Out of the blue, I got an e-mail from Kristi, the artist, this past week. She asked if I wanted to see the artwork she's creating for my next cover. Did I want to see it??
You bet!
After a little confusion (I wandered the halls for a few minutes because I missed her follow-up message about where we should meet), we found each other outside, where it was a beautiful day. Sitting on the table was a board with the artwork on it ... and I really liked it! It was similar to the original sketch I saw, but it was more detailed and I could get a better idea of how the finished product will look. I think it will look great!
The next step is for Kristi to scan the image into her computer and make some changes, including the addition of some color. We talked about that for a few minutes. There won't be a lot of color, because of the nature of the image (which is top secret!), but she can add a few touches here and there. I'm really excited to see the finished product.
I've been proofreading Another Shot as often as I can lately and I'm making progress. I found some rather big errors, so I know the time spent is worth it. Stay tuned!
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Closet Spaceship Part 1
(NOTE: This is the first of several fictional snippets I plan to include in my blog, to give you a better idea of my writing style and what my characters are like. I plan to title all of them Closet Spaceship with a number so it's easier for you to read them in order. They should all appear on the page The Crew if you want to catch up without going through the whole blog. Enjoy!)
I have a spaceship in my closet. Actually, it’s better than a spaceship because it can travel through time as well as space. How fun is that?
The official name of my spaceship is Macintosh SE and it’s taken me into the future more than once to meet a fascinating set of people there. Sadly, it’s in the closet because it died a quiet death last year (2012), after over twenty years of service. It’s also in the closet because it will be a while before I can bear to get rid of my trusty companion for so many years. Its replacement, Dell, is proving that it can travel just as well as its predecessor, but it has yet to win my heart in quite the same way.
For one thing, Macintosh SE used to offer a smiley face to me every time I fired it up. This puts one in the right frame of mind for travel, let me tell you. For another, in those ancient days, the Word program didn’t presume to tell me how to spell or punctuate, unlike the somewhat arrogant version we have these days. If there was a typo, it was my fault and my fault alone, but at least I didn’t have to grumble at some colored underline trying to make me feel bad even when I knew I was right. Word never met Reggie Hawkins, so how could it know how he talks?
I went on a few short trips with Mac first, so we could get used to each other. I learned how the controls and instruments worked, while it learned how I fly, so to speak. We were compatible, it seemed, so it wasn’t long before we went on our first long journey together. The time-travel component of Mac let me do it without anyone here noticing my absence (my husband had some concerns once in a while about how long he went between sightings of me, but he thought I was in our computer room so he didn’t worry too much).
And what a journey it was! I saw things I never expected, such as space colonies, a diamond mine and a lot of gun battles. I met some rather remarkable characters, too, and I’m happy to say I’m going to continue to spend time with them for a few more years.
If you’d like to meet them, I suggest you read my first novel, Outsider, where I make introductions and also share what I witnessed on my journey.
I’m working on the sequel now, but in the meantime, I hope to share some of the conversations I’ve had with the crew between their adventures. We can get to know them a little better together. What do you say?
I have a spaceship in my closet. Actually, it’s better than a spaceship because it can travel through time as well as space. How fun is that?
The official name of my spaceship is Macintosh SE and it’s taken me into the future more than once to meet a fascinating set of people there. Sadly, it’s in the closet because it died a quiet death last year (2012), after over twenty years of service. It’s also in the closet because it will be a while before I can bear to get rid of my trusty companion for so many years. Its replacement, Dell, is proving that it can travel just as well as its predecessor, but it has yet to win my heart in quite the same way.
For one thing, Macintosh SE used to offer a smiley face to me every time I fired it up. This puts one in the right frame of mind for travel, let me tell you. For another, in those ancient days, the Word program didn’t presume to tell me how to spell or punctuate, unlike the somewhat arrogant version we have these days. If there was a typo, it was my fault and my fault alone, but at least I didn’t have to grumble at some colored underline trying to make me feel bad even when I knew I was right. Word never met Reggie Hawkins, so how could it know how he talks?
I went on a few short trips with Mac first, so we could get used to each other. I learned how the controls and instruments worked, while it learned how I fly, so to speak. We were compatible, it seemed, so it wasn’t long before we went on our first long journey together. The time-travel component of Mac let me do it without anyone here noticing my absence (my husband had some concerns once in a while about how long he went between sightings of me, but he thought I was in our computer room so he didn’t worry too much).
And what a journey it was! I saw things I never expected, such as space colonies, a diamond mine and a lot of gun battles. I met some rather remarkable characters, too, and I’m happy to say I’m going to continue to spend time with them for a few more years.
If you’d like to meet them, I suggest you read my first novel, Outsider, where I make introductions and also share what I witnessed on my journey.
I’m working on the sequel now, but in the meantime, I hope to share some of the conversations I’ve had with the crew between their adventures. We can get to know them a little better together. What do you say?
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Artist News
I have good news: the artist and I have signed an agreement, so she's really going to do the cover for Another Shot.
Now that we have an agreement in place, I can tell you that her name is Kristi Kranker and she works at the same place I do as a graphic artist. We're both pretty excited about the cover and I really look forward to seeing her work. (It might be a few weeks before she has anything to show me because she said she wants to be happy with it before she shows it to me. That makes a lot of sense to me, because I wouldn't want to release a novel until I was happy with it, so I'll just back off and let her creativity go to work.) The deadline is in early November, so we have plenty of time.
This means I have to get back to work on proofreading, which I plan to do this weekend.
Meanwhile, I want to send best wishes to those of you in Colorado who are dealing with the crazy weather and flooding. I hope you, your friends and your families are safe.
Now that we have an agreement in place, I can tell you that her name is Kristi Kranker and she works at the same place I do as a graphic artist. We're both pretty excited about the cover and I really look forward to seeing her work. (It might be a few weeks before she has anything to show me because she said she wants to be happy with it before she shows it to me. That makes a lot of sense to me, because I wouldn't want to release a novel until I was happy with it, so I'll just back off and let her creativity go to work.) The deadline is in early November, so we have plenty of time.
This means I have to get back to work on proofreading, which I plan to do this weekend.
Meanwhile, I want to send best wishes to those of you in Colorado who are dealing with the crazy weather and flooding. I hope you, your friends and your families are safe.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Blurbs
This week I started trying to write blurbs for the second novel, and that's proving to be almost as hard as coming up with a cover image. I need short descriptions for two places: the back cover and the Amazon page. Each one has to make the reader want to read the story without giving away too much or being too wordy. (Try it yourself! Summarize your favorite novel in four or five compelling sentences.)
For Outsider, I gave it a lot of thought and then scribbled a bunch of words and phrases on a piece of paper without really thinking about them. Once I had the main points written down, I tried to put those into coherent sentences. (If you want to see what I came up with, click on the image of Outsider to the right, which will take you to the Amazon page for it.)
I have a good idea about the first part of the blurb for Another Shot, but the rest is proving elusive. I'll keep working on it.
I've also started what might be the last proofread. This one might take a while because I want to be very careful not to miss anything.
By the way, how did it get to be September??
For Outsider, I gave it a lot of thought and then scribbled a bunch of words and phrases on a piece of paper without really thinking about them. Once I had the main points written down, I tried to put those into coherent sentences. (If you want to see what I came up with, click on the image of Outsider to the right, which will take you to the Amazon page for it.)
I have a good idea about the first part of the blurb for Another Shot, but the rest is proving elusive. I'll keep working on it.
I've also started what might be the last proofread. This one might take a while because I want to be very careful not to miss anything.
By the way, how did it get to be September??
Sunday, September 1, 2013
More Publicity
I don't have any artist news this week, but I did get some publicity from the Joplin (MO) Globe. On Monday, August 26, I was mentioned in Andra Stefanoni's column. Here's a link to the article: http://www.joplinglobe.com/columns/x31531795/Andra-Bryan-Stefanoni-Pittsburg-authors-busy-turning-out-books
I thought it was a nice article and I hope you'll check it out.
I had met Ms. Stefanoni through a local Audubon group and contacted her when I was able to put some copies of my novel, Outsider, on consignment at the Vintage Stock store in the Northpark Mall in Joplin. She was very kind to include me in her column.
I called Vintage Stock in July to ask if I could give them some bookmarks to hand out free to customers, and they asked if I wanted to put some copies of the novel on display, too. I didn't expect that at all! There are now five copies on sale there, so if you're in Joplin, check it out.
I am very grateful to Vintage Stock and the Hastings store in Pittsburg, KS, for allowing me to have copies of Outsider on sale in their stores. It's nice to live in an area that's so supportive of local authors and it's a little amazing to have my novel on consignment in two states.
Let's keep spreading the word!
I thought it was a nice article and I hope you'll check it out.
I had met Ms. Stefanoni through a local Audubon group and contacted her when I was able to put some copies of my novel, Outsider, on consignment at the Vintage Stock store in the Northpark Mall in Joplin. She was very kind to include me in her column.
I called Vintage Stock in July to ask if I could give them some bookmarks to hand out free to customers, and they asked if I wanted to put some copies of the novel on display, too. I didn't expect that at all! There are now five copies on sale there, so if you're in Joplin, check it out.
I am very grateful to Vintage Stock and the Hastings store in Pittsburg, KS, for allowing me to have copies of Outsider on sale in their stores. It's nice to live in an area that's so supportive of local authors and it's a little amazing to have my novel on consignment in two states.
Let's keep spreading the word!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)