends. I learned that cake appearances can still look dazzling, even with few decorations. That is what I did for my 26th birthday November 2019.

Okay, maybe me looking away from the camera might be kind of distracting. But if you look carefully at the cake I’m cutting, you see only two colors, one type of decorative design, and the writing on a white chocolate bar in the center. That was good enough for me, especially with all the cooking and other preparations I had to do.

So, there you have it.

art

Drawing Proportions from Face to Face is Anything but a No-Brainer

Sunayna Prasad
Image from Pixabay

Pretty much all of us have drawn in our youth whether it was required in school or for pleasure. Regardless of that, only some of us have taken our artistic activities seriously and honed them to produce quality work.

This post will focus on the face and why it can be difficult to create with accurate proportions. And no, that doesn’t count the simple smiley faces or the stick-figure heads. Anyone could make those easily. This will be about drawing the face as best as possible.

One fact I learned when creating faces was that the eyes are separated by one imaginary eye shape. In other words, you could fit a third eye in between the two real ones.

The mouth is also difficult to line up where it belongs. Not only because people move their mouths and have different shapes of them, but also because getting them in the center is challenging. So, it’s a good idea to have lines to guide you when you draw.

But the biggest struggle with the face is probably the nose. You want it to look attractive and, at least, kind of realistic, depending on your artistic skills. But you also might not wish to make the human look like he or she is wearing a nose costume.

What I do for that is shade or draw one line that leads up from the nose toward the eye area. It all depends on your style or plan as well as your talent.

So, yeah, the face can be a bit of a challenge. However, it can also be fun. After all, many folks like creating different variations of different subjects.

Having reference material can also help. You use it as inspiration, but not copying (unless that’s your intention and only for personal use).

I hope this post helps.

Writing

When Should You Describe Voices in Your Writing?

Sunayna Prasad
Image from Pixabay

Every character should have a unique voice. And by that, I don’t just mean speech patterns, words, attitudes, and so on, I also mean physical voices. For instance, are they high, low, nasal, etc.?

I used to describe what my characters’ voices sounded like in my earlier writing days. And in my book, “The Frights of Fiji,” I do say what a few characters’ voices sound like. Two of them are described with deep voices and one is said to have a high voice. However, those were mainly done for comedic purposes. I originally published “The Frights of Fiji” in 2013 as “From Frights to Flaws.” I now refrain from explaining how my characters’ voices sound, unless it’s important to the stories.

Even my main character’s voice noise isn’t revealed. In the sequel, there is a scene where she sings a certain song. Although I state that she takes chorus at school, I don’t specify if she is an alto or soprano. That is because I want readers to use their envisions to what her voice sounds like.

Many people dislike when characters’ physical appearances are described unless they’re important, otherwise, the readers should get to picture them their ways. I happen to be the opposite with that. I am an advocate for authors to describe their characters with whatever traits they want, as long as it’s not too many (since that can bog down the narrative and be too much to remember), or offensive. I not only believe that writers deserve the right to physically describe their characters, but I also cannot picture characters clearly unless the narrators say what they look like.

That being said, it’s the reverse for voices. Since I first wrote Book 1 of my “Magical Missions” series, I learned more about the writing craft, and chose to give up with explaining how characters’ voices sound, except when it’s crucial. I would recommend that to all aspiring writers. A few voice sounds revealed here and there probably won’t matter. Just be sure not to overdo it, or else, it might overwhelm your readers.

movie

Review of “Robin Hood” (1973)

Sunayna Prasad

There are many adaptations of the “Robin Hood” legend. This one, however, is done with animal characters and even a rooster as the narrator. Although he is telling the story, he sometimes makes appearances in it.

Anyway, there is this evil King John and his wicked, but humorous, snake companion, who wants to steal everyone’s money. Robin Hood and his buddy, Little John, do everything they can to save the citizens from the malicious royalty.

The characters were memorable and likable. Although King John was the villain, he expressed his actions in a very immature way. The most common one was where he’d whine for his mommy and suck his thumb. Robin Hood was compassionate and caring. He showed sympathy to this child rabbit named Skipper when the mayor stole his birthday gift, which was money.

Speaking of which, right before that moment, the siblings sing “Happy Birthday” to Skipper, even though this story is supposed to be set in medieval times. And “Happy Birthday to You” was not written until the 19th century (1800’s). So, that’s Ana chronologic. Clearly, the production studio had enough money to pay that royalty to use the song, but was it really worth it for something set hundreds of years before it gets written? The same goes for the balloons. I’m pretty sure they didn’t exist during the middle ages.  

Okay, I apologize for the obsessing of historically inaccurate moments. But the main pitfall of this movie was that it didn’t engage me a lot. It’s hard to say why. Some movies have that mysterious engaging element, however, this film barely had it.

Aside from the weaknesses I stated, I found this movie to be okay. There were a good number of emotional moments. Yet, I would rate “Robin Hood” 3.5 out of 5 stars.

travel

Going to Europe? Here is What You Should Expect

Sunayna Prasad
Image from Pixabay

Traveling not only means going somewhere, at least, kind of far, but also expecting some differences, subtle or drastic. That includes if you’re going somewhere within your own country.

Anyway, this post is about if you’re traveling to Europe. Of course, every country there is different. But here are some common details I’ve noticed when I’ve been to Europe, regardless of where I was.

1: Stronger coffee

Europeans seem to favor dark, dark roast. Even when I was trying to drink my coffee black at home in the US (although I put cold water in it so that I didn’t have to wait as well as make it less strong), I had to put a lot of dairy and sweeteners in European coffee. So, if you already prefer stronger coffee, you might be okay. But if you like your coffee milder, than be prepared to have to use a ton of milk and sugar.

2: Higher-quality food

That includes fast-food restaurants, although my family didn’t eat in those there. But the food in Europe tastes fresher and sometimes, it’s denser. Many countries there have stricter food laws than in the US. Therefore, the food will probably taste different, but likely in a good way.

3: Smaller spaces wherever you stay

Many European locals pack light because they often have to deal with smaller spaces in most places. Of course, there are exceptions here and there. But no matter where you stay, whether it’s a luxurious hotel or a hostel, it might be best to pack less.

So, there you have it. I hope these tips are helpful.

Writing

Coming Up with a Terrific Title

Sunayna Prasad
Image from Pixabay

Ah, titles, you’ve got to love them—or dislike them. Titles matter a lot for a book to sell, whether it’s commercially or self-published.

In traditional publishing, the publisher comes up with the titles for books. But in self-publishing, the author is responsible for his or her book title. And that can be a big challenge.

If you don’t know, authors who take the commercial route have to give up control (if they even get accepted, which is super-difficult) for their manuscript. The publishing house decides everything. But if a writer chooses to self-publish, he or she gets to retain full control.

That being said, he or she needs to do homework and research on what would work for getting his or her book to sell. While self-publishing is receiving a better reputation that before, unfortunately, it still has a kind-of weak one. Too many indie authors don’t take careful consideration for their products and will decide on ideas that just appeal to them.

That was an issue with me when I first published the beginning installment of my “Magical Missions” series in 2013. I wanted to use alliteration, so I titled the story, “From Frights to Flaws.” Little did I know that it was a weak title and people said that it hadn’t made sense. When I revised and re-published the new version in 2018, I kept the original title, but added 2nd edition to it. Sales improved, but not to my satisfaction. Once again, I was told that my title made no sense.

So, I did a poll somewhere and came up with an alternate title, “The Frights of Fiji”. The new title pleased people more and got the most votes. I then changed the title, as well as made a few minor updates to the cover, blurb, opening chapter, and even got to have the story be perma-free.

Titles can be difficult to brainstorm. So, now I come up with a few ideas and have people vote for which they think is the strongest. This can be a good idea for when you need to title your book(s).

cooking

It Starts Bitter…Then it’s Sweet…Healthy Pudding

Sunayna Prasad

It was not until recently that I cleaned up my diet and lost my sweet tooth, which I’ve had forever. And it wasn’t a conscious decision.

Anyway, before that time, a few months ago or so, I experimented with healthier desserts. One was chocolate pudding that had almond milk instead of regular milk. I don’t recall all the ingredients, but I do remember it being a healthier alternative.

Regardless of that, when I first tasted the pudding, it was kind of bitter. I had to keep eating it in order for it to get sweet. Sounds like a treat Willy Wonka could make, huh? Well, the bitter to sweet taste actually happened. I’m not exaggerating.

After some time, though, I think I might have had to throw the pudding away. I may have possibly consumed a little more after, but I don’t remember.

I am pretty sure, however, that the reviews for the pudding recipe were good. My mom taught me to check the overall ratings and reviews before trying the recipes. It makes total sense. Too many times I’ve had to toss my cooked creations without checking the reactions.

I will make pudding and eat sweets on rare occasion. But I will probably not use that specific recipe again.

Writing

It’s All About Revisions

Sunayna Prasad

Everyone who writes needs to revise sooner or later. Well, actually—it would be better if he or she waited until the draft was at the end. I even tried finding out ways to rewrite the last draft of my novel as soon as I completed it. I kept getting stuck.

I read pretty much every relevant article and even asked for help on a certain forum online. Everybody who responded to the thread said that I should give myself more time.

And they were right. While I successfully made a list of ideas for my next draft, I couldn’t actually start writing the next draft until recently. So, no writer had exaggerated about that. You do need to give yourself some time away from your WIP. Many writing experts suggest at least a month or two—often times, even more. But I didn’t really have several months.

I was going to submit the WIP to a certain editor, but I had to have that delayed due to just starting a new draft.

All right, maybe that’s enough backstory. I probably revise like most writers, although I often rewrite my stories long before I finish them. I try not to now, but I did before, because I was constantly getting bored with my writing. I started my current project four years ago, but for the first two years, I couldn’t finish a single draft. I would get bored by the tenth or eleventh chapter and give up. It was not until January 2018, that I discovered my actual writing process. That was when I could write an entire draft without quitting before it ended.

Now here’s a fun fact: I sometimes revise individual paragraphs. How? I wait a little, copy and paste that certain paragraph to another word doc, rewrite it there, and then copy and paste it to the main document.

Revision processes differ from person to person. So, you might revise in a way that wouldn’t necessarily work for me.