Leon Stevens's Blog, page 72
July 25, 2023
July 24, 2023
Music Monday July 23: Beatrice Deer
There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.
CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music
Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it. Maybe you will find a new favorite.
Canadian Aboriginal Music Award-winning singer-songwriter Beatrice Deer hails from Nunavik. Half-Inuk and half-Mohawk, Deer left her small hometown of Quaqtaq, Quebec (population: 376) in 2007 and moved to Montreal. Her themes range from classical Inuit folk tales and legends to the importance of finding understanding and the search for meaning within personal growth.
The song by Beatrice Deer is a powerful tribute to a mother figure who has been a source of strength and inspiration to the singer.
English translation:
You lost
What’s most precious to you
You were crushed
You were shattered
Even though, you persevered
Even though, you stood up
Even though, you healed
I look at you
I do what you do
You are my mother
I want to be like you
I want to stand like you with grace
I want to walk like you with grace
I want to walk with you with grace
I want to lead like you with grace
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
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July 22, 2023
Weekend Wrap-up July 22: Writing Update
The challenge of being an author is writing the next book. I’m slowly compiling more poetry for my next collection, and I have started continuing many of the story ideas that I have jotted down over the past few years.
Expecting a novel?
Ha! I do try, but my stories always come up short. When I read novels, I’m always astounded by the amount of description and backstory other authors are able to include in their books. What also astounds me is the amount of description and backstory I skim over when I read.
Seriously, I skim a lot.
Sometimes I do miss something and have to go back because I have no idea why a character is doing that. Maybe you do care if the trees Ms. Benilia is walking though in the rapidly ebbing twilight have variegated leaves that give the forest floor an ethereal presence reminiscent of her grandmother’s mountain home by the shimmering glacier-fed lake where she spent her summers helping with the gathering of elderberries, from which would later be made into preserves for sale and sustenance.
Or … you just skimmed and know she’s walking through a bunch of trees that makes her happy.
You get my point. My writing is succinct.
Now where was I? Oh, yes, works in progress. I thing the next book will be another short story collection, but this time there won’t be as many and each one will be longer. I think I have a way to tie them all together in a sci-fi kid of way. I also came across a short story romance that I wrote last year that I I have no idea what to do with. It does give meaning to multi-genre author.
OK, I won’t dangle that in front of you and not give you an opportunity to weigh in. Drop me a line if you want to read and critique it.
Leaving these promos in:
More 99 cent books!
And just to confuse matters, here is one with StoryOrigin authors!
-Leon
On my blog this week:
Free Book Friday July 21: In Conversation With Poet Bobbie Isabel
Thursday Thoughts – Just one.
Weird Wednesday July 19th: Science = Funny (still) – Cartoons!
Music Monday July 18: Canada’s Walk of Fame Music Inductions – How many do you know?
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 21, 2023
Free Book Friday July 21: In Conversation With Poet Bobbie Isabel
Putting together interviews is a lot of work. Trying to get authors to interview is just as difficult, which is why I have been using AI to … just kidding.*
Let’s jump right in to some human interaction, shall we?
In Conversation With: Bobbie Isabel
Today I have the pleasure of sitting down with author Bobbie Isabel. Thanks for dropping by. Can I offer you anything to drink?
A rum and diet, please. Oh, not that kind of drink? Just water then.
Oh, we can do rum. I don’t know how you can do it with diet though I think it tastes funny.
I refuse to drink my calories, other than the alcohol.
Fair enough. Let’s jump into it, shall we?
Poetry. It’s crazy stuff isn’t it?
Actually, it curbs my crazy. Poetry is like therapy for me. I get out all of my angst and frustrations in my poes.
I agree. Much of my poetry was therapeutic, but now it’s just fun to write.
Oh yeah, I can definitely have some fun with it too.
What was the first poem you wrote?
HA! When I was maybe 12 or 14, I wrote a poem that was published in my school’s yearbook titled Friends and Strangers. Oddly enough, if I think long enough, I still have it memorized, which is ridiculous!
You know you have to share it now …
It went something like: Some may call me stranger/to others I’m a friend/To those of you who don’t believe/for you this poem will end/For those of you who care to listen/do you understand me yet/
In this world there are no strangers/Just friends you haven’t met
[clapping]
Bravo.
You drew a lot of inspiration from the places you visited when you wrote the Travalogue in poetry. What else inspires you to write?
I find inspiration in so many things and places. Sometimes I see something or hear a word, and it triggers and emotion. Those emotions manifest in verse. Other times, I see a prompt, and a phrase pops into my head. The poem writes itself from there.
I like how some poems take on a life of their own.
They are often some of the best!
Are you an avid reader?
When I was a kid, I read voraciously, as an escape. Now, I’m struggling to find balance between work, writing and reading. There don’t seem to be enough hours!
Do you have a favorite book?
I used to say it was Stephen King’s The Stand because it was the longest book I’d ever read. While I still remember enjoying it, I’ve read so many more enjoyable books and find a new favorite at least 3 times a year. Short answer: NO.
You mention on your website that you enjoy musical theater, but do you enjoy musical theatre?
If it is theatre, and there is music, I’m all about it!
Ever want to be up there on the stage?
So long as I don’t have to audition, absolutely! My anxiety will not let me audition.
Since you obviously like music, care to share some of your favorite artists ?
Much like a favorite book, it is almost easier to tell you those I don’t like. I like powerful voices and beautiful lyrics. If there’s a beat I can dance to, even better.
Well then, what don’t you like?
Not a big fan of opera and country music.
Are you ready for the lightning round?
No, but bring—
To late.
Favorite city?
New Orleans or Las Vegas
Two fun places. Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune?
Childhood ruined by making me choose! As an adult, Jeopardy.
If someone yells, “Serenity now!” do you laugh?
Probably, because I have none, but I feel like I missed the joke.
Favorite animated show?
I always loved Animaniacs and Scooby Doo. Favorite animated movie is probably Anastasia (Has to be a musical).
Food that you don’t like but will eat?
Peppers
Green, red, yellow, chili, jalapenos, etc?
It’s a texture thing. If they’re chopped up, especially jalapenos, I will eat them in almost anything.
Sunrise or sunset?
East coast, sunrise. West Coast, sunset.
Time’s up. FYI, the “Serenity now” is a Seinfeld reference.
Yep, lost on me!
This has been a pleasure. Thanks for chatting. Any links you want to share?
All my social media links are in my linktree: https://linktr.ee/bisabelwrites
My website is https://bisabewrites.com
What I’m working on next:
I have a children’s picture adventure book coming out later this year that is written in verse.I also have a fantasy novel I’m preparing to run through the first round of edits. The will be out either late 2023 or early 2024. It’s a coming-of-age story with mythology, dragons, and shadow demons.I hope to release another poetry book next year.*Am I kidding? Yeah, but I have been using the concern about AI created content to my advantage:
Free Book Friday March 3: In Conversation with ChatGPT
Free Book Friday June 30: Interview. Commence.
Featured Author: P.R. Adams
The story behind Free Book Friday: I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?
Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.
Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.
Here are this week’s promos to check out:
Reads From StoryOrigin and BookFunnelStoryOrigin and BookFunnel allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!
Free Books
Almost Free Books
Kindle Unlimited
Review CopiesReview copies: Like reviewing books? Try my two poetry collections: Lines by Leon and A Wonder of Words
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book (poetry or science fiction or both): Leon’s Newsletter
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 20, 2023
Thursday Thoughts
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 19, 2023
Weird Wednesday July 19th: Science = Funny (still)
Continuing the science theme for another week:
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 17, 2023
Open Book Blog Hop July 17: Favorite Cover
I think I am most proud of my sci-fi trilogy covers, although my first poetry collection was in the running. I was going to write about how they came to be until I realized I already had.
Originally posted Feb. 15, 2022
So much has been written about the importance of covers, and how you should look at the covers of the books that sell in your genre and use that as a guide. There’s only one problem: I don’t care for most of the covers.
But wait! The cover is what entices the reader first. It should give a glimpse of what the book is about.
OK, then. So I once again looked at best sellers. This is what I discovered are the most common themes for Sci-fi/Post-apoc:
Sci-fi books:
Spaceship racing awaySpaceship heading toward you (Oh, no!)Battling spaceshipsSpaceship entering a vortexSpaceship emerging from a vortexAliensFuturistic city Futuristic city with aliensHunky guy with laser gunSexy girl with laser gunHunky alien with laser gunSexy alien with laser gunPost-Apocalyptical
Ruined cityRuined city with guy in makeshift armorRuined city with girl in makeshift armorRuined city with guy AND girl in makeshift armorRuined city with guy in government issued armorRuined city with girl in government issued armorRuined city with guy AND girl in government issued armorRuined city with zombiesRuined city with zombies and a guy in makeshift armorRuined city with zombies and a girl in makeshift armorRuined city with zombies, a guy AND a girl in makeshift armorHunky guy battling zombiesSexy girl battling zombiesHunky zombieSexy zombieWhen I was designing my cover for The Knot at the End of the Rope, I thought of the title story and used that as my staring point. I redesigned it later to include more motion (and emotion/terror) in it. The font was chosen because it reminded me of the early 50s/60s sci-fi covers.
For my next book, I wanted to convey the idea of relationships and mystery. This is not an action story; it is an adventure. As I wrote it, I was reminded of the computer game “Myst”. Remember that? No? If you were looking for action, it wasn’t for you. If you wanted to wander around thinking, “What the heck happened here?” then, this was it. I spent hours at a time on that game.
Sci-fi covers had become to busy for me. Too cartoony, too computery (yes, that’s a real word*).
I was happy with the final result, and only one reader said it was “Meh.” So, when the story was set to become a [spoiler alert] trilogy, I had to decide how I was going to approach the cover. Everything I tried looked too different. It wasn’t really a different story, more of a continuation, so how to continue the theme? Use the same cover? Can I do that**?
I might be ignoring some expert and tried and true techniques, but in the end none of those made me happy, and you know the old saying, “If Leon ain’t happy . . .well, he’s a grumpypants. Just leave him alone.”
So, here is a sneak peek of what I hope to be the next two covers. let me know what you think by voting below. What are those vertical lines? Just a guide to where the spine will be.
Thanks for reading!
[Added July 17, 2023]
I revisited my cover and decided to re-jig and make some additional changes:
-Leon
* No it’s not.
**It turns out you can do whatever you want. It’s your book. Plus, I think it will look awesome as a boxset.
Rules:
Link your blog to this hop.Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter
Music Monday July 18: Canada’s Walk of Fame Music Inductions
There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.
CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music
Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it. Maybe you will find a new favorite.
Move over Hollywood, Canada is … well, doing the same thing you did.
Canada’s Walk of Fame began 25 years ago.
Those are some very talented and influential people inducted in the inaugural year of the sidewalk. Yeah, it’s a sidewalk. I’ve been to the Hollywood one. It’s a sidewalk too, but with more gum and cigarette butts.
Anyway, since this is a music post, I’ll focus on the musicians in this year’s class.
Now if you haven’t looked at the names on the post image, I’ll give you a few minutes to read the names that most Canadians will recognize and everyone else, not so much. For me, this reads like the soundtrack of my formative teenage years.
1979 AM Radio. No music videos yet. Great break and solo at 1:38.
High school dances. Nothing more to say:
Still a great song:
More AM Radio staples starting with Max Webster’s only UK hit. Kim Mitchell (vocals/guitar) went on to have a hit-ridden solo career. A very underrated guitarist in my opinion.
Shades of Steely Dan in this one:
1979=81. Just before video killed the radio star.
Next, probably one of the most controversial rock songs in Canada, and you have to buy the album to hear what the radio stations bleeped out. But being in Grade 9, we thought it was pretty cool.
By the time this one came out (1983) I was a certified “Headbanger” so it wasn’t my fav:
I don’t think Chilliwack had any fame outside of Canada.
!983: Before, “Glam Metal”, were these guys that kinda looked like girls, paving the way for bands like Poison, Ratt, and the like. Also, the introduction of electronic drums.
Had to include this because it has the Hollywood Walk of Fame in it. They sound like The Cure, don’t they?
Lee Aaron. First lady of Canadian heavy metal. Remember when I said video killed the radio star? Some videos needed to be killed. I couldn’t put this one in, it was that bad. Look it up if you are curious (yeah, I probably liked it then). After several rock albums she turned to jazz.
I’m not going to put in any Loverboy or Glass Tiger. Look those up too.
Michel Pagliaro. French guy from Quebec. Don’t recognize any songs.
Trooper. I did a post on them earlier this year:
Music Monday May 29: I was going to do a Top 10 …
1973: Did you know these guys were Canadian? I did not until now.
Long live Canadian music, eh?
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
July 16, 2023
July 15, 2023
Weekend Wrap-up July 15: A bunch of 99 cent books? You bet!
I woke up this morning to this email from Amazon:
OK, but is it because looked at my book page several times, or because of other factors? Any thoughts? Moving on …
New design! Only $17.00 In my Zazzle store!
More 99 cent books!
And just to confuse matters, here is one with StoryOrigin authors!
-Leon
On my blog this week:
Free Book Friday July 14: Where is it? – No free books other than my own
Thursday Thoughts: There’s always a catch. – Finally finished my trilogy bonus trailer!
Weird Wednesday July 12th: Science = Funny – If you don’t like science, these won’t be funny
Music Monday July 10: Basia Bulat – Another lovely Canadian voice.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
