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Showing posts from August, 2017

The Greatest Generation

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They called them the Greatest Generation. Raising the flag at Iwo Jimo We have Millenials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers. Then we have the Greatest Generation. I'll bet you know who I am talking about; the men and women who dealt with World War II head on. They joined the army, the navy, and the air force to fight against the evil spreading across Europe before it could reach the shores of the United States of America. They stayed home while their husbands, boyfriends, sons, and daughters went off to the Pacific or Europe. They yearned to join the war effort but their aging bones did not allow them to join the military forces fighting with the allies so they manned the home security, to do their part during the world's greatest threat. They were the Greatest Generation. Men and women piloted planes, men marched across distant battlefields, women were medics, nurses, and doctors on foreign lands. Women went into factories and picked up tools to do the jobs that n

Playing in PhotoShop to Prep for Cover Work

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I am prepping for the cover work for the next scheduled book release. I love playing in Photoshop. The time just vanishes in the blink of an eye, however. Tonight I sat down while the sun still shone with full daylight and stumbled away from the computer a few hours later with the house completely dark, including the sunroom, which is where the computer is located. The book I am working on cover art for is a fantasy, complete with nymphs, skin changers, and a wyvern. Everyone knows that a wyvern is a dragon with four limbs, right? It gets confusing sometimes. There's a wyrm, a cockatrice, the wyvern, the western dragon, the eastern dragon, and so many other variations. I searched Amazon for nymphs on a whim and what came up made my eyes pop open. When did nymph become synonymous with female sex objects? At least that's what came up in Amazon books by searching with keyword nymph, a whole slough of scantily clad or even partially naked women on the covers. My nymphs are not

Being Invisible in a Fast Paced, Changing World

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The world is changing at an amazingly fast rate. Everything is online. There are benefits to that new world and there are disadvantages. Indie publishing means that anyone can self-publish instead of going through a traditional publisher. It's not just about getting accepted with a traditional publisher that makes Indie publishing so attractive. There's the immediate gratification. With traditional publishing it can take 1-2 years before an acceptance turns into a physical book. There's the control over all aspects; cover, pricing, and where to publish. And, of course, there is the ability to publish what you want instead of trying to get into a limited niche with traditional publishers. It's a great new world for authors. Yet, all those authors self publishing means that the field is swamped. Standing out in the crowd is not always easy, especially for shy, reticent authors whose strength is in writing a great story, not necessarily in promoting and selling tha