Sex, Death and Trains: All Yours For Nothing (still!)*
*Terms and Conditions apply: you can get a free copy of my first novel, The Darkness Beneath, by following this link - but hurry! Only the first 100 people to sign up can claim a free copy.
Rolling and Tumbling
Well I rolled and I tumbled, and I also ducked, weaved and bobbed through last week as I waited for my accountant to call with the exact time and date of the end of the world. Turns out it's 0900 next Tuesday. Which means that I've had another week of sticking my head in the sand and pretending that nothing-serious-is-about-to-happen.
So look out next week, watch out for jack-in-the-box highs and wrist-slitting lows: my rational self will be rationed for at least week, as will the few pennies left in my bank account. On the upside, you can sit back and watch me go into meltdown from the comfort of your own living rooms. Consider it a service and don't forget to send an occassional postcard to me at the asylum/debtor's prison.*
(* To be announced.)
Cover Story
I love book covers me, they're brilliant but creating them is a real art. Some book covers make me want to buy the book just for the cover but I have to say that far too many covers from indie authors are pretty amateur. Especially those that are only published as eBooks, and the designer (if that's not too grand a term) hasn't considered shrinkage. I.e., how small the text and images will be once the full size art work has been shrunk down to Kindle size.
Another major error is the mixing of fonts. It's not that you shouldn't, but I think the basic rule is that you shouldn't use more than two, and they should be simple enough to be readable after they've been put through the incredible shrinking machine. This also goes for the images used. Sadly, many of the covers I see are either the work of people who know nothing of design, or are the creations of people who think that Photoshop's main purpose is to create cutesy borders around terrible photos. To which they add the following across the bottom in some less than attractive and far too enormous font: © IamRubbish Photography. This is done because they make the twin mistakes of imagining they have an image worth copy writing, and that their work is so good they can call themselves professional. Wrong on both counts.
But I digress.
Title-Tattle
What you're here for is, apart from watching my financial implosion, is to find out more about what's happening with The Girl isn't it? Ok, ok, so here's the story. I realised the other day that to make one of the final chapter's last few scenes work, it has to take place in the dark. Not a problem really, just slide time forward a couple of hours and your done.
Well, almost. We want dark but it's summer, not high summer but we're still graced with very long days. Darkness doesn't get out of his limousine until at least 2200. So the slide has to be by at least two hours, otherwise the cops are going to look very silly walking through the woods with their torches shining while the sun's still high in the sky.
And yes, this is a love story/romance, why would't there be cops?
Cheers,
*Terms and Conditions apply: you can get a free copy of my first novel, The Darkness Beneath, by following this link - but hurry! Only the first 100 people to sign up can claim a free copy.
Rolling and Tumbling
Well I rolled and I tumbled, and I also ducked, weaved and bobbed through last week as I waited for my accountant to call with the exact time and date of the end of the world. Turns out it's 0900 next Tuesday. Which means that I've had another week of sticking my head in the sand and pretending that nothing-serious-is-about-to-happen.
So look out next week, watch out for jack-in-the-box highs and wrist-slitting lows: my rational self will be rationed for at least week, as will the few pennies left in my bank account. On the upside, you can sit back and watch me go into meltdown from the comfort of your own living rooms. Consider it a service and don't forget to send an occassional postcard to me at the asylum/debtor's prison.*
(* To be announced.)
Cover Story
I love book covers me, they're brilliant but creating them is a real art. Some book covers make me want to buy the book just for the cover but I have to say that far too many covers from indie authors are pretty amateur. Especially those that are only published as eBooks, and the designer (if that's not too grand a term) hasn't considered shrinkage. I.e., how small the text and images will be once the full size art work has been shrunk down to Kindle size.
Another major error is the mixing of fonts. It's not that you shouldn't, but I think the basic rule is that you shouldn't use more than two, and they should be simple enough to be readable after they've been put through the incredible shrinking machine. This also goes for the images used. Sadly, many of the covers I see are either the work of people who know nothing of design, or are the creations of people who think that Photoshop's main purpose is to create cutesy borders around terrible photos. To which they add the following across the bottom in some less than attractive and far too enormous font: © IamRubbish Photography. This is done because they make the twin mistakes of imagining they have an image worth copy writing, and that their work is so good they can call themselves professional. Wrong on both counts.
But I digress.
Title-Tattle
What you're here for is, apart from watching my financial implosion, is to find out more about what's happening with The Girl isn't it? Ok, ok, so here's the story. I realised the other day that to make one of the final chapter's last few scenes work, it has to take place in the dark. Not a problem really, just slide time forward a couple of hours and your done.
Well, almost. We want dark but it's summer, not high summer but we're still graced with very long days. Darkness doesn't get out of his limousine until at least 2200. So the slide has to be by at least two hours, otherwise the cops are going to look very silly walking through the woods with their torches shining while the sun's still high in the sky.
And yes, this is a love story/romance, why would't there be cops?
Cheers,
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