C. Gockel's Blog, page 81
January 19, 2015
"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together...
"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools"
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I love this picture because it shows him passively accepting his arrest, and actively holding up his hand requesting his followers stay calm. There are a lot of racial problems in our country, but without Dr. King and visionaries like him, I think the situation would be much worse.
January 18, 2015
Thank You! Monsters: I Bring the Fire Part II just hit 100 reviews on Amazon U.S.
Reviews of I Bring the Fire Part I help readers take a chance on an unknown author. Reviews of Monsters help people take the next step and actually purchase the work of an unknown author. So thank you Dennis Trygg, Dona Rushford, Brianna, jeffrey I., Colleen Dickey, Steve White, Darrick in…
January 17, 2015
Loki with an apple. Sketch for Chaos, Part III of I Bring the...
Loki with an apple. Sketch for Chaos, Part III of I Bring the Fire. I was going to give Loki horns, but it caused all sorts of problems with vertical space. Also, I managed to make him look very Satanic … which he isn’t. So instead, Loki and an apple. The model I took this from wasn’t looking directly at the camera. I may tweak it so he is looking at the reader.
I’m going to try and use existing assets for his armor.
(For those who aren’t familiar with I Bring the Fire, The first installment is FREE on Amazon, iBooks B&N Kobo, GooglePlay and Smashwords. And the whole series is free to subscribers of Oyster and Scribd … and via your local library via Overdrive.)
January 16, 2015
sherlockspeare:
The League of Brothers who consistently worry...
The League of Brothers who consistently worry about their nuisance baby brothers.
- So… Was yours adopted too?
- ….No.
Talking to another author today about Fanfiction
Christine Pope, one of my author buddies, started off in fanfic too. We both admitted we can’t go back to it. It feels so confining after writing an original series. I want to write it, but it feels like putting on a shoe that doesn’t fit.
I’m still ridiculously proud of my fanfiction though. I…
I’m curious. At what point in the process do you engage your beta readers? I will be sending my work to beta readers probably next week, but it’s after I’ve done four full revisions.
I actually engage two betas from the start, that way they catch things as I go along. Then I reread everything and fix anything I see that’s wrong. And then my number one beta rereads everything. I make any changes she catches on the second pass. Then I hand off to four more betas. I haven’t had to do major rewrites at the end of a story (so far). Mostly, it’s just tweaks for clarity.
Ragnarok is massive. My fans say that’s the way they wanted it … I have to admit I’m afraid some people will see the length and be put off.
Talking to another author today about Fanfiction
Christine Pope, one of my author buddies, started off in fanfic too. We both admitted we can’t go back to it. It feels so confining after writing an original series. I want to write it, but it feels like putting on a shoe that doesn’t fit.
I’m still ridiculously proud of my fanfiction though. I think it was Blue that convinced me I could maybe take a serious go at the writing thing. It was very unconventional for the typical Loki / Darcy genre. Loki is blue (almost) the entire time. Darcy is much more grown up by the time they get together. I felt sure that it wouldn’t go over well. It didn’t go over as well as some; and some people told me they were startled by the choices I made. But it still had an audience, and people who loved it. I don’t think I’ll ever be a terribly popular author, but Blue convinced me a well crafted story with heart that doesn’t follow the script can succeed.
I finished Ragnarok, and am now in a holding pattern as my betas pick over it. I’ve started a new story. I think my Spock/Uhura fans may like it. It will explore some issues that the Star Trek universe didn’t allow me to explore with Spock/Uhura … the name is hush-hush for now. I’ll probably look for betas for it soon.
January 14, 2015
January 13, 2015
hedendom:
Specially commissioned artwork depicting Odin by Den...
Specially commissioned artwork depicting Odin by Den Unge Herr Holm
Top: Odin hangs from Yggdrasil
Bottom: Odin with Gungnir, Geri, Freki, Huginn and Muninn.
New Cover for Monsters: I Bring the Fire Part II - but for now...
New Cover for Monsters: I Bring the Fire Part II - but for now I’m keeping the old cover until the whole series is done. While I’m working on those new covers, Monsters is only 99 cents at Amazon, iBooks, B&N, Kobo, Google Play and Smashwords.
READ THE WHOLE SERIES FREE! My ebooks are listed in the Scribd and Oyster subscription services—and also available via your library on Overdrive.
