Over the past few weeks, I’ve been writing for a really cool online magazine called Spotsify. The editor gives me topics and turns me loose. Here are a couple articles I recently wrote that you might enjoy:
Saw this tumblr today. Here are some reasons this person’s son is crying:
He threw his dinner plate on the ground. He now wants to eat dinner. I wouldn’t let him drown in this pond.
I gave him a cup of water.
It’s not my boy, but I can relate. Read it here.
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About a month ago, I quietly released 5 Short Tales of Strange New Beginnings. My budget for this project was <$200. Decent book cover design usually runs about $300-500. God knows what $200 would buy.
I decided to design the cover myself and spend my limited funds on copyediting services (more on this later, maybe).
While I appreciate good design and can (sometimes) spot ineffective design, a graphic designer I ain’t.
However, I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted. Unfortunately, brain-to-screen imaging isn’t a thing yet, so I had to use a pencil. Here’s the sorry result:
I’m comfortable with digital design tools, so I took a photo of these sketches, traced them in Illustrator, placed them in Photoshop, and came up with this ghastly thing:
Yes, yes, I know. Even the title sucks. I grew disgusted with the alliteration after about five minutes. Also, the color looked too much like brownish-yellow mustard (which, in my mind, will forever look like baby shit). Also, just looking at the typography makes me want to kill myself.
I played with this image for a few days. During this time, I pulled a bunch of books from my shelf and noticed a preponderance of outer glow. This is the result:
Meh. This version was better, but the outer glow was making my eyes bleed. Also realized the truck looked kind of silly. I decided to get an outside opinion on this little work, so I posted a quick request for feedback at /r/design_critiques. Only two users responded (and many thanks to them!), but with their help and a few more hours of work, my cover reached the final version:
From the first image to the last, this cover went through about ten iterations. It would’ve been much worse if not for the kind people on r/design_critiques. According to my records, I spent 6.75 hours on this cover, but I can think of at least three nights I didn’t log my time (because beer). All told, the actual time from concept to finished product is closer to fifteen hours, spread out over two weeks.
Is this a great cover? Not by any means or measure. Does it convey a deeper meaning? Not really. It’s a big-ass crow carrying a truck. Is it effective? Maybe. Looks good as thumbnail. Do I like it? Yeah. I’m happy with it.
Did I have fun making it?
Definitely.
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On March 7th, I released 5 Short Tales of Strange Beginnings.
Three themes unite this collection of short speculative fiction: new beginnings, the journeys that lead to them, and the strange stuff that happens along the way.
This 26,000-word collection is priced at $2.99 and available on Amazon (for now).
I’ll be giving away copies a couple times over the next few months. To hear about upcoming free days, check back here or sign up for infrequent email updates.
5 Short Tales of Strange New Beginnings contains the following stories:
“Windfall”
Chad Barnes inherits from his uncle a hotel in the North Georgia mountains. There’s one problem: Chad never knew he had an uncle. Nevertheless, Chad thinks this just might be the windfall he needs to save his marriage…or at least get his dog back. But things aren’t what they seem at the Kingston Mountain Lodge and Suites.
Chad Barnes inherits from his uncle a hotel in the North Georgia mountains. There’s one problem: Chad never knew he had an uncle. Nevertheless, Chad thinks this just might be the windfall he needs to save his marriage…or at least get his dog back. But things aren’t what they seem at the Kingston Mountain Lodge and Suites.
“Us, From Evil”
A decade after a second American civil war, tobacco farmer Roger Rollyson realizes that the Yankee oil embargo is going to put him out of business. He’s granted an exemption, but his first fuel run turns into a nightmare. Roger must weigh the life of the woman he loves against the lives of ten thousand strangers.
A decade after a second American civil war, tobacco farmer Roger Rollyson realizes that the Yankee oil embargo is going to put him out of business. He’s granted an exemption, but his first fuel run turns into a nightmare. Roger must weigh the life of the woman he loves against the lives of ten thousand strangers.
“Charlie in Check”
A tweaked-out trucker who sometimes sleeps in a cage joins an assassination mission to a wasteland penal colony. His co-conspirators: two living dead men who dismember each other for fun. When things go bad, he makes a decision that will change one life…and end another.
A tweaked-out trucker who sometimes sleeps in a cage joins an assassination mission to a wasteland penal colony. His co-conspirators: two living dead men who dismember each other for fun. When things go bad, he makes a decision that will change one life…and end another.
“Second Fiddle”
Guitar extraordinaire Baxter had a good thing going…until his ex took everything but her credit card debt. Now Baxter plays guitar in a novelty act fronted by a raunchy redneck puppet, and he finds the life of a working musician isn’t what he hoped it would be.
Guitar extraordinaire Baxter had a good thing going…until his ex took everything but her credit card debt. Now Baxter plays guitar in a novelty act fronted by a raunchy redneck puppet, and he finds the life of a working musician isn’t what he hoped it would be.
“His Own Path”
Expatriate antiques hunter Malachi Maxwell has a great life in Köln, Germany: he makes good money, he travels around the world, and his demigod friends ensure his continued success. Everything changes when someone tosses the severed head of one of his friends into his lap. His past has caught up with him, and Malachi must confront the truth of his own actions.
Expatriate antiques hunter Malachi Maxwell has a great life in Köln, Germany: he makes good money, he travels around the world, and his demigod friends ensure his continued success. Everything changes when someone tosses the severed head of one of his friends into his lap. His past has caught up with him, and Malachi must confront the truth of his own actions.
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Doing some spring cleaning here on the site, so over the next few days/weeks/years you’ll probably see some changes and quirks.
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Cookies and beer would be a good place to start, but you probably wouldn’t be able to get the media mail rate on that. Here’s what I did.
On February 1st, I mailed five packages to the brave souls who had previously agreed to beta read The End of the Iron Age, Book 2. I wanted to make their life easier, so in addition to a spiral-bound version of Book 2, I also included
- Instructions on the kind of feedback I was looking for
- A synopsis of Book 1
- A red ink pen (aka the red pen of doom)
- 1 prepaid media mail sticker.
- Pre-printed return labels
- Two copies of Book 1
Including two-way shipping, the total cost for each beta reader pack was just under $23. Not bad.
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2012 was a hell of a year: My spawn was born, I released Reaction and a handful of short stories, and I rocked some grad classes. Unfortunately, I overbooked myself and had to push back the release date of Book 2. However, like a penitent adulterer, I promise to change, baby.
If my diabolical plans aren’t foiled by events unforeseen, I’ll have plenty of time to write in 2013, since I’ll be spending far less time doing stupid shit like commuting 10+ hrs/wk and grooming wookies.
Presently I’m a few days away from finishing the final editing pass on Book 2. When that’s done, I’ll send the manuscript off to my crack team of beta readers.
Assuming that goes well, we’re still on for a spring release. I have another novel (unrelated to the EotIA universe) in the pipeline for later this year.
Hope you all enjoyed your cabbage, fish, black-eyed peas, or whatever auspicious dishes you might consume on the first day of the year.
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Sorry readers, but my ambition exceeds my ability. Between two major rewrites, three grad-level university courses, and a baby to play with, I’m doing well to have made the progress I have. Excuses, excuses, I know. I wish I could work faster, but the extra wait will be worth it, scout’s honor.
Until next time, stay weird.
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I uploaded the Smashwords version of Reaction last week. I had some sales the following day, and the resulting “also purchased” section made me smile.
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I just wrote a quick review for Gateway by Frederik Pohl over at Goodreads. Here it is:
In Gateway, the protagonist wins the lottery and trades his dangerous, crappy life as a Wyoming food miner for a dangerous, exciting life as a space prospector who lives on an asteroid called Gateway.
As a space prospector, he and others like him use ancient alien technology to search for more ancient technology that can be licensed and adapted for the good of humanity (and the mutual profit of the space prospectors and the Gateway Corporation).
I liked this book because it’s funny, especially the interactions between the protagonist and his robotic psychotherapist, and realistic in that gritty, George R.R. Martin way; the characters spend a significant amount of time going to parties where they smoke bud, drink liquor, and hook up with each other. Gateway is also realistic in characters are prone to come back from missions as nothing more than bloody piles smeared around the inside of their spacecraft.
Sci-fi and speculative fiction fans will appreciate the ancient alien and overcrowded world tropes, as well as the descriptions of the high-stakes prospecting missions. For everyone else, there’s the ongoing human drama which, in my opinion, takes precedence over and gives meaning to everything else.
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