Christina Bauer's Blog, page 77
June 30, 2015
Making of… the Angelbound Cover
Here’s a glimpse at how the Angelbound cover was born… hope you enjoy it!
Step One: Provide Direction to the Artist
The first step with a cover is to provide context and direction to our digital artist. At Ink Monster, we are all about PowerPoint. (Okay, mostly I am all about PowerPoint and everyone goes along to humor me 
) For Angelbound, I created a PPT with directions for the cover and then shared it with Aileen. This part of the process can take a while. As Editorial Monster, Aileen is tough… in a good way! For example, the PPT for Portia took about 10 tries before it ever went to the artist.
With that in mind, here’s the final PPT that was sent for the first Angelbound cover:
Please note: this file contains art that I pulled off the internet (and have no rights to!)
Step Two: Choose Stock Art
In the second step, the artist sends us back some photos that we can purchase the official rights to use commercially. This process is called purchasing Stock Art. In this case, the artist started by sending me ideas for the Myla character. These came from a web site called Deviant Art, which is a great source for unique stock photos. There are larger stock houses out there too, like Getty.
Here were my options for Myla:
In this case, Aileen liked the top half of the last model and the bottom half of the first. So, we asked the artist to ‘Frankenstein’ them together (and yes, we use Frankenstein as a verb all the time!)
We also got a range of swords to choose from that Myla could hold in her hand:
Once we chose a sword and an arena background, we were good to go onto the next step!
Step Three: The Mock-Up
After the stock art was chosen, we get a rough mock-up of the cover. At this stage, there’s no blending, shading, or lighting, just the general placement of the elements. Sometimes, this is where we realize that the PowerPoint just isn’t working. That’s when we have to go back to square one and redo the initial concept.
In the case of the Angelbound cover, it all came together pretty quickly:
From here, we give the artist a bunch of notes, like asking her to:
Smooth out the catsuit
Jazz up the hair
Make the sky Purgatory-gray
Pump up her shoulder muscles
These tweaks go back and forth for awhile until the art is final. Once we give the big a-okay, the file goes off to a graphic designer (that’s a different skill set than a digital artist). The designer adds the text and—VOILA!—we have a final cover!
Step Four: Reveal the Final Cover!
So that’s it… an Ink Monster cover from start to finish!
One last note: the Angelbound cover was my first one and it went pretty smoothly. Since then, every other cover has needed multiple rounds to get to where it needs to be. In other words, there’s typically a stage where Aileen and I are saying… this is the cover where we jump the shark! So far, we’ve always been happy with the final results.
Fingers crossed for the future and thanks for reading!
The post Making of… the Angelbound Cover appeared first on Ink Monster.
June 24, 2015
My Scrapbook… Ink Monster Gets Together!
Pic #1: The Monsters Work It
This image shows a new innovation for us… a magnetic board of moving note cards that we used to draft out our release schedule! We live for this stuff.
We’ll show you our final release schedule very soon!
Pic #2: The Monsters Beat It
We mapped out eight stories using the beat sheet format and erasable markers.
This one is for a new series of mine that’s due out next year. It’s called Beholder.
Pic #3: The Monsters need fun!
After all the plotting comes the movie going. In this one, Lola and I recline as we prepare to watch Inside Out.
Inside Out was a surprise tear jerker!
Pic #4: The Monsters Need Food
In this case, we writers needed fresh donuts from Donut Man at ten o’clock at night.
Mmmmmmm, donuts.
Pic #5. The Monsters Need Even More Fun!
Guess what’s near LA? That’s right, Disney.
Me, Candace, Lola, and California Screamin‘.
Pic #6. The Monsters Just Wanna Have Uber-Geeky Fun
This one isn’t from the offsite, but it’s still awesome so I’m sharing. This is a picture that Aileen and I took when we went to the Harry Potter Studios outside London. Woo hoo!
Two geeks in our natural habitat.
It’s a gift to have such a smart and supportive group of ladies to build a company with I’m really excited by all the awesome things we have planned… and I think our readers will be too!
The post My Scrapbook… Ink Monster Gets Together! appeared first on Ink Monster.
June 16, 2015
Random Visuals I’m Obsessing About
Wonder what I’m obsessing about lately? Great, because I need a blog topic for this week!
Here you go…
I’m really into abandoned factories lately. This one is in England. Oooooh, creepy!
Painting skin like it’s fabric is also somehow haunting.
I can’t stay away from casual cyborg shots. Hey, everyone needs coffee!
Realistic murals are BIG right now with me. There’s a lot more mural painting going on than you’d think.
Shadow art is super interesting. I think this guy is made of gum balls.
And I’m always increasing my collection of kick-ass chicks.
More scrapbooks, yeah!
Lianna
Maxon
Prince Lincoln
More Prince Lincoln featuring kissing
Xavier
Myla
Reperio Demons
The Furor
Ghouls
Igni
Archangels
You can see tons more Angelbound inspirations at my Pinterest Board. Like honestly, I have a problem.
The post Random Visuals I’m Obsessing About appeared first on Ink Monster.
June 10, 2015
Why True Geeks Aren’t Haters
It all starts with my personal definition of geek. In my book, true geekery is loving something so much that you don’t care about the social implications. Now, let’s say that someone is pretending to love what you love. You have but one reaction: talk their ear off.
Case in point. I am a geek about myths and fairy tales. Back in college, I met a hot guy at a bar who was Irish and said his name was Finn. I started talking to him about Finn MacCool, an Irish folk hero. I chatted on and on about the legends and what they mean to the Irish to this day. Do you know this unusual rock formation? No? It was said to be made by Finn. How about the awesome time when Finn met his super-cool wife? Yeah, that was great.
This went on for a while. I was in heaven. A hot guy and he liked myths… Wow!
Then, his friend showed up. I kept talking.
“Hey,” interrupted said friend. “What’s she talking about?”
“I dunno,” says the hottie. “I said she has nice skin and then she just went off.”
BTW, it’s true. I have nice skin.
A picture of Finn MacCool. Because you’re reading my blog so I’m making you learn about him. Get it?
And that, my friends, was a true geek moment. Also truly embarrassing, but that’s besides the point. If you are really a geek who’s into a particular topic, then anyone new who’s showing interest is awesome, period, end of story.
Besides, all your friends and family have gotten sick of listening to you blab about this certain thing, anyway. For the record, you honestly and truly don’t care if the other person is really and genuinely interested in the topic of your obsession, let alone critique the level of said interest. That’s what cool people do because they care more about how things appear than what they are. Not that there’s anything wrong with appearances—and arguably many folks geek about appearance—but the point is, true geeky-ness is a WTF moment. A revel in my stuff moment. A talk to a hot guy about Finn MacCool for twenty minutes moment.
Thus endeth the rant.
P.S. Many years later, I still don’t care that I talked that guy’s ear off. It was the last time I had someone to geek with about Finn MacCool.
The post Why True Geeks Aren’t Haters appeared first on Ink Monster.
June 4, 2015
Book Review: ICE PLANET BARBARIANS
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May 29, 2015
Thoughts on… Being a Chick Who Does Shtick
I picked up a new one recently. Guess what? Turns out, it is supposedly a generally acknowledged fact what women are less funny than men. Ooooooooooo-kay. My “Aha Moment” on this topic happened recently during my day job in marketing. I was in a departmental meeting about natural disasters and our disaster recovery software.
Another Marketeer: There are a lot of natural disasters in Texas. Hurricanes, lightning storms…
Me: The Bush Family.
Everyone: Stares at me in stunned silence.
To my credit, the guy from Germany was smiling.
Yes, there are multiple explanations here for the lack of laughter. Maybe that wasn’t funny (Possible, although like any political dynasty, the Bush family is inherently hilarious.) Or, maybe I’m in a room full of republicans (since I’m in Massachusetts, that’s also not likely.)
So, I started doing some situational research. There are lots of guys in our office, and they do shtick all the time. I started noticing how it’s about MORE than making each other laugh—it also shows off mental muscles. After that, I started noticing how when I join in the verbal fun, folks can get a little uncomfortable and run for the hills.
In the end, I asked a female work buddy if I’m imagining shit. She rolled her eyes, saying that of course it makes them uncomfortable because girls usually aren’t funny, adding “Didn’t you ever notice how many more male comedians there are?” At this point, I almost said, “No, I never notice stuff like that because I spend most of my life looking like I’m listening to crap while I’m actually doing fun stuff in my head like planning out the intricacies of dragon culture.”
At the last second, I figured that final bit of sharing was a potentially career-limiting move, so I begged off for some coffee and waited until after work hours so I could write this blog post instead.
Well, now it’s after-hours and here it is. It appears that everyone knows that Girls Don’t Do Shtick and there’s some circumstantial evidence to support this point. Maybe. But whatever the truth is, this will not change me in any significant way. Mmmmm… Sort of. I must admit that The Little Competitive Shit side of my personality has been enjoying barging in on ‘joking around boy-time’ with a new gleam in my eye.
How I do love it when they run for the hills…
The post Thoughts on… Being a Chick Who Does Shtick appeared first on Ink Monster.
May 20, 2015
Why Shakespeare’s My Bitch
Sonnet 116—made popular in the movie adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility —is a great example of his art in action. I’ll list out my thoughts and then the full sonnet because, hey, it’s my blog and this is what I’ve been obsessing about lately!
SONNET 116
Lets start with the title. This guy wrote 115 of these before he got to 116. That’s a shit-ton of poetry. Shakespeare wasn’t alone in his obsession with words, either. In this time period, writing was king, mostly because there was no TV, movies, video games, publishing and the Internet. As a result, you played around with words. Like, a lot. As a writer, I totally fantasize about that word-centric existence. Well, about visiting it anyway.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Great phrase here: marriage of true minds. Back in Bill’s day, true meant more ‘faithful’ than it does now. And the use of the word marriage is a whopper. This is a religious-laden time period. Think we have issues with marriage? Bloody Mary just got done barbecuing people for having different thoughts on the subject. And here, our boy Bill writes about marriage separate from religion and it’s not even specified to a woman. Go Bill! That’s balls. It also suggests some secularism, which sets him up for the next section.
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
Two things I adore about this passage. First, it’s not the ‘your eyes are like limpid pools’ lovey-dovey bullshit that was often written around this time. Nope, Shakespeare goes right for the echoing of Corinthians. This is one of my favorite bible passages and by echoing it, Bill is showing some more balls. Which side is he on? Catholic Bloody Mary or Anglican Elizabeth? Many scholars suspect the Catholic side. As a writer, what impresses me is that Shakespeare is not only writing a great poem about love, he’s also expertly navigating the politics of the time to keep his head firmly attached to his shoulders by gently courting both sides of the issue. That’s effing brilliant.
Here’s the second power-writer part of this section. It’s a rule that writers aren’t supposed to use the same description words twice within the same sentence, or even side-by-side sentences. Example: “She walks in beauty like a beautiful person” is shitty writing compared to “She walks in beauty like the night.”
Shakespeare kicks that rule on its ass by finding not one, not two, but three double uses of a word within the same fucking sentence and totally makes it work. There’s love > love, alters > alteration, and remover > remove. It’s just so gorgeous, I want to cry. It also makes a subtle point about the common conception of love and its reality. Brilliant.
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
I love the phase “looks on tempests and is never shaken.” Why? Because once you hit the damned tempest, you are totally shaken. You might even get killed. Again, Shakespeare avoids the trite “love conquers all” as an easy way out and really explores his subject matter here. And we’re at line six, people.
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
A bark is a ship, so this is another nice image of love as the North Star. Awwwww. ‘Height be taken’ is about measuring the stars as part of navigation. Another great image and symbol of love.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
I like this part too. Rosy lips and cheeks got a lot of air time in poetry of the era, so Shakespeare is taking aim at the practice of loving beauty over love itself. It’s somehow comforting to know that worshipping appearances was going on back then, too.
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
Can I critique Shakespeare? Yeah, it’s my blog so I can. I feel like he made this point already. If you’re sailing into a tempest, you know all about the edge of doom. This really isn’t adding anything, but just because he’s Shakespeare doesn’t mean I have to adore every word. The first half of the sonnet is my favorite. Jane Austen called it as a classic.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
This is a great ending. It’s Dylan Thomas-eque in referring to Shakespeare’s personal experience of love. Which, if this sonnet is any indication, he sees himself as more of a writer than a lover. Not a shocker, considering he left his wife alone at Stratford on Avon for years at a time. What is a shocker is that he may have had the self-awareness to realize that fact.
And here’s the sonnet in full…
SONNET 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
On a final note, I love how Shakespeare did all this phenomenal writing without having been part of the cultural elite of his time. Guess what? It still irks the cultural elite to this day. There’s no end to the movies, papers and pontifications about how Bill was really some kind of Brit noble going incognito so he can work crazy-hard for a living.
Because, you know, rich nobles do that kind of thing all the time.
IMHO, our friend Bill was just a quill-wielding guy living in the middle of nowhere who had a massive gift-slash-obsession with language. Go you, Bill. Give them hell.
Like how I pontificate about art, culture and other random stuff? Check out these posts:
Which Lord of the Rings is Best?
An Open Letter to My Brain
Thoughts on Lawrence of Arabia
An open letter to the French guy I met in Geneva, Switzerland
I have a thing for William Powell
3 Reasons Why Tolkien Is The Bomb
The Greatest Illustrator of Kick-Ass Chicks, Alan Lee
The post Why Shakespeare’s My Bitch appeared first on Ink Monster.
May 12, 2015
Angelbound #4, MAXON, is now released!
# # #
PRESS RELEASE
Ink Monster LLC Announces New Sequels: Bruja and Maxon
New installments in the Angelbound and Alpha Girl series are now live for order on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and iTunes.
NEWTON, Mass. – May 12, 2015 – Ink Monster LLC, publisher of new adult romance books in genres of sci-fi, fantasy, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance, today announced that two new sequels, Angelbound: Maxon by Christina Bauer and Alpha Girls: Bruja by Aileen Erin, are now available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes.
“We haven’t seen this much excitement since we launched our first books,” says Aileen Latcham, Editorial Monster. “Bruja and Maxon represent new directions for their respective story arcs. In Bruja, we leave Tessa to follow the adventures of Claudia and the witch side of the Alpha Girls world. For Maxon, the series picks up with the next generation of Angelbound characters. Both titles have driven near record numbers in terms of pre-orders and review requests. We’re thrilled with their early reception.”
At Ink Monster, each book series includes a minimum of three titles across a regular schedule of release dates. The next installments of the Angelbound series, with Portia, and the Alpha Girl series, with Alpha Unleashed, are due to release in Fall 2015, and are available for pre-order now. This Fall, Ink Monster will also release Quanta, the second installment of the Shadow Ravens series. More details on Ink Monster’s unique publishing approach may be found in the company’s manifesto. Additional information on Maxon and Bruja is listed below.
To find out more, visit www.InkMonster.net. To sign up for the company’s newsletter, please complete the form here.
About Maxon by Christina Bauer
Prince Maxon may be twenty-two years old now, but he’s still haunted by his boyhood abduction and torture in Hell. To deal with his past, Maxon limits his present-day activities to killing demons and seducing women. No long-term relationships. No combat too dangerous. No problem, right?
Wrong.
Maxon’s life has stalled out. The old thrills aren’t there anymore, either on the battlefield or in the bedroom. While staking out his next fight, Maxon meets what seems like just another girl after a good time. What he gets is a close encounter with Lianna, a lady warrior with ties to the mysterious elemental rulers called the monarkki. It’s love at first fight. Trouble is, Lianna’s running from a dark history of her own, and her elemental enemies are closing in. When Lianna gets taken, Maxon realizes that after years of wrong choices and dead ends, the right woman is worth risking it all.
To order Maxon, visit Amazon, B&N, iBooks or Kobo.
About Bruja by Aileen Erin
Claudia de Santos has always looked out for every witch but herself. She fought from the shadows as her coven turned dark, and with a little help from her half-witch/half-Alpha werewolf cousin, Teresa McCaide, Claudia is doing everything she can to keeper friends and family in the light.
Now the coven has splintered into two factions: Luciana’s army of witches wielding dark magic, and Claudia’s few stragglers who fight with the wolves. War is coming, and it won’t be much of a battle if Claudia can’t find the spells to counteract Luciana’s demonic power. But Luciana strikes before they’re prepared, and Claudia’s twin brother pays the price. Suddenly, going to Peru in search of ancient Incan magic doesn’t seem so crazy.
Fighting evil will require a pure spirit, but her quest is full of temptations, including a handsome Peruvian guide with secrets of his own. Finding love is the last thing on Claudia’s ever-growing to-do list, but sometimes what you need has a way of seeking you out.
To pre-order Bruja, visit Amazon, B&N, iBooks or Kobo.
About Ink Monster
Ink Monster LLC publishes new adult romance books in the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance. The Company follows a studio model with teams of authors developing story-worlds under the umbrella of Ink Monster intellectual property. Ink Monster’s first two books, Angelbound and Becoming Alpha, launch on December 17, 2013. For more information, visit www.InkMonster.net.
###Copyright © 2015 Ink Monster LLC. All Rights Reserved. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
Media Inquiries: PR@inkmonster.net
The post Angelbound #4, MAXON, is now released! appeared first on Ink Monster.
May 7, 2015
My Lianna Scrapbook
We’ll begin with a picture of our title character…
In case you forgot, this is Maxon.
And this is Lianna! She’s part thrax (demon fighter) and part water elemental.
How Maxon and Lianna meet. Love at first fight!
There are four kinds of elementals. This here’s a water elemental.
Earth elemental. Love this pic!
Fire elemental. Yowza!!!
Air elemental. So smokey and badass.
And another look at the front cover!!! Woo hoo!!! You can order here, if you’re so inclined.
More scrapbooks, yeah!
Maxon
Prince Lincoln
More Prince Lincoln featuring kissing
Xavier
Myla
Reperio Demons
The Furor
Ghouls
Igni
Archangels
You can see tons more Angelbound inspirations at my Pinterest Board. Like honestly, I have a problem.
The post My Lianna Scrapbook appeared first on Ink Monster.
May 1, 2015
Going to Book Expo America? I’ll be there, too!
# # #
Ink Monster Co-CEO to Speak at Book Expo America 2015
Co-CEO Christina Bauer to Join Distinguished Panel Led by INscribe Digital
NEWTON, Mass. – May 1, 2015 – Ink Monster LLC, publisher of new adult romance books in genres of sci-fi, fantasy, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance, today announced that Co-CEO Christina Bauer will be presenting at this year’s Book Expo America (BEA). Held in New York City, BEA represents the single largest publishing industry event in North America.
Christina Bauer will be presenting as part of a panel led by eBook distributor INscribe Digital on May 28th at 11AM. The session is entitled Direct Sales Strategies & Tools for Publishers & Authors and will share breakthroughs in direct marketing and publishing, including the inside story of how Ink Monster moved more than a quarter-million ebooks in its first year of business. Additional panelists will include Ron Martinez, founder and CEO of Aerbook, and Nathan Maharaj, Global eBookseller at Kobo.
“I come from a high-tech marketing background,” says Christina Bauer, Co-CEO, Ink Monster, LLC. “In that industry, you not only know who your customer is, but also what they’re doing, thinking and clicking from one moment to the next. It was a natural for us to set up direct marketing as part of Ink Monster, and I certainly believe those strategies have helped contribute to our success. I’m excited to share these insights with the publishing community.”
Ink Monster follows a studio model with teams of authors developing story-worlds under the umbrella of the Company’s intellectual property. Additional details on Ink Monster’s unique publishing approach may be found in this manifesto and at www.InkMonster.net. To sign up for the company’s newsletter, please complete the form here.
About Ink Monster
Ink Monster LLC publishes new adult romance books in the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance. For more information, visit www.InkMonster.net.
About INscribe Digital
Launched in 2010, INscribe Digital has quickly established itself as a leader in the eBook publishing services space. Combining technological expertise in the digital media distribution space, with knowledgeable publishing and bookselling veterans, INscribe is uniquely positioned to serve the needs of authors, agents, and publishers of all sizes in a dynamically changing industry. For more information, visit www.inscribedigital.com.
###Copyright © 2015 Ink Monster LLC. All Rights Reserved. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
Media Inquiries: PR@inkmonster.net
The post Going to Book Expo America? I’ll be there, too! appeared first on Ink Monster.
