Tina O'Hailey's Blog, page 7

Rig it Right III: Props and Non-characters

[image error]What’s missing? This is the working outline for topics to be covered in Rig it Right III: Props and non-characters.  Any feedback is appreciated. @ me.  

Rig it Right: Props and non-characters

(All done with off the shelf Maya. And some helpful scripts.)

Intro: Rigging something that is animatable and not frustrating.

Bouncing Ball


To dynamic or not to dynamic: see previous topic of animatable and not frustrating.

????


General stretchiness

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Things that go round

Wheel – unicycle
Wheel – car
Record player
Kitchen mixer


Things that fold in on themselves

Umbrella
Armadillo
Wings


Things on tracks

Escalator
Tank


Things you wear

Backpack
Sunglasses
Pockets
Layers of clothing


Things with 2 constrained ends

IV pole and tube
Headphones

While the next novel in the Darkens Series “When Darkness Begins” is with the editor I tried to not write for a week. That’s about as long as I can hold out. I had to accomplish some writing today or I would be sad.  This may be too much for one book and I’ll have to simplify. Just thinking it through. Now to line up the nicely edge-looped low-res models.  I haven’t pitched this to Focal yet. I think I’m going to write it first so that I’m not locked into a deadline. I don’t want to stress out during the quarters when I’m teaching and might need to take on an extra class. It will be fun to plinker with. Then Novel November will be when the next novel gets bashed out and I can finalize these two next summer. It’s a good writing routine. Keeps me busy when I travel.

Happy Rigging!  …tina

When Darkness Begins – in alpha review

[image error]Matt Baker, UsefulCharts.com 

I’ve handed the manuscript for “When Darkness Begins” (part of the Darkness series) over for its first alpha read.  My goals for these next few weeks are to:

1) Add in a time indicator to show where each chapter is in time – a graphic of sorts that will keep the reader oriented. Of course there are twists in this book, and even the time graphic won’t give it away.

2) Add in more correctly named animals. Well, correctly described animals. Right now they are slightly generic and though someone from 10,000 years ago would not have the same name we have for said animal, I want to describe them a little more clearly and make sure they were in the areas that the story takes place.

3) Show the research and true events that actually are in this book. I want to add an addendum that briefly covers some of the archeological findings and geography that I’m referencing in my very creative narrative.  You wouldn’t have to be interested in ancient history to follow the story. I had a blast doing the research portion and thought some readers might be interested. For example written language origins are referenced in the book as symbols for the Vechey clans and there is a reference to the witnessing of the Cherokee language invention to pinpoint Alexander’s mountain home.

4) Flesh out about 4-5 scenes (20 pages) that I think can be added in. I’ll know more after the alpha read is over.

5) Add in a map that shows the travels of the Vechey and the ritual site. Yet another helpful thing for readers, though, it won’t be 100% necessary. For those that like maps and geography – it will be another tool for helping see the journeys – as they are through real places. The caves that are mentioned in this story are 100% real, though I’ve changed some aspect of them to better serve the story.

6) Then it is off to the publisher & final editing & beta reading for early reviews.

The book is geared more for a younger audience. 16-25+. (Read that as no cursing and adolescent characters.) It’s a coming of age tale 40,000 years ago in an advanced race of time-walkers.

It occurred to me, on a boob-sweat hike yesterday, that I don’t know what the next book is going to be. How exciting is that? I think I’ll go back to modern day caving characters, they are my favorite. And perhaps leave the land of the Vechey (Alexander’s peoples) and do a thriller.  So exciting.

https://usefulcharts.com/blogs/charts/evolution-of-the-english-alphabet

Rig it Right II ! Released in Japanese!

[image error]What a great surprise to find in the mail! Rig it Right (second edition) has been translated into Japanese.  The publisher mailed two copies to me. I don’t always receive a copy, or know the book is being translated. It’s up to the foreign publisher to send them. Such a cool thing to find out about!! Seriously, how cool is that?

A friend told me recently that Hybrid Animation, I think, was translated into French. I’ll have to hunt down the links and post them.

Happy Rigging! …tina

Vampires, witches, and werewolves.

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If you need more vampires, witches, and werewolves in your life look no further than this bargain list of dangerous reads:

https://mailchi.mp/3ed48a5e118d/demons-werewolves-vampires-and-witches-bargains

On that list is my novel, Absolute Darkness. I don’t play up the vampire aspect of Absolute Darkness. It is so much more than your normal vampire story. It is exquisitely unique.

[image error]What is Absolute Darkness? 

A time-travel, cave-diving, women’s adventure with a twist — or three and a little vampire love.

 Get your copy today -> https://buff.ly/2Jn27st 

Available in paperback, kindle unlimited, and audiobook.

“If you’re into vampires and your tastes lean towards the quantum or even the metaphysical in terms of story premise, this book is for you.” 

“a unique story-world … her take on the “vampire” is unique.”

“Ready for a thrill ride? “Throughout the book you feel like something is coming, something big – it just keeps build ing and building to its ultimate crescendo.” –@purplekizz

“one of the most unique storylines I’ve seen in a long time.” “I don’t want to give anything away, but the ending chapters were my favorites!” “love the ‘twist’ on the traditional vampire story.” “my palms were sweating” Kristen Jackson, author of Keeper of the Watch. 

 

Check out artofthearcane.com for other genre give aways:

https://mailchi.mp/3ed48a5e118d/demons-werewolves-vampires-and-witches-bargains

Remember to hug your favorite author with a review on your favorite website: Goodreads, Amazon, Bookbub, Smashwords.

If you are an indie author and want to get your book on the monthly giveaways – look here: https://artofthearcane.com/upcoming-giveaway-signups/

 

 

Throwback post from NaNoWriMo

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“In this new novel a dirt-caked ankle wrapped with clacking vampire teeth anklets stepped into view. The SHAMA (temp name) appeared out of nowhere and she let me know that this was her clan and her timeline and before the end of the book she announced that the universe was hers as well. All of this was bent to her desires.

Well, who knew?”

While starting the re-write for last November’s novel I have came across this un-published, nyquil-fueled blog post. It is a bit of a rambling thing, as I was in puke-words-out-mode. Maybe you’ll find, deep within these spaghetti sentences, inspiration to finish your novel.

(November 2018) NANOWRIMO is a month to put aside your inner critic, to cast out your nay-saying inner voice, to open up the box where the words are hidden and pour them out. I was not successful at my first nanowrimo attempt in 2016. I only managed about 13,000 words. I had just completed a novel and was in the midst of prepping it for its self-published publication date. So, during the writing sessions with my buddies, I enjoyed encouraging them and cheering them on to their 50,000 word goal. I stalled and instead wrote the blurbs and such I would use for an online party for the release of my first completed self-published novel. I couldn’t think too much about the next one at the time. Cheering them on was addictive. I wanted them to feel what completing a novel feels like! They all surpassed the 50,000 word count and I was amazed at how good they were. They could write so very well! They were all shocked too, being their first time in a nanowrimo.

This year’s nanowrimo was different. I was very curious to see what my word count could be like if I removed distractions and just W.R.O.T.E. I had the previous 13,000 words and an outline for the prequel to that first novel. (Which by this year has picked up by a publisher and distributed internationally! WHAT?!?!?! Such a great year. But, I digress.)

So, as luck would have it I had changed my career to go back to the classroom and away from academic administration. What did that mean? A very scary choice, in fact. Leaving an amazing job that had me working on call at any time 24/7, 52 weeks a year to taking a professor position that had no academic leadership responsibilities, no reports, no company phone, and up to 22 weeks off a year. Mind you, those 22 weeks off meant brushing up on new topics, preparing lectures, etc. All time investment into one’s mind.

You might not think this was a difficult choice and that it looks like the clearest decision to make. I must say, it was difficult and I put it off for years. Trying to balance writing and being an academic dean was something I somewhat accomplished but now looking back I realize I was probably working myself to death. My friends would agree. Shifting careers in academia or most work places for that matter is not easy. You have to have the right opportunity, the right budget/head count, etc.[image error]

I write this blog post from my second week off. The longest amount of time off I’ve had in almost 9 years. I have a horrid head cold. I’ve been in bed for a week with it. I expected that though. You don’t run continuously and then just relax. Your body has to release toxins. It is doing so now. Meanwhile, while forced to keep still, I have been testing to see how much I can write each day.

During the academic quarter for the first part of November I could not write very much. Three or four days a week with 800-1600 words a day. Grading, reports, etc. take up a lot of time in the last weeks of the academic quarter. But the bones of the outline were there and I kept going.

As was the case with the novel Absolute Darkness (whose working title at the time was Pitch Black) a character appeared within the first pages. In Absolute Darkness it was Alexander. In this new novel a dirt-caked ankle wrapped with clacking vampire teeth anklets stepped into view. The SHAMA (temp name) appeared out of nowhere. And she let me know that this was her clan and her timeline and before the end of the book she announced that the universe was hers as well. All of this was bent to her desires. Well, who knew?

Once the quarter was completed and I had the week of Thanksgiving off I was able to start throwing down some serious words onto the page. The word count picked up but I was still not even at the halfway point. Thanksgiving was wonderful and I actually managed a thousand words before everyone got up that morning. A thousand words BEFORE my cup of coffee. I could do this.

Then everyone left and I had the house for one week – and I got sick. Perfect. I had a reason to stay still. And even blurry eyed from medicine I was able to seriously throw down words. I just followed the SHAMA and asked what she was going to do next. Then Alexander fell in love and I asked what that young girl was about. She was very tragic. And then the story unfolded and I followed it. It left the confines of the outline and created other paths that I had not seen. New characters walked into the pages, some tragic, some only for a moment, some for comedic relief. I saw that my word count could go as high as 8000 words in a day. I wasn’t even writing the whole day. Hubby would come home and we’d watch TV, as he likes to do after a day out and about.

The odd thing is that I found that nanowrimo is no sweat. Just write. Don’t edit (which is hard for me). Just go.

What I didn’t mention is that the first book I wrote thanks to a small group called the Shitty Writer’s Club. We would meet together monthly and our rule was that you just had to write that novel you had secretly been harboring. Just write it. It didn’t matter if it was awful. That was how Absolute Darkness was finally finished and self-published. I could not have had the guts to finish it without them.

Nanowrimo was the same for this second novel. I know that I was afraid to write another one. What if it was super awful? What if I only had one novel in me? What if it was flat? WHO CARES! Nanowrimo forces you to look at a number and just go. Go. Go. GO. GO. GO!!! I had more writing buddies now and I could see how far they were coming along and they were beating me to the finish line. I was not discouraged at all. I was so very happy for them! Before Thanksgiving I was sure I would not make it. I was sure that I could not complete 50,000 words. So I cheered them on. I wanted them to beat me to the finish line! Look at them go. Then, after Thanksgiving, I realized how much I could put down on paper and I thought maybe I could catch up.

Then yesterday, I completed the novel’s first draft. I wrote the whole thing. It only punched in at 40,000 words written in November though. (13,000 had been written in a previous nanowrimo) So, I started to write descriptions, back stories, this blog post about writing, anything to be honest that I have written 50,000 words in November. I am so excited to have finished the first draft of another novel and now I see that I can do it. What a boost that is. To know what you are capable of!

It is difficult for me, I must say. For I tend to want to re-read and re-read and re-read what I wrote so that I can catch the flow of words. But I can’t in NANOWRIMO. I have to just write forward and know that I’ll re-read later. Don’t know a word put in a REWRITEWORD place holder. Don’t stop to give names. Don’t remove words and rewrite sentences. (Very difficult for me.) Just go. Blurt out the words and the feelings and the places and the things and the characters. Blurt it all out in an alphabet vomit.

Once upon a time I worked with a company on “the creative process”. We did brainstorming and used time boxing (timed exercises) to get out our ideas. One of the main rules was “no nos.” In other words they would start a timer and you had five, fifteen or sometimes a glorious 20 minutes to get out your ideas as a group for the given task. That was it. It pushed everyone just to throw their ideas out there without fear of judging. They just threw them up onto the post it notes and then there would come a round table of logical discussion of what to keep, etc. I did a brainstorming lecture on how random thought and pushing past the normal blockers we put up (the no’s) keep us from getting to the real juicy creative ideas. Nanowrimo is like that for writing ideas. You have to open up everything and just go. It gets you past where you would normally stop because of your no barrier, or your time, or your worry, or your concerns, self-doubt.

So here we are about to go into December and many of us have our first draft. I can slow down now and attend to the other things in life, such as putting up holiday decorations and exercise, prepping my class lectures for January.

I look forward to rewriting this story and submitting it to my publisher as a part of the Darkness series. In that I am so humbled and thankful. You don’t need a publisher though. Self-publish. Get it out there. Do it not for money. DO it because you want at least one person to read your book and smile.

To the authors I have used as inspiration for Alexander, though I can not hold a candle to their writing, I can say that their writing inspired me greatly and helped me shape the world that Alexander lives in. I would not be honest if I didn’t first say Stephen King. I’m a child of the 80s and he and Erma Brombeck are the first authors I read. And then V.C. Andrews (when she was alive and wrote her own books) which might give you the total picture to my personality. I think the thing that sticks with me most about his books is how he can make walking down the stairs the scariest thing ever. (Salem’s Lot) And I call upon the memory of reading that passages a couple of times in the “When Darkness Begins”, I hope you’ll pick up on it.

[image error]The other author that I attribute my fascination with vampires to is Chelsea Quinn Yarboro. My sister-in-law had introduced me to her writing when I was eighteen or nineteen. (Yes, I married very young – you’d have to know me, I was old when I was 10.) I met Yarboro’s St. Germain who was the most intriguing vampire I had ever met. Her books were historical fiction set in multiple periods of time and that was huge to me. St. Germaine had to carry with him coffins of dirt from his home land. That dirt kept him sustained, he drew energy from it. I took that idea completely. It has stayed with me. During the last puking of 10,000 words for this nanowrimo I realized that I had not tried to kill the VECHY and in that I had needed to take one more thing from Yarboro and that is the concept of the True-Death which is to have their head severed from their spine. That’s nothing new now a days with the zombie-a-thons that go on. So I will put that in during the re-write. Thank you dear Chelsea Quinn Yarboro. Sadly, I never kept up with her books. I have never really followed any author at all – just read everything and occasionally something would stick in my head and stay on the shelf. Now, thanks to the internetz, I can go back and start to read the rather large stack of books that she has! Goodness. I wonder what St. Germaine has gotten himself into. Now, St. Germaine is impotent and I think that appealed to me as a teen. I kept Alexander and his kind as being potent and in fact they are populating the earth with VECHY. He is a lover but I don’t dwell into romance. I’m to embarrassed to write that way under an author name people recognize. But he loves, deeply, and that has been a constant theme throughout the books.

Do I think there will be a third book in the series? Perhaps. But I think I would like to go write a thriller. I have some great characters who have been waiting in the wings for a while and it is time to trot them out onto stage. They are a broken bunch, barely a redeeming quality in them. The mayhem and destruction they try to wield. I do think they need to see the light of print. And I’ll try to keep the paranormal down – but I can’t promise that, now can I?

This is the author’s life and I can’t imagine going a day without acknowledging that it is my life.

 

end of rambling post. No one actually read that whole thing, did they?

…tina

Stuff your Kindle for Spring Break! It doesn’t need a beach body.

All books .99 or less!! Stuff that kindle—it doesn’t need a beach body this Spring Break. But you need some good reads. Get your kindle fat here:  http://artofthearcane.com/March-SFF-Bargain-Sale

This week, my sci-fi/fantasy/thriller/with a touch of a paranormal love story (seriously)/ and lots of caving, Absolute Darkness, is listed along with many other books in this SciFi/Fantasy giveaway.  Like me, this book is hard to put into one category and definitely unique. And nerdy. With LOTS of caving and cave-diving.

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Check out artofthearcane.com for other genre give aways. Remember to hug your favorite author with a review on your favorite website: Goodreads, Amazon, Bookbub, Smashwords.

If you are an indie author and want to get your book on the monthly giveaways – look here: https://artofthearcane.com/upcoming-giveaway-signups/

 

What is Absolute Darkness? 

A sci-fi, paranormal, cave-diving, women’s adventure with a twist — or three.

“The way O’Hailey treated time …reminded me of Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein.”  @ReadlingLit  Get your copy today -> https://buff.ly/2Jn27st

Available in paperback, kindle unlimited, and audiobook.

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Being thankful for reviews

[image error]from https://authorleefrench.com/2015/01/12/who-writes-those-book-reviews/

Authors. Be thankful for every review. The good and the bad. Someone took the time to read your work and send a hug in the shape of a review back to you.  Thank them, if you can, as well. That feedback loop is important.

For me, I adore reading new author’s books and leaving reviews. I know the feeling of getting a good review and love to share that. I can’t fit in a whole lot of reading when the academic quarter is in session. I manage a few and wish I could give more time to read/review. I won’t write a scathing review. I realize not every book is my cup of tea and can review the work solely based upon the writing itself and not on my emotional reaction to the characters. Comes from being a professor, I suppose.

Reviews. Once that novel is launched out into the ether, an author tends to haunt Amazon, Goodreads, Smashwords, B&N, and many other websites to see the reviews come in.  We agonize over it. Well some of us do. We calculate how many reviews it takes to push Amazon’s author ranking higher so that maybe our book will get put into Amazon emailing algorithm. This algorithm is a topic shrouded in such mystery and rumor that I’m tempted to get a side-job at Amazon just so I can find out the truth of it. My textbooks make it into that algorithm – but oddly the first editions. Occasionally I’ll see a second edition get emailed out by Amazon. Oddly enough, I never even looked at Rig it Right or Hybrid after they launched. I didn’t even know to look for reviews. I didn’t figure that out until my indie novel was published. That was when I clued in.

I was looking around for writing MEMES earlier and came across this post (which prompted my post)  https://authorleefrench.com/2015/01/12/who-writes-those-book-reviews/   Anything that tries to quantify things into groups helps me and my analytical brain. Certainly, it helps to understand and interpret the reviews you receive. The good, the bad, and the “that was interesting.”

No matter the review – I’m always thankful of someone giving me an Author Hug in the shape of a review. Certainly they help in spreading the word, kicking the ranking up a notch on Amazon and reminding the author that they have been read. There is something in that.

‘An author has to be read, dear.’  from The Wife (paraphrased, surely)

Happy writing.

…tina

Some author humor: You know you are a writer when you…

This had me in absolute tears.

Notes From The Bunker

I write in a lot of different genres, from true crime to sci-fi to military history.  Over the years I have accumulated a lot of experience in being an author.  This list covers a pretty wide variety of those genre’s.  It is intended for my author friends out there to give them a moment of self-indulgence.  As such, I present the following:

You know you are a writer when you…

…carry on conversations in your head (or out loud) with people that are either dead or who never existed.

…hate math but when you look at your Amazon author’s ratings you want to get into full algebra mode to try and figure out your book sales, ratings, etc.

…delete more words than ever appear in print.

…begrudgingly admit when an editor catches something you missed.

…wake up in the middle of the night with a brilliant idea…and in the morning…

View original post 1,421 more words

What do you want to see in “Rig it Right: Props and Non-Characters” ???

[image error]I’m thinking of writing a Rig it Right: Props and Non-Characters book.  I’m wondering what to put in there. What would you like to see?

Examples: wheels, dynamic chains, characters with different clothing (not dynamic), balloon (that character holds), Objects that follow and don’t follow character hand. ?? This would be in Maya, FYI.

Many of these are examples that I have seen in student senior projects or things I’m curious about rigging. I’m thinking this would be a rigging cookbook of sorts that would help students working on a senior projects and for other intermediate Maya users who are ready to tackle non-bi-ped-character rigging. What else should be in there?

Looking forward to hearing your comments. Thanks!

Post comments here or via Twitter, Instagram, FB with hashtag #RigitRightProps at me @tohailey.   Don’t tell my editor. I haven’t pitched this idea to him yet.

Alexander, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, & a SciFi/Fantasy Giveaway!

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Have you ever gone back and re-read an author from your early adult years? Recently, I picked up a book of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s that I had not read before. I have not read more than a handful of her books, actually, though she has profoundly affected my writing. In my early years, I read whatever books of hers that were in my husband’s library. (I did marry him for his SciFi and Fantasy book collection. This was before amazon and kindle. ) That collection contained a few of Yarbro’s St. Germaine chronicles. I fell in love with St. Germaine and her books. Fast forward to—ahem, years later—and I have decided to re-read all of the St. Germaine books in historical order as listed on Yarbro’s website. (http://www.chelseaquinnyarbro.net/saint-germain.html) Now, I see what an absolute effect her St. Germaine has had on my book Absolute Darkness and the character Alexander.

I had taken an idea from her vampire-lore: Alexander has to have dirt from his home land ( a cave ) to maintain his strength. I added in a wrinkle. The vampires (called Vechy in the prequel which will come out later this year or early next year) must synch into a time (Alexander’s time is 10,000 years ago) and need to find a place where the sun has not touched, generally a cave. That becomes the earth they draw strength from.

I hesitate to go any further; I am not comparing my writing to hers. Heavens no.

But I realize how much her books influenced mine. Yarbro’s St. Germaine is afflicted with being a vampire and is a hopeless romantic.  He seeks meaningful relationships throughout the centuries and ultimately ends up meeting, falling in love, and enabling the women he meets.  The concept that he is a vampire is not the focus of the book; it is an obstacle for the characters to deal with.  Likewise Absolute Darkness happens to have a vampire in it but you don’t even know it until half way through. Even at that, the vampire traits are nothing more than an affliction, something like having a gluten allergy and being a red-head: can’t eat at dinner parties and can’t go out into the sun. I had not realized how much I had been impacted until I began re-reading her books.  She’s written a lot. I can’t wait to catch up with everything St. Germaine, especially as I edit the prequel “When Darkness Began”, Alexander’s origin story.

If you are looking for something to read this month, Absolute Darkness is listed along with many other books in this SciFi/Fantasy giveaway. https://goo.gl/grgWgD  Check out artofthearcane.com for other genre give aways. Remember to hug your favorite author with a review on your favorite website: Goodreads, Amazon, Bookbub, Smashwords.

If you are an indie author and want to get your book on the monthly giveaways – look here: https://artofthearcane.com/upcoming-giveaway-signups/

Happy New Year!

-tina