Kay Iscah's Blog, page 10
July 13, 2013
Horse Feathers Chapter 16 and the Hathgar and Horace Random Illustration Challenge!
LJ was down yesterday, so while I posted the new chapter on time, I wasn't able to let everyone know about it. But Horse Feathers Chapter 16 is up!
In other news, purely for the fun of it, I've opened a "Hathgar and Horace Random Illustration Challenge!" on Deviant Art. It's kind of like Whose Line Is It Anyway? everything is made up and the points don't matter deal.
Lastly, I'm putting this behind a cut, because some people prefer not reading too much behind the scenes information. But I thought I should explain how some of the thieves' names came to be.
Jonhan has always been Jonhan. I really couldn't tell you where his name came from other than it popping out of Phillip's mouth very early on in the first draft of Seventh Night.
Fierson is a merging of "Fierce" and "Son" Fierce's Son = Fierson ...if you read it as "fear" or "fire", no harm, those could work too.
Tor came from me attempting to find a synonym for "rat" and discovering the word "Potoroo". Potoroo was too long for my tastes. Roo seemed too Australian and didn't fit my naming patterns. I tried "Poto" but discovered it had a dirty meaning in some other languages. That left "Tor", which seemed like a good name and is also one of my favorite publishing companies.
I needed more names, so I thought it would be fun to make use of other publishing companies. "Baen" is another one I like, it fit well with my naming patterns. I've pondered using some other publishers, but I wanted it to be a quiet nod rather than a distraction.
And then the chapter was done, and I started thinking, hrm...I hope people don't read too much into the "Thieves" bit. It wasn't done to say anything negative about those companies but because I like them as fantasy/speculative fiction publishers.
Maybe no one will notice, but if you do, that's the real story behind the naming choices.
In other news, purely for the fun of it, I've opened a "Hathgar and Horace Random Illustration Challenge!" on Deviant Art. It's kind of like Whose Line Is It Anyway? everything is made up and the points don't matter deal.
Lastly, I'm putting this behind a cut, because some people prefer not reading too much behind the scenes information. But I thought I should explain how some of the thieves' names came to be.
Jonhan has always been Jonhan. I really couldn't tell you where his name came from other than it popping out of Phillip's mouth very early on in the first draft of Seventh Night.
Fierson is a merging of "Fierce" and "Son" Fierce's Son = Fierson ...if you read it as "fear" or "fire", no harm, those could work too.
Tor came from me attempting to find a synonym for "rat" and discovering the word "Potoroo". Potoroo was too long for my tastes. Roo seemed too Australian and didn't fit my naming patterns. I tried "Poto" but discovered it had a dirty meaning in some other languages. That left "Tor", which seemed like a good name and is also one of my favorite publishing companies.
I needed more names, so I thought it would be fun to make use of other publishing companies. "Baen" is another one I like, it fit well with my naming patterns. I've pondered using some other publishers, but I wanted it to be a quiet nod rather than a distraction.
And then the chapter was done, and I started thinking, hrm...I hope people don't read too much into the "Thieves" bit. It wasn't done to say anything negative about those companies but because I like them as fantasy/speculative fiction publishers.
Maybe no one will notice, but if you do, that's the real story behind the naming choices.
July 10, 2013
On Writing...
My computer is being awful and glitchy. I updated the BIOS today, which may have helped but did not fix everything. Among other things my tablet has stopped working, and I can't open PDF Files. So the next step is to re-install Windows. This mean I needed to back up all my files (which is a good idea anyway). During this process I realize I had over 25 GB of my sister's videos sitting on my computer. Getting them off would be helpful.
Conveniently her birthday is coming up. As a present I decided to present her with a memory card loaded with her videos. I hop in the car to run some errands (bank, memory card, post office) and finish out the evening writing at Starbucks. After the bank, I head to Office Max to check out memory card options. My glasses have been a little...off lately. At first I thought it might be my eye and a combination of too little sleep, but in the car I start thinking it might be my glasses. So very gently (at a red light) I try bending them back into place, and pop, out comes the lens...
I'm rather near-sighted. I'm required to wear glasses to drive. I can see well enough to see the roads and cars coming my way, but I can't read any signs. I put the lens back as best I could, but the screw that holds the frame together on that side is missing. Pinching my glasses together with one hand and steering with the other, I make it a few yards before getting annoyed and taking the glasses off all together. No one dies. I pull into the parking lot, stop, do a little myopic browsing...(I think my backpack makes sales people nervous, more so with the squinting)...find the 32GB memory stick at 1/2 off which made it perfectly priced for my needs.
The whole time the sky had been flashing with ominous lightning and the promise of rain. When I get to the sales counter, the sky starts falling. The system goes down or clogs up or something, and it takes the cashier about fifteen minutes to ring up my single item. I had pondered driving to the place where I got my glasses, but the clock just turned to 6:00pm which may be their closing time. With the rain pounding down, I consider going home; I have some spare glasses there. But if I go home, I know I probably won't get any writing done, too many distractions.
I decide to leave the post office for tomorrow and attempt Starbucks. On the drive there, I switch back and forth from glasses off (I can see well enough not to hit anything) to (egads what if I hit something, and I'm not wearing my glasses) squinting one eyed and staring through my new (how will this effect my depth perception?) monocle.
At Starbucks, the rain starts falling even harder, and I sit in the car for a minute to see if it'll slack off and wonder if I'll be able to get any work done. While I have no trouble reading books without them, I've been in the habit of wearing my glasses while working on the computer. But I really need to get a chapter done. The rain isn't letting up, so I leave my monocle in the car and slosh through the blurry, wet parking lot to hurry inside, briefing musing over how many people are sitting calmly and chatting on the porch in the middle of a thunderstorm.
All is not lost, if I bring my nose within 8 inches of the screen, I can indeed read the text. So I sit there hunched over for four hours occasionally rolling my neck and stretching to fight the cramp developing in my neck and shoulders while abusing my free green tea refills.
But, I got a chapter done, and Phillip stopped fighting me. So it is a good day.
Conveniently her birthday is coming up. As a present I decided to present her with a memory card loaded with her videos. I hop in the car to run some errands (bank, memory card, post office) and finish out the evening writing at Starbucks. After the bank, I head to Office Max to check out memory card options. My glasses have been a little...off lately. At first I thought it might be my eye and a combination of too little sleep, but in the car I start thinking it might be my glasses. So very gently (at a red light) I try bending them back into place, and pop, out comes the lens...
I'm rather near-sighted. I'm required to wear glasses to drive. I can see well enough to see the roads and cars coming my way, but I can't read any signs. I put the lens back as best I could, but the screw that holds the frame together on that side is missing. Pinching my glasses together with one hand and steering with the other, I make it a few yards before getting annoyed and taking the glasses off all together. No one dies. I pull into the parking lot, stop, do a little myopic browsing...(I think my backpack makes sales people nervous, more so with the squinting)...find the 32GB memory stick at 1/2 off which made it perfectly priced for my needs.
The whole time the sky had been flashing with ominous lightning and the promise of rain. When I get to the sales counter, the sky starts falling. The system goes down or clogs up or something, and it takes the cashier about fifteen minutes to ring up my single item. I had pondered driving to the place where I got my glasses, but the clock just turned to 6:00pm which may be their closing time. With the rain pounding down, I consider going home; I have some spare glasses there. But if I go home, I know I probably won't get any writing done, too many distractions.
I decide to leave the post office for tomorrow and attempt Starbucks. On the drive there, I switch back and forth from glasses off (I can see well enough not to hit anything) to (egads what if I hit something, and I'm not wearing my glasses) squinting one eyed and staring through my new (how will this effect my depth perception?) monocle.
At Starbucks, the rain starts falling even harder, and I sit in the car for a minute to see if it'll slack off and wonder if I'll be able to get any work done. While I have no trouble reading books without them, I've been in the habit of wearing my glasses while working on the computer. But I really need to get a chapter done. The rain isn't letting up, so I leave my monocle in the car and slosh through the blurry, wet parking lot to hurry inside, briefing musing over how many people are sitting calmly and chatting on the porch in the middle of a thunderstorm.
All is not lost, if I bring my nose within 8 inches of the screen, I can indeed read the text. So I sit there hunched over for four hours occasionally rolling my neck and stretching to fight the cramp developing in my neck and shoulders while abusing my free green tea refills.
But, I got a chapter done, and Phillip stopped fighting me. So it is a good day.
July 9, 2013
New Review! Grimm meets Shelley?
The Girl With No Name got a
My favorite part: "This was like reading one of Grimm’s fairy tales combined with Shelley’s Frankenstein."
Why yes, writers do squee. The Grimm thing was rather deliberate but getting compared to Shelley was wonderfully unexpected. This is good literary company to keep.
Sandra didn't love my decision not to name a majority of the characters instead, using identifiers like the butcher, the bookseller, etc. And I can understand that. It's a fairytale thing, and I enjoyed playing it up for this first little kick-off. The rest of the series follows more traditional naming patterns though.
My favorite part: "This was like reading one of Grimm’s fairy tales combined with Shelley’s Frankenstein."
Why yes, writers do squee. The Grimm thing was rather deliberate but getting compared to Shelley was wonderfully unexpected. This is good literary company to keep.
Sandra didn't love my decision not to name a majority of the characters instead, using identifiers like the butcher, the bookseller, etc. And I can understand that. It's a fairytale thing, and I enjoyed playing it up for this first little kick-off. The rest of the series follows more traditional naming patterns though.
July 5, 2013
Horse Feathers Chapter 15 is up!
I spent today updating my bookkeeping and celebrating my brother's birthday. Almost forgot to update the chapter. But Chapter 15 is up now. Kind of a dark note. Phillip fought me through this one, but I think it needs to be there.
July 2, 2013
Employer Mandate Delayed For One Year
Article: Obamacare Employer Mandate Delayed For One Year
Most significant snippet: "Employers who don't provide health insurance will be spared penalties of up to $3,000 per worker until 2015"
Keeping commentary to a minimum, this is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it is something you may need to be aware of if the company you are working for or are thinking of working for isn't currently offering health insurance.
Most significant snippet: "Employers who don't provide health insurance will be spared penalties of up to $3,000 per worker until 2015"
Keeping commentary to a minimum, this is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it is something you may need to be aware of if the company you are working for or are thinking of working for isn't currently offering health insurance.
Pen and Ink
Some of my best drawings have come from abandoning the safety net of erasable pencil and go straight to pen and ink. This isn't my best drawing, but I think it's okay. Most of the rest I drew for the Prologue reading video will need to be touched up in photoshop, but this one gets the idea across well enough. I'm tempted to color these pictures, but that would add several hours if not additional days to the project. And I'd really like to finish it up this week.
Nothing else all that exciting to report. Except maybe that Ashley has started doing page layouts for the new Orange and Blue Cream comics...actually that it is pretty exciting. I love OBC. I'm hoping she'll let me do that flats for the new comic. :crosses fingers:
June 28, 2013
Horse Feathers Chapter 14 and the Last Free Download Day!
It's the Last Day to snag The Girl With No Name on Kindle for Free.
Horse Feathers Chapter 14 is now up on Fictionpress. I'm using camp Nano in July to try to finish the story, so I can get ahead and buy a little time for other projects.
Book trailers seem to be the thing now, but I like putting a different spin on it. So I'm planning to do a video where I read the prologue of "The Girl With No Name" with a few related illustrations. Here's the most finished look one.
I think that'll be the last of my promotions efforts with this title...at least until the KDP select period is over, and it's ready to come out in other formats.
Horse Feathers Chapter 14 is now up on Fictionpress. I'm using camp Nano in July to try to finish the story, so I can get ahead and buy a little time for other projects.
Book trailers seem to be the thing now, but I like putting a different spin on it. So I'm planning to do a video where I read the prologue of "The Girl With No Name" with a few related illustrations. Here's the most finished look one.
I think that'll be the last of my promotions efforts with this title...at least until the KDP select period is over, and it's ready to come out in other formats.
June 25, 2013
The Dark Crystal
The Jim Henson company has opened submissions for a novel based on The Dark Crystal. If I can finish writing Horse Feathers in July, I think I'll give it a shot.
And I think I've found my end point for the third Before the Fairytale Story. That helps immensely. Still need to work out the fine shape of the plot but having an end point is significant.
The Girl With No Name got a Bookspotlight over at The Book Bag. :)
And I think I've found my end point for the third Before the Fairytale Story. That helps immensely. Still need to work out the fine shape of the plot but having an end point is significant.
The Girl With No Name got a Bookspotlight over at The Book Bag. :)
June 24, 2013
Affordable Health Care
The Social Security Administration just sent this to my in-box. (I'm on a bunch of mailing lists...)
Need health insurance or know someone who does? Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more Americans now qualify to get coverage that fits their needs and budgets. Visit the Health Insurance Marketplace at www.HealthCare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596 to get more information. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you may call 1-855-889-4325.
It's public / government info, otherwise I wouldn't include phone numbers. I followed the link and saw:
Open enrollment begins October 1, 2013.
So it looks like you can't actually sign up for anything yet. However you may be able to follow the questionnaire and get some information.
Here's to hoping.
Need health insurance or know someone who does? Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more Americans now qualify to get coverage that fits their needs and budgets. Visit the Health Insurance Marketplace at www.HealthCare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596 to get more information. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you may call 1-855-889-4325.
It's public / government info, otherwise I wouldn't include phone numbers. I followed the link and saw:
Open enrollment begins October 1, 2013.
So it looks like you can't actually sign up for anything yet. However you may be able to follow the questionnaire and get some information.
Here's to hoping.
June 21, 2013
Horse Feathers Chapter 13 and another free download day
Chapter 13 of Horse Feathers is now up. Phillip's in trouble again...
And it's another free download day for "The Girl With No Name". I had some leftover cards advertising the free download days from Hypericon, so I scattered them about town this morning (strategic coffee house placement). The cards were only good for this month, so might as well.
Since Pretty Little Liars has a new season going now, I took some time to apply that design to some new items like this wine tote.
Trying to resist the impulse to hibernate now that temps are touching 90. Summer and I do not get along.
And it's another free download day for "The Girl With No Name". I had some leftover cards advertising the free download days from Hypericon, so I scattered them about town this morning (strategic coffee house placement). The cards were only good for this month, so might as well.
Since Pretty Little Liars has a new season going now, I took some time to apply that design to some new items like this wine tote.
Trying to resist the impulse to hibernate now that temps are touching 90. Summer and I do not get along.
