Two weeks ago, we had the privilege of hosting artist Jake Murray for our “In the Biz” column. This week, we return to writers with blogger Rebecca Hargreaves from Diary of a Virgin Novelist. Whether you’re looking to write your first e-book, or determined to go the traditional route, Rebecca’s fearlessly candid responses are as [...]
Archive for July, 2010
“In the Biz” with blogger Rebecca Hargreaves
Posted in In the Biz, tagged blogging, community, confidence, Diary of a Virgin Novelist, e-book, fear, fiction, In the Biz, platform, Rebecca Hargreaves, traditional publishing, writer, writing, writing goal on July 29, 2010 | 15 Comments »
Rejection and Time Management
Posted in E-Publishing, tagged beta reader, blog, blogging, book, cover art, creativity, e-publish, Edit, fans, mantra, query, rejection, sales, tweaks, tweeting, writing on July 19, 2010 | 14 Comments »
I haven’t been devoting much time to the blog lately due to the final developmental stages on the book. But this I had to share: Dear Mark, Thank you for your query, and I apologize for the delay in response. I have reviewed the work, and decided to pass at this time. I wish you [...]
An idea is like a virus…
Posted in On Writing, tagged Cafe Lopez, existential, heist, hope, idea, Inception, movie, original, successful on July 16, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Café Lopez is a place devoted to writing and creativity. We avoid movie reviews because they’re a dime a dozen, but sometimes a movie deserves praise no matter how many people have reviewed it. Inception is one of those movies. It’s complex yet simple, layered just enough to be a thrilling heist or an existential [...]
“In the Biz” with artist Jake Murray
Posted in In the Biz, tagged Amazon, artistic perspective, characters, communication, cover art, cover design, fantasy, freelancer, illustration, illustrator, imagination, Jake Murray, portfolio, project, publisher, sci-fi, science fiction, screenwriter, Star Wars, TDDC, theme, tilt on July 14, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Last week, I had the privilege of hiring artist Jake Murray to design the cover to my book, The Dead Don’t Cry. With a keen eye for subtlety and a love for science fiction, he is bringing to life characters that have until now existed only in my imagination. But that trick isn’t unique to [...]
Cover Sketches
Posted in My Writing, tagged attention, composition, contradiction, cover sketches, energy, hope, subtlety, TDDC, tilt on July 12, 2010 | 14 Comments »
Well, this is exciting. Sketches for TDDC’s cover art are in, and they are fantastic! But don’t take my word for it… The artist’s name is Jake Murry. I hired him for two reasons: he understands subtlety and the power of contradiction. TDDC’s cover must convey beauty and danger in equal measure, and if possible, [...]
Truth really is Stranger than Fiction
Posted in On Creativity, tagged A Light in August, apocryphal, Cafe Lopez, epiphany, Ghosts dont cry, In the Biz, plausible, Puerto Rico, symbolic role, The Dead Don't Cry, theme, unlikeliest of places, Volver, Wikipedia, William Faulkner on July 9, 2010 | 3 Comments »
First off, wow, In the Biz was a hit. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and applauding Suzanne’s responses. I hope some of our new guests stick around. Café Lopez has a lot to share in the days/months/years ahead A couple of days ago, I came across a little tidbit about one of my favorite [...]
No (Wo)man is an Island
Posted in On Writing, tagged career, conflict, creative freedom, direct, George Lucas, improve, Jonathan McGough, learn, M. Night Shyamalan, mediocrity, produce, Roger Ebert, Star Wars, The Last Airbender, The Phantom Menace, The Sixth Sense, tour de' force, trilogy, write, writing on July 5, 2010 | 8 Comments »
Manoj Shyamalan‘s latest film, The Last Airbender, is being shredded by negative reviews. Roger Ebert emphatically calls it an “agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented. Mel Valentin, from Cinematical.com takes his criticism one step further, arguing that “The Last Airbender” fails without reservation or qualification [...]
The Paperback Book Massacre
Posted in E-Publishing, tagged books, cake, classic, creativity, dumpstering, e-book, E-Publishing, eco-friendly, enterprise publisher, love, magazines, paperbound, publishers, pulping, respect, revolution, traditional publishing, trees on July 2, 2010 | 8 Comments »
Of all the arguments in defense of e-publishing, there’s one that’s been tossed about rather flippantly, namely that E-books are eco-friendly. It’s almost always mentioned as an aside, and so I’m not altogether surprised that I’ve only now caught wind of what is a shockingly offensive aspect to ‘traditional publishing.’ What does surprise me, however, [...]
