Here's the link to my Kindle page on Amazon,
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=G.W.+Ellis&x=19&y=25
Note that there are 4 stories live as of today and more still to come.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Amazon, baby!
My stories Any Minute Now and The Light Of An Oncoming Train went live on Amazon for $0.99 each as of today.
Yea, me!
I still list Smashwords as my publisher since it's through them that I get a free ISBN, but they can argue with me when and if that ever becomes an issue. Right now, I've got 2 stories up on what is probably the best platform for selling epublished works that was ever invented even though it might not have been invented for that purpose.
Somewhere, out there, there are people that my stories will, maybe, appeal to. They might even pay money to own their own copies of my stories.
I have 8-9 more stories currently awaiting approval over on Smashwords, probably another few days to a week to go. Two of those still need covers so it'll be 2 weeks or so before they go up and get approved. In a week or two more I will ge putting together an anthology to sell most of these stories as a package, but they'll all be going up to Amazon and Kindle as individual pieces for $0.99 each. The anthology will likely run $4.99, but I haven't completely decided there yet (I might undercut the price initially to give it a boost off the launch pad).
Just having 2 stories up on Amazon is very, very exciting. I did that!
I did the writing, as mediocre as some might say it is, and the covers myself.
I did.
That makes me proud.
I'm pretty goddamned good at certain things when I put my mind to it and no one is going to convince me that I can't or I'm not good enough or I am " years away from being professionally published."
To those that said and/or believe this, I say "Wake up. You're living in a different world, one that has just suddenly changed in ways you wouldn't understand anyway."
Yes, editors are necessary, but the editors of today had better start waking up and embracing the technology that new writers or early adopters are embracing or they are going to be left wondering where all the dust came from.
Plus, there's Heinlein's Rule - Never revise except to editorial request.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch says that most authors ruin their stories by revision.
Dean Wesley Smith has been putting up first draft (well, maybe with some spell checking done, I would hope) stories for the last several weeks and he's apparently happy with the results.
Me? I tend to revise a couple times before I put things up so some of the stories I'll be posting/publishing have been through multiple revisions. Almost all of them have also been critiqued over at Absolute Write by several people. I won't say I listened to any r all of the critiques nor revised to their comments, but I will say that every single comment had an impact on the stories I've written and posted in some fashion.
I'm still learning how to do this. Putting them out there for the public to say "Yea" or "Nay" is one of the bes ways to do so, in addition to being a good way to build an audience.
As I said, somewhere out there, there are people who will like my stories. I just got to let them have access to them.
Yea, me!
I still list Smashwords as my publisher since it's through them that I get a free ISBN, but they can argue with me when and if that ever becomes an issue. Right now, I've got 2 stories up on what is probably the best platform for selling epublished works that was ever invented even though it might not have been invented for that purpose.
Somewhere, out there, there are people that my stories will, maybe, appeal to. They might even pay money to own their own copies of my stories.
I have 8-9 more stories currently awaiting approval over on Smashwords, probably another few days to a week to go. Two of those still need covers so it'll be 2 weeks or so before they go up and get approved. In a week or two more I will ge putting together an anthology to sell most of these stories as a package, but they'll all be going up to Amazon and Kindle as individual pieces for $0.99 each. The anthology will likely run $4.99, but I haven't completely decided there yet (I might undercut the price initially to give it a boost off the launch pad).
Just having 2 stories up on Amazon is very, very exciting. I did that!
I did the writing, as mediocre as some might say it is, and the covers myself.
I did.
That makes me proud.
I'm pretty goddamned good at certain things when I put my mind to it and no one is going to convince me that I can't or I'm not good enough or I am " years away from being professionally published."
To those that said and/or believe this, I say "Wake up. You're living in a different world, one that has just suddenly changed in ways you wouldn't understand anyway."
Yes, editors are necessary, but the editors of today had better start waking up and embracing the technology that new writers or early adopters are embracing or they are going to be left wondering where all the dust came from.
Plus, there's Heinlein's Rule - Never revise except to editorial request.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch says that most authors ruin their stories by revision.
Dean Wesley Smith has been putting up first draft (well, maybe with some spell checking done, I would hope) stories for the last several weeks and he's apparently happy with the results.
Me? I tend to revise a couple times before I put things up so some of the stories I'll be posting/publishing have been through multiple revisions. Almost all of them have also been critiqued over at Absolute Write by several people. I won't say I listened to any r all of the critiques nor revised to their comments, but I will say that every single comment had an impact on the stories I've written and posted in some fashion.
I'm still learning how to do this. Putting them out there for the public to say "Yea" or "Nay" is one of the bes ways to do so, in addition to being a good way to build an audience.
As I said, somewhere out there, there are people who will like my stories. I just got to let them have access to them.
Monday, January 17, 2011
The New World of Digital Publishing
Currently, I have 6 stories up at Smashwords, all but 1 of them priced at $0.99 each (the odd one out is a free vignette of less than a thousand words). The free one I've even gotten some good, not glowing, but good, reviews of. Not surprisingly, it's the free one that's generating the most downloads and it doesn't even have a cover (yet).
Of the nearly 100 downloads or partial downloads, over half of those have occurred in the last 4 days since I got serious about this whole deal and added some of my better stories and created covers for them. Creating the covers was easy, and free if you don't count my time required to find just the right free photo and add a title and author byline to it (usually less than half an hour and that's going to decrease as I start taking photos myself to use as book and story covers).
Now, two of those 6 stories still require some modification for Smashwords to put them in their Premium Catalog (covers), and I've already made some mistakes that I'll try to be more careful about in the future, but overall it's a start. It'll likely be about 2 weeks before everything's available across all platforms, but in those next 2 weeks I'm going to start working up the same stories for PubIt and Kindle (even though Smashwords has access to those platforms, or at least formats for those platforms it will likely pay me to do it myself and make sure the stories get up there too).
Titles thus far are as follows,
The Meadow
The Interview
The Light of an Oncoming Train
After Action Report
Knock On Wood
Night On A Boat
All of these stories are horror or at least horror-themed. Night On A Boat is the free vignette. Go read it. I'll wait.
Back? Okay. How'd you like the story? While I hope you enjoyed it what really counts is that it's out there for you to enjoy and I wrote it, finished it, and put it out there for anyone to read or slam. I don't care if someone slams it. I will not, per the sage advice of James MacDonald over at Absolute Write, respond to a negative review (heck, I probably won't respond to most other reviews either). I know there are a couple things in the story that shoul probably be fixed, and maybe one day I'll fix them, but for right now it's proving a point and teaching me lessons - always spell check your manuscript and always give it a read over before putting it up for publication.
Now, here's the thing - Dean Wesley Smith is doing the same thing with his 2011 Challenge and Guess What?
His stuff has errors in it too - misspellings, errors of omission, plot holes big enough to drop a supertanker into.
Does he care?
No. In fact, he cares so little he has disallowed comments about his challenge stories because people were focusing on the mistakes instead of the fact he's actually getting work done, publishing stories, and making a buck or two on it as well.
I'm not DWS and, thus far, I'm not making even a buck or two off these stories, but I've only just really started and really started getting serious about it all. I hate retail sales, but that day job is going to keep me with a roof over my head and food in my stomach until sometime, somewhen, somehow, my stories start to sell. And they will. And there will finally come a day when I can shake off that day job and concentrate on what I really want to do for the rest of my life - write great stories that entertain people.
See, that's the thing. I'm not the best writer on the planet, but I'm not the worst either. I'm going to keep writing and putting my stuff out there for people to read until I do start to make a buck or two on my writing. The new world of digital publishing has opened doors to me I never would have guessed were even there 15 years ago when I first started self-publishing my Fire On The Suns rulebooks and tech manuals. Back then it was desktop publishing all the way and it was expensive and sometimes tedious beyond description. I made beer money on that game for years and one day I'll republish some of the old stuff along with my friend Jeff Engel (the FOTS heir apparent who's currently rewriting the core rules manual and several of the tech manuals). Along the way I also learned a helluva' lot about formatting and cover design. I think I make a pretty decent cover and I've used lots of programs over the years to try to build cover images so I've learned a lot along the way there too.
I haven't finished learning yet, though. Because of my experience in self-publishing I was reticent about outfits like Smashwords and PubIt. I was leery of scams and scanners and vanity publishing. I'd tried to go the traditional route and run into self-absorbed, conceited editors who thought they were God's gift to writing and writers. Maybe they are, I don't care anymore.
In this new world of digital publishing I don't need them.
Maybe I never did.
With money and time I believe I know enough right now to publish an electronic magazine. But I don't know enough to edit one - and I don't have the time or the money (there's that day job thingie that gets in the way not to mention the bills I still need to pay). But there are people out there who do and who can and who will.
We live in a new world of digital publishing. Outfits like Smashwords are making publishing easier and more convenient and even profitable (for some). That's going to increase geometrically as more and more smart people start to realize they no longer need to go the traditional route to getting published or worse (shudder), pay some scam outfit to publish their stuff for them.
Everyone on the planet these days ha a digital camera, a cell phone with a camera in it, or some other way to take photos. those photos can be your stories covers. There are free photo-editing programs available which you can use to resize and add cover blurbs to. I used to do this with something like 6 different programs. Today I can use 2 or 3 if I really want to go wild and add special effects.
There are free 3D modeling programs such as POVRay and Moray and DoGa and more which allow you to build and light and add special effects to a cover image and render it in real time (you'd be amazed at what an expert can do with any of those). I used to use a program called Universe which allowed me to create a render an absolutely amazing variety of space shots and effects.
The fact is, this amazing new world of digital publihing is unlocking and opening doors to people that might have once believed they wre barred forever from achieving their dreams.
I'm telling you, those derams are within your reach, right now.
All you have to do is stretch out your hand and grasp them.
Like I am.
Of the nearly 100 downloads or partial downloads, over half of those have occurred in the last 4 days since I got serious about this whole deal and added some of my better stories and created covers for them. Creating the covers was easy, and free if you don't count my time required to find just the right free photo and add a title and author byline to it (usually less than half an hour and that's going to decrease as I start taking photos myself to use as book and story covers).
Now, two of those 6 stories still require some modification for Smashwords to put them in their Premium Catalog (covers), and I've already made some mistakes that I'll try to be more careful about in the future, but overall it's a start. It'll likely be about 2 weeks before everything's available across all platforms, but in those next 2 weeks I'm going to start working up the same stories for PubIt and Kindle (even though Smashwords has access to those platforms, or at least formats for those platforms it will likely pay me to do it myself and make sure the stories get up there too).
Titles thus far are as follows,
The Meadow
The Interview
The Light of an Oncoming Train
After Action Report
Knock On Wood
Night On A Boat
All of these stories are horror or at least horror-themed. Night On A Boat is the free vignette. Go read it. I'll wait.
Back? Okay. How'd you like the story? While I hope you enjoyed it what really counts is that it's out there for you to enjoy and I wrote it, finished it, and put it out there for anyone to read or slam. I don't care if someone slams it. I will not, per the sage advice of James MacDonald over at Absolute Write, respond to a negative review (heck, I probably won't respond to most other reviews either). I know there are a couple things in the story that shoul probably be fixed, and maybe one day I'll fix them, but for right now it's proving a point and teaching me lessons - always spell check your manuscript and always give it a read over before putting it up for publication.
Now, here's the thing - Dean Wesley Smith is doing the same thing with his 2011 Challenge and Guess What?
His stuff has errors in it too - misspellings, errors of omission, plot holes big enough to drop a supertanker into.
Does he care?
No. In fact, he cares so little he has disallowed comments about his challenge stories because people were focusing on the mistakes instead of the fact he's actually getting work done, publishing stories, and making a buck or two on it as well.
I'm not DWS and, thus far, I'm not making even a buck or two off these stories, but I've only just really started and really started getting serious about it all. I hate retail sales, but that day job is going to keep me with a roof over my head and food in my stomach until sometime, somewhen, somehow, my stories start to sell. And they will. And there will finally come a day when I can shake off that day job and concentrate on what I really want to do for the rest of my life - write great stories that entertain people.
See, that's the thing. I'm not the best writer on the planet, but I'm not the worst either. I'm going to keep writing and putting my stuff out there for people to read until I do start to make a buck or two on my writing. The new world of digital publishing has opened doors to me I never would have guessed were even there 15 years ago when I first started self-publishing my Fire On The Suns rulebooks and tech manuals. Back then it was desktop publishing all the way and it was expensive and sometimes tedious beyond description. I made beer money on that game for years and one day I'll republish some of the old stuff along with my friend Jeff Engel (the FOTS heir apparent who's currently rewriting the core rules manual and several of the tech manuals). Along the way I also learned a helluva' lot about formatting and cover design. I think I make a pretty decent cover and I've used lots of programs over the years to try to build cover images so I've learned a lot along the way there too.
I haven't finished learning yet, though. Because of my experience in self-publishing I was reticent about outfits like Smashwords and PubIt. I was leery of scams and scanners and vanity publishing. I'd tried to go the traditional route and run into self-absorbed, conceited editors who thought they were God's gift to writing and writers. Maybe they are, I don't care anymore.
In this new world of digital publishing I don't need them.
Maybe I never did.
With money and time I believe I know enough right now to publish an electronic magazine. But I don't know enough to edit one - and I don't have the time or the money (there's that day job thingie that gets in the way not to mention the bills I still need to pay). But there are people out there who do and who can and who will.
We live in a new world of digital publishing. Outfits like Smashwords are making publishing easier and more convenient and even profitable (for some). That's going to increase geometrically as more and more smart people start to realize they no longer need to go the traditional route to getting published or worse (shudder), pay some scam outfit to publish their stuff for them.
Everyone on the planet these days ha a digital camera, a cell phone with a camera in it, or some other way to take photos. those photos can be your stories covers. There are free photo-editing programs available which you can use to resize and add cover blurbs to. I used to do this with something like 6 different programs. Today I can use 2 or 3 if I really want to go wild and add special effects.
There are free 3D modeling programs such as POVRay and Moray and DoGa and more which allow you to build and light and add special effects to a cover image and render it in real time (you'd be amazed at what an expert can do with any of those). I used to use a program called Universe which allowed me to create a render an absolutely amazing variety of space shots and effects.
The fact is, this amazing new world of digital publihing is unlocking and opening doors to people that might have once believed they wre barred forever from achieving their dreams.
I'm telling you, those derams are within your reach, right now.
All you have to do is stretch out your hand and grasp them.
Like I am.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
New Story Up At Smashwords
My story "After Action Report" is now up at Smashwords for $0.99 (https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/37184).
There's no cover for thisonee either, but I'm working on that (got a new digital camera for taking cover photos with, but I'm having a difficult time actually getting the pictures or staging them for the covers I want).
AAR is a scifi story set in my Fire On The Suns universe. It was inspired by a story submitted to me many years ago by Chris L'Etoile (who's gone on to bigger and better things). I've edited the hell out of it over a few months and years, but the idea is still basically Chris' though he was writing for my universe.
I've got a few other FOTS stories up my sleeve and an entire novel or two in the works. This year promises to be better than last in terms of production and goals though Idoubt I'll meet Dean Wesley Smith's challenge.
Never the less, if you're a writer and you're not reading his blog, you ought to.
There's no cover for thisonee either, but I'm working on that (got a new digital camera for taking cover photos with, but I'm having a difficult time actually getting the pictures or staging them for the covers I want).
AAR is a scifi story set in my Fire On The Suns universe. It was inspired by a story submitted to me many years ago by Chris L'Etoile (who's gone on to bigger and better things). I've edited the hell out of it over a few months and years, but the idea is still basically Chris' though he was writing for my universe.
I've got a few other FOTS stories up my sleeve and an entire novel or two in the works. This year promises to be better than last in terms of production and goals though Idoubt I'll meet Dean Wesley Smith's challenge.
Never the less, if you're a writer and you're not reading his blog, you ought to.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
It's Been Awhile
It's been awhile since I posted last, and for the few people who actually bother to follow this blog or check in from time to time, I apologize. The period from the week before Thanksgiving to the week after Chrustmas is a prolonged Hell Week at Walmart. Bitchy people, bitchier customers, management that couldn't find their asses with both hands and a road map (and that need to pull their heads out of their asses long enough to take a breath in most cases), and a generalized feeling of total hysteria amongst the employees and general populace, all gives way to a feeling that if I ever get though this I'm going to be looking fir a new job in the next year.
Welcome to my world.
But it's not all bad -except for the assholes who walk up to you and ask "Do you work here?" when you're standing there looking at them with an armload of freight, still in the boxes ready to go on the shelves, or "Can you get a game for me?" or any of a thousand other stupid questions.
"Why, no. I don't work here. I'm just picking up twenty pounds of freight because I like too."
"No, I don't work in this department just because my badge says I'm the Merchandise Supervisor. Where else would I be?"
" Who, me? No, lady, I'm stealing this shit. I suggest you grab that shit over there."
I HATE RETAIL!
If it wasn't for working nights and never having a holiday, I'd go back to working security ( it paid better).
On the only good note of the whole process, I picked up a Fuji FinePix S1500 sub-DSLR which I intend to use to shoot short story and novel cover photos with. It's a great camera and a step up from the point-and-shoot digitals I've been using for years. I cut my photography teeth on a Pentax ME and once had about $3k worth of equipment, lenses and darkroom setup, but that was long ago. This new Fuji packs in stuff I used to have in my old Pentax, like the ability to set shutter speeds and ISO's which P&S digitals don't generally have. Here's a full video feature as well as a continuous shooting mode too.
I've already produced some great shots with this camera and I'll have some great covers for my books and short stories coming soon.
BTW, if you aren't reading Dean Wesley Smith's blog, you ought to be.
Welcome to my world.
But it's not all bad -except for the assholes who walk up to you and ask "Do you work here?" when you're standing there looking at them with an armload of freight, still in the boxes ready to go on the shelves, or "Can you get a game for me?" or any of a thousand other stupid questions.
"Why, no. I don't work here. I'm just picking up twenty pounds of freight because I like too."
"No, I don't work in this department just because my badge says I'm the Merchandise Supervisor. Where else would I be?"
" Who, me? No, lady, I'm stealing this shit. I suggest you grab that shit over there."
I HATE RETAIL!
If it wasn't for working nights and never having a holiday, I'd go back to working security ( it paid better).
On the only good note of the whole process, I picked up a Fuji FinePix S1500 sub-DSLR which I intend to use to shoot short story and novel cover photos with. It's a great camera and a step up from the point-and-shoot digitals I've been using for years. I cut my photography teeth on a Pentax ME and once had about $3k worth of equipment, lenses and darkroom setup, but that was long ago. This new Fuji packs in stuff I used to have in my old Pentax, like the ability to set shutter speeds and ISO's which P&S digitals don't generally have. Here's a full video feature as well as a continuous shooting mode too.
I've already produced some great shots with this camera and I'll have some great covers for my books and short stories coming soon.
BTW, if you aren't reading Dean Wesley Smith's blog, you ought to be.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Ex-Heroes
I just finished reading Peter Cline's book Ex-Heroes and I'm here to heartily recommend it.
It's a cross-genre zombie/superhero novel, but it is, frankly, absolutely awesome.
If you're a fan of zombie novels (and who isn't?) or a fan of gritty superhero genre, then this book is absolutely going to please.
I should write half as well as Cline does.
It's a cross-genre zombie/superhero novel, but it is, frankly, absolutely awesome.
If you're a fan of zombie novels (and who isn't?) or a fan of gritty superhero genre, then this book is absolutely going to please.
I should write half as well as Cline does.
Monday, November 08, 2010
The Light Of An Oncoming Train
Just a "bye the bye", but my story "The Light of an Oncoming Train" is out today at Bewildering Stories (www.bewilderingstories.com).
Just thought you'd all like to know.
This is the introductory story for my character Quentin Dallas who is rapidly turning into one of those characters who is the most fascinating and whom you want to listen tell you his stories over and over again.
Just thought you'd all like to know.
This is the introductory story for my character Quentin Dallas who is rapidly turning into one of those characters who is the most fascinating and whom you want to listen tell you his stories over and over again.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Stories Up On Stanza
My short stories The Interview and Knock On Wood are available for Stanza from Smashwords. If you have Stanza installed, just search the Smashwords catalog for "Ellis" and you'll find them (and me). My Fire On The Suns: New Technology, Volume I is also available.
I'm working on the novel Third Pulse, which will almost assuredly go up at Smashwords within a month or two, for NaNoWriMo (the original aim was for Gated, but a recent incident with my iPad resulted in the iCard Sort outline going to data heaven), and if I do not hear from Tyree Campbell at Sam's Dot Publishing within a week or so Hatchings will be released there too.
On a good note, I finally figured out what the problem was between my iPad and my netbook and got the two of them synching up again. It turns out that the netbook had apparently lost the pathway to the Apple iPad driver and I had to reinstall it.
Now, back to work on Third Pulse, which is coming along nicely - so far.
I'm working on the novel Third Pulse, which will almost assuredly go up at Smashwords within a month or two, for NaNoWriMo (the original aim was for Gated, but a recent incident with my iPad resulted in the iCard Sort outline going to data heaven), and if I do not hear from Tyree Campbell at Sam's Dot Publishing within a week or so Hatchings will be released there too.
On a good note, I finally figured out what the problem was between my iPad and my netbook and got the two of them synching up again. It turns out that the netbook had apparently lost the pathway to the Apple iPad driver and I had to reinstall it.
Now, back to work on Third Pulse, which is coming along nicely - so far.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Publishing On Smashwords
I just published one of my older short stories, Knock On Wood, on Smashwords. You can grab it here for $0.99,
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/28573
I think...
I've been reading Dean Wesley Smith's blog of late and finally decided, based on the fact that he had pubb'd several short stories at Smashwords at $0.99 each, that it was time I dipped my foot in the water as well. Maybe, if I get a few hits, it'll hep me plant my lazy butt in the seat of the chair once again and finally finish a few dozen things that have been lingering for far too long.
I have several additional short stories coming out soon. A some of you know, there's The Light Of An Oncoming Train which will first see the light (pardon the pun) of day over at Bewildering Stories on November 8th. Ninety days after that the story's mine again and I'll be pubb'ing it at Smashwords as well - for $0.99 as well (so consider the pub at BWS your chance to read the story for free). In the meantime, however, I'll be publishing After Action Report and Any Minute Now and maybe a couple more stories at Smashwords.
With any luck at all, shortly after NaNoWriMo, I'll be publishing Third Pulse, a novel (superhero genre), with Smashwords (and quite possibly my FOTS (Fire On The Suns) novel as well if I can get off my lazy duff and finish the last 25k words of the first book)
I may or may not be publishing Hatchings through Smashwords, but I might do this via PubIt if a certain publisher does not answer my multiple queries within a week to 10 days or so. Certainly I will if I don't hear from him by Christmas (when your website promises 2-4 weeks for a review of a partial and then 4-6 weeks for a second review by other editors and you've waited months for any kind of response other than "We're reading it this week" (back in June when the partial was submitted in April) it seems to me I've exercised considerable patience).
Anyway, go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/28573 and buy the story. I could use the ego-boo (not to mention a couple of bucks to buy a beer with and give me some incentive to keep on writing).
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/28573
I think...
I've been reading Dean Wesley Smith's blog of late and finally decided, based on the fact that he had pubb'd several short stories at Smashwords at $0.99 each, that it was time I dipped my foot in the water as well. Maybe, if I get a few hits, it'll hep me plant my lazy butt in the seat of the chair once again and finally finish a few dozen things that have been lingering for far too long.
I have several additional short stories coming out soon. A some of you know, there's The Light Of An Oncoming Train which will first see the light (pardon the pun) of day over at Bewildering Stories on November 8th. Ninety days after that the story's mine again and I'll be pubb'ing it at Smashwords as well - for $0.99 as well (so consider the pub at BWS your chance to read the story for free). In the meantime, however, I'll be publishing After Action Report and Any Minute Now and maybe a couple more stories at Smashwords.
With any luck at all, shortly after NaNoWriMo, I'll be publishing Third Pulse, a novel (superhero genre), with Smashwords (and quite possibly my FOTS (Fire On The Suns) novel as well if I can get off my lazy duff and finish the last 25k words of the first book)
I may or may not be publishing Hatchings through Smashwords, but I might do this via PubIt if a certain publisher does not answer my multiple queries within a week to 10 days or so. Certainly I will if I don't hear from him by Christmas (when your website promises 2-4 weeks for a review of a partial and then 4-6 weeks for a second review by other editors and you've waited months for any kind of response other than "We're reading it this week" (back in June when the partial was submitted in April) it seems to me I've exercised considerable patience).
Anyway, go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/28573 and buy the story. I could use the ego-boo (not to mention a couple of bucks to buy a beer with and give me some incentive to keep on writing).
Thursday, October 07, 2010
The Light Of An Oncoming Train
I learned today that my story of the above title is due to be published in issue#407 of Bewildering Stories (an exposure only market so don't get all excited) which should be out around Nov. 8th.
Yea, me!
This is the Quentin Dallas Introductory story and was described by one critiquer over at Absolute Write as one of the best non-vampire vampire stories she'd ever read.
Yea, me!
This is the Quentin Dallas Introductory story and was described by one critiquer over at Absolute Write as one of the best non-vampire vampire stories she'd ever read.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
New Look For An Old(er) Blog (continued)
Oops!
I seem to have lost the blog roll from AW. I'll retrieve that probably sometime tomorrow.
Drat!
I seem to have lost the blog roll from AW. I'll retrieve that probably sometime tomorrow.
Drat!
New Look For An Old(er) Blog
Seeing as how I completely screwed up the HTML of the old blog format for The Rumor Mill yesterday and couldn't figure out how to fix it, I decided to update the blog with a fairly simple template design rather than go back and try to retrieve everything except the stuff I didn't want.
I think it looks a little cleaner anyway.
Let me know what you think.
I think it looks a little cleaner anyway.
Let me know what you think.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
NaNoWriMo Countdown
It's only 29 days until the begining of National Novel Writing Month. I've already started laying in some supplies (I've learned to love those little black & white semi-hardcover notebooks you can buy at Wal-Mart for $0.77 each - i've been using them as my daily logbooks for almost 10 months now) and I'm starting to rework the outlines for my stalled projects "Gated" and "Third Pulse". I'm pretty sure I'm going to be working on "Gated" again this year as that's one of my novel ideas that really, in my opinion, has the kind of legs to really grab a publisher and an audience.
I've started using this nifty little iPad ap called iCard Sort that allows you to set up, arrange, and edit stacks of index cards. You can group the cards by specific order, rearrange the order, shuffle them around, and there are a few more bells & whistles in the program that I haven't discovered yet.
The best part is that the ap is practically made for index card outlining and it's dirt simple to figure out and use. I'm basically following Alexandra Sokolof's method fir index card outlining since the method described by James D. MacDonald just hasn't worked out for me. I'm much more of an informal formulaic kind of writer (or is that infernal?) and Uncle Jim's method of numbering, etc., all those cards is just too formal a formula for me. My first outline for a book was a series of chapter numbers followed by a 2-3 sentence description of what was supposed to happen in that chapter. I still outline that way (though, when I was running RPGs I used to use a more complex map method for plotting adventures which still works for those who lie to draw maps - I do, and did, but the method might be a little too tedious for some).
Managed to get into a conversation the other day with Mark Ellis (no relation) on Absolute Write. It turns out he's quite the author himself under both his own name and the James Axler pen name. Based on what he said I purchased and downloaded the Outlanders series book "Oblivion Stone" and that's on my current "being read" list.
Now, off to craft a few more scenes fir Gated and maybe start work on tbe future scenes for Third Pulse.
Keep your fingers crossed.
I've started using this nifty little iPad ap called iCard Sort that allows you to set up, arrange, and edit stacks of index cards. You can group the cards by specific order, rearrange the order, shuffle them around, and there are a few more bells & whistles in the program that I haven't discovered yet.
The best part is that the ap is practically made for index card outlining and it's dirt simple to figure out and use. I'm basically following Alexandra Sokolof's method fir index card outlining since the method described by James D. MacDonald just hasn't worked out for me. I'm much more of an informal formulaic kind of writer (or is that infernal?) and Uncle Jim's method of numbering, etc., all those cards is just too formal a formula for me. My first outline for a book was a series of chapter numbers followed by a 2-3 sentence description of what was supposed to happen in that chapter. I still outline that way (though, when I was running RPGs I used to use a more complex map method for plotting adventures which still works for those who lie to draw maps - I do, and did, but the method might be a little too tedious for some).
Managed to get into a conversation the other day with Mark Ellis (no relation) on Absolute Write. It turns out he's quite the author himself under both his own name and the James Axler pen name. Based on what he said I purchased and downloaded the Outlanders series book "Oblivion Stone" and that's on my current "being read" list.
Now, off to craft a few more scenes fir Gated and maybe start work on tbe future scenes for Third Pulse.
Keep your fingers crossed.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
My IPad
BTW, I love my iPad. I have almost, literally, given up my Acer net book entirely in favor of my iPad. It's simply a more convenient machine to use and has a more comfortable suite of applications to use than the net book (and an awful lot of them are free and easier to use than firing up the net book and waiting while the system loads).
I still use my net book to save files and synch things up, but the iPad has become my primary working device right now.
I have 32GB wifi model with an added Virgin Mobile mifi device (which is also super-cool).
I still use my net book to save files and synch things up, but the iPad has become my primary working device right now.
I have 32GB wifi model with an added Virgin Mobile mifi device (which is also super-cool).
Reading As A Writer
I've noticed since I've been reading many more books recently on my iPad that I'm now reading much more as a writer than as a casual reader.
This is not to diss the casual reader, but a writer needs to read with a much more critical eye - even for pleasure - and when it becomes almost unconscious, I think you'll know at what level you and the author you're reading are writing at.
Now, without pointing fingers, I've read more than a half dozen books in the last 2 months, mainly on my iPad. The experience has varied from thorough enjoyment to wondering WTF the author was doing anyhow they managed to get the crap past an editor - and these are professionals I'mtalking about.
Again, I cannot and will not name names, but some of the stuff I've read over the past week or three wouldn't have passed my personal smell test for editorial professionalism. I'm always disappointed, as well, when an author I think I'll like literally phones the story in and completely glosses over key items such as characterization, story, scene, dialog, and even plot.
Still, they get published and paid money for their work and I literally spend years writing and crafting a work and get rejected over and over. I've literally had a work rejected for spelling blond "blonde".
Go figure.
Tastes may differ, but crap is still crap and some editorial staffs continue to put out books and pay authors for stories that are pure crap - poorly worded, poorly plotted, poorly edited, and poorly just about everything else.
Just slapping a great cover on a book doesn't mean it's a great book. A great cover and a crappy book equals a crappy book and the likelihood I'll never touch that author again.
This is not to diss the casual reader, but a writer needs to read with a much more critical eye - even for pleasure - and when it becomes almost unconscious, I think you'll know at what level you and the author you're reading are writing at.
Now, without pointing fingers, I've read more than a half dozen books in the last 2 months, mainly on my iPad. The experience has varied from thorough enjoyment to wondering WTF the author was doing anyhow they managed to get the crap past an editor - and these are professionals I'mtalking about.
Again, I cannot and will not name names, but some of the stuff I've read over the past week or three wouldn't have passed my personal smell test for editorial professionalism. I'm always disappointed, as well, when an author I think I'll like literally phones the story in and completely glosses over key items such as characterization, story, scene, dialog, and even plot.
Still, they get published and paid money for their work and I literally spend years writing and crafting a work and get rejected over and over. I've literally had a work rejected for spelling blond "blonde".
Go figure.
Tastes may differ, but crap is still crap and some editorial staffs continue to put out books and pay authors for stories that are pure crap - poorly worded, poorly plotted, poorly edited, and poorly just about everything else.
Just slapping a great cover on a book doesn't mean it's a great book. A great cover and a crappy book equals a crappy book and the likelihood I'll never touch that author again.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Is Horror Dead?
That is not dead which can eternal lie, yet with stranger aeons, even Death may die.
H.P. Lovecraft
I firmly believe that this quote can be applied to horror in all its varied cloaks and disguises. True horror never really dies. It may lurk, recede from our collective consciousness from time to time, lying fallow, allowing fakes and charlatans to cloak themselves in its guise, and readying itself to come round again and blow our socks off.
It takes time for a horror author to craft a good horror story. It's not done in a day or a week or a month or even a year. True horror is a learned craft, like medicine or oil painting. It doesn't just happen and those who think they're writing "horror" all too often are writing something that touches upon horror, but is more realistically romance with trappings of things they think are horrible. Examples are Dark Shadows (the TV series, not the movies - the movie House of Dark Shadows is virtually a classic evil vampire movie full of vicious killer vampires and blood), Twilight, TruBlood, Kindred: The Embraced, and a few more. These programs and books attempt, rather openly, to disguise a classic romance soap opera by draping it with the trappings of a few hints of the horror genre. Note that all of the referenced works drape their offerings in vampirism as if vampires are the ultimate in horror.
They ain't.
In fact, Kindred: The Embraced and Twilight share so many features that I'd have a squad of lawyers chasing each other's tails if I was the designers of the original RPG or the author of the books (but we know which came first and who stole what from whom). But I digress...
Vampires are not horror anymore. They can be horrible, but the idea of vampires has so infested our cultural more's that we cannot even conceive of them as being all that horrible or "bad" anymore these days.
There are other things that affect our every day lives that are far more horrible.
The trick is to find and expand upon the genre and mythology in such a way so as to find a new way of presenting an ancient and undying idea and feeling to new readers.
We used to do it around a campfire. Then it was called a ghost story. Today we do it in books and in the theaters.
Usually badly.
H.P. Lovecraft
I firmly believe that this quote can be applied to horror in all its varied cloaks and disguises. True horror never really dies. It may lurk, recede from our collective consciousness from time to time, lying fallow, allowing fakes and charlatans to cloak themselves in its guise, and readying itself to come round again and blow our socks off.
It takes time for a horror author to craft a good horror story. It's not done in a day or a week or a month or even a year. True horror is a learned craft, like medicine or oil painting. It doesn't just happen and those who think they're writing "horror" all too often are writing something that touches upon horror, but is more realistically romance with trappings of things they think are horrible. Examples are Dark Shadows (the TV series, not the movies - the movie House of Dark Shadows is virtually a classic evil vampire movie full of vicious killer vampires and blood), Twilight, TruBlood, Kindred: The Embraced, and a few more. These programs and books attempt, rather openly, to disguise a classic romance soap opera by draping it with the trappings of a few hints of the horror genre. Note that all of the referenced works drape their offerings in vampirism as if vampires are the ultimate in horror.
They ain't.
In fact, Kindred: The Embraced and Twilight share so many features that I'd have a squad of lawyers chasing each other's tails if I was the designers of the original RPG or the author of the books (but we know which came first and who stole what from whom). But I digress...
Vampires are not horror anymore. They can be horrible, but the idea of vampires has so infested our cultural more's that we cannot even conceive of them as being all that horrible or "bad" anymore these days.
There are other things that affect our every day lives that are far more horrible.
The trick is to find and expand upon the genre and mythology in such a way so as to find a new way of presenting an ancient and undying idea and feeling to new readers.
We used to do it around a campfire. Then it was called a ghost story. Today we do it in books and in the theaters.
Usually badly.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Movie Review - The Zombie Diaries
Well, I finally saw the movie The Zombie Diaries yesterday. The British newspaper The Guardian rated it as "one of the best of the genre", but before I give you my review, allow me to state that this is a spoiler alert.
Spoiler alert!
Spoiler alert!
You have been warned that "Here There Be Spoilers".
In my not so humble opinion this movie is far from "the best of the genre". In fact, the movie is choppy, poorly filmed, often confusing, and misdirected into what can, by the end, be considered a sadomasochistic exercise that wasted the viewer's valuable time. It is put together as a set of poorly- and confusingly-related video diaries which appear to have been filmed by an amateur cameraman attempting to splice together another Blair Witch Project. In many cases the film so closely resembles BWP that it is obvious that the director was extremely heavily influenced by that film (not that I cared much for BWP either).
The film begins with a brief montage of a military platoon cordoning off and clearing the outbuildings of a farm. A pair of guys in biological protection suits examine a body on the side of the road and remove something from it. The film then switches to 12 hours earlier and follows the apparent outbreak of some kind of viral plague in China and a TV film crew as they head out of London to visit a farm where the farmer has apparently been forced to slaughter his chickens and has lost his livelihood. Leaving London, one of the lead male characters is informed by his producer that something appears to have happened in New York City, but he cannot quite determine what yet. As the crew arrives at the farm they find it apparently deserted, but their car breaks down as they attempt to leave and, of course, the two female characters and the cameraman wander off to the also-apparently deserted village nearby in search of help as their cell phones are not working. Shortly thereafter they return to the farm where the other male character receives a phone call (Huh, what? The phones weren't working just a short time ago at the farm, right?) stating that something has happened in London, 3/4ths of the city have been blocked off, and the hospitals are filling with victims of the virus.
The crew breaks into the farmhouse where they find the body of the dead farmer and are attacked by his apparently zombified wife or daughter. They then return to the village where they encounter and escape several more zombies.
The film then switches to a month later where several survivors are on the road attempting to retrieve supplies. The cameraman is apparently the only survivor of the earlier TV crew. This group narrowly escapes another group of zombies (these are the slow kind) outside a food store, and return to their sanctuary. There is a choppy nighttime scene, intended to be using night vision cameras, as the survivors fight off a group of zombies attacking them across an open field. The survivors, instead of fighting from a fortified position, engage the zombies with their guns, at night, in the open field, with flashlights illuminating the key figures (can we say let's destroy one's night vision), and some of the fighting gets within hand-to-hand range.
As I recall, because at this point I'd probably had one beer too many which is the only way I managed to watch this entire piece of crap, the film switches again. This time, we have the same, sort of, group of survivors with one or two new members. Several of them are again on the road while one of their leaders has gone off by himself. The group is hunting supplies on foot, find a body, check it (but not thoroughly enough), and declare the thing dead. As they move on they are attacked by the zombie and one of them is bitten. They jump in their vehicle and attempt to escape, but run into another group of zombies and have an accident. One of the female characters is knocked unconscious and the three men with her, one of whom is bitten remember, leave her behind in the car where she is eaten alive. On foot, the men attempt to escape through the woods, but the injured man is unable to go on and they kill him as he sickens further (as they should have earlier). The survivors manage to make it back to their camp where there's a confrontation, shot at night using night vision, between the leaders.
The next morning, two of the group move out to investigate the far side of the forest that the zombies have been coming from (crossing that open field mentioned before). Here they find the deserted farm from earlier in the movie (surprise!) and move in to investigate. They find one of the female TV reporters from the earlier video diary, naked, zombified, and tied spread-eagle in a stall inside the barn (you can guess what she was being used for).
From this point on the film switches back to a short segment of two, apparently Middle Eastern, men who joined the group a short while before. There is a segment where one of the men is apparently torturing a zombie by cutting off his finger joints one by one which was filmed by the cameraman earlier. Discovered, the villains set about killing the male survivors and tying up the females for their own private usage.
By this time I am thoroughly hammered, not to mention extremely tired of this pile of crap so I'll spare you the final details. Let's just say that no one wins in the end.
Overall, this is a poor film, hardly among "the best in the genre" unless one completely fails to understand the zombie genre in the first place (which The Guardian's reviewer apparently did). It is badly-scripted, horribly acted, shabbily shot, and has a plot line so inconceivably imagined it boggles the mind how it ever managed to make it to DVD though, luckily, it was never shown in US theaters as near as I can tell. Oh, and the DVD cover shot which shows zombies wandering through London near Big Ben? It's never even seen in the movie. Even the movie Lifeforce had the decency to show us a few London locations being overrun by the alien vampires.
Two big thumb's down on The Zombie Diaries. At $7.50 that's 3 less beers I could have had this week (hmmm, a rating system based on the number of beers the movie cost me? That might just work... - a 3 beer movie (meaning you'd better have 3 beers in you before watching it)?).
Spoiler alert!
Spoiler alert!
You have been warned that "Here There Be Spoilers".
In my not so humble opinion this movie is far from "the best of the genre". In fact, the movie is choppy, poorly filmed, often confusing, and misdirected into what can, by the end, be considered a sadomasochistic exercise that wasted the viewer's valuable time. It is put together as a set of poorly- and confusingly-related video diaries which appear to have been filmed by an amateur cameraman attempting to splice together another Blair Witch Project. In many cases the film so closely resembles BWP that it is obvious that the director was extremely heavily influenced by that film (not that I cared much for BWP either).
The film begins with a brief montage of a military platoon cordoning off and clearing the outbuildings of a farm. A pair of guys in biological protection suits examine a body on the side of the road and remove something from it. The film then switches to 12 hours earlier and follows the apparent outbreak of some kind of viral plague in China and a TV film crew as they head out of London to visit a farm where the farmer has apparently been forced to slaughter his chickens and has lost his livelihood. Leaving London, one of the lead male characters is informed by his producer that something appears to have happened in New York City, but he cannot quite determine what yet. As the crew arrives at the farm they find it apparently deserted, but their car breaks down as they attempt to leave and, of course, the two female characters and the cameraman wander off to the also-apparently deserted village nearby in search of help as their cell phones are not working. Shortly thereafter they return to the farm where the other male character receives a phone call (Huh, what? The phones weren't working just a short time ago at the farm, right?) stating that something has happened in London, 3/4ths of the city have been blocked off, and the hospitals are filling with victims of the virus.
The crew breaks into the farmhouse where they find the body of the dead farmer and are attacked by his apparently zombified wife or daughter. They then return to the village where they encounter and escape several more zombies.
The film then switches to a month later where several survivors are on the road attempting to retrieve supplies. The cameraman is apparently the only survivor of the earlier TV crew. This group narrowly escapes another group of zombies (these are the slow kind) outside a food store, and return to their sanctuary. There is a choppy nighttime scene, intended to be using night vision cameras, as the survivors fight off a group of zombies attacking them across an open field. The survivors, instead of fighting from a fortified position, engage the zombies with their guns, at night, in the open field, with flashlights illuminating the key figures (can we say let's destroy one's night vision), and some of the fighting gets within hand-to-hand range.
As I recall, because at this point I'd probably had one beer too many which is the only way I managed to watch this entire piece of crap, the film switches again. This time, we have the same, sort of, group of survivors with one or two new members. Several of them are again on the road while one of their leaders has gone off by himself. The group is hunting supplies on foot, find a body, check it (but not thoroughly enough), and declare the thing dead. As they move on they are attacked by the zombie and one of them is bitten. They jump in their vehicle and attempt to escape, but run into another group of zombies and have an accident. One of the female characters is knocked unconscious and the three men with her, one of whom is bitten remember, leave her behind in the car where she is eaten alive. On foot, the men attempt to escape through the woods, but the injured man is unable to go on and they kill him as he sickens further (as they should have earlier). The survivors manage to make it back to their camp where there's a confrontation, shot at night using night vision, between the leaders.
The next morning, two of the group move out to investigate the far side of the forest that the zombies have been coming from (crossing that open field mentioned before). Here they find the deserted farm from earlier in the movie (surprise!) and move in to investigate. They find one of the female TV reporters from the earlier video diary, naked, zombified, and tied spread-eagle in a stall inside the barn (you can guess what she was being used for).
From this point on the film switches back to a short segment of two, apparently Middle Eastern, men who joined the group a short while before. There is a segment where one of the men is apparently torturing a zombie by cutting off his finger joints one by one which was filmed by the cameraman earlier. Discovered, the villains set about killing the male survivors and tying up the females for their own private usage.
By this time I am thoroughly hammered, not to mention extremely tired of this pile of crap so I'll spare you the final details. Let's just say that no one wins in the end.
Overall, this is a poor film, hardly among "the best in the genre" unless one completely fails to understand the zombie genre in the first place (which The Guardian's reviewer apparently did). It is badly-scripted, horribly acted, shabbily shot, and has a plot line so inconceivably imagined it boggles the mind how it ever managed to make it to DVD though, luckily, it was never shown in US theaters as near as I can tell. Oh, and the DVD cover shot which shows zombies wandering through London near Big Ben? It's never even seen in the movie. Even the movie Lifeforce had the decency to show us a few London locations being overrun by the alien vampires.
Two big thumb's down on The Zombie Diaries. At $7.50 that's 3 less beers I could have had this week (hmmm, a rating system based on the number of beers the movie cost me? That might just work... - a 3 beer movie (meaning you'd better have 3 beers in you before watching it)?).
Thursday, May 06, 2010
What Makes A Story "Good"
New writers and not a few more experienced writers often come against the dilemma of "Is my story any good?".
What constitutes "good"?
Well, a few people from over at the Analog forum have come up with a list of what makes a story "good".
If it makes you want to turn the page or read the next paragraph and it keeps going on like that, it's a good story.
If it makes you laugh somewhere along the way, it's a good story.
If it makes you think somewhere along the way, it's a good story.
If it makes you wake up in the middle of the night and reach for it, it's a good story.
If it keeps you awake long after your regular bedtime, it's a good story.
If you find yourself talking about it with your friends, it's a good story.
If you find yourself looking for it online or at the library or a book store, it's a good story.
If you find yourself re-reading it for the second or third or tenth time, it's a good story.
If it makes you lose yourself in it for an hour or a day or week and forget the cares of the day, it's a good story.
Marian added that "If it makes you remember it years later, it's a good story".
What constitutes "good"?
Well, a few people from over at the Analog forum have come up with a list of what makes a story "good".
If it makes you want to turn the page or read the next paragraph and it keeps going on like that, it's a good story.
If it makes you laugh somewhere along the way, it's a good story.
If it makes you think somewhere along the way, it's a good story.
If it makes you wake up in the middle of the night and reach for it, it's a good story.
If it keeps you awake long after your regular bedtime, it's a good story.
If you find yourself talking about it with your friends, it's a good story.
If you find yourself looking for it online or at the library or a book store, it's a good story.
If you find yourself re-reading it for the second or third or tenth time, it's a good story.
If it makes you lose yourself in it for an hour or a day or week and forget the cares of the day, it's a good story.
Marian added that "If it makes you remember it years later, it's a good story".
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Conestoga 14 Report
Well, a visit to Conestoga 14 this morning and this afternoon might (remember might) have paid off. I put a partial for Hatchings into the hands of Tyree Campbell, editor and publisher of Sam's Dot Publishing this morning and he asked to see Night On A Boat (my short Quentin Dallas vignette) in an email Monday.
This evening I met Travis Taylor and during our conversation he offered to give me a copy of his book on planetary defense (which sells on Amazon for $35). I turned the offer down, of course (stating that I appreciated it, however), but if I see him tomorrow morning I might just take him up on the offer (probably not; I'm far too polite for my own good sometimes).
I haven't seen S.M. Sterling yet, and naturally I expect a rejection from Mr. Campbell (even though he complimented me several times for knowing how to format a manuscript and to use commas) and after saying he wouldn't read the partial and synopsis during the Con when I left he was sitting there reading it anyway (he thought the idea of a secret government agency buried inside FEMA was a remarkably plausible one).
So, for what it's worth, and the remarkably short time I've actually had to spend at the convention, it was well worth the $35 registration fee. I just wish I could have stayed for the "meet & greets" and the parties tonight (I don't see too well at night these days (badly need new glasses) and I have a taillight and a rear blinker light out so driving at night is only done on as as-needed basis).
So, all-in-all, it looks like the July epub date for Hatchings is off the table for the moment (though I need to dive into that final, final, final edit again and git 'er done).
This evening I met Travis Taylor and during our conversation he offered to give me a copy of his book on planetary defense (which sells on Amazon for $35). I turned the offer down, of course (stating that I appreciated it, however), but if I see him tomorrow morning I might just take him up on the offer (probably not; I'm far too polite for my own good sometimes).
I haven't seen S.M. Sterling yet, and naturally I expect a rejection from Mr. Campbell (even though he complimented me several times for knowing how to format a manuscript and to use commas) and after saying he wouldn't read the partial and synopsis during the Con when I left he was sitting there reading it anyway (he thought the idea of a secret government agency buried inside FEMA was a remarkably plausible one).
So, for what it's worth, and the remarkably short time I've actually had to spend at the convention, it was well worth the $35 registration fee. I just wish I could have stayed for the "meet & greets" and the parties tonight (I don't see too well at night these days (badly need new glasses) and I have a taillight and a rear blinker light out so driving at night is only done on as as-needed basis).
So, all-in-all, it looks like the July epub date for Hatchings is off the table for the moment (though I need to dive into that final, final, final edit again and git 'er done).
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Covers
Cover designs can be an important part of your book, possibly as important as the writing inside those covers. After all, what attracts you a book first aside from the name of the author? The cover, right?
Here's another cover design I'm toying with for the book,
The original cover, which was done by a friend over at Absolute Write is on another computer and I'll amend this post later to show it.
Here's the other cover design,
So, which one do you like best?
Here's another cover design I'm toying with for the book,
The original cover, which was done by a friend over at Absolute Write is on another computer and I'll amend this post later to show it.
Here's the other cover design,
So, which one do you like best?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)