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Hey Everyone!

Well, Cat's Eye is now officially purchasable! Contest winners have received coupons via notes, and the top 4 people will have their books sent off shortly in the mail. Congrats!

As for the rest of you, you can purchase the book here:





Summary: A noble girl, an assassin, and a soul-stealing necklace... what more could go wrong? Sora always dreamed of adventure, but not like this. After being kidnapped by an assassin, she finds herself dumped into a dangerous world of thieves, mercenaries, and magic. A vengeful sorcerer is hot on the assassin's heels, and thanks to her Cat's Eye necklace, it falls into Sora's hands to save the assassin's life. Unfortunately, her necklace has as much an appetite for souls as it does for magic, and it is becoming even more of a danger than the sorcerer that hunts them.

Now she must travel with an unlikely band of outlaws to discover the mysteries of the Cat's Eye, the secrets of her past, and how to destroy a man whose power is more than legendary.

Please check out and fav this News Article about the book! The more exposure it gets, the more people can share the story: [link]

Thank you so much for the support, I appreciate it.

-Theresa

PS. I am now open for commissions! [link]

I am now open for commissions!

Note me if you are interested. I will need to know what exactly you want me to draw, any references (if you have them available), the level of background detail, and what style you would like (realism or cartoon/anime.) Prices are figured according to the time it takes to work on a project and the level of detail required.

For Cartoon/Anime pics:

- One character, plain colors, simple background: $10
Sample:

- Two/Three characters, plain colors, simple background: $20-$25
Sample:

- Detailed pictures with several characters and background, full color: $30
Sample:


For Realism

- One character portrait, neck up: $35
Sample:

- One character portrait, waist up: $45
Sample:

- Two or more character portrait, waist up: $55
Sample:

- Fully detailed scene requiring two or more full-body characters and complex background: Negotiable, Please Note Me
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Recently Finished Commissions

For those of you who might be curious about how my persuasive speech went on Monday, it went over really well, even the teacher congratulated me. The speech was supposed to be between 7-9 minutes (I came in at 7:14) and the purpose was to persuade, meaning to get the audience to agree with you.

So here's a word-for-word copy of what I had to say:

Aspartame - The Slow and Silent Killer

Bob Halen, a dedicated father, husband, and construction worker, never had a health problem in his life - until he switched to drinking diet soda. Soon Halen was drinking over two liters of soda a day. Within six months, he had a brain tumor the size of my fist, and had to go into open-skull surgery to have it removed.

Jasmine Hernandez, a 19 year old college student, started drinking diet sodas when she was 16 years old. In the three years that followed, she suffered from hair loss, partial blindness, numbness in her arms and legs, and radical mood swings. After quitting diet soda for three months, she returned to normal health.

Aspartame - the slow and silent killer. It is in our drinks, our foods, and even our chewing gum - but how did such a dangerous substance get on the market today? In the US, how did our FDA approve of such a known toxic substance? After having studied aspartame for the past several years, I am completely confident when I say that no one should ever consume artificial sweeteners. The facts speak for themselves.

Before anyone can be convinced to stop using artificial sweeteners, it is important to know exactly what artificial sweeteners are. If you go to your local supermarket, you will see hundreds of "diet" and "low carb" products on the shelves, or maybe even in your kitchen at home, sweetened by a seemingly harmless artificial sugar called aspartame, which accounts for over 50% of diet and low carb products. But according to the article "Aspartame: What is it?" published on Dorway.com, last accessed January 31st 2008, "Aspartame is a chemical compound that was not approved for use in food until 1981. For over eight years, the FDA refused to approve it because of the seizures and brain tumors it caused in lab animals." Aspartame actually breaks down into three toxins: methanol (10%), aspartic acid (40%), and phenylalanine (50%.) In small doses none of these substance are necessarily lethal, but when consumed in the high concentrations found in aspartame, they can cause many diseases and even death.

Now that we know a little about what aspartame is, let's address some of the common myths that keep people using it. Many people think that artificial sweeteners like aspartame are healthy for you. With the diabetes scare going around the US, people are trying to consume less sugar, so a sweet-tasting replacement is in high demand - but the dangers that accompany aspartame consumption are far more serious than something as treatable as diabetes. According to Aspartame: An Ignored Epidemic by Dr. H J Roberts, published in 2001: "Aspartame is responsible for 75% of complaints to the FDA each year." Reported symptoms include: hair loss, vision loss, memory loss, numbness in arms and legs, seizures, brain tumors, cancer, and even death. Some studies show that aspartame consumption can even be linked to Alzheimer's disease and birth defects. Again, aspartame is the slow and silent killer - many of these symptoms are not reported until after several years of use.

Remember those toxins we talked about earlier - methanol, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine? Well methanol breaks down into formaldehyde inside the body and when used at high cooking temperatures, and is extremely toxic. You might recognize it as the chemical used for embalming dead bodies. Aspartic acid, though found in many natural foods such as apples and bananas, is always accompanied by special proteins that help the body break it down. When consumed in isolation and at the highly concentrated amounts found in aspartame, aspartic acid can kill brain cells, cause tumors, memory loss, damage nerves, and has been linked to birth defects. Phenylalanine works to excite nerve endings in the brain, causing momentary hyperactivity before effectively killing off brain cells; it also leads to seizures. To people with the rare genetic disorder, PCP, a sip of aspartame can mean certain death because their body lacks the means to break it down.

The next common myth about aspartame is that it helps with weight loss. With obesity becoming a national epidemic in the US, many people are trying to shave off the extra calories. When people hear about a new miracle substance that tastes sweet but has no carbs or calories, they think 'what's to lose?' - well really, the question should be 'what's the gain', and in this case they gain weight. By consuming fake sugar, it makes our body crave real sugar. According to a study published in the "International Journal of Obesity", 2007, lab rats fed artificial sweetener ate more regular food at meal time, meaning that they craved real sugar and ended up overeating. This is the exact same effect we see in humans - by consuming artificial sugar, it makes our bodies crave real sugar and carbohydrates, and we end up overeating as well. These cravings cause needless hardship to anyone who's on a diet, making it even harder to lose weight than ever before.

So why do we let the government get away with this? Why does the FDA allow such dangerous substances to be put in our foods? Well, according to the book World Without Cancer by Dr. G. Edward, published in 1974, a former FDA commissioner is quoted, saying "The thing that bugs me is that people think the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is protecting them - it isn't. What the FDA is doing and what people think it's doing are as different as night and day." In short - the FDA is serving itself, not the people. Here is a simple equation to illustrate this point:

FDA + Aspartame = $$$

The FDA and food companies are making billions of dollars a year at the expense of our health and the health of our loved ones. But don't worry, we can make a difference - as recently at 1995, even the country of India released a study that proved all of the chemicals in aspartame break down into lethal substances, and this was an attempt by the Indian government to get people to stop using such dangerous artificial sweeteners. If India can do it, then certainly the people of America can do it too.

First, you can stop using "diet" and "low carb" foods - nothing beats a healthy, balanced diet, and controlled sugar consumption will not kill you; in fact, it's good for you! Check the labels of products you purchase and stop buying anything with aspartame in it - many times it's in products we don't suspect, such as mouthwash, toothpaste, even children's vitamins. Even better, write to your government representative and the FDA and complain, because here in America, it is our right as a citizen to tell our country what we want, and complaining makes a difference.

So stop this slow and silent killer. Eat healthy, exercise, and remember - it is always safe to drink water.



Article and Speech written by Theresa Shreffler.