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moonlightreal · 3 years

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Strange Fate linkdump: Questing, Empathy and Endgames

Huge long post! Linkdump and many many thoughts that wandered through my mind while going through these links.

Last Lullaby stuff:

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/hachette-signs-new-l-j-smith

About the international licensing of The Last Lullaby in 2013. Strange Fate is the big obvious lost book but it’s not the only one.

https://booknode.com/the_last_lullaby_0705503

French bookseller page about The Last Lullaby, with back cover blurb in English but no cover picture. So whatever happened happened before an artist could be commissioned. The book seems to follow unscarred teen Brionwy rather than scarred child Crispy who we met in the Strange Fate chapter

https://spotlightreport.net/featured/burn-bright-presents-l-j-smith-interview

2013 interview about The Last Lullaby. In this interview Crispy and Brionwy are two different characters, though I’d always had the impression that they were the same person and Brionwy was Crispy’s real name. Maybe just because Brionwy is the name in the title and then it’s Crispy’s story, back in whatever first incarnation I read of it whatever incarnation that was. And it’s poetic nfor the scarred child to have a beautiful name.

So we have the short story Brionwy’s Lullaby about Brionwy in the harem and the Strange Fate chapter about Crispy in the ruins. Two pieces. Less than we have of Strange Fate, but there is a looooot of worldbuilding in Brionwy’s Lullaby. Lots of worldbuilding but no hint of where the story goes next. Do Brionwy and Crispy meet? Is there some connection between them? How does the story end? In the Strange Fate incarnation of the story this future is traded for a happier timeline when characters in our time avert the apocalypse but as a separate story how would it conclude?

Honestly I’m sadder about this book than I am about Strange Fate; I loves me some YA dystopias and the whole dragons and vampires thing is just neat. But this book’s as lost as lost can be.

Recent Stuff:

https://www.reddit.com/r/YAlit/comments/krlvr1/lj_smiths_night_world/

Reddit thread from two months ago. The rabbit hole is real and nobody else seems to have found the bottom.

https://deadline.com/2020/05/greg-berlanti-productions-adapt-the-forbidden-game-novels-lj-smith-as-tv-series-the-vampire-diaries-author-1202944224/

Article about the upcoming Forbidden Game TV series. Forbidden Game is a Simon & Schuster series, not Alloy, so while I’m sure Ms. Smith has no say in how the show will go she will at least get royalties! However much royalties book authors get from TV shows, no idea how much that is.

https://micky.com.au/the-vampire-diaries-writer-reveals-new-fantasy-horror-series-the-forbidden-game/

“LJ Smith has just revealed that its horror trilogy novels...” Um. Not quite.

I looked through half a dozen articles about the Forbidden Game TV series and none of them had anything from Ms. Smith. I knew the chance that this would draw comment from her was only a tiny chance, but it seemed worth looking.

Interviews and Stuff:

https://www.saltlakemagazine.com/qa-the-vampire-diaries-creator-l-j-smith-on-writing-and-losing-the-series/

2012 interview about Vampire Diaries

https://peoplepill.com/people/l-j-smith-1

Just a biography page.

http://theliteraryconnoisseur.blogspot.com/2014/05/an-interview-with-new-york-times.html

2014 interview with a blogger. Ms. Smith does seem to be an absolutely lovely person.

https://areiterowski.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/author-profile-l-j-smith/

2013 Blog post about Ms. Smith, ending with a quite long list of “things she’s currently working on.’ the medical stuff didn’t happen until 2015 though with six projects in progress it’s believeable that she didn’t finish any of them before being felled by illness in 2015.

http://luanatormesdemattos.blogspot.com/2013/11/interview-with-one-and-only-l-j-smith.html

2013 interview with a blogger.

Into the meta: Aubrey Clark and the ghostwritten books

https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/5760167.Aubrey_Clark

Books by Aubrey Clark. Secret Circle and Vampire Diaries. I assumed Aubrey Clark is a woman and the other book listed is by a man with the same name, but Aubrey is traditionally a male name and modernly a female name so who knows. Hardly the first time a dude wrote a series aimed at girls under a female name.

https://www.romance.io/authors/54558f9b87eac323ffb2cc31/aubrey-clark

Bio listing Ms. Clark as a she, and classifying her books as romances. Says she’s been writing for eight years. Just on the VD/SC stuff or did she write before? Alloy hiring an existing writer to ghostwrite and that existing writer using a pen name so her new work wouldn’t be connected with her old work is perfectly possible. I swear I read somewhere that Ms. Clark was Ms. Smith’s editor, or her “person” with Alloy, making her signing on as ghostwriter a bit of a betrayal… but I can’t find my source.

And how much of a betrayal is it really, if Ms. Smith got fired it’s not Ms. Clark’s fault if the series got offered to her, and who could say no to getting to write for a series you know? It’s a job and a chance to be a published author and nobody should be judged for grabbing that candy if offered it.

I wish we could hear what happened from Aubrey Clark’s side, just because the story of What Happened to Strange Fate is a mystery I to figure out… it’s easy for me to forget this mystery isn’t a Nancy Drew video game, it’s people’s real lives. Ms. Clark is not the villain, she’s a writer in a situation we don’t fully understand but she’s just a writer like any writer.

http://debrasbookcafe.blogspot.com/2012/11/book-review-secret-circlethe-divide-by.html

Review of Secret Circle: The Divide

http://bookandbroadway.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-temptation-tsc-6-by-aubrey-clark.html

Review of Secret Circle: The Temptation. The reviewer was not impressed.

http://yepireadbooks.blogspot.com/2013/04/book-32-temptation.html

Another review of The Temptation. This reviewer was a bit more impressed than the last one. I admit I ragequit the ghostwritten books after Ms. Clark started killing off characters, I don’t remember if I even hit book two…

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/The_Vampire_Diaries_(novel_series)

Publishing history of Vampire Diaries

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304058204579495491652398358

2014 “Vampire Diaries Writer Bites Back.” we’ve all read this one...

https://uniquelygeekygirl.com/2013/05/20/1223/

2013 “LJ Smith vs ghostwriter” from a blog called uniquely geeky girl. The next article on the blog is more about Alloy and its practice of hiring ghostwriters.

The Rise and Fall of Kindle Worlds:

https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/05/15/amazon-to-shut-down-kindle-worlds/

https://fanlore.org/wiki/Kindle_Worlds

https://www.thebookloft.com/fanfiction-and-kindle-worlds

https://www.hiddengemsbooks.com/amazon-closes-kindle-worlds/

https://gigaom.com/2014/08/17/amazons-fan-fiction-portal-kindle-worlds-is-a-bust-for-fans-and-for-writers-too/

https://www.wired.com/2013/05/kindle-worlds-fanfic-copyright/

http://www.roxannestclaire.com/barefoot-bay-world-kindle/kindle-worlds-faq/

https://www.bustle.com/articles/36237-amazons-fan-fiction-site-kindle-worlds-is-flopping-but-why

It rose, and it fell. As far as I can tell Alloy is the only publisher to put its works out on Kindle Worlds, I guess because that’s what they were already doing with their hired authors! Other authors seem to have opened their worlds individually and I guess not many of them signed on.

LJ Smith and Kindle Worlds

https://www.theawl.com/2014/02/the-writer-who-beat-the-system-how-one-woman-resurrected-her-sexy-vampire-brothers/

https://www.mhpbooks.com/fired-vampire-diaries-writer-takes-to-kindle-worlds-for-revenge/

http://floor-to-ceiling-books.blogspot.com/2011/02/l-j-smith-fired-from-writing-vampire.html

A blog post with some comments so you can read the state of the fandom at the time.

https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/fandom/vampire-diaries-lj-smith-kindle-fanfiction/

http://leegoldberg.com/tag/alloy-entertainment/

“Read the contract.’ This one is interesting because it’s the only one that isn’t in defense of Ms. Smith. She should indeed read her contracts unless she wants to just be a fanfic writer, which… I don’t think I’ve ever heard of an author going from published to fanfic, but why not?

Also, good question, where was Ms. Smith’s agent? And where is Ms. Smith’s agent these days when someone should maybe be being the Strange Fate Police?

Unrelated: I swear I read an article from Alloy’s perspective about what happened. Maybe it was this one and I thought it was from Alloy when it wasn’t. It is the only article not in support of Ms. Smith that I could find.

https://editingeverything.com/blog/2014/04/25/fanfiction-is-letting-lj-smith-tell-her-vampire-diaries-story/

https://www.tvovermind.com/vampire-diaries-lj-smith-fired-book-series/

https://thegameofnerds.com/2018/03/03/originals-10-facts-about-the-woman-behind-the-vamps/

https://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1952&context=etd

https://www.cbr.com/the-secret-circle-why-the-vampire-diaries-author-l-j-smiths-other-cw-series-failed/

I watched one episode of the Secret Circle series because I loved the books so much, but the CW style is not my jam. But it is interesting to read the pitch for a fewer-character second season.

https://anovelbookblog.com/2014/06/12/leeching-off-the-talent-writing-for-hire-the-dark-side-of-publishing/

About the Secret Circle sequel novels and Alloy

https://www.jeanienefrost.com/2019/02/ghosts-in-the-machine/

Ghostwriting and plagiarism and ethics.

https://www.fanpop.com/clubs/stefan-and-elena/articles/94267/title/lj-smith-fired-from-writing-own-novels

This is the full letter from Ms. Smith about getting fired.

https://teleread.com/thanks-to-kindle-worlds-fired-vampire-diaries-writer-continues-her-own-series-as-fanfic/index.html

http://iswimforoceans.blogspot.com/2011/02/help-lj-smith-vampire-diaries.html

2011 blog post

https://indecisiveturtle.wordpress.com/2014/05/29/assignment-4-ghostwriting-in-the-vampire-diaries-by-l-j-smith/

A long blog post that goes into detail about the writing of some of the books, how to tell Ms. Smith’s style from the ghostwriter’s, sentence length and similes and stuff, all very academic! I’ve retyped a couple pieces of Ms. Smith’s writing and I noticed she handles punctuation-with-quotes differently than I do, making it very weird to retype. This is an interesting one. Someone dived way deep!

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/10/19/the-gossip-mill

New Yorker article about Alloy

https://www.publishingcrawl.com/2012/05/29/the-not-so-secret-backdoor-to-publishing/

Article about Alloy and package writing

https://www.vogue.com/article/the-secret-circle-young-adult-witch-fiction

Just an article about the Secret Circle books and how they’re kinda bad but actually good. Which they are.

That’ll keep y’all busy for a while!

Quest wishlist: I wish we could ask someone in the publishing industry about rights to series and rights to “publication canceled” books and how all that stuff works. And I wish we could hear Aubrey Clark’s side of the story, but it just seems unkind to reach out to her to ask about this.

But the problem is… I call it “the quest for Strange Fate” because I’m melodramatic and like calling things quests, but what it the victory condition for this one? The obvious: we win if we find and read Strange Fate, but I don’t think that will ever happen. No matter how much we learn about what happened that won’t make Strange Fate appear.

I do wish we could tell LJ Smith that plenty of authors these days have a Patreon. If the people who still care about the lost books and the story of Ms. Smith could turn that caring into actual useful help for the people and maybe the books too that would be the best outcome. That would be a successful quest.

A darker timeline possibility: maybe S&S read Strange Fate and it wasn’t any good. Ms. Smith is a good writer. But take a good writer and give her 20 years off from writing, and make those the 20 years where the teen experience of life changed radically, her genres of choice became big and popular and evolved and built up tropes, and language itself did… things…

I stan language but it’s a little sus how new lettery bois go brr everywhere I look. I love it, but it’s humbling having to ask my niece what all the new words mean, and why so many of them seem to begin with S!

And Ms. Smith is sixty and has twenty years of rewriting Strange Fate, pulling it apart and tinkering until it probably doesn’t much resemble the book she started in 1998. Stir up all this in a pot and we’ve got a recipe for making a talented author drop a mediocre book. Maybe S&S read it, said “it’s a dud, the fandom is 20 years old, let’s just not” and Ms. Smith retired from public life in defeat.

This makes an unhappy sort of sense, but it doesn’t answer the question of why The Last Lullaby never appeared either.

Anyway. This has been a long post, lots of links and some thoughts on the philosophy of questing.

#ljsmith strangefate #LJ Smith #Night World

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ducktalkspodcast · 4 years

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The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library

The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library by Fantagraphics began in December of 2011 with Lost in the Andes. Fantagraphics has released two volumes each year. The volumes are chronological, but Fantagraphics decided to begin with some of Carl Barks most widely acclaimed work by starting with volume 7. When the collection is complete it will span the entirety of Carl Barks’s Disney comics published between 1942 and 1966 and consist of 30 volumes. Carl Barks is known for penning some of the greatest Donal Duck and Uncle Scrooge stories, and has been known as “The Good Duck Artist.” Carl Barks was one of three inaugural inductees into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1987.

The Twenty-four Carat Moon

The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 22: “The Twenty-four Carat Moon” was released by Fantagraphics in June 2020.

The cover consists of two illustrations from stories in this volume. The top illustration on the cover of this book is from the story The Twenty-four Carat Moon and the bottom illustration is from the story The Forbidium Money Bin.

This edition of the Carl Barks library is 200 pages, and it includes 30 stories that were published between 1958 and 1962. There is a short biography on Carl Bark’s life as well as behind the scenes pictures and stories about each and every story that is included in this edition. It is full of great and interesting information. I am glad that it is included in this volume and every volume of the Carl Barks Disney Library.

Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 22 is available in hardcover and Kindle\Comixology versions. You can find a link to buy this book at the end of this review.

The next new release in this series, Carl Barks Library Vol. 23: Under The Polar Ice, is scheduled to be released in September 2020.

Included Stories

There are 30 Disney Duck stories included in The Twenty-four Carat Moon:

Uncle Scrooge and the Twenty-four Carat Moon

All Choked Up

Moola on the Move

Uncle Scrooge and the Strange Shipwrecks

Thumbs Up

Uncle Scrooge and the Fabulous Tycoon

Bill Wind

The Forbidium Money Bin

The Sleepies

Lights Out

Uncle Scrooge and the Magic Ink

Uncle Scrooge and the Flying Dutchman

Immovable Miser

Kitty-Go-Round

Pyramid Scheme

Return to Pizen Bluff

Poor Loser

Uncle Scrooge Crawls for Cash

Uncle Scrooge and the Money Champ

News from Afar

Rainbow’s End

Uncle Scrooge and His Handy Andy

Uncle Scrooge and the Prize of Pizarro

Turnabout

The Homey Touch

Gyro Goes for a Dip

The House on Cyclone Hill

The Wishing Well

Krankenstein Gyro

Gyro Gearloose and the Firefly Tracker

The first story in this volume is also it’s titular story, The Twenty-four Carat Moon. This early Sci-Fi story follows an adventure with Uncle Scrooge, Donald, and the boys as they race to claim a second moon made of gold! Readers are treated to a story of preposterous proportions with a moral that everybody can learn from.

All Choked Up is a four-panel story about Uncle Scrooge and his “roll that would choke a horse.”

The single page story, Moola on the Move, sees Scrooge cross paths with the Maharajah.

When Scrooge McDuck learns that another of his ships has gone on the rocks in Doomgurgle Straits, the adventurous tycoon hires his nephew, Donald Duck, to solve the mystery in Uncle Scrooge and the Strange Shipwrecks. Oh, and there might be Beagle Boys in this story!

Uncle Scrooge is determined to get a fair deal from his butcher in Thumbs Up.

Donald Duck worries that his Uncle Scrooge feels small next to the latest tycoon who may be richer than Scrooge McDuck in Uncle Scrooge and the Fabulous Tycoon.

The half a page story in Bill Wind defines Scrooge McDuck.

The Forbidium Money Bin is a story that I had never heard of before reading this volume, but it is one that I will not forget. Another Sci-Fi story that takes us to new worlds (at least it did at the time it was published). Scrooge hires Gyro Gearloose to build an unbreakable money bin, and he succeeds. But things become complicated when Uncle Scrooge looses the combination to open the unbreakable safe. Thankfully, Gyro has a plan and it takes the two on a trip to the moon to find a new material that might allow them to break into the safe!

When Uncle Scrooge has trouble sleeping Donald has some advice that helps the richest duck in the world catch some Zs in The Sleepies.

How is Scrooge McDuck to finish reading his newspaper when the headline reads “Electric Light Rates Go Up!”? Find out in Lights Out.

Sometimes Uncle Scrooge must use extreme measures to collect money loaned to his nephew Donald Duck. In Uncle Scrooge and the Magic Ink Donald is jolted into action with Scrooge’s latest discovery.

Uncle Scrooge and the Flying Dutchman is one of the most iconic stories for the characters of Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, and the nephews. I had never read the story before, and I was excited to find it was in this volume. My familiarity of the story stems from Carl Barks painting from the story, and many young Duck Fans may know it from the DuckTales intro.

The Flying Dutchman did not disappoint. It is a grand adventure story where the ducks head off in search of ship that went missing in 1659. What they find was startling, and they must piece together what is happening before they are lost near Antarctica!

Immovable Miser is another single page story of how Uncle Scrooge gets a free downtown.

Did you know Uncle Scrooge has a cat named Clementine!? He did in Kitty-Go-Round.

Pyramid Scheme is another grand adventure following the McDuck/Duck family as they travel to Egypt in search of a new business adventure for Uncle Scrooge. When they find an undiscovered pyramid his dreams of unearthed riches drives him to spend a fortune unearthing the tomb’s treasure.

Fans of Don Rosa’s The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck may recognize the location referenced in the title, Return to Pizen Bluff. In The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff Scrooge is between adventures outside of the USA when he returns looking for fortune. He finds himself in Pizen Bluff, AZ. Like most of Rosa’s stories the setting of that story is a reference to one of Barks’s stories. Return to Pizen Bluff has Scrooge and family revisting the site of his old mine in Pizen Bluff.

Poor Loser and Uncle Scrooge Crawls for Cash are both short stories that you may enjoy.

Let’s talk about Uncle Scrooge and the Money Champ. Glomgold, Glomgold, Glomgold! Money Champ is Barks’s second story to feature Flintheart Glomgold as the villain. Flinty comes into the story swinging (literally, he and Scrooge “go toe to toe” in this one), and challenges Scrooge to… gasp! A CONTEST TO DECIDE WHO IS THE RICHEST DUCK IN THE WORLD!? That’s right, here you have it, a story that would influence many future Uncle Scrooge stories. Don’t miss Money Champ!

News from Afar and Rainbow’s End are four-frame stories that perfectly capture the essence of Scrooge McDuck.

Uncle Scrooge and His Handy Andy is not the first mariner adventure for the ducks int his volume, but it might have made me giggle the hardest. Join Scrooge McDuck and his family as they sail in the Duckburg-Bahamalulu Race!

In Uncle Scrooge and the Prize of Pizarro Scrooge and his family follow clues on another globe-trotting adventure that leads them to discover lost Incan gold. What our adventurers do not know is that someone may still be guarding that gold.

In Turnabout Scrooge is being followed… and in The Homey Touch he decides to “beautify” his home.

The last five stories in this volume are Gyro Gearloose stories. Barks is best known for his Donald Duck stories and for creating Scrooge McDuck, but he also created Gyro Gearloose. Gyro Goes for a Dip, The House on Cyclone Hill, The Wishing Well, Krankenstein Gyro, Gyro Gearloose and the Firefly Tracker all feature Gyro as he tinkers away with his latest inventions. You know what should be expected from these stories, and they do not disappoint. If you are a Gyro Gearloose fan we know you will love the way this volume ends.

Final Thoughts

I am a little behind on these volumes and had to skip ahead to read volume 22 for this review. I am glad I did. The early Sci-fi, the globe traveling adventures, and more Barks Flintheart Glomgold made this volume a joy to read. These collections are the best way for Duck Fans to enjoy the stories that have inspired well-written stories for decades. Barks was a gifted writer and even the four-panel stories provide pages worth of insight into Scrooge McDuck.

Once you read through the commentary on some of the stories you will find history on Carl Barks written by Donald Ault. If you are not familiar with the creator it is a nice introduction to his career.

I know in these reviews Steven likes to point out how much it would cost to collect all of these books on your own, and that Fantagraphics’ collections are a more economical way of owning these stories. This is true and you would be hard-pressed to find these stories in good condition.

We are grateful for Fantagraphics willingness to provide us with a copy of this volume for review. Their commitment to producing quality collections of this iconic library is commendable.

If you are collecting the Carl Barks Disney Library, you probably already own this volume. If you have not been collecting the library I hope that this review has convinced you that you should start with this volume. It is well worth the retail price tag. I own several volumes produced by Fantagraphics and I am always stunned by how gorgeous they are in person.

You can order the book at the following links:

The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 22: The Twenty-four Carat Moon

*By purchasing from Amazon.com through this link above, you are supporting DuckTalks at no additional cost to yourself!

The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 22: "The Twenty-four Carat Moon" Review! @Fantagraphics #DuckMerch #DuckHistory #TheFlyingDutchman #Read The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library by Fantagraphics began in December of 2011 with

#Carl Barks #Fantagraphics #Gyro Gearloose #return to pizen bluff #the complete carl barks disney library #the flying dutchman #the forbidium money bin #the prize of pizarro #The Twenty-Four Carat Moon #under the polar ice #volume 22 #volume 23

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aprilwritesabook · 5 years

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I appolgize in advance for this long ass post haha.

Alright, so here's the deal. This post is gonna be part rant, part confessional, and part inspirational speech. So if your following this blog purely for the updates on my books you can skip it haha.

I know a currently published author. I used to kinda be friends with them in highschool, but it was more like a friend of a friend type deal. But I digress. Point is. They recently released there second book on Amazon. And I really wanna be happy and proud of them, and to see it as an inspirational thing, buuuuut I'm almost 100 sure they are actually a fraud?

And that's not me being bitter. I really really really wish this wasn't the case. But I have the evidence to back this theory up.

1- they claimed that there first book sold out multiple times. And to be fair this one might be at least partially true. Its rated pretty high on amazon, But then again they only have 4 people rate it and three of those people are the editor formattor and artist for the book. Soooo. Yeah I sure hope they rated it well.

2- they are constantly posting stories to there social media that are far fetched at best. They work in a bookstore. And almost every other week its a slightly diffrent story about a customer who "didn't even know" he was the author who would "burst into tears" the second he told them what the book was about because they were just Soooo touched by the message that they wept to a total stranger??? If that had happened even once it would have been an odd occurance. And this is something that apparently happens alllll the time to them. (I hate to drudge up old memes like this, but)

3- this person has recently made a tick tock and a youtube channel. And like, the content isssss questionable? And that's not necessarily a crime or anything. But they give updates about it on social media as if they are speaking to a mass of adoring fans and like...you can see how many subs and views a person has. We know he dosn't have a big fan base. And I know that sounds harsh. But like, some more gullible people have asked him for advise on how to be "successful" and "gain a following", and he answers them with authority. Like he has the answers even though he clearly dosn't? And that feels really... disingenuous at best?

4- along the same vein as 3. They recently made a post on twitter about how they are "overwhelmed by the amount of love and support they have found on the site" and how they get "some many heartfelt messages." Annnd again. I clicked the account. They literally have 5 followers. And not a SINGLE person has EVER liked, retweeted, or commented on a SINGLE tweet of theirs. Not one. Soooo like not only are you pretending to have a huge fan base that dosn't exist your also making up there engagement with you? Which this alone I feel brings validate to my doubts about the other things. Clearly they arn't above blatant lying and extreme over exaggeration. And also they either don't realize we can all seeeee these facts. Or they don't think anyone will actually check and call them on it ?????

Now there's a lot of other examples I could give. But my point isn't to put this ONE person on blast. I'm not trying to start beef or cause damage to their reputation or anything. Which is why I won't say their name or what there books are. The only way you'd know who I'm talking is if you also knew them in real life. In which case you either already know all this, or you should, so you don't fall victim to their lies.

The reason I'm saying any of this at all is because I think I know why they are doing it. And why so many indie authors or would be media mogels feel the need to do this.

The issue with trying to "build an audience" and "self market" yourself, is that you really only have 2 ways of guaranteed sucess.

You either need to have a pre established audience based on success you've already had in the past. (IE youtubers and movie stars writing successful books cause there fans will buy anything of there's reguardless.)

Or you need to buy your way in. Be it by quitting your day job to make social media your full time job, buying ads, hiring a social media person,or hiring a team of people with their own audiences (audio book narrators, cover artists, managers, ect)

And if you don't ALREADY have an audience, and you don't have the funds to BUY your way in, then your just gonna have to get real lucky.

You can be lucky for knowing somebody with an "in". They work in publishing, or advertising, or they're your rich uncle. Just someone who you can go to to get that boost one way or another to get one of the first two methods going for you.

You can get lucky by commenting the right thing on the right post and gaining followers that way. Or by being in the right place at the right time to meet somebody important.

You can be lucky by having lots of supportive friends and family who will promote you and your work FOR you.

Or lastly (and this is in the realm of being a one in a million case here. So it basically never happens without one of the other things I mentioned also being true.)

You can be lucky by working REALLY hard, and being REALLY talented, and having the world actually NOTICE YOU somehow? Just one person with influence who can find you in your dark hole of insignificance and shine a light on you so now the world can actually seee you.

And that sucks.

You could write the greatest book in the whole world. Truly a masterpiece. But if nobody buys it or reads it because they don't know who you are??? Then it dosen't matter does it?

It sucks Soooo hard.

Because untill you get those people with influence to shine a light on you, theres nothing you can do. And the market is soooooo drenched in new indie authors that the odds of the right people finding and liking your book are slim to none.

Its super unfair.

The people who have the influence arn't gonna buy a book with 0 reviews and no social media following.

Why? Because THEIR brand depends on only recommending the good shit. And they need to find that good shit NOW. If they read every book written by nobody's online, they'd have to wade through ALOT of garbage. wasting all their valuable time and money till they found something worthy. And honestly, from a business stand point, you cant really fault them for that

This is where the lies come from.

So basically no matter how you look at it, or what your strategy is, In order to get fans, you need to ALREADY HAVE THEM.

When your just starting out. And I mean truly at square one. It really feels like the only way to "make it" is to "fake it"

If you PRETEND to have a big following. And you PRETEND your books are selling really well already. And you PRETEND that people care deeply about you and your work... Then there is a chance that nobody will do the homework to find out its all a lie.

And if they think your successful already, then it sends a message to the consumers brains of "well they must be good. Everybody loves it/them".

It sucks that so many people who have found real success did so with lies, cash, and being already well connected.

And then they buy it, and they follow you, and the confirmation bias sets in, and eventually you'll dupe enough people into liking you that you don't HAVE to lie anymore.

Those of us with no cash and too high a conscious to lie our way to the top are left with virtually no chance of succeeding no matter how hard we work or how good our content is.

And I'm not claiming to be "better than" or "more worthy" than anyone else. I wanna make it clear that of your in the portion of having it fake it so you can follow your dreams then more power to you. Its a valid strategy. I hate that it works and I hate that its the only option sometimes. But I don't hate the people as creators for "doing what it takes." I get it. Really I do.

And it suckks major ass that so many people feel like this is the only way.

My whole point here. Is that we have slowly built a system where this is our reality. And honestly? End of the day? There's not a damn thing we can do to change it at this point.

In a perfect world made of unicorns and puppies. I could say "hey lets all go ready books by completely unknown authors. Be the change you wanna see in the world." But at the end of the day, especially in the unfiltered world of self publishing, It would be a complete shot in the dark to spend your resources on something completely unknown. We rely on word of mouth, and "best sellers" and high following to do the work of filtering out the bad stuff for us and it would be unrealistic if not impossible to go back on it now. Even if we wanted to there algorithms and shit built into the code. You'll never find the books that Amazon dosnt want you to find unless you search for it directly.

Now comes the confession/inspirational bit

I know all of the above to be true...But I'm choosing not to care

I'm not gonna lie my way to the top. I'm not gonna hide my struggles out of fear of seeming inferior. So here goes

I struggle a lot with depression and anxiety. I've been working on it, and I've gotten so much better in recent years. But there are always gonna be times when I slip up and my mental illnesses take over

When I was writing my first book I felt really empowered and good about myself for finally getting past all my own barriers and following my dreams.

And then once I was done writting and editing and I was ready to show the world and get feedback. I flopped.

I couldn't find anyone willing to beta read. Those who said they would do it (even people who claimed they "couldn't wait") ghosted me after I actually sent it to them

I was hoping to get 20 people. I really wanted it to be the best it could be. Only 11 actully signed up. Of that 11, 5 people actually read it: My spouse, my brother, my best friend, and 2 others. Those two others read the first bit I sent them, took a few weeks to get back to me, said they loved it, but then Neeeeeeeeever got back to me when I sent them the next chunk.

Now you can look at all that and come to the conclusion that it sucks. I know I sure did.

The struggles at each step made me doubt myself more and more to the point that I almost gave up writing all together.

And I didn't want to take about it or how it was making me feel, even though it was having a serious impact on me. I wanted to bottle it all up and let it consume me. Allllll because I didn't want people online to write me off as a failure before even giving me the chance.

I wasn't lying about being successful. I was just trying to hide the fact that I wasn't.

And that's almost as bad. Because then all the new authors just feel worse about themselves and their journey because they think they are the only ones.

Your not alone.

Everyone is struggling.

We just aren't talking about it.

I haven't written a word in over a week because I've been so afraid my second book will be dead on arrival like my first.

And I KNOW somewhere out there is someone just like me whose thinking of giving up.

Don't.

Just keep going.

Do your best. And then come find another struggling writer and share with each other. The world outside might not understand your struggle. But another author might.

We can't change the market. We can't change the way social media works, or how people decide if they will buy things

But what we CAN change, is whether those of us within the community want to be honest about our struggles and frustrations. Or if we want to hide them away and lie about them for the sake of making more sales

I think by being honest with one another we can create a better network.

That way the next time you feel like garbage for not being an "instant celebrity" like everyone else. you can look at the community and realize that you were never the problem

If we just keep making new writing friends our collective reach will eventually take hold in the outside world. Don't wait for a random influencer to notice you. Just make one friend at a time. Be known amongst your peers and maybe the rest will follow

And if your a writer desperate for feedback, or just a friend to share your troubles with. Hit me up. My inbox is always open.

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sineala · 5 years

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Iron Man: And Call My Killer... MODOK!

So if you're a Marvel Comics fan of any stripe, you're probably aware that Marvel has a longtime history of publishing what they call "prose novels" and what literally any other publisher would just call "novels." You know. Books with only words in them. As opposed to "graphic novels," which is I guess why Marvel needs to make the distinction.

You're probably also aware that a lot of these prose novels are, well... bad. Some of the current ones, the original ones with new stories, have been getting good reviews -- I've heard good things about the Black Widow and Squirrel Girl books -- but a lot of them are just things like "novelizations of Civil War" and those ones are not great. (The MCU Iron Man 1 novelization was pretty good, but I would say that that was one of the few exceptions, and that only because Peter David both can actually write and has also written comic books.)

But a few weeks ago @blossomsinthemist told me that there had been a line of paperback Marvel prose novels way way back in the late seventies, and I was immediately interested for two reasons. One, if it's not novelizing an existing story arc, it's less likely to be terrible. And two, I really like late-seventies Marvel comics. So if I get to read a brand-new (to me) late-seventies story, I'm going to be pretty excited.

(If you're looking for these for yourself, prices vary, because people seem to be really into just having them for collection value, but if you don't care about condition and are patient you can get them for $5 to $10 or so.)

Anyway. I'm starting here with the Iron Man one, And Call My Killer... MODOK! It's from 1979 and is by William Rotsler, who also appears to have written the Doctor Strange novel in this series, and according to Wikipedia, he won four Hugos for Best Fan Artist, though most of his prose work appears to have been SF novelizations, and, uh, he was involved in the making of over two dozen pornographic films? Thanks, Wikipedia!

Right. Okay. The actual book. We are talking about the actual book. So the plot, as you can guess from the title, involves a lot of AIM and MODOK -- and because this is vintage 1970s Iron Man, also a lot of Happy, Pepper and SHIELD. SHIELD here is a lot of Nick Fury and a lot -- hi, again, 1970s -- of Jasper Sitwell. (If you're only familiar with the MCU, 616 Jasper Sitwell is, like, the ultimate Boy Scout SHIELD agent, a giant nerdy stickler for protocol.) Basically, AIM is scheming to get the armor, and the basic plot itself is kind of fun in that respect -- Tony scheming right back, decoy fake plans, a fake auction of the armor, and of course Tony and Happy captured by AIM. There's the requisite fight with an armored villain, of course, and what feels like a very perfunctory showdown with MODOK. (It's not a long novel.)

But since we're in fandom, we're not reading these things for the actual plot content, and so I am happy to say that on a characterization level, if this is the Tony Stark characterization you like in this era of comics, this book is going to make you happy. Because he really is, just... peak, classic Tony Stark. This is established very early on, in what is actually my favorite section of the book. Tony addresses a roomful of students about ecology, and his plans for SI and for the future, and about how he's not actually in it for the money and he just wants to do the right thing and save the world and so on and so forth and he wants to hire some of these kids to help everyone and build space colonies and so on. Similarly, when we first see Tony at SI, there's a paragraph about how he knows his employees' names and values them as people and it's very much classic Tony characterization. I love it.

In terms of canon, I'm not quite sure if this is relying on any particular recent developments in canon. Pepper and Happy are still together, and there's a throwaway line, in the list of Things That Have Happened To Tony's Heart, about how he's had several surgeries and a new heart and at this point in his life he has to wear the chestplate some of the time but not all of the time. I think that whole "weak heart" era is the Michael O'Brien/second Guardsman stuff, but I'm not exactly sure; this is not an era of canon I'm 100% up on in order. That may be a little too early for this, as well. Sorry; I'm not the best at this part of this game.

There is, of course, some identity porn, since what would an Iron Man story be without some good identity porn? There's a section early on where Tony explains why he would never reveal his secret identity. (Literally, he wishes he could "come out of the closet," and, yes, they do put that phrase in quotation marks.) His rationale is that the media would never let him alone, and also there are "Iron Man groupies, publicity seekers, and other assorted crazies" who would make his life miserable.

The weird thing is, then he goes on a date with what seems to be an Iron Man groupie. Pepper sets him up on a date with a woman who is a bellydancer and auto mechanic trying to break into acting. (The even weirder thing is that she seems to be named after a woman the author has coauthored several novels with. I, uh... I hope she knew first?) Anyway, they go on a date and she starts asking him about what Iron Man is like. Now, in a book where the plot appears to be that the bad guys want Tony's armor, I would be a little suspicious of people who were curious about Iron Man. But apparently this woman is on the level and just really likes gossip about famous people, and then at the end of the book when Tony talks about maybe going on another date he seems excited to "give her an opportunity to know Tony Stark." Although, really, she seems to still think Iron Man is cooler, so I don't see this working out well.

(Also, in the course of the plot, he does end up unmasking in front of MODOK, and as cover he comes up with the excuse that he isn't the only Iron Man and that there are a group of them. Which, y'know, historically, isn't even untrue, for a certain view of Tony's behavior -- there have actually been multiple people in the suit before now. So I kind of like Tony's quick thinking there. Amusingly, as he's bluffing his way through this, one of the fake Iron Men he names is Captain America, which honestly I think would make a hell of a fanfiction plot.)

Another weird thing: since this is right before Demon in a Bottle, Tony still drinks. It's not even an issue. And obviously it's meant to show something about his affluent lifestyle (and how he considers alcohol a necessary part of that lifestyle) but it's interesting reading this in retrospect and thinking about all the character development that Tony is basically about to undergo but hasn't yet.

So, yeah, in terms of characterization, this is an interesting look at Tony Stark basically preserved in one of the more-well-regarded eras for him, so on that basis I think it's worth reading. Which is not to say that there aren't some downsides, and since this book is mainstream fiction from the 70s, I bet you can guess what the main one is: namely, there is a certain amount of casual sexism and racism. The first scene takes place on a college campus and there is a lot of, uh, dwelling on co-eds and their short skirts. There is also a retelling of Tony's origin story, and you probably already know that ToS #39 is racist as hell (especially if you have seen non-recolored versions in which Wong Chu is literally yellow in the art) but the prose retelling here manages to add in some racist epithets (many characters are referred to as "the Oriental") which is... disappointing. Neither of these things are really unexpected for a book from 1979. But, you know, there they are. Heads up.

It also makes some weird narrative choices. One is that it has a surprising number of extended flashbacks in which dialogue is taken directly from the comics. I understand that back in the day before trade paperbacks and Marvel Unlimited and back issues whenever you want them, you the Iron Man fan might not have been aware of a lot of Tony's history. So I get why you would want to spend some time going over the events of Tales of Suspense #39. And, okay, Happy is a pretty important character in the plot, so I get why you'd want a lot about their first meeting in Tales of Suspense #45. But then there's a whole flashback devoted to the whole body-horror extravaganza of how MODOK came to be, and that one... that one was just kind of weird, especially because Tony didn't even figure into it.

And that leads me to my final complaint about weird narrative choices, which is the author has chosen to write this book in 3rd person omniscient point of view. I mean, it's a valid POV choice, sure. But it's a little jarring coming from fandom, where we are all basically 3rd limited forever and ever (like, honestly, I'm not even sure I'd know how to write 3rd omni if I tried!), and it's even weirder to read Tony in the middle of one of his inspiring speeches while a female student is thinking about how sexy he is even if he is an "older man." Yeah.

Also, the narration calls him Tony when he's out of the suit and Iron Man when he's in the suit. Consistently. Even when he's thinking about himself. I am pretty sure fandom never does this, and it is weird as hell.

So, overall, I have to say that despite some reservations, I really enjoyed this, and if this is an era of Iron Man canon that you enjoy, you will probably like this if you can get your hands on it, because it's a lot like reading an Iron Man comic from 1979, and the plot shenanigans are amusing. I mean, it's not the best-written book ever, but it is a lot of fun, especially in terms of Tony's characterization.

#posts i actually wrote

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acaseforpencils · 7 years

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Karen Green, Curator for Comics and Cartoons at Columbia University.

Who are you and what do you do? My name is Karen Green, and I was hired as Columbia University's Librarian for Ancient & Medieval History back in 2002 (I had done my graduate work in medieval history here at Columbia). A love of comics, and a recognition of their absence in our collections, caused me to propose that we begin to buy graphic novels in 2005; what was then 3 titles (Maus, Persepolis, and Palestine, for those keeping score at home) has grown to 14-15,000 titles in over two-dozen languages. In 2010, my role expanded when Chris Claremont offered us his papers, and I began collecting other creator archives, with a focus on the NYC area and the history of publishing. This became a prominent enough part of my brief, that in November 2016, the libraries created the job of Curator for Comics and Cartoons, and moved me up into our Rare Book & Manuscript Library with the other curators.

Portrait of Karen by Drew Friedman

What is your goal as a curator for comics and cartoons? There are more archives of comics history than you might think, with the largest and most prominent probably being the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum at Ohio State University in Columbus OH. I'm not trying to compete with Billy Ireland--I couldn't really, even if I tried, as they have a 35-year lead on me!--but what I try to do is create an array of materials that fits well with other strengths in Columbia's Rare Book & Manuscript Library: specifically, the history of publishing, NYC history, the Pulitzer Prize archives (including 95 years of editorial cartoon winners), and illustration. I want to build out those areas, make the material accessible, assist scholars in their research--and to further solidify comics studies as a proper academic discipline. And I want to try to preserve a snapshot of the 21st-century NYC comics scene.

Learning about the history of cartoons can be a bit daunting. Where would you recommend a novice start? Gosh, there's no one starting place, I think. I found THE SMITHSONIAN COLLECTION OF NEWSPAPER COMICS when it first came out, back in 1978, and that grounded me in newspaper strip history. Other useful resources are Brian Walker's two books about comics, before 1945 and after 1945, and Jerry Robinson's history of the comics. Comic-book history is a bit more challenging, but Gerard Jones' MEN OF TOMORROW lays out a lot of the players and the process, and the two big Taschen 75 YEARS OF... books, DC Comics by Paul Levitz and Marvel Comics by Roy Thomas, provide narratives for the two dominant mainstream publishers. Mark Estren's history of the undergrounds is still probably the best there is, and Tom Spurgeon's history of Fantagraphics, WE TOLD YOU SO: COMICS AS ART, offers an oral history of one of the larger alternative publishers. But there's no unified field theory for the medium's history, and just going to panels and listening to creators talk can be the most interesting and entertaining way to dig in.

A piece of original art from STUCK RUBBER BABY, showing marginal notations; the Howard Cruse papers, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.

What do you wish artists knew about curation? I wish they realized that we're not just looking for their original art. Don't get me wrong--we love original art!--but it's not the whole story, and we know that it can often be a crucial revenue source for cartoonists. We're interested in process materials (sketchbooks, first drafts, tracings), too, because they demonstrate the creator's thinking. But we love correspondence (between creators and publishers, creators and editors, creators and family, creators and other creators), we love business records and contracts, we love ephemera. Often a creator won't even understand the research value of little things--I went to visit a major comix artist once, who was getting an external appraisal, and in one drawer was a pile of address books going back decades. My excitement was met with surprise, but those things are snapshots of creative networks over time: invaluable! On a different note, for artists who work digitally, I just pray they're preserving all their versions and their layers, so that researchers of the future can analyze their process.

Oliver Cesare, cartoon about the impeachment of NY governor William Sulzer, impeached after tangling with Tammany Hall; Dennis Ryan editorial cartoon art collection, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.

Tools of choice: The Grand Comics Database for comics runs and covers; Poopsheet Foundation for minicomics; and Wikipedia--you probably won't be surprised to learn that comics fans create meticulous and thorough entries, including publication histories. And WorldCat, to see how others have cataloged some of the rarer items.

George Herriman, hand-colored drawing from archy & mehitabel, given to his Doubleday editor; Daniel Longwell papers, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.

Tools I wish existed: Oh, this tool exists: a processing archivist. We just don't have enough of them for the number of archives we bring in! Oh, and a bigger budget, especially for programming.

Tricks: Still looking for those! But while it isn't a trick, I'm happy I work in city that has such a long and storied comics history, and which still has a relatively vibrant comics community, despite the ravages of NYC rents.

Charles Saxon, NEW YORKER cover proposal; Charles Saxon papers, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.

George and Sarah Booth, accompanied by Bob Eckstein and David Borchart, visiting the archives to look at Charles Saxon's paper. [Editors note: all of these wonderful people have appeared on Case!]

Misc.: Sometimes I think that Columbia isn't well-known enough as a comics archive for creators to think of us when they're figuring out what to do with their files. It's true we've only been collecting archives for about seven years now. I go to cons, both mainstream and indie, and I've been an Eisner judge, a Pulitzer Prize judge, and moderated panels around the world. But I'll still meet creators who'll be surprised to learn that Columbia even has an interest in comics. I'd like creators to think about the context in which their work could be studied here, too--we have a tremendous historical children's literature collection, with movable books and Big Little Books and all sorts of comics-related stuff, and we have a terrific illustration collection, with the largest collection of original Arthur Rackham drawings and watercolors in the US, and original Caldecotts and Rowlandsons and Cruikshanks as well as Rockwell Kent and Boris Artzybasheff and more. I think this allows us to provide a context that a comics-only archive might lack.

Website, etc. A guide to our collections, and to research

My old ComiXology columns (2009-2012)

Books for which I've written prefaces or introductions:

THE LEANING GIRL

WEIRD LOVE vol. 3

MORE HEROES OF THE COMICS

Enjoy reading A Case for Pencils? Consider becoming Twitter, Instagram, and Patreon buds with the blog and/or Twitter buds with its creator, Jane!

#columbia university #karen green #comics curation #comics archives

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casscutting · 5 years

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Author Interview: David Viergutz

I had the pleasure of meeting David (online) by complete chance. I was mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram feed one night and came across a post from a writer that I follow. He had just finished reading this book with one of the most beautiful covers I’d seen in a while. I read the caption then immediately went to Goodreads to see what this book was about. I was HOOKED from the synopsis and added it to my “Want To Read” list.

I went back and commented on that post, gushing over the cover and saying how I needed to read this book. Sometime after I get a message request from this guy, David Viergutz, I am shit with names until I get to know someone (online and in-person) so it never dawned on me who it was.

But I opened the message and he was saying how he saw my post and offered to send me an e-book in exchange for an honest review and I JUMPED at the chance and I am glad I did. I knew from the first page of his book I was going to love it and I did. I also hoped that he would be down for an interview and I was elated when he said yes.

David is an amazing writer and author and I look forward to seeing his career take off because I know it will. I encourage every one of you to go and get a copy of his books you won’t regret it.

Why don’t we start off with an easy question, why do you tell us who you are and a little about yourself?

So, I’m a bit of an oddball in the writing community, or so I feel. I’m a father of two (15 and 2, yeah…I know…) and a Law Enforcement Officer. I joined the Army straight out of high school and became a LEO shortly after. I had ZERO idea I wanted to be a writer. It wasn’t until my wife came around, about 10 years later, who convinced me I COULD be a writer. It was interesting, she looked at me and said, “Write the damn book!” after we had discussed how I had wanted to write one since I was 12. Like so many others, writing fell to the wayside as work took over.

Besides work, and writing, I’m a personal trainer and have my own business, and I recently dove head-in to leatherwork. I’m still learning, but it’s fun.

My wife is also a LEO and a medical student. I’m just counting down until residency so I can retire at 32 and write full-time, haha.

You are the author of The Box And The Bird a novella that came out in October 2019 as well as The Demonic Compendium a wonderful novel that I've had the pleasure of reading. Can you tell my readers a little about these books?

The Demonic Compendium is my flagship into the world I am writing. I never set out to write a book, I set out to create a universe. Most of my favorite series end so soon and I wish there was more. In writing epic-fantasy, I wanted to make sure this wasn’t an issue for my readers. That being said,

The Box and the Bird is a taste of The Demonic Compendium Universe, also known as The Darkenverse. (Think Marvel Cinematic Universe or the Star Wars Expanded Universe). This book is a fast-paced intense read that follows Samantha Lawson as her husband Richard returns home from a business trip with something terrible. This book ties into the main universe, but is not considered on the main timeline. I offer it free on my website davidviergutz.com.

The Demonic Compendium is my bread and butter and the first of many in the series. While it is epic fantasy, I bring in some elements that I think set it apart. Anti-heros, doom-and-gloom, dread, epic-battles and a fully immersive world. One reader said he felt like he wasn’t just in the story, he was also watching my main character Shaw cast wild demonic-magic and tromp through the castle.

The Demonic Compendium takes place in the wake of a terrible tragedy that has befallen a budding kingdom. We follow Shaw as he is forced to make terrible decisions for the greater good, and hopefully, find his purpose in the process. Not to give too much away, but there’s a reason my personal mantra for writing is:

“The hero doesn’t always win. The good guy doesn’t always get the girl. Things are going to get a lot worse.”

What was your inspiration for these stories, where did the original spark come from?

Well, I truly wrote the book I wanted to read. I thought back to a few captivating moments from what I’ve read and seen in movies and wanted my readers to get chills as they read the epic moments. Think about when Gandalf stands on the bridge with his infamous line. Or King Leonidas when he boots the emissary into the hole. Or when the Red Ranger screams “Tyrannosaurs!” I wanted a book FILLED with those moments, so I focused on those big events, and built a world to fit it.

The Demonic Compendium is the first book in your debut series, how many books do you have planned for the series altogether?

It’s hard to say. I’ve purchased covers for three additional books, as well as a novella from the same timeline following another lead character. As long as my readers love it, I’ll keep writing it. That said, I have a new series flagship releasing this year in the urban-fantasy genre.

Steering away from the book related questions. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I spoke above about my wife giving me inspiration to write this particular book, and get to the end of it, but my overall spark came when I was about 10 years old. I carried a black notebook with a home-made floppy-disk holder on the inside cover. I’d write my story paragraphs out, then read them to my friends and transfer them to the floppy disk.

This was my art, because I had failed art…I couldn’t connect two dots, I would have just eaten the crayon because I thought the assignment was stupid. I find my ability to write is a carry over from my ability to speak, so I stuck with what I was good at.

From idea to publication about how long does it take you to write a book?

Planning and plotting are about a solid two weeks (part time, a few hours a night). After that, my pace is a steady 1000 words an hour. On a good day (I’m married with kids remember) I can pump out 10k if I’m left alone. Most of my books are planned and plotted for 100k, minus the novellas. So, math aside, I’d say 30 days. I wouldn’t say a month, because life likes to drop a dragon in my living room. Now that I have my business processes down, 30 days is an accurate guess. When writing TDC, I had to learn the business, hire a cover artist, formatter, etc, so that delayed my process.

Both of your current books are indie published why did you choose to go this route and not the traditional one?

I love working for myself, and as I see my books as my art, I am reluctant to give that up. I’m very much a self-made-man, and I feel when my writing is loved and only my own efforts are responsible, it’s just that much sweeter when I make a single sale.

Which authors inspired you to write?

This is a tough one, as a lot of authors I enjoy have a lot of overlap. I prefer their methods instead of just their stories so I’ll mention those. From Dean Koontz, I loved The Husband for the mind-bending twist. Michael Crichton for the adventures in Jurassic Park, and Garth Nix for his epic magic in The Abhorsen Series.

What is the best writing advice you’ve heard?

Write the story you want to read. You don’t need to please everyone; you just need to please your fans.

Can you tell us about your writing process? What’s a typical writing day for you?

I’m a musically motivated to write. When I sit down at my desk, I make sure the music I’m listening to matches what’s happening in the story. There cannot be any words however, it must feel like I’ve got my own theme-song as I narrate on paper what I’m seeing in my mind.

My process is that of a plotter. I start with my epic moments, then think about who I want to be a part of them, then build in my what-if statements.

What-if a dragon lands in my living room? What-if it looks terrifying?

Now, I’m forced to answer my own questions with more plotting.

And then it seems to be entirely confused. And then it has crippling self-esteem issues.

I then arrange these series of thoughts into an outline, expand on them, and use that to write pages.

If the perfected productive writing day existed what would it look like for you?

I’m an easy fellow. 5:00 AM-6:59 AM workout. 7:00 AM-7:59 AM post-workout shake, shower, get ready, chores at home. 8:00 AM-11:59 AM in the office with hot coffee. 12:00-12:44 PM break to warm up meals and walk around neighborhood. 12:45-3:45, edit what I just wrote 4:00PM-5:00 PM, marketing, social media and business functions. 5:01-8:00 PM family time to include dinner. 8:01-11:00 PM, read, more writing or hobbies.

Why do you write?

Because I can’t afford to pay an author to write books exactly how I want to read them. I love my own stories.

What is the hardest thing about being a writer?

Okay besides the usual gripe that I hear/read people hear/write about, self-esteem, doubt, anxiety, introverts, socially awkward etc.…

How about the fact that we’re trying to make money on a commodity that has fallen to social media, instant gratification, and the digital age? The average e-book sells for $2.99. That’s a lot of books to sell just to fill the gas-tank.

What are you currently working on?

Book Two of The Demonic Compendium: The Queen of Duska Cereal of Third City: A novella from the TDC series timeline

The Bullet Board: An action packed urban-fantasy heist.

Lastly, what is the best advice you can offer someone who dreams of one day being an author?

Fake it until you make it. Undoubtedly you know something I don’t about writing, even if you’ve only written a Facebook post. You are the expert of YOUR stories. Stop looking for validation from others on how THEY would change YOUR story.

If they don’t like your story, they can write their own. Give yourself some credit and when you’ve finish something, anything, show it off, and be proud, it’s your art.

Author Links: Website Instagram Twitter Goodreads Facebook

Book Links: Goodreads Amazon

Question of the day:

If you could ask your favorite author a question what would it be?

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thecosydragon · 5 years

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My latest blog post from the cosy dragon: Interview with Max Davine

An Interview with Max Davine, author of Mighty Mary, Off the Map, and other novels.

Max Davine was born in Victoria, Australia in 1989, to an eclectic mix of backgrounds. His father’s family had immigrated from Ireland during the Potato Famine, and are a mix of Irish, Norwegian and Spanish ancestry. His mother’s family escaped from Hungary, Austria and Germany during the Soviet takeover, and subsequent revolutions, after the Second World War. Members of his grandfather’s extended family fought both for the Nazis and for the partisans who rebelled against them. This unique lineage, and the rather unusual stories passed onto him by way of living relatives, informs both his writing and philosophical perspectives of history and where the world is headed.

Who is your favourite Dragon in literature?

Puff, the Magic Dragon. Such a simple yet beautiful story. It reminds me of Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem Block City; that same sort of message and just delivered in such a profound and simple way.

I’m not going to be reviewing your newest novel, but from your other published novels, is there one that is your own personal favourite?

Aside from Mighty Mary, I would have to say Off The Map. It is probably the least known of my books and yet it means so much to me. I had it for thirteen years. Thirteen years of writing and rewriting. I had to make it seem like it was written in the year it was set. I guess the sales figures are an indication as to why you shouldn’t do it but I’m glad I did because there’s a real big piece of my life out there and maybe people will rediscover it one day.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

Oh, the first one I wrote? Eek. No. There is no saving that. That’s dead and buried. Having said that, it did go through a few hundred incarnations over the years and I may yet try again, but for all intents and purposes it is as dead as the dodo.

Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?

Everything. Every aspect of it. I look back on my old work and it’s like looking at myself learning to walk. There’s literally nothing that hasn’t been affected either by my continuing to study at University or by my acting lessons or just by the sheer amount of reading I do.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

It’s always different. After Dino Hunt was released I went quiet. There wasn’t much that grabbed me until about 2016 or ’17, about two years later when I started working on one I haven’t finished yet. Then I stopped that to write Mighty Mary and that took about a year to get right. And then there’s another big one, a real epic, that I’ve been working on about fifteen years. But this year has been productive. I’ve put down two first drafts this year and I’ve got one more to go. Then I’ll go back and do rewrites and whichever one strikes me as the best will be the one I publish next. The rest, it takes what it takes. One might be ready in six month, the other might take another decade. You never know. There are manuscripts I’ve never finished after years and years.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

It all starts with a pen and paper. But for proper drafting I go digital. I use a desktop computer with a big, thick keyboard because I break keyboards and that’s why I can’t use laptops. If you break the keyboard on a laptop, it’s goodnight, Charlie.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I’m fortunate enough to be traditionally published by Tamarind Hill Press and they’ve got an amazing team of editors and cover artists. Jesse McGun worked with me on Mighty Mary and he was just fantastic and I love a cover designer who just tells me if my ideas aren’t going to work because I’ve had ones before who just went on and tried to bend to my wishes and it hasn’t come out too well.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

The Strand in New York City is not only the greatest bookshop in the world, it is one of my favorite places in the world. It’s like Roald Dahl’s chocolate factory to me. I’d live there just to be close to it. I’ve never read an ebook but I guess they’d be handy while travelling. It does get challenging to carry an accumulation of books around on long trips, especially if you’re a backpacker! … my material comes from old photographs, mostly. Obviously there is that famous one of Mary, for example, but I love old pictures and that’s an Actor’s Lab thing. We were always taught to go to pictures of real life first for characters, then find them in that place. I still do that. Although it might be a painting or a statue or just being in a certain place and thinking wow, what happened here that we don’t know about?

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?

I don’t have a specific genre to read. I write a lot of historical fiction, but I deviate into unconventional Sci-Fi or fantasy, but it’s always with real-world settings. I think our world is too fascinating to replicate in a Westeros or a Middle Earth. I mean, what for? A Song of Fire and Ice is an astonishing achievement but it’ll never be what the real War of the Roses was, for me. I appreciate and admire what Martin did with that very much, it’s just I couldn’t do it myself. I’d want the real thing. Having said that, one of my favorite authors is Robert E. Howard and I know Stephen King – among others – doesn’t like him but I wish he’d give the guy another chance! Yes, there are retrospective social issues to be found in his works and the works of Lovecraft but Howard’s prose was just dreamlike. Otherworldly in its visceral beauty.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

I have help. I manage it myself because who’s going to take pictures for me? But I do need to be kicked into doing it. It’s just not something that occurs to me during my day. I’ll be working or something, probably working, and get an email like your blog is due, you haven’t posted anything today, or whatever. I know it’s important. I’m very grateful I’m looked after in that sense.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

No! Most of my interviews are in-person so I can’t do that anyway because I’d never remember what I’d said to the last interviewer.

from http://bit.ly/2F8heGU

#book bookreviews authorinterviews lovereading bookworm

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godlessgeekblog · 5 years

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How To Do Social Media Promotion As Musician

How frequently would you visit a friend has shared a music video on their own social networking? Ever thought about how you can make certain it’s your music video individuals are discussing?

This informative guide covers every facet of Social Networking promotion for musicians by moving in-depth directly into concepts utilized by the greatest marketing agencies on the planet to interrupt artists to the Top 40 charts, with the strength of creating a loyal fanbase.

I know you’ll have heard it, not only from us but other music PR companies too that social networking is really a tremendous chance for bands and artists. In 2018, we do not have the typical gatekeepers who finalise regardless of whether you get the mass exposure your own music deserves, now you can maintain complete charge of your web music promotion.

A few of the greatest bands on the planet generally have the greatest personalities, for example Liam Gallagher or Alex Turner. It’s these personalities which could stand out and add something which tiny bit special to some band far above the caliber of their music.

Liam Gallagher

We know that as musicians you’re not constantly releasing music, and there might be lots of downtime, so you must have a method which enables you to definitely create content for the audience even if you are busy within the studio or between releases.

Success on social networking isn’t nearly the information you develop and also the tips and hacks you’re likely to learn within this guide, your mindset is an essential component for that perfect social networking strategy. A regular misconception of social networking success is the fact that going ‘viral’ may be the ultimate goal, however, if was the final time you saw a music video go viral?

You’ll be able to get lots of people to talk about your own music video. To do this, you have to set up a core audience who’re loyal fans and also have become accustomed to interacting and discussing together with your social networking content.

This is when the strength of your mindset is available in to experience, because the quantity of work and persistence that is needed to endure a effective social networking campaign means you have to be emotionally resilient and also have a mindset which could keep creating content while you might not get the short-term success you had been wishing for. Social Networking is really a lengthy-term game.

Since you’re within the right mindset to overcome this animal, we begin speaking strategy.

1. Produce A STRATEGY

Musicians and bands face a remarkably difficult conundrum on social networking, as hearing audio necessitates the listener to stay in a particular mood and somewhere where they are able to pay attention to music without having to be disturbed, which aren’t always exactly the same conditions when you are surfing social networking. Especially since many platforms for example Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have audio muted automatically, so you don’t only need individuals to stop and pay attention to your track, however, you need these to unmute the recording, which might not appear just like a significant action, but getting individuals to take serious notice of social networking submissions are something which corporations are investing millions directly into achieving to assist sell products, which shows how precise and impactful your strategy must be.

BRAND PREPARATION

I truly really wish i could let you know that it’s the music that will the speaking with regards to the prosperity of your own music, but from experience with music PR there’s an entire entire arena of factors which you can get observed, and the first is the image like a band. I check this out reason for every music tips blog publish I ever read, to “get your image right”, and it is an easy indicate make but it’s challenging do. So, let’s go a little much deeper directly into this, here’s our very best strategies for having your image directly on social networking.

1) Have A Similar IMAGES ACROSS ALL Social Networking PLATFORMS

This really is something we have seen often, where a painter has different profile pictures for every platform, which might show variation, but it doesn’t provide the impression of the complete package. Maybe one band member setup the Twitter a couple of years back also it hasn’t been upgraded, another member manages the Facebook after which Instagram grew to become popular and this is where you place all your newest imagery. Caused by this is very untidy, specifically for potential fans who might be fans on Instagram and also have become familiar with your image, they might immediately recognise yourself on Twitter because they scroll through suggested profiles and immediately hit the follow button.

2) Utilize FACEBOOK COVER VIDEOS

This can be a new feature, which succeeded can definitely help make your Facebook page look special. You are able to upload videos as cover photos, which may be either clips of the videos, a custom looping video or perhaps an animation which advertising the next release or tour.

3) GET Marketplace

You could know if a painter has tried to do their very own photoshoot, and we’re a large advocator for implementing your personal equipment to produce content, but with regards to branding and imagery you should have it professionally done. There are several amazing photographers available now who don’t really charge lots of money, particularly if you hire a company who’s searching to construct their portfolio or perhaps is fresh from College.

4) Focus On DETAIL

When you know the appear and feel you would like your band to possess, it’s essential that this flows during your imagery, lower for your location and clothing. We have seen mistakes for example bands who’ve selected an area having a boring background or clothing which doesn’t look unique and every band member includes a style which clashes with all of those other band.

2. DECIDE The Information In The Event You CREATE

Your social networking strategy must be implemented in categories of 10, that’s 10 bits of content that have been planned ahead of time. This really is to make sure you possess a plan that you simply stay with out on another succumb to temptation to alter or abandon the process before you decide to have created enough content to possess a big enough sample size to analyse your results.

We encourage you to possess a consistent image, however that doesn’t mean your articles ought to be the same across all of your social medias, and it’s also the alternative. Each social networking platform has different dynamics, those who are using Snapchat have been in a totally different mindset to individuals on Facebook or YouTube, you’ll need to find away out to inform your story across various platforms and mediums.

The Three Kinds Of CONTENT You May Create ON Social Networking

1) DOCUMENTING

Everyone loves to follow along with tales and have a tendency to consider an enthusiastic curiosity about the other party’s lives, for this reason reality Television shows for example Your Government and Love Island have grown to be very popular.

You ought to be documenting your trip being an emerging band, developing a story of methods you’re just beginning, the successes, the setbacks, backstage, festivals. You are able to pre-plan the storyline which is adopted, what facets of this story you need and just how the information is going to be storyboarded. Take benefit of the figures in your band, everybody is individual, which is the folks that the potential fans will connect with.

The truly amazing factor about documenting is it is going on 24/7 surrounding you, there’s always an chance to document when you are literally publishing whatever is going on surrounding you.

2) EDUCATING

Individuals are always searching to understand and if you’re able to provide that, it’s a fantastic chance to construct fans and loyalty. Does someone inside your band possess a particular talent, and have unique approaches for creating music?

A great chance to teach people who’d prefer to learn your talent, who’ll pay back you by assisting you market your music video.

3) ENTERTAINING

If you possess the capability to entertain your potential fans with content, this is completely the choice to consider. To do this, you must have great personalities within the band, having a content structure which enables you to produce a high standard of videos regularly, we’ll cover more about this later.

DEVELOP 3 KEY Styles

All effective social networking profiles have styles throughout, whether or not they are sport related, political, business or music related. But styles don’t have to be topics, they may be something you feel enthusiastic about like a charitable organization, or possibly you’ve something to protest against. These styles give people something to connect with your articles. Many people on social networking aren’t really searching to understand something totally new, or perhaps be convinced to alter their opinion, they’re searching for content which reinforces a viewpoint they have. Which means you should not be thinking “this is going to be my theme since i think many people will enjoy that”, it really works the alternative, you need to decide your theme and allow your audience help you find. By doing this you can be certain you will find as authentic and relatable for your target market.

One artist we labored with made the decision to produce cover songs on his Facebook account, and requested for suggestions within the comments for his next song. The rule could be that the suggestion which got probably the most likes he’d to pay for in the next video, which brought to numerous engagement and loyalty. Additionally, it gave the crowd a feeling of communication with him because they truly felt like each comment may lead to a relevant video being produced only for them.

After you have develop 3 of those styles, you’ll find you’re getting fans from each one of the three styles along with the quality of the music. It is crucial that you stay with these styles as even though it may appear just a little repetitive for you, individuals will understand your articles once they see content that they initially adopted you to view.

3. Choose The Best Social Networking PLATFORM To Advertise Your Own Music

It’s vital that you select the best platform for you personally, and often, it is best to select which platform you would like to pay attention to knowing your articles strategy. Each platform has its own weaknesses and strengths, which is your decision to manoeuvre each one of these to be able to inform your story for your audience.

Facebook

PROS

Facebook is the greatest platform when ever you’re just beginning out because the advertising functionality is easily the most effective and various of all of the platforms. You are able to publish any kind of content whether it’s images, videos, text posts or perhaps a live video.

After you have published the information, Facebook enables you to definitely pay to market your articles and page to some precisely targeted audience, the most effective method to achieve a brand new audience

CONS

Facebook has considerably altered how they operate within the last couple of several weeks, which makes it even more complicated to achieve your overall audience. What this means is, unlike other platforms, those who are following page aren’t certainly likely to be proven your latest posts. Facebook may also be a significant distracting Social Networking to make use of, that has a lot happening in the screen at the same time with ads, notifications and messenger.

Building A Crowd ON FACEBOOK

The easiest method to construct your audience on Facebook is applying their advertising platform. We let you know that better to advertise on Facebook afterwards.

Twitter logoPROS

Twitter is a superb platform for enabling you to talk with your audience and also have a conversation with potential fans. The immediate nature from the platform enables for brief bursts of activity and engagement to go over the most recent trends.

CONS

Twitter is now the worst social networking for engagement and click on throughs. Should you build a crowd of 20k supporters and published your latest music video, the cool thing is that a maximum of 200 people would follow the link. It’s because the short pace of Twitter where individuals choose to check out it just once they want quick information, instead of watching a complete video.

Building A Crowd ON TWITTER

For brief-term results we advise getting began using the follow/unfollow technique, but don’t get too transported away with this particular, the simpler an admirer is to buy the less valuable they’re for you. You need to gain valuable supporters by creating great content, which will get likes and retweets, distributing awareness and gaining organic supporters.

Instagram emblem

PROS

Instagram may be the platform everybody really wants to be hot on at this time. It’s the least expensive and easiest spot to build a crowd, with utilization of hashtags to assist get discovered and Instagram tales and live videos to maintain your fans engaged. Instagram has become probably the most important social systems to become posting content.

CONS

Instagram has one big drawback, which is you cannot link from Instagram itself. If you wish to publish a hyperlink for your latest music video it isn’t easy to do without running an advertisement. One of the ways for this would be to add some connect to your bio and direct your fans there, however this isn’t well suited for conversions.

Building A Crowd ON INSTAGRAM

Building a crowd on Instagram is mainly concerning the right hashtags. Never be fooled directly into believing that typically the most popular hashtags are the most useful for you personally though, simply because there are plenty of posts for your hashtag doesn’t mean individuals are always searching it. You will find Hashtag research tools will assist you in finding the best hashtags. Make sure to be posting frequent tales, because this might not gain you supporters however the formula does favour accounts that are while using tales feature.

PROS

Snapchat is amazing to obtain people’s attention. The way in which people utilize it means that they’re 100% focussed in your content and you will find zero distractions, meaning 1 follower on Snapchat may be worth greater than any follower on other social networking platforms.

CONS

Snapchat’s users list is seriously decreasing, together focussing much more on established influencers. Without any discovery features it can make it very hard for emerging artists to become discovered.

Building A Crowd ON SNAPCHAT

Snapchat is easily the most difficult platform to construct a crowd. We advise funnelling fans through other social medias by promising exclusive content on Snapchat.

PROS

Because this is where you will probably be uploading your own music video to, it’s the ultimate goal to achieve followers online, after you have a client base your fans will immediately be alerted of the audio video and can likely see it.

CONS

YouTube’s formula isn’t created for music, it is made for ‘YouTubers’ who develop a client base by creating frequent videos. Therefore, uploading one video every couple of several weeks means it will likely be hard to trigger the formula to recommend your video to other people.

Building A Crowd Online

YouTube is all about being preferred through the formula. Many people believe that YouTube suggests your video in line with the quantity of views, but it’s really according to minutes-viewed. So, if viewers are watching your videos towards the very finish, you are more inclined to be rated greater than individuals who watch the very first 5 seconds and click on another video. For this reason it’s important to not buy fake views.

Twitch emblem

Twitch needs a special mention because of the rapid growth it’s seen lately. Initially a platform to look at others play game titles, Twitch has opened up as much as other kinds of content for example music. Now you can build a crowd entirely by streaming your own music composition live.

4. ESTABLISH WHICH MEDIUMS For Your Articles

Remember wonderful your articles you have to be adding value for your potential fans. Montage videos which show how great your band is, or behind the curtain from the filming of the music video is really taking out of your audience instead of giving, because it is basically an advert for the video. These videos only use your loyal fans. We’re focussing regarding how to build new fans for the band.

VIDEO-BASED CONTENT

Of all social networking platforms, videos are the most useful converting kind of content, they’re enticing, plus they get people to stop scrolling watching.

Videos are probably the most nearly impossible to find right, you must have a storyline prepared for that video in addition to enough character and to help keep the fans watching before the finish.

Effective videos include great planning, you should know exactly what will take place in each video, having a compelling beginning, middle and finish.

COVER SONGS

Cover videos, if selected wisely can offer an incredible chance to draw in potential fans to understand your band, by covering a track that they’d prefer to hear. Selecting the track is an essential part. The main mistake we have seen is bands who cover songs which are presently within the charts simply because they assume people will be hunting that song and choose to hear their cover, however, this rarely happens. It might be better to either select a track that was extremely popular around 10-twenty years ago which instigates nostalgia with potential fans or produce a cover of the track from the different genre making it your personal.

COLLABORATIONS

Stay local to check out collaboration possibilities which both supply the foundation to keep things interesting in addition to distribution. For instance, possibly this guitar rock band have to de-stress before their big gig, so that they go to the local meditation center to concentrate and relax.

Most likely the band want to perfect their stage presence, so that they visit the local theatre to obtain training in thea from trackrgadget https://socialsignals24.com/how-to-do-social-media-promotion-as-musician/ https://socialsignals24.com/how-to-do-social-media-promotion-as-musician/

#IFTTT #trackrgadget

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templeofgeek · 6 years

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Josh Figueroa caught our eye with his amazing detailed sketches and love for all things geek. He’ll be doing a lot at this years San Diego Comic Con, including a sketch commissions all day and a huge Spider-man 3 panel. When you get the chance please check out Josh at FF-15 at this years SDCC.

What was it about “Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs” and “Daredevil” playing such a big part in your life?

I read “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” when I was a little kid and what blew me away then just as it does now are the drawings and the incredible amount of detail in each. I get lost each time I open it from time to time. “Daredevil : Born Again” was pivotal in my awakening as a artist because after I read it, I decided that I wanted to tell stories and draw comics. I realized you could be a director, the writer, the lighting person, the cinematographer and so on as a comic artist. I currently have 6 different intellectual properties in different stages of development for comics, one of which I will have a poster of at comic con

You also have a book out “52 Sunsets for Calm Coloring” what brought that about?

The coloring book was a result of me pitching ideas after showing my art to the publishing department at the book publisher where I worked at 4 or 5 years in at the suggestion of the companies VP. I was hired to draw their book idea under their direction. I finished illustrating all 52 illustrations a few years ago and its still on hold to be published. I have no control over when they decide to publish it or not but samples are on my website.

What can you tell us about the children’s book you are working on?

The children’s book I am working on is an action based hero journey based on Aztec mythology aimed for 9 to 11 years old. I just secured the trademark and the website url and more info will be up on my website. If you want to check it out, see me in person at the 2018 San Diego Comic Con International at table# FF-15 or wait for crowdfunding information on my website.

What’s the typical day for you at SDCC? Is there a typical?

I draw sketch cover commissions all day long and have a blast doing so. If I dont work on that, I will be drawing something and very open to talk to all the great and enthusiastic comic and pop culture fans going to the show. Please stop by and say hello. This year, I will have free Captain America prints for veterans or retired service members while supplies last.

Do you have any exclusives for this years SDCC? Or any surprises?

I am working on a huge Spider-man 3-panel poster for Comic Con International. Its Spider-man vs the Sinister Six and I will have prints of it at the show. I will also have pre-drawn sketch covers in pencil for sale. I will also be available for custom art commissions.

At SDCC do you get time to walk around and enjoy the con or is it all work?

I do make it a point to walk around every day whether its for lunch with friends living in San Diego or to go buy art prints from my favorite artists or the occasional art book I may be itching to buy. Or graphic novels I need to add to my collection.

Which characters do you enjoy working on the most? And which do you not like at all?

I enjoy working the most on my own characters so I can flesh them out and make them believable. Beyond that, I would love having a crack at Spiderman vs Venom, Carnage, Scorpion, Tarantula, and other villains. And there isn’t a character I don’t like drawing or would mind drawing.

For you how does SDCC differ from other cons?

Its the largest, biggest, most enjoyable show in the comic industry and a pop culture event.

What’s one thing you wish fans understood about artists working at Cons?

That we are people and we need to make money also. Artists have expenses and therefore you shouldn’t haggle with them like you are at a swap meet. Just because they draw fast doesn’t mean their skill and experience should be undervalued. Support them, buy their art, buy their comics, keep the comic medium alive please.

What are you looking forward to most at SDCC 2018?

Just the honor and pleasure of being in Artists Alley is a reward and a privilege. Creating art commissions for people is another privilege and always a privilege. I would love to hear about and see what Marvel and DC are up to as far as movie plans. I just love comics and all related news and media to be honest. I am a fan just like everyone else!

SDCC 2018 Artist Interview with Josh Figueroa Josh Figueroa caught our eye with his amazing detailed sketches and love for all things geek. He'll be doing a lot at this years San Diego Comic Con, including a sketch commissions all day and a huge Spider-man 3 panel.

#Art Artist Illustration interviews SDCC SanDiegoComicCon Conventions SanDiego

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investmart007 · 6 years

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MEMPHIS, Tenn | Longtime Elvis Presley drummer D.J. Fontana has died

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/x2atZI

MEMPHIS, Tenn | Longtime Elvis Presley drummer D.J. Fontana has died

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — D.J. Fontana, the drummer who helped launch rock ‘n’ roll as Elvis Presley’s sideman, has died at 87, his wife said Thursday.

Karen Fontana told The Associated Press that her husband died in his sleep in Nashville Wednesday night. She said he had been suffering complications from breaking his hip in 2016.

“He was loved by everybody all over the world. He treated everybody like everybody was his friend,” she said.

Fontana rose from strip joints in his native Shreveport, Louisiana to the heights of musical history as Presley’s first and longtime drummer.

They met on the Louisiana Hayride, a popular and influential radio and TV country music program based in Shreveport. Fontana, the staff drummer, asked to join his group for a session broadcast in October 1954.

A regional act at the time, the 19-year-old Presley had been recording and touring since the summer with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, the musicians Sun Records founder Sam Phillips brought in after Elvis turned up at the Memphis, Tennessee-based label’s studio.

“The Blue Moon Boys,” as they called themselves, had been playing a blend of blues, pop and country that was unique at the time; but it was missing something crucial.

“Elvis and Scotty and Bill were making good music, but it wasn’t rock n’ roll until D.J. put the backbeat into it,” the Band’s Levon Helm told The Associated Press in 2004.

Elvis returned often to the Hayride, and in 1955 Fontana became a permanent member of the group, working with Presley through much of the 1960s.

Influenced by such big band drummers as Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa, Fontana was admired by Helm, Ringo Starr, Max Weinberg and many others for his power, speed and steadiness, which he honed during his time with the Hayride.

“I heard Scotty and Bill and Elvis one night and knew that I couldn’t mess up that sound,” Fontana later said. “I think the simple approach comes from my hearing so much big band music. I mixed it with rockabilly.”

Fontana was there for Presley’s extraordinary first wave of success, from such hit singles as “Hound Dog” and “Jailhouse Rock” to his increasingly frenzied live shows and hip-shaking appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and other TV programs.

He played on many of the soundtracks — and was occasionally seen on camera — for Presley’s movies in the ’50s and ’60s.

He was on the “comeback” Christmas TV special of 1968 that featured Presley and fellow musicians jamming on a tiny stage before a studio audience, with Fontana keeping time on a guitar case. Widely cited for reviving Presley’s career, the comeback show was his first live performance in years and the last time Moore and Fontana worked with Elvis, who died in 1977.

“Elvis would always want to go back and talk about the early days when there were four of us in a car, Me, Scotty, Bill and Himself,” Fontana later told the fan site Elvis Australia.

“And he told me one day, he said ‘You know, I wish I wasn’t Elvis.’ And that struck me funny — even back then. You know he kinda wanted to get away for a while. I think he should have retired for about 7 or 8 years, and then come back — you know. And then he might still be with us.”

Fontana also played on Starr’s solo album “Beaucoups of Blues,” and worked with country artist Webb Pierce and rockabilly star Gene Vincent among others. More recently, he and Moore were joined by Helm, Keith Richards and other guests for the 1997 Presley tribute album “All the King’s Men.”

In 2000, he played on Paul McCartney’s cover of an early Presley hit, “That’s All Right.”

Born in 1931, Dominic Joseph Fontana began playing drums as a teen in his high school marching band and would also jam with his cousin while listening to big band recordings.

By his early 20s he was performing at strip joints and spending enough time around the Hayride that he was hired fulltime, although at first he was asked to play behind a curtain because drums were scorned by country audiences.

Presley’s Sun Records contract was purchased by RCA Victor late in 1955 and he became a sensation around the country, and beyond.

During an interview with Elvis Australia, Fontana recalled a 1957 show at a Canadian football stadium, when Presley did his best to honor the owners’ wishes to keep the crowd off the grass and away from the stage.

“So Elvis came on, did a few songs, and said: ‘We’d like for you to get back in your seats.’ Which they did, very orderly. Until the last song, and here they come again,” Fontana explained.

“Elvis left the stage, and here we were with 20,000 people! The stage turned over, but we finally got all the equipment in the car, which was right behind the stage. The car was surrounded by kids, and they were shaking the car.”

By ADRIAN SAINZ and HILLEL ITALIE , By Associated Press

#Karen Fontana #Memphis #native Shreveport #Presley's sideman #suffering complications #Tenn #TodayNews

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