Rachel R. Smith's Blog, page 17

Judging a Book’s Cover Part II

First of all, I’d like to give a huge thank you to each person who took the time to give me feedback on yesterday’s post. I really appreciate your input and it has been invaluable to me as I’m working on this revision.

Based that input, I’ve taken another stab at a revised cover. The overwhelming majority seemed to favor the original layout, but the new version of the image was well received. So this newest version is my attempt to blend what people liked best about both the original and the new. Which do you prefer? The original or newest revision?

Original

Newest revision

Judging a Book’s Cover (opinions needed!)

My book, Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror, has been up on NetGalley for a couple of weeks now, and I’m already getting some really useful feedback. While most of the feedback has been positive, the opinions on my cover have been mixed. I would hate for anyone to be turned off about my story because they don’t like the cover. I’ve already got a new ebook cover lined up (which I’ll be posting about soon), but I’m undecided on the update for the paperback version.

So the question is, which of these do you prefer: the original, new version 1, new version 2, or new version 3?

Original

New version 1

New version 2

New version 3

Starlight Blogger Award

Thanks to Maria at MariaJob for nominating me for the Starlight Blogger Award–be sure to drop by and check out her blog!

Here are the Nomination Rules for nominating your 6 favorite bloggers! In your nominees, I would like for you to think at the light emanating from the stars, the ones that truly touch your soul with their work, the ones that are the light for you, a true starlight by blogger.

1. Thank the giver and link their Blog to your post.

2. Answer the 3 questions given to you.

3. Please Pass the award on to 6 or more other Bloggers of your choice and let them know that they have been nominated by you.

4. Include the logo of the award in a post or on your Blog please never alter the logo and never change the rules.

Please don’t delete this note: the design for the STARLIGHT Bloggers Award has been created from YesterdayAfter is a Copyright image you cannot alter or change it in any way just pass it to others that deserve this award.

Copyright 2015 © YesterdayAfter.com – Design by Carolina Russo

My 3 questions to answer are:

1. What is your greatest fear? There are lots of things to be afraid of, but right now, public enemy #1 is spiders. They seem to come out in droves this time of year, haunting every nook and cranny with their sticky webs and eight-legged creepiness. I really wouldn’t mind them so much if I weren’t allergic to their bites. (And if it weren’t for the fact that they seem to find me quite tasty so I get bit more often than most people.) To quote the magnet on my refrigerator, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…and spiders.”

2. If you had to create a public holiday for the world, what day would it be, why and what will the day stand for? I feel like a question like this needs an altruistic answer, but, let’s face it, the world’s problems are not something that can be fixed by observance of one idealistic day. So, I’ll choose something more tangible. I think that we have a tendency to get caught up in the busy-ness of every day life. My holiday would be a “Stop and Smell the Roses day” where everyone takes a step away from the day-to-day rush to stop and spend time doing something they love with the people they love most. No being called into work, no working from home, no errand running.

3. Post a picture of your favourite food. Haha. There are so many foods to love! I couldn’t possibly pick one favorite. So here are a few:

Mega Stuff Oreos–the cream equivalent of two double stuffs, without having to go to the trouble of twisting off the extra cookie tops.

Chocolate soft serve–it’s great by itself, but amazing with googly eyes!

McDonald’s Shamrock shake–my love for it has nothing (ok, maybe just a little) to do with the fact that it matches my car. Why are they only available once a year?!

Ice cream with corn flakes. Pairing ice cream with cereal seems so obvious, but I never even considered it until I had it on this sundae in Japan.

I realize my food preferences seem to be slanting toward the unhealthy, so here’s my healthy pick–concord grapes. When they are ripe, they taste amazing! They are in season right now, so I’ve been enjoying (read as: pigging out on) them for the last two weeks.

My 3 questions to pass along are:

1. If you could be anything for Halloween what would you be?

2. What are your favorite books and why?

3. Share a picture of your favorite food (I like this question so I’m using it too!).

Nominations: I think any of the blogs I follow would be worthy of this award, but I know some of you enjoy awards and some have award-free blogs. So rather than nominate anyone specifically, I’ll just put out an open invitation to my followers. ^_^

#TBT! A (kind of embarrassing) glimpse into my writing notes

In honor of Throwback Thursday, I thought it would be fun to share a look inside my writing notebooks. I, quite literally, have a pile of notebooks where I jot down my ideas for Records of the Ohanzee. I never know when a sentence or scene will come to me, so I make sure to have a notebook on hand at all times. The smallest silver one lives in the glove box of my car. It tends to get the most action since my ideas often come while driving. The bottom two in the pile are completely full, while the larger silver one and the waves book are still active.

By now, you’re probably thinking that there’s nothing “throwback” about writing notebooks. The thing is–I started writing this series back in early 2005. So these notebooks contain the very beginnings of the story, from a time when I wasn’t even sure if I would ever really be able to turn them into a book.

Below is one of the first pages of my original notebook, dated February 17, 2005. As I was re-reading over these notes, I was both amused and embarrassed by them. The story has come so far since this rudimentary start that its a bit like looking through awkward elementary school photographs of myself. (Little orphan Annie hair from third grade was not a good look on me. You’ll have to take my word on that because that picture is never coming to light on the internet.)

The scene here actually did end up becoming the opening of Chapter 1 in book 1. It’s kind of funny to see how much and how little changed between these notes and the final version. At this point, Nerissa was going by the generic “Princess” because I hadn’t yet figured out her name. I had completely forgotten that Charis ever went by another name (Acadia?!). Despite these major differences, the scene itself hardly changed at all. The first line of dialog at the bottom of the page, “What harm could possibly come from reading a book?” is the first sentence of Chapter 1.

Here’s an image from January 2013, which ended up becoming part of book 1, Chapter 14 “Treasures.” I should point out that, when I note down scenes, they aren’t in any particular order. I just record the images I see at the time and go back for them later when I realize where they were meant to go in the story. Which is how things like this happen:

Notice that this clip was from May 7, 2010–3 years prior to the above section that ended up being part of Chapter 14 in book 1. But this scene with Raysel ultimately became part of Chapter 18 in book 2. The final version can be seen in the image below. (I had to blank out the next page in the notebook because it contains spoilers for the third story arc.)

My last example is from September 2007. I still distinctly remember when I made these notes. I woke up from a sound sleep at 3am and dashed into the other room to write down this scene before I forgot any of the details. For those of you who have read book 2, you will immediately recognize the opening scene of Chapter 1. The final version changed very little from these initial, late-night scribblings–despite being written 60,000+ words and almost 8 years apart.

I’m eternally grateful to “past Rachel” for keeping such good notes and being organized enough not to lose a single one of them over 10 years and through multiple moves. I’m sure that “future Rachel” will also be relying on these notes quite heavily too! I’ll leave you with one final throwback image…

Anybody else remember these? They were the wave of the future…or so I thought in 2005. ^_- I guess that can be chalked up with hoverboards and self-tying shoes? (Why was Back to the Future Day one day too early for TBT?!)

It’s so pretty! Or, the post where I get overly excited about business cards.

When I was working as a materials scientist, I had business cards. They were company-issued and looked exactly like everyone else’s. Plain white card stock, basic, sterile design and the company logo. I would get so jealous when exchanging cards with people who had unique or interesting cards.

But now I have my own and I can do whatever I want with them. XD

I’m so excited that my new business cards came in today! My originals had information specifically for book 1, but now that book 2 is out it was time for an update. I ordered these from Vistaprint. Not only did their interface make it super easy to put the design together, the price was also very reasonable. I had a 50% off coupon (conveniently listed on the front page of their site), which meant I was able to get raised print and printing on the backside for almost the same price as basic cards. Maybe its just me, but I think the raised print makes the card seem just a little nicer and more professional. I could sit and run my finger over the raised letters for hours. (I know I’m weird, but I prefer to think of it as “quirky.”)

If you’re a fellow author, I’d definitely recommend having a business card for your work. I keep a handful of them with me at all times in case my books come up in conversation–and they’ve come in handy many times. I also leave a few here and there on community boards around town. I’m not sure how much that has helped me in spreading the word, but it definitely doesn’t hurt! I also included the blurb for book 1 on the backside of the card. Inevitably, when someone hears that I’m an author, they ask what my books are about. After sharing a short verbal summary, I find it helps to be able to say, “Here’s the full description too.”

I’ve also been known to drop cards into the “enter to win a free lunch” jar at the cash registers of local restaurants. Maybe someone will see the card and check out the book. Maybe I’ll win a free lunch. Win-win? ^_-

Authors, do you have business cards? How do you spread the word about your books offline?

In Support of the New York Orcs

Records of the Ohanzee:

J. R. R. Tolkien told us a lot about what happened after the War of the Ring, but have you ever wondered just what happened to the orcs?

Originally posted on Nicholas C. Rossis:

So, the One Ring was destroyed, and Saruman’s army disbanded. But what happened to the thousands of Orcs and Uruk-hai that found themselves on the losing side?

Fear not, dear readers, for they moved on. Some ended up in New York, where they picked up new skills, such as apiculture.

One intrepid New Yorker, Harry Aspinwall,  has made it his business to track down this Mordor diaspora, and put a face to them. He even set up a Facebook page to help raise awareness of these poor creatures’ plight: enter Orcs of New York, whence these lovely profiles.

To support these poor creatures, just visit (or even follow) Orcs of New York on Facebook.

Musiville, my second children’s book, will be published shortly. When it does, I will only leave a sample of award-winning Runaway Smile online. If you wanted to read it in its entirety for…

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Like free books? Enter for a chance to win a paperback copy of Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror!

Enter this Amazon giveaway for a chance to win a paperback copy of Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror (Records of the Ohanzee Book 1). There are two copies up for grabs, so don’t miss your chance!

Legal stuff: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Ends the earlier of Oct 26, 2015 11:59 PM PDT, or when all prizes are claimed. See Official Rules http://amzn.to/GArules.

PS- Please help me spread the word by sharing/reblogging!

Review of Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror (Records of the Ohanzee #1) by Rachel R. Smith

Records of the Ohanzee:

Thanks to Anjie at Love Thy Shelf for her review of Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror. Be sure to visit her book blog to read the full review and to check out her thoughts on other great books!

If you have a book blog and would like to read/review Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror, you can request a copy through NetGalley here: http://netgal.ly/0lfd6J or contact me directly in the comments or by using the email link in the sidebar.

Originally posted on Love thy Shelf:

Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror (Records of the Ohanzee #1)
Author: Rachel R. Smith
Publication Date: May 9, 2015
Published by: Self Published
Format: 226 pages, Kindle eBook
Genre:Young Adult, Fantasy
Rachel R. Smith | Goodreads | Amazon 

** Copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review **

My Rating:

Summary:

What harm could possibly come from reading a book?
Hundreds of years ago, in the land of Renatus, a prophecy containing an ominous prediction for the distant future was recorded and hidden in six books. These books were passed down through the generations, their true nature unknown even to their inherited owners. Now, Nerissa, the Heiress to the throne of Chiyo, prepares for the annual masquerade, unaware that one of the books has been discovered and an urgent warning of an impending attack is on its way to the capitol. A chance encounter and an…

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Best Halloween Costume…Ever!

A fun little video for Saturday night…

Crystals Part 2 (More Sparkly Things!)

As a follow up to my previous post on crystals, I thought I would share some of the other pieces in my mineral collection. I didn’t include these in my initial post because, unlike the pieces in the first set, these stones have all been cut or polished in some way. Their overall shape and appearance isn’t necessarily representative of how they would look in nature (in other words, the cutting and polishing was done to enhance the natural appearance). Don’t be fooled by how big some look in the pictures. With a few exceptions, most of these minerals are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand–and some could sit on your finger tip!

Azurite (Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2)

Chrome Diopside (CaMg (Fe,Cr) Si2O6)

Rose Quartz (SiO2)

Calcite (CaCO3)

Fluorite (CaF2)

Native copper (Cu)

Malachite ( Cu2CO3(OH)2)
Labradorite ((Ca,Na)[Al(Al,Si)Si2O8)

Galena (PbS)

Muscovite Mica (KAl3Si3O10(OH)2)

Citrine (SiO2)

Amethyst (SiO2)

Smoky Quartz (SiO2)

Phantom quartz (SiO2) Forms when a new crystal grows overtop of an older crystal.

Fluorapatite (Ca2Ca3(PO4)3F)

Lepidolite (K(Li,Al)3(Si,Al)4O10(F,OH)2)

Hematite (Fe2O3)

Amethyst (SiO2)

Quartz (SiO2)

Selenite (CaSO4·2H2O)