Hey guys! Long story short, my cover artist is having a heck of a time finding/making wings to fit a character I need on my cover (if we get the right bend, it's the wrong shape and vice versa), and so I'm thinking about biting the bullet and making the wings myself so I can photograph them for her and get things just right that way. HOWEVER. I've never made any good quality dragon/demon type wings on a custom before. Can I see pics for inspiration? Any suggestions of what material to use for the webbing/membrane between the little finger things?

Hey everyone!

Long time no see The past year or so has been absolutely nuts for me, resulting in decreased pony time (boooo), but I'm trying to make my come back now (yaaaaay!).

A little about me: I grew up playing with G1s, but left the MLP world when I wanted to play with more "realistic" model horses. Fast forward to 2003 and discovering G3s and I became an overnight collector. I much prefer G1 and G3 to the other generations, but G2/3.5/4 have all grown on me enough that they're welcome and significant parts of my herd (still not too sure on what I think about the *new* G4s... G4.5s? What are we calling them?). I go through spurts of customizing, but it's been a while since I've dug my ol' bait box out.

My degree is in animal science, as I'd planned on going to vet school since I was 5. Unfortunately, in undergrad, I began to pass out while making incisions and then I got engaged/married to a man whose career routinely keeps us moving, making that career a very unlikely option for me after all. I've worked in animal rescue, handling military working dogs, as a vet tech, and a horse trainer before deciding to devote my professional energy into another lifelong passion of mine--writing. As of this past April, I'm a published epic fantasy author

I hope to become a more active member of this community once again--it's always been the warmest online home I've ever been part of, and I miss the sense of camaraderie that these forums bring to its members.

Hey everyone

My senior Arab, Star, has worn his second premolars to almost nothing and as such has been having an increasingly difficult time comfortably carrying his bit. He's the sort of horse that's only happy if he has a job, but with his mouth's changes, his job is making him uncomfortable.

He's too sensitive for most hackamores I've come across (though I'm not opposed to the right one, if there's one to suggest) and my mostly-English background has me a little uncomfortable using a bosal (I often find myself seeking contact, regardless of headgear), which has led me to the side pull option. He's got a super petite head, even for an Arab and shopping for tack online always frustrates me a bit because I'm scared of wasting money on something that ends up not being what I want.

Any suggestions? I'm open to most anything, and we've been getting by with hacks in his halter, but I'd like something that can give a little clearer communication so I can feel more comfortable straying from the arena and immediate property lines Thanks everyone!

I know I've fallen off the Arena for a bit, but I've been swamped with finalizing everything for publication of my debut novel, Devotion! She's the first of a five-part, character driven epic fantasy series told from a third person omniscient POV. Premise is a holy war against demons on a godless island and the immortal paladin that is sent to try to stop it. Ebook only at this time, paperback is still pending, but I had to squeal somewhere! I've been working on this book since 2003 and am SO excited (and equally terrified) to finally set her out into the wild!

I know we've got other authors here on the Arena and I'd love to talk networking (including links to your own books to check out!!) with those of you interested, especially if you went the indie route

If it strikes your fancy, and you've got the time, I'd be honored if any of you felt compelled to give her a read If you're interested, you can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/Devotion-Afflicted-Saga-Tale-Fallen-ebook/dp/B01D6W9AP4/

The past month has been incredibly rough for me and it's been a long time since I logged on here. I know we've got quite a few writers at the Arena - who's participating in NaNoWriMo this year? This is the first year I'm attempting more than one novel... in fact, I'm *just* crazy enough that I'm aiming for... five. Yes, five. We'll see how that goes

For those of you new to the concept of NaNoWriMo, it stands for National Novel Writing Month and happens every year in November. The challenge is to write 50k words worth of new fiction through the course of the month. It's loads of fun (if you're a writer ) and a fantastic motivation/kick in the pants to write that story idea you always daydream about

My name at the NaNo site is Katika; I'd love to add you guys as buddies! Hope to see you wonderful folks writing next month!!

I've made a couple of posts lately about both my dogs and my potential, cross-country move.  I've got a 12-year old, geriatric and significantly arthritic Malinois (the past three years have not been gentle for her as far as health emergencies go, and between her achy body and a pretty deep-seeded fear of where car rides will deposit us, she's developed quite a bit of travel anxiety) and now my 3-year old GSD/lab has been diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia (missing almost the entire front wing of his hip joint).  Our potential move is literally halfway across America (the coast-to-coast way), and we've got a few months to work on behavior modification to re-acclimate my older girl to relax in the car (and I do feel as though I've got that side of things under control).  What I'm needing help with is how to protect their hips, backs and legs in the process.

Moving sucks.  Staying still in cars sucks.  We currently have two vehicles (pretty sure that's not changing before the move); one sports car and one sedan.  We usually use the sedan for dog hauling, by using one of those canvas hammock seat covers in the back seats, and we have harness-type seat belts for both of our dogs.  Up until recently, that has been all the stability my dogs have seemed to need.  However, I'm worried about the length of time they'll be sitting/laying on those seats that aren't really specifically designed to comfortably let arthritic dogs lay down.  I've been looking at other model seat covers and have even tried out one of those quilted/padded ones (waste of money... there's zero traction to it against the seat itself, so it slides everywhere, making it dangerous, in my opinion), trying to find something that would offer better support. 

I've played around with trying to wedge their orthopedic beds under the hammock, but so far have been unsuccessful with getting the beds to lie flat enough to let the dogs actually get comfy on them.  I'm thinking I may have to bite the bullet here and get a couple beds and then cut them into the shape of the seats to get the job done, but am a little intimidated with the idea of doing that (since those suckers aren't cheap and I'd hate to make a mistake!).  Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing or know of any manufactured product that would possibly suit my needs?  My dogs always ride in the back seat on long trips for safety reasons related to air bags, but having them both in the same car while we move is not mandatory, if it'd be easier to split them up to make this work. 

I have no idea where else to go looking for this sort of thing and don't even know the best way to Google it, lol.  I figured with as many animal lovers and crafty folk as we have here, this may be my best bet to get ideas   Thanks, everyone!

I had a question about my novel series over in WYP and discovered there are quite a few of us that are pretty serious about word smithing and story crafting and mentioned an idea in that thread of starting an Arena members only writing group.  Why?  Because I've found that quite a few writing groups seem to attract people that have hmm... abrasive personalities.  I get that as writers we need to grow thick skins, but there's a way to be *nice* about that sort of thing, and I feel safer with talking to other Arena members than almost any other group that I'm part of.  So I thought that it might be a beneficial idea for like-minded folks here to start our own, supportive writing group

Would anyone be interested in doing this?  I'm not sure the best way to officially arrange this sort of thing (through emails?  Facebook?  Suggestions? lol!), or even if it's allowed to pitch this sort of idea here, but thought I'd ask.  Pony people are so fun and positive and I think a lot of writers could benefit from that sort of atmosphere.