Robin Kalinich's Blog, page 28

Feasts

Today's featured artist is Lia Porto.


Lia is based in Argentina and works in mixed media and collage. Her work is informed by nature and takes on organic form.






 Find more about this artist at her website.


The Don and I had much to celebrate during the month of February, so we took an overnight trip to Santa Fe on The Rail Runner. On the drive, we passed some incredible graffiti, most of which I failed to capture by photograph. 


While we were there, we visited SITE Santa Fe for the first time. SITE is a center for contemporary art and is currently housing an exhibit called Feast: Radical Hospitality in Modern Art, which came to them from the University of Chicago SMART Museum. We adore art, but neither of us have much patience for pretension, and we weren't quite sure what to expect. We had a wonderful time. Our tour host was very gracious and in the end, we only wished we'd had a little more time to explore the exhibit.


My past experience with Santa Fe has been limited to the Plaza but this time we stuck to the Railyard district, which was terrific. I loved it so much that I briefly considered pitching a tent on the sidewalk and staying indefinitely. It wouldn't have been terribly difficult to carry out this endeavor since there was an REI conveniently placed near the tracks. In the end, I decided I couldn't live without The Don and came home, although he did offer to come visit me periodically.


We stayed at the Hacienda at Hotel Santa Fe and had dinner at the Amaya restaurant.  


I found my new favorite Flying Star Restaurant.


And we made it home safe and sound.

Isabelle Menin.

Isabelle Menin.

Caleo & Dome - both free on Amazon today

Feb 5th
Free Kindle Books.





Every High School has their social outcasts. The band nerds, the math geeks, the chess club, the girl that chews her hair, but at Butler High, even the creepy nose picker in the chess club is more popular than Caleo Anima. No matter what he did, his pale skin, snow white hair, and piercing blue eyes always made him an easy target. He used to think that the only way things could get worse would be if someone found out that he was gay, but that isn't even the tip of the iceberg of problems after a mysterious stranger shows up and changes Caleo’s life forever.

Hidden amongst our society, a secret and magical race of people known as ‘Leeches’, have been engaging in civil war for decades. Both sides are desperately searching for a weapon with unlimited power that will give them the advantage they need to rule their world. This wouldn’t mean anything to Caleo, except for one problem...He is that weapon!

Forget making it through High School. Caleo has bigger problems! As the search for him goes on, the world is quickly crumbling around him. He's now fighting for his life and the life of what little family he has left. With the help of new friends, he has little time to try and master his newly found powers as he tries to figure out who he can trust, who is trying to use him, and who just wants him dead. One wrong step and being the awkward pale outcast will be the least of his worries.Click here to claim your free copy on Amazon today only!


What if you knew the exact date and time the world will end, what would you do?

Sam Tucker was faced with that dilemma when he began getting visions of the Earth's demise. Luckily for him, he was able to save his family and as many people as he could before the tragic event occurred, and he did so with the help of unknown visitors. With Earth now destroyed, Sam, his family, and thousands of other lucky survivors must live the rest of their lives on a faraway planet in a Dome that simulates life on Earth. But Sam's mind can't seem to rest as a few questions arise. Why did the aliens save them? How did they know about Earth's sure fate? And exactly what are they hiding?

Emma Tucker begged for an escape from her boring life but never in a million years did she think it would come at the destruction of Earth. Living on a new planet and finding it difficult to get rid of her rebellious habits, Emma finds herself making friends with a member of the alien race and it soon develops into an unexplainable love; a love that is more dangerous than she could ever imagine. While her father is searching for his own truths, she has no idea that she is stumbling on a truth of her own.

Told from the point of view of both Sam and Emma, author Nova Sparks takes readers on a journey to discover love, fate, faith, truth, and the mystery of the DOME!Click here to claim your Free copy on Amazon today only!
Event Organized by

Disciple: A Guest Post by L. Blankenship

I'm excited to have a guest blogger today. L. Blankenship is the author of Disciple Half-Omnibus, which collects the first three parts of Disciple into one meaty book. If you haven't read Part I yet, you can try it for free. 

And don't forget to scroll way down at the bottom of this post to enter for a chance to win a free copy of her forthcoming book! And now on to the guest blog...

FREE at Amazon • Smashwords • AllRomance
DISCIPLE, PART IV arrives on March 1st! Get a reminder by joining L's mailing list
I've been self-publishing for over a year now. A year and three months, to be more exact. I'm still waiting for the Fun Police to kick in my door and stop me.
Because while self-pubbing has been stressful and frightening and at times soul-crushing, it still feels like I'm getting away with something I shouldn't be able to. I'm part of a group of writers who say a manuscript should be submitted around "until hell won't have it!" so at first I joked that by self-pubbing I was catapulting my story straight over hell's walls and they had no option about having it... bypassing publishing's infamous gatekeepers and all.
The joke wore off as it became obvious that my manuscript was probably sitting on a sidewalk inside hell's walls, being stepped over and ignored.
Nobody came to stop me, though.
So I loaded up my second manuscript and fired that over the walls too. Then the third one. Each time, I went through the same ritual of betas, revision, and hiring a freelance editor. I plotted long-range character arcs and pondered the changes in narrative voice. I hired cover artists and squeed over what they sent me.
I was sure that would alert the Fun Police, but they still didn't serve me a cease and desist order.
Self-publishing is not a bed of roses unless you mean a bed of rosebushes rather than one of flower petals. I came into this with 15 years' experience as a graphic designer, prepress technician, proofreader, and a small-press publisher in the tabletop gaming industry -- and I still have my share of thorn scratches.
Each of those is from the silence that follows a promotional post. An offer of free review copies that went unanswered. A Sunday that I went around to my sales sites to collect the "weekly eggs" as I call those strings of zeros.
This is why writers need thick skins. The bed of thorns.
I do catch the scent of roses, though. I still squee when my artist sends me sketches for my next book cover. When someone posts that they liked my sample, it's a welcome ray of sunshine. Every time I go looking for zeros and find numbers instead, it plasters a smile on my face.

I'm going to keep doing this until the Fun Police kick in my door and haul me away.
Click here to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway!

Shrimp kisses and other bits of delightfulness

I'd like to introduce you to Erika Skublickaite. She's the creator of Scuba Drawings, which is now two years old. If you aren't familiar with her work, take a moment to drop by and enjoy her unique and whimsical approach and tell her congrats while you're at it. It has been an honor to have her as a Featured Artist at Ink & Alchemy for quite some time now and I've enjoyed seeing her business grow.






January is gone and I've managed to squelch my perfectionism and keep my creative momentum going into the new month. This in itself is a small victory. I'm still working my way through Lifebook 2014 and will be all year so you'll be seeing bits and pieces from that course. Here are a few images from this past week's assignment:


This month has been dubbed The Month of Amore in our house. February marks our wedding anniversary (the big three this year), our first date, and Valentine's Day. The Don gets most of the credit; he came up with the idea and is an expert at coming up with small surprises and treats on a regular basis, but this year I've got a few tricks up my sleeve as well. One of them is called The Boozy Brunch of Amore and will take place next Sunday morning. I got the idea from this book. I'm pretty excited!
Last night we dined on Shrimp Kisses with feta cheese, two different types of peppers stuffed with cheese, and baby pockets of brie with blueberries, which was adapted from the linked recipe. We used blueberries instead of cherries. The meal was topped off with Mary Pickford cocktails  made with fresh pineapple juice. 





You can see that I have my work cut out for me this month to keep up with my husband. Luckily, I don't think he actually expects me to keep up with him. He's pretty terrific.

I got started by making this rustic pear tart for dessert this evening.


Have you noticed that we tend to express our affection through food?  I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. My life has been so much more delicious since I found The Don. 
In preparation to beginning a new project in the studio, I got out a nice, fresh sheet of paper. Guess what happened next?

Yep. Groucho decided to roll around on it. I'm wondering if I should start adding "cat hair" when I list the media used for my artwork. I'm wishing you a wonderful and creative week!

The Year of Creativity

I have dubbed 2014 the year of creativity. I'm taking a self-imposed hiatus from expectations and obligations with regard to all of my creative endeavors. I've been struggling for quite some time with an overloaded schedule. Combine that pesky little beast with overblown expectations and you have a recipe for anti-creativity. 
Lesson, Week 1
I need a little time to think.
The Don gave me an absolutely lovely birthday present. Lifebook 2014 is a year-long art course, but really it's so much more than just a course. Each week you are taken through a different lesson. There are loads of instructors and a variety of approaches, materials, and groups which provide encouragement & feedback. 
Warm-up, Week 1
We're only four weeks in, but I'm already seeing such a wonderful impact on MY art. I've learned new techniques that I wouldn't have tried myself and expanded my ideas in so many ways. And while the lessons are fabulous, I find that I immediately want to hop over to my current work-in-progress and apply my new knowledge. 
Lesson, Week 4
I'm having a blast and my studio is a wreck. Woo hoo!

Because of Lifebook, I'm currently having a love affair with watercolor pencils and crayons. Especially the crayons. They are creamy. They blend and layer so beautifully.

At the end of the year, you can bind all the projects together in a book which will serve as a roadmap and reminder of methods, materials, and techniques.
Here's my current WIP. She's on a 24x24" cradled board, and has lots of delicious texture. Her hair was just waaaaay too purple, so I've gessoed over to mute it. Always a surprise! Those stars were applied with thick gesso and are raised from the surface of the painting. Can't wait to see them after I've painted more.

But enough about my art. Today's featured artist at Ink & Alchemy is Jane Davies. I can't get enough of her work, especially the encaustic. Here are a few pieces to whet your appetite. Pop over to her website for more of her incredible art.

As a reminder, with the new year, I have morphed More Ink into a sort of catch-all for creative wonderfulness. Feel free to stop by and share your work with us or post useful and inspiring links. We're all in this together so let's help spread the beauty of lit and art far and wide.

I've also instituted a new way of featuring artists and writers. Each month on the pages which list featured writers or artists, a number of people will be featured for the entire month. If you're chosen, you'll receive notification so you can brag about it all you like. :)

The artist features began in January and will change in a few days when the month changes. The writer features will begin for the first time on the first of February.
Have a great week, everyone! I feel creativity bubbling up and I must sign-off to answer that very important call.

Falling for Her Soldier, Ophelia London

Ophelia London has been kind enough to write a guest blog for today. She was born and raised among the redwood trees in beautiful northern California. Once she was fully educated, she decided to settle in Florida, but her car broke down in Texas and she's lived in Dallas ever since. A cupcake and treadmill aficionado (obviously those things are connected), she spends her time watching arthouse movies and impossibly trashy TV, while living vicariously through the characters in the books she writes.
Ophelia is the author of DEFINITELY, MAYBE IN LOVE, ABBY ROAD, and the Perfect Kisses series including: PLAYING AT LOVE, SPEAKING OF LOVE, and FALLING FOR HER SOLDIER (Jan 2014). 
********
Hi there! Ophelia, here. I’m so happy to hop on your blog and give a little behind the scenes peek into the creation of Falling for her Solder, the third (and final—sob!) novel in my Perfect Kisses series.
When I decided to write another smexy category romance, I knew I wanted music to play a huge part in the story, almost like it was its own character. Since I’d already written a book about a rock star chick (Abby Road) and a high school show choir teacher (Playing at Love - book one in Perfect Kisses), I knew I needed to come up with something just as musically fun.
And what’s more fun than putting hot people in embarrassing/sexy situations? So I decided to take my sexy hero, Charlie—who is a staff sergeant in the Army—and make him learn how to ballroom dance. Fun, right? Of course, the ONLY reason Charlie agrees to dance is because he’s in love with a girl…Ellie. 

Anyway, back to the music…
Thanks to my father, I’m a huge Frank Sinatra fan. But Sinatra’s not very relevant with today’s romance readers. That’s when I settled on the smooth, croony sounds of Michael Bublé to be the backdrop of the dancing scenes in Falling for her Soldier. However, since Charlie is having a hell of a time getting his macho marching feet to move properly, he often gets frustrated and annoyed with Bublé voice and kind of blames him every time he missteps. A muttered “Bublé” becomes Charlie’s favorite curse word.
As I was writing all those frustrating/romantic dance lesson scenes, the “method writer” in me also began to get irritated whenever a Michael Bublé song would come up on the playlist. “Grr, I hate that Bublé,” I would often mutter as I skipped ahead to the next track. Not that I have anything personal against Michael Bublé. In fact, I pretty much love him and his dreamy blue eyes. (Swoon!)
In the final, big dancing scene, Charlie and Ellie don’t dance to Bublé, but to another dreamy crooner, although I won’t give it away here…  You’ll be happy to know, however, that Charlie does end up with a soft spot in his heart for Bublé, knowing that whenever a Bublé song plays, that means he gets to dance with Ellie…which is always worth it. 

On a personal note, I was at a wedding reception and my not-yet-but-soon-to-be-boyfriend asked me to dance to John Denver’s “Annie’s Song.” It was probably the most romantic dance floor moment in my life. Do you have a favorite song you like to dance to? Tell me!


Visit me at my website, but don't call when The Vampire Diaries is on. I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter,  Goodreads, and Pinterest.

Be a Maker

A guest blog written by Jonathan Kahn

Before we get started, I have a riddle for you. What is both hand-made and fabricated by a machine? Read on for the answer.

Did the holidays run roughshod over you… again? Do your Christmas memories consist of old specials on TV, bad traffic, and all-out panic? Year upon year, do you vow to start your Christmas shopping in August, only to find yourself staring at end-caps of pre-wrapped $9.99 gifts at 11:30 on Christmas Eve? Don't be afraid to admit it; there will be no judgment here. In fact, this was me only a few years ago.

I have mixed feelings about the commercial nature of Christmas. I like the way malls, stores and even cities decorate for Christmas, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't if not for the commercial appeal. But I very strongly dislike the way everyone is urged to buy gifts. The operative word in the last sentence is buy. I do like giving gifts, and I would love it if the gifts people gave each other showed thought and effort.

Ideally, gifts that are made do this quite nicely. We all know someone who is skilled at carpentry or pottery – making tangible things with their hands. If you’re not one of those people, you’re in the right place – I’m not one, either. But I am good at other things. A few years ago I recorded a couple of classical piano pieces, put them up on Facebook, and burned a few CDs. That was my gift to family and friends. It may sound cheesy, but it was something I made with my own hands.

This year, I published a collection of short stories. Yes, self-publishing is frowned upon in some elite circles. But like my classical piano recording, my little book is something that I made. It may not be a custom-built spice rack for the foodie in my life, but it's not another $9.99 set of monogrammed handkerchiefs given in haste to someone who never wears a suit, either.

Technology gets blamed a lot for making humans more isolated, but it’s really just an enabler (for good and bad behaviors). Technology enabled my two projects, by making them economically feasible for a guy who normally wouldn’t be able to afford them. Recording software meant I didn't have to buy expensive studio and mastering time. On-demand publishing and e-publishing meant I didn't have to commit to printing a thousand copies of my book.

So now that we're just past Christmas, turn that annual get-started-by-August vow into a plan for making your gifts next year. Stick by Robin's blog, and you'll surely get a few cool ideas. Oh, and in case you're interested, my book is called Vanity Plate Tales. It's available here.

Do you make your own gifts? What do you make? If you don't, what kinds of gifts would you like to make for your loved ones in 2014? Let us know in the comments.
Start now. You've got plenty of time until Christmas. :)
The artwork in this post is courtesy of Marcus McAllister. Visit him by clicking here or on any of the pieces above. You can find Jonathan Kahn on Facebook.

Happy 2014!

2014 is going to be our year to shine!

As we prepare to start a new year, I thought a crash course in my inky efforts might be useful. As I'm sure you know, one of the primary goals of Ink & Alchemy and More Ink is provide a place for writers and artists to network and show off their stuff. Another of my goals is to teach by example. I work diligently on my platform and hope that by doing so, each of you will pick up some useful ideas for strengthening your own platform.

As I reflect on 2013 and consider how to improve I&A and MI in 2014, one fact keeps swimming to the surface. We haven't used this platform as effectively and consistently as we could have. Much of this is my fault and I have an incredible number of ideas floating around in my brain aimed at improving in the future.


I don't mean to point fingers here, but some of this is also your fault.

There are many ways that you can take advantage of the free marketing I'm offering, but many people don't. This surprises me. People are downright desperate to get their work out there, and I don't blame them a bit. So am I. The market is tough and it's hard to make yourself heard above the roar of the crowd.

This blog post is a friendly reminder of myriad of ways that you can take advantage of the promotional opportunities that I offer in the upcoming year. Let's work together so that we're more successful than ever before.
My website has lots of free resources, including lists of recommended sites and a reading list, links to help you promote your ebook during your free KDP days, and a PDF describing the basics of building your social media platform.I offer Featured Artist and Featured Writer programs. Submit your work. There is no cost to you and the bottom line is increased exposure for your work. Use these enthusiastically. When I feature you, you should re-post that link far and wide and comment when you can. Leverage every single bit of exposure for all it's worth.A tip about features: I do my best to give everyone a fair shake, but the bottom line is that if you regularly frequent the page, interact with others, or share my links, you'll likely get featured more often. Reciprocity. It's just the way it works.If you have an upcoming event (book release or signing, exhibition opening, etc.), send me the info. I'll do my best to post it throughout my platform. You can increase your odds of being promoted by sending me a well-formatted blurb complete with links and an image. Copy, paste! How much easier can it get?Along the same lines at the previous bullet - I offer guest blogging or features on a regular basis but people seldom participate. This is a win-win. Fresh content for me that I didn't work very hard to get and content for you that you can smear all over cyberspace. You can wax poetic about how incredible you are and blame it on me if you like! Just send me a piece that is publication-worthy (with links and images). Please, please, I beg you - do not send me poorly spelled and punctuated ramblings. Because I'm basically a nice person, I spent way too much time correcting and editing this kind of thing in 2013. New year, new rules. In 2014, I will do light editing, but I don't have the time to re-write submissions.Sometimes people apply to be featured and then shoot themselves in the foot. You really need to have a website or at least a FB or blog page that is regularly updated. I can't promote what doesn't exist. If you're still starting out and building your platform, consider submitting a guest blog. See previous bullet.I'll admit that I like to control the content at Ink & Alchemy. It's kind of my baby and I'm a little protective of it. Every once in a while, I open it up for link sharing (like today RIGHT NOW), but for the most part, I curate this page. More Ink is another story. You may feel free to post useful links, events, and anything else you think will energize us to greater creativity! Think of More Ink as our page, yours and mine. If you're a part of Ink & Alchemy, you should probably also frequent More Ink. It's a less formal, more open forum and I'd love to have you!My platform reaches far and wide and isn't just limited to the FB pages. Try to branch out in the upcoming year and use a new medium. How about Vimeo, Behance, or Tumblr?
If I were going to summarize what I think successful promotion looks like, I'd say this:

Consistency Content Reciprocity Cross-linking
What do I mean by cross-linking? Imagine that networking is...well, a gigantic net. Every single interaction that you have in cyberspace is tiny potential thread in the larger mesh. You can't build a strong, reliable network by rushing or using a shortcut. It's not quick because you have to earn the trust of your followers. Every little thread should be carefully placed and secured. How can you do this? The best approach is to consistently post quality content. Regularly interact with others. Be patient. Be genuine. Your network will build itself slowly. I've talked about this in many other places (like here, here, and here), so I'll spare you the details.

I encourage you to take your platform seriously. Take action in 2014. Come up with a plan and hold yourself accountable. I recently started a new series designed to help you become a (social media) badass. My plan is to post practical, useful actions throughout the year that you can take to learn how to better manage your platform. Try it and let me know how it works.


Join my mailing list or check out the archives. You'll find lots of links and information to help you with promotion. 

This art knocks your eyeballs around a bit, doesn't it? I adore the work of Jaeyeol Han. He's a Korean artist who works primarily in oil bar on canvas and is part of the I&A Featured Artist Program. 

Pay him a visit at his website by clicking here or on any of the images in this post. 

Need a creative kick in the ass? Pop over for a quick art or lit fix.


P.S. Wanna hear something fabulous? Sheila Cameron has made my day. She is one of my favorite artists (not to mention just a terrific and kind-hearted person) and has created a very special discount today in celebration of Ink & Alchemy.  I am beyond honored.

Go to her Etsy store and enter coupon code: INKANDALCHEMY for 20% off. But you’d better hurry, because I’m heading over now and I can’t guarantee that I’ll leave anything for you.