Daron D. Fraley's Blog, page 10

TWHistory Needs Your Help

There are only 6 more days. This week is really important. Marion Jensen's project, TWHistory (twitter history), has fallen to 11th place in the Pepsi Refresh challenge. It needs to stay in the top 10 to receive funding.

Please vote here:  

Free Ebooks for Halloween by Duncan Long

Duncan Long is the very talented illustrator who helped to coach me through the creation of the new cover for my book, The Thorn (the new brown cover with the sword). It is the cover that I am using for the ebook version right now, and will become the cover for the print edition when The Thorn goes to a second printing.

I really appreciate the fact that Duncan took the time to help me. So, I am giving back. I just got this email from him. And since he said I can share (and I want to help advertise for him), I am posting the entire email here. Please go check out

News And Updates And Other Things You Might Actually Care About

Straitjacket - courtesy of Marc NL

Yeah. I stinketh as a blogger: Occasional. Intermittent. Haphazard. All of those being circumlocutory descriptions of what I do with this bloggy thing.

But here's the scoop:  I am trying to clear some things from my plate. For example, I have been reading blogs at lighting speed. Which pretty much means that in Google Reader I click on the post, see if there are any pretty pictures, then move on to the next one. All except for posts by Rob Wells or Marion Jensen. They are both certifiably crazy, and since I seem to be heading in that direction myself, I am curious as to how they are getting through life while wearing one of those fancy white shirts with long sleeves and shiny buckles. Oh . . . and that uncomfortable strap that wraps . . . is cinched . . .  OY!

(shudder)

Anyway, as I was saying, I am trying to clear things from my plate. So far it hasn't worked really well. But would you call this progress?:

1. Today, while stuck in a lobby behind security doors and waiting on a customer to come fetch me into their inner sanctum, I spied something on window shelf that caught my eye. It was a decorative

The Thorn reviewed by Susan Dayley

Susan Dayley, author of "REDEMPTION: The Story of Jonah", just posted a nice review of The Thorn, and an interview to go with it. Head on over to her blog and check it out:

http://susandayley.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/the-thorn/

If you have read the book, there are some never-before-discussed tidbits about the story which come up in the interview. Enjoy!

A Gathering Storm: Self Publishing With Ebooks

I wanted to share links to two blogs I follow and get your thoughts on the matter.

I personally feel that a fundamental shift is occurring in the publishing industry. I don't think bookstores are all going to disappear. I don't think traditional publishers are going to disappear either. And if we choose other publication venues, we will still need editors and typesetters and designers to make a book the very best it can be.

But I do feel that we are at the edge of a storm which ...

Yes, I Know I Am Crazy, But So Are You

Have you ever wanted to do something to break out of the shackles which seem to bind you down to an existence of mediocrity? Have you ever wanted to reach for the stars, and actually touch them? Have you ever wanted to step outside your comfort zone, far enough that it may just cause heart palpitations?

OK. This is crazy. I know it. But the curiosity about what COULD happen if this gamble pays off is worth all of the palpitations and general uneasiness.

I hate going door to...

Book Signing Tomorrow

Drawings for cool stuff. There will be refreshments for those of you needing to be refreshed.

Three authors:

Tristi Pinkston.

David J. West.

Daron D. Fraley.

You want to come. I know it. Details:

Saturday, September 11

12:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Eborn Books

Provo Town Centre – Upper Level

1200 Towne Centre Blvd

Provo, UT. 84601

(801) 607-1468

Elana Johnson Made Me Do It

I read a blog about blogging from one of my favorite bloggers. Here is Elana's post:

http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-do-i-blog-about.html

So, I need to turn over a new leaf. I have not blogged a lot lately. I need to rectify that.

Elana says we need to be ourselves and just blog about things which interest us. That we shouldn't be afraid to let people know a little bit about us. OK. Well, I am not trying to be controversial, but try this on for size:  Stephen...

Free Ebook Available – Short Story Anthology by Daron D. Fraley

"WATER and other stories" is a short story anthology that was put together specifically for Smashwords as a free ebook offering. It contains the following stories:

PETITIONS: A short story about a homeless man (contemporary fiction).
ANGEL'S SONG: A companion short story to the novel "The Thorn", book one of "The Chronicles of Gan" (speculative fiction).
WATER: Based on the account found in the Gospel of John, chapter 5, verses 1-16, and the painting by Carl Bloch, "Healing at ...

Fall Brings New Beginnings – Cider, Books, and Writing

For some people, fall is nothing more than a harbinger of frost, cold, winter, and death. I like that word . . . harbinger. The current meaning is "a herald", or "messenger". But its history is as follows: Middle English = Shelter, Old French = Lodging. In other words, when the messenger comes, it's time to secure the shutters, bring in the firewood, store the tools in the barn, and hunker down. It's going to get cold.

And I love it. Fall is my favorite season. I realize we...