Lisa Shea's Blog, page 4

Dagon by H. P. Lovecraft Analysis and Review

I’m reading the works of H. P. Lovecraft in the approximate order in which they were written / published. In my order, the short story Dagon comes fourth, written when Lovecraft was about 30. Story 1 / Alchemist was a teen story about wizards and castles. Story 2 / Johnson was about a young writer’s

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Book Cover Design in 2024

The keys of book cover design change from year to year. What worked really well for a hardcover on a bookstore shelf in 1970 is vastly different than what works best on an Amazon browse screen in 2024. Let’s look at the latest updates. First, as of 2024, 75% of American households have Amazon prime.

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Beyond the Wall of Sleep by HP Lovecraft

I’m reading the works of H. P. Lovecraft in order of publication, which of course is open to interpretation. In my case, it means I am reading Beyond the Wall of Sleep as story number 3, after The Alchemist and A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson. It’s fair to say that Beyond the Wall of

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A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson by HP Lovecraft Review and Analysis

Many people know of HP Lovecraft because of his creepy science fiction / fantasy stories. But every author can take a turn into another genre for fun. In H. P. Lovecaft’s case, one of the earliest works he wrote was in essence making fun of himself and the reputation he’d built as a ‘person who

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Pollution / Pollen Particulate Measuring – Dylos Counts vs ug/M3

I love measuring things. I have devices around the house that measure humidity, temperature, carbon monoxide levels, VOCs, and particulates. With the global rise in pollution and pollen numbers, I’m particularly interested in tracking the particulate counts. I own the Amazon air monitor and was looking at the Dylos DC1100-Pro air quality monitor. I was

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The Alchemist by H. P. Lovecraft Review and Analysis

The short story The Alchemist written by H. P. Lovecraft was written in 1908 when Lovecraft was a teenager and published a few years later. This is often thought to be the first, or at least one of the first, short stories that Lovecraft wrote. My review of The Alchemist contains a LOT of spoilers,

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Mermaid Sketchbook Companion

Amazon’s sub-sub-sub categories are getting out of control. There’s a category just for SciFi and Fantasy Art? Apparently I’m their top new release, with my mermaid book :). On the downside, MOST of the other new releases in this area are massive amounts of AI-generated books featuring big-breasted fantasy porn and scifi porn. The books

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Illustration Options for Authors

Authors are often really good at writing, but less great at photography and illustration. What happens when an author is writing a book which could benefit from artwork? Here are a few options for you. Stock Photography There are ALL sorts of stock photography sites out there. You can get free images, which is cost-effective,

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SmashWords to Draft2Digital Migration

In early 2024, SmashWords decided it wanted to get out of the ebook publishing business. It let all of its authors know that their ebooks would be migrating over to Draft2Digital, to manage their publishing activities there. That migration did not go smoothly. Let me explain what this is all about, what happened, and how

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5 Cent Series of 1898 Documentary Stamp Lilac Battleship

I love stamps. So did my father! My dad, George, was born in 1946. began collecting stamps when he was quite young. He would put ‘like stamps’ into little envelopes and have one representative stamp on the outside of the envelope. He’d often write little notes to himself on the back of the envelope. One

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