The importance of illustration

Back, long ago, in the days of pulp fiction and fifty cent novels, illustration was king. There was a reason for this. People, in general, are drawn to beautiful things. Granted beauty can be subjective for each individual from a splatter of black and white on an austere surface all the way upwards to a grandiloquent baroque-like tapestry of color and form grafted to a forty-foot plaster wall. In the case of the novel and short story, publishers from long ago understood this concept.

And we move forward . . .

Well, it's been a few days since I posted. After last week and my stellar achievements: finishing the first pass of Traveler, and hitting the halfway mark on Daughter, this week has started off a bit slow. 

Oops, I did it again!

Today I accomplished my goal of finishing the first pass of Traveler—or TNV. This project was always one of the most important to me. 

Halfway and counting!

Well dear friends, I have met a landmark event this morning. I am pleased to announce that I'm at the halfway mark for Daughter of the Laughing God. The goal was to have the prequel at this juncture by the weekend and I finished up a day early.

Of mice and men, or how to humiliate yourself in one simple misstep, and so it goes . . .

As I have stated in other places, I am not the best when it comes to first impressions. Whether it be due to my humorous physicality, my imperfect sense of decorum, or a mathematical algorithm that ticktocks away in the background of my life—Matrix style, I can not say. I spent a lifetime examining this unbalanced equation to no avail. As many who know me can attest, it is observable and disturbingly predictable. I see it as challenging and part of my esoteric anatomy. An outsider looking in at a glance would just say, “Tough break bud, better luck next time.” But the astute oftentimes will declare after a year or two of paying very close attention, “Oh by the gods, how can this be? That's impossible! Run!”

Positive distractions and a few additions

As my health slowly takes a turn upward, I'm feeling a bit more like my old self. I have quite a few projects on my docket and the brain juices are just starting to warm. Now if only the outdoors were warming also. March is finally here and as many of you (that live in the north eastern states, and perhaps elsewhere) know, it has come in like a white ice lion, and the old homestead still remains buried under six feet of snow. But in my mind's eye, I'm picturing yellow daffodils and prancing lambs on a verdant hillock beneath a radiant sky. 

First draft and all is well!

Daughter of the Laughing God, prequel novella to Stormwalkers is coming along nicely. 3,167 words today. The bar doesn't lie. I'm near 30 percent done with the first pass, since last week, and going strong.

No distractions, no distractions, no distractions. Please!

Best Always!

A walk in the dark without a lamp, and why this vexed me so . . .

I am essentially blind without my spectacles. Have been all of my life. There is very little I do without them. A simple walk out into my yard, night or day, without those lovely glasses, turns into an adventurous catastrophe of stubbed toes, bruised knees, and loss of direction. Since I have always relied on this visual crutch for my navigation, my other senses must have atrophied, and do me little good when I find myself in this predicament. And so, I have found myself in a similar situation, while stepping out into the virtual world of social media. Namely, my adventures with Twitter.

All in good season

Winter has finally arrived, and now I would be quite happy to witness a quick departure. Here in New York, at least where I am located, the winter was a mild one. (Until recently.) Even though the season is now moving into its geezerhood, it's coming on in record breaking strength with a harshness seemingly born from spite.

Up and running in more ways than one!

3 a.m. at the homestead, on the third day of a nasty cold. I don't usually get hit so hard with these little buggers, since I'm pretty well cloistered away most of the time. For some reason this one got by my gatekeepers. Must have a word with them. 

You did what? Excuse me?

Recently I published Stormwalkers at Smashwords. This activity will send Stormwalkers out to Kobo, Scribd, Apple, Sony and more. So if you have any devices that are associated to those systems or friends that use them, you may want to check it out.

So, um . . . what is that?

Today and yesterday I uploaded the epub version of Stormwalkers to Smashwords. Now, or within a few days Smashwords will be distributing Stormwalkers to a few more venues. Huzzah. I'll probably post a little more on this in the upcoming days.

The importance of Dedication or Marsha, Marcea, Marcia?

In the last post I believe I told a tiny fib. I suggested that the fiddle-faddle polish-up of Stormwalkers had little impact on the overall quality of the manuscript. I must make a correction on that count. There was one mistake that I overlooked to the last, and yes, I feel it has a great impact on my intent and professional character.

An apology is in order. I have been most negligent by a magnitude of stupid in one part of the book. And I shall wear that shame on my lapel as a scarlet letter for many days to come.

Confession of a Fiddle-Faddler

The coffee is hot, the sun is angling toward its zenith, and February lifts its slumbering head, reminding us all that winter will soon be marching on. (You saw what I did there? —pretty lame, right?) This Sunday I am peering into the face of my labors and trying to lay out a course for the next steps required in the gratification of my many needy projects. It's a thorny path, and of late, one that I have managed quite clumsily.

Welcome to my Author's Page

Today marks the continuance of the Author Pages project, that for now will consist of myself and my co-author K. Eric Mauser. At this time much of the content for our creative projects can be accessed through our central hub, walkingthestorms.com. The website will give the reader an inside look at some of our writing processes, the skill sets we apply, and also our personal opinions about the trends that are shaping the world today. We'll be sharing what books, music, and hobbies are piquing our interest and what other projects we are involved in. (And there are many.)