A Far Out Fantastic Site

Last week I said I would take a break from talking about my next book. By now that book probably seems to be a bunch’a bull to you since I keep putting off the release date. But it is with great pleasure to have my guest blogger, L.G. Keltner, talk about her Self-Help 101 series of novellas of which two are already out. Credit: L.G. Keltner What inspired you to write the Self-Help 101 series? I was inspired to write the first novella in the series, Self-Help 101 or: How I Learned to Take Over the World Through Tolerating My Family courtesy of an odd combination of factors.   I’d been contemplating the nature of self-help books, and I listened to the Pinky and the Brain theme song.  I only intended to write one novella, but then my husband said the fateful words.  “You could make a series out of this.  Each book takes place on a different holiday.  Imagine doing the 4th of July.”  Within a minute, I knew I’d dedicated myself to this...

Here’s how far I’ve gotten on the book cover illustration for “Circa Sixty Years Dead” since last week: Credit: Steven Arellano Rose, Jr. As you can see, I haven’t even gotten to the sky yet. But I finally darkened all of the ground. But not enough. I didn’t realise this until I coloured in the man at the bottom. Here’s a close-up of him: Credit: Steven Arellano Rose, Jr. I know, it’s blurry. But the man is very small in the picture to begin with. I just wanted you to see the contrast in shades. Also, he looks like Frankenstein’s monster, but he isn’t. I lightened the top of his hair to give the effect of reflected light, but it makes his head look flat so I’m going to change that. I had made peach the base colour for his complexion. However, because the main scheme of the drawing is blue I needed to make his complexion as such because that’s what it would look like in a half-moon’s light which the light source in this picture is based. So, in order for him not to tu...

I was at one of the thrift stores in my town looking for a tee because I don’t like today’s styles in clothes. Not that I have a problem with anyone else wearing knee-length kaki or silky shorts or big brand gym tees, but today’s style just isn’t my thing personally. I’m a vintage type and so I buy and wear ‘60s/’70s style; I’m a nerd for those eras. Anyway, I didn’t see anything there that I liked as far as clothes go. But the store was having a Four-book/$1 deal. So I went to the book section to look for vintage paperbacks, especially ones with good book cover art. Book Cover Art From the Frazetta-Vallejo Era I found something by the late sci fi/fantasy author John Morressy, who I’ve heard of several times but haven’t really read any of his work. The book was a high fantasy called Kingsbane , the third part of the Iron Angel series. I’m not a big reader of high fantasy, although I do read at least one title in the genre a year. But this first printing from 1982 bears a book cove...

Credit:Pixabay.com I’ve been lately amazed at what science fiction can do for real life. Of course, it inspires innovations in science and technology, but there’s something else that it inspires: religion. Maybe it shouldn’t be that surprising. Both science fiction and fantasy are made of the mythic element, which that element comes from speculation. Almost all religious texts such as the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita are, at least in part, fiction. Many of the stories from these texts came from oral origins where they were told by word-of-mouth through generations and memorized. As nobody’s memory is perfect, these stories were changed and reinterpreted through centuries. Not too mention, they were told according to the knowledge of the times which, compared to the knowledge we have today from modern science and technology, that knowledge was limited. So people in ancient times believed that people ten times larger than the average person existed and that spirits had sex with ...

This Fourth of July weekend I’ve been trying to finish the cover illustration for “Circa Sixty Years Dead” and so far am making progress. I also started a new short story for the first time since . . . I don’t even want to say. For me it’s been hard to write new short stories each week as I’d like because, as a self-publishing author, I’m a Jack of all trades. Unlike with traditional publishing, a self-published author has to arrange for the book’s design, including its cover illustration, formatting and marketing. In my case, not only do I arrange for the cover’s illustration, I make it. That’s because I like doing the art, since I’m also a visual artist (I minored in the subject in college), but it’s still a hell of a lot harder work than one would think. But as there are many hardships to self-publishing there are also many advantages to it, ones that add up to freedom. I’ll list three links to some really neat articles by other self-published authors that talk about that freedom as...

Credit: Wikimedia Commons When you think about it, the art to a book’s cover is the story in visual form. It either symbolically or literally shows the story that waits in between the covers (or, in the case of e-books, beyond the cover page). The book cover art that does this symbolically does so more efficiently and easily. That’s because a lot more about the story can be said that way than when only depicting a single scene like a lot of pulp fiction books did in the early half of the previous century (as much as I love the art work of those covers). With my own book cover art, I try to balance out symbolism with literal depiction, especially today when many books’ digital photographically realistic cover illustrations seem to sell more. However, I want my covers to both preview and tell the books’ stories without giving away any spoilers. That’s what I’ve been trying to do with the cover illustration for “Circa Sixty Years Dead” which, speaking of realism, I am presently...

Of course, this is not my own book cover reveal for “Circa Sixty Years”  that I’ve been promising you! Did you expect me to be that prompt with it after having put it off for the last two months? But it is coming along, so you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not as much an illustrator as I am a writer, so that part of my book takes a little longer than I often anticipate. I’d say I’m about half way there. Maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part, maybe not. But until my book cover art is ready to go, here’s a fellow author’s cover reveal for her upcoming novel (which will probably be out before my little short story single). It’s a very funny story that takes place around Independence Day and is planned for release just in time for the 4th of July holiday. So you can celebrate your freedom to read with this one. The details are below. The Details Credit: L.G. Keltner and Jamon Walker Title: Self-Help 101 or: How to Survive a Bombardment With Minimal Injury ...