Loni Townsend's Blog, page 30

Featured Photo Friday

This last Monday, I participated in a photo shoot for a local writing collaboration. We faced the heat and made our way to the Old Penitentiary.

I decided to play with HDR for this featured photo, which seems to add a funky glow.

But then, my photography skills don’t quite measure up to the professionals.

Our group is called The Seven. We’ve got a plan for 3 books a year for the next 3 years, plus one coming out in December, for a total of 10 books. They’ll be supernatural/paranormal, probably on the creepy end of things.

Check out these author photos for the group. I’m the one dressed in black.

http://arrowrockphotography.net/seven

I think this one is my favorite. What do you guys think?

http://arrowrockphotography.net/seven/h4b0fe63#h4b0fe63

Have you collaborated on a writing project? Do like the HDR effect? Is it hot where you live?

The post Featured Photo Friday appeared first on Squirrel Talk.

30 Chapter Title Ideas

I waited until this morning to write my blog post. Then I found our wireless router had died, and my laptop didn’t have a connection. *sigh* That’ll teach me for procrastinating.

My friends came up with a fun little writing challenge last night. Open your entire music library, hit shuffle, and then play on random. The first 30 songs will be your chapter titles.

Here’s my list:

1. Dum Diddy – Black Eyed Peas

2. This Is How A Heart Breaks – Rob Thomas

3. Violence – Blink 182

4. Don’t Wait – Dashboard Confessional

5. Invisible – Modest Mouse

6. Sexy And I Know It – LMFAO

7. Missed The Boat – Modest Mouse

8. It’s My Life – Bon Jovi

9. Oh Love – Green Day

10. Payphone (Solo Version) – Maroon 5

11. Race Car Ya-Yas – Cake

12. Wheels – Cake

13. I Will Survive – Cake (at this point, I think my software is biased)

14. Two Princes – Spin Doctors

15. I’ve Been Around – The Mowgli’s

16. Hair – Lady GaGa

17. Kick Some Ass – Stroke 9

18. Daddy’s Eyes – The Killers

19. The Monster – Eminem

20. Inside Out – Eve 6

21. Te Dejo Madrid – Shakira

22. Home – Phillip Phillips

23. Otis Redding – Everclear

24. Swagger – Flogging Molly

25. Times Like These – Foo Fighters

26. Interlude (Milo) – Modest Mouse

27. Eyes Like Yours – Shakira

28. Who Let You Go? – The Killers

29. Hooked On A Feeling – Blue Suede

30. Down For The Count – Bowling For Soup

From the looks of it, my next book is going to be about surviving a nasty break up and ending in a romance.

Not sure why Windows Media Player favors certain bands over others. It had close to 1000 songs to choose from. Ah well.

If you were to do this challenge, what would your first chapter title be?

The post 30 Chapter Title Ideas appeared first on Squirrel Talk.

Featured Photo Friday

There’s a new park in my neighborhood. I took my children last night. As the sun sank lower, my shadow grew longer.

Since my camera was locked in my car trunk, I snapped this featured photo with my phone.

My son sat contentedly in the crook of my arm, while my daughter ran through the water and spun on the pirate-ship shaped carousel. We’ll be visiting again this weekend.

I’m still collecting feedback on my book trailer! I’ve had some really good suggestions, and many kind compliments. The question: What makes an effective book trailer?

Do you have any fun parks near you? When you look at your shadow, do you feel like you don’t measure up? What did you think of the trailer?

The post Featured Photo Friday appeared first on Squirrel Talk.

38 Seconds

I’ve asked myself What makes an effective book trailer? What attracts me? The answer to the latter is kinetic typography.

One day, JeriWB and I were discussing our appreciation of beautiful moving text. It planted an idea in my mind. Fast forward to months down the road, and here I am, indulging my creative side.

I hired some Fiverr talents—Chris White to voice my script and Zdravkovskii for the animation—and I’m pleased to say they did a FANTASTIC job.

In today’s busy world, taking time to watch a video can be demanding. But the trailer is only 38 seconds. (Okay, on some screens it shows up as 00:39).

You can spare that long, right?

I showed you what attracts me. Is it effective? Tell me in the comments!

If you like it, if you think it’s interesting, and if it kept your attention to the end, please share. Whether it’s linking to this post or embedding the YouTube video itself, I’d appreciate any mention on your blog or social media.

What are some of your favorite book trailers? Do you like kinetic typography? Have you shared my video?

The post 38 Seconds appeared first on Squirrel Talk.

IWSG – Asking

Today is the first Wednesday of the month. That means, it’s time for Insecure Writer’s Support Group!

You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.

I need advice. I’m a non-confrontational person who enjoys keeping friends happy and situations as minimally awkward as possible. As such, I haven’t asked my friends to review my book.

How do I do this? I think they’ve read it. I know they have copies of it.

But what if they started it, and just couldn’t get through it? Or what if they hated it and didn’t want to hurt my feelings? My friends are polite and kind. If I asked them, they’d be trapped in that awkward position of either honesty—thus making them feel bad for making me feel bad—or a reluctant lie. Oh yeah, it was great. What? You want me to tell other people that too? And put my name on it? Uh…

Is there a tactful way to ask this question without feeling awkward at every football game/bbq/birthday party?

Edit: I should clarify that I never asked them to read the book. I know they own copies, and they enjoy reading that genre, regardless of my contribution to it. I just don’t know how to ask if they enjoyed my book or not. Based on the majority of comments, I shouldn’t.

Have you ever asked your friends to review your work? How did you approach it? Do you have any advice?

The post IWSG – Asking appeared first on Squirrel Talk.

Featured Photo Friday

Much like M.J.’s pewter pegasus, sunflowers are a source of story inspiration for me.

My husband manages to keep our plants alive, even though I’m green-thumb impaired. This year, he planted sunflowers.

These bright yellow beauties instill a sense of nostalgia every time I see them. Not that they have a significant place in my past, but their iconic dark centers and vibrant petals stirs up the creative story juices. When I look at this featured photo, I can hear a child giggling while she runs through grassy fields. Oh wait, that’s my daughter.

Did you see M.J.’s post? Do sunflowers move you? If not, what does? Are you good with flowers?

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The Pewter Pegasus – Guest Post by M.J. Fifield

I have the pleasure of having M.J. Fifield on my blog today with a guest post about inspiration. I just bought her book, Effigy, in ebook format last night. *squee!*

So while I read her book, you can read her guest post! Take it away, M.J.

The Pewter Pegasus

In my hometown, there used to be an establishment called “The Barn” that was charitably considered an antique store. It’s a Walgreens parking lot now, but during my high school career, it was a junk store that was housed in a red barn.

You could find just about anything there, whether you were looking for it or not. They had furniture, dishes, glass bottles in every shape, size and color, small appliances, large appliances, farm tools, and things that simply defied categorization. It was my favorite place (besides the used bookstore) to go and poke around just to see what I could find.

But of all the things I thought I might one day come across, I never once imagined I would stumble upon something that would help shape my not-as-yet-written fantasy series.

The day that happened, my brother and I were just aimlessly wandering around (not that you ever really did anything else at The Barn). We had gone from room to room without finding anything that particularly sparked our interest—at least not enough to buy—so we headed out.

However, before we made it through the door, we passed a case like the sort in which a department store would put higher end jewelry, and something there caught my eye.

A tiny pewter pegasus.

And I mean tiny. It could fit comfortably on a silver dollar. It could almost fit on a quarter. To this day, I have no idea how I even saw it in a case that was crammed full of other miniatures and jewelry and knick-knacks, but I did.

I stopped. I stared. I tracked down an employee (no easy feat). I bought. I don’t remember exactly, but I think I paid five dollars for it. Whatever the amount, I do remember thinking that it was too high for such a little thing, but I handed over the money anyway because I had to have it.

I went home, put my pewter pegasus on my desk (where he’s been every since), and wrote a story about the leader of a rebellion in some far-off fantasy place whose companion was a tiny, talking pegasus prone to sarcasm and manipulation as he strives to save the world.

One never knows when and where inspiration will be found: people-watching in the park, hiking in the mountains, driving a lonely stretch of highway, in the shower, washing a sinkful of dirty dishes, in television, movies, books—or in a plexiglass jewelry case in the most dubious-looking junk store ever.

That junk store find eventually became Faolan, a pivotal character in Effigy, and one of my favorite characters for which to write (all the sarcastic characters are…I wonder why), and I honestly couldn’t imagine the story, or the series, without him.

And all for the bargain price of five dollars.

Effigy (epic fantasy)

by M.J. Fifield

Release date: July 22, 2014

The survival of a once-mighty kingdom rests in the hands of its young queen, Haleine Coileáin, as it slowly succumbs to an ancient evil fueled by her husband’s cruelty.

A sadistic man with a talent for torture and a taste for murder, he is determined to burn the land and all souls within. Haleine is determined to save her kingdom and, after a chance encounter, joins forces with the leader of the people’s rebellion. She gives him her support, soon followed by her heart.

Loving him is inadvertent but becomes as natural and necessary as breathing. She lies and steals on his behalf, doing anything she can to further their cause. She compromises beliefs held all her life, for what life will exist if evil prevails?

Her journey leads to a deceiving world of magic, monsters, and gods she never believed existed outside of myth. The deeper she goes, the more her soul is stripped away, but she continues on, desperate to see her quest complete. If she can bring her husband to ruin and save her people, any sacrifice is worth the price—even if it means her life.

 

Available in paperback and Kindle at Amazon, Amazon UK, and CreateSpace

Add it on Goodreads

About the Author:

Armed with a deep and lasting love of chocolate, purple pens, and medieval weaponry, M.J. Fifield is nothing if not a uniquely supplied insomniac. When she isn’t writing, she’s on the hunt for oversized baked goods or shiny new daggers. M.J. lives with a variety of furry creatures—mostly pets—in New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Valley. Visit her online at mjfifield.com.

 

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

What inspires you? Have you picked up Effigy yet?

The post The Pewter Pegasus – Guest Post by M.J. Fifield appeared first on Squirrel Talk.

Featured Photo Friday

Town’s End has a new family member! We named her Little Bunny Foo Foo, but my husband has dubbed her Little Bunny Poo Poo. I had no idea these little furballs could hold so much! But she happily consumes the plentiful lettuce that’s grown too bitter for my tastes.

Everyone loves Foo Foo. Including the dogs. They’ve tried to eat her 7 times. After she narrowly escaped the last time, we moved her upstairs to my daughter’s bedroom. She’s much happier when she’s not being leered at.

Not to mention, she makes a glorious hare extension for my husband. *giggle*

Sorry, that photo wasn’t great because of poor lighting. And it’s one of the few you’ll see of my husband with a semi-serious expression (though he is saying “OW!” because her claws are digging into his scalp).

That’s it for the featured photo. If you didn’t see my flash fiction entry for Elizabeth’s Bella’s Point blog challenge, please check it out, and then sign up yourself!

Do you have any furry family members? Are there any furry friends you wish you had? Did you see my blog challenge entry?

The post Featured Photo Friday appeared first on Squirrel Talk.

Bella’s Point Blog Challenge

The header features a public domain image of the Confederate version of the Napoleon cannon pulled from Wikipedia.

Elizabeth is celebrating the release of her book, Bella’s Point, by hosting a blog hop/challenge. She wants bloggers to post anything that might interest a reader—informational, educational, fictional, poetic, contemplative…It’s up to them to choose. Her judges will decide what they like to read best.

Want to join in?

Write something readers want to read. No word limit, no guidelines. Your only prompt is: The year was 1865… . (feel free to ignore the prompt, creative genius never bound by rules or prompts)
Display the Bella’s Point Hop Badge (which is lovely and made by the amazing Carrie Butler of Forward Authority)
Add the tour blurb and links to your post
Post between July 15th and July 31st. Notify Elizabeth via email (eseckman@ymail.com) when post is live so she can inform the readers.

http://www.eseckman.blogspot.com/p/bellas-point-blog-challenge.html

History Lesson

On May 11th, 1865, Barrett gave his attack orders for what would be the last land battle of the Civil War, which technically ended back when Lee surrendered on April 9th, 1865. Wikipedia states:

Why the battle happened remains something of a mystery.

It goes on to tell about initial success and eventual defeat of Barrett’s men three days later.

After some confusion and fierce fighting, the Union forces retreated back towards Boca Chica.

Now I present…

Cera Chronicles – Palmito Ranch

This frigging war was supposed to be over.

Sweat dribbled between my breasts, but a refreshing late-spring breeze wafted in from the Rio Grande. Crushed foliage sweetened the humid air—ripe with man-sweat and horse manure. Through the mass of blue uniforms, I saw a bright red face scanning the mayhem.

Barrett bared his teeth. “I’ll find you, Cera!”

Yeah right.

I suppose I was to blame for this battle. Theodore Barrett, leader of the Sixty-Second U.S. Colored Infantry, had accused me of being a spy when he caught me stealing a family heirloom. But one look at me and he prefixed his assumption with “witch”. I denied the accusation. And then I torched his office with a fireball.

I probably should’ve clarified about not being a spy before leaving. He might not have sent his Lieutenant Colonel to attack the Confederate encampments.

“Colonel,” shouted a voice.

Barrett focused on the speaker. “What?”

“Sir! The Confederates are attacking from our flank! Brings the total to six 12-pounder field pieces, sir.”

Time to return to my companions and get off this world.

The artillery boomed. Marshy, windswept prairie exploded at my feet. I dodged debris and checked the sack of relics I’d collected. They’d better not break. Local world rumor said these little trinkets held mystical healing power. Since my goal was to find a cure for my dad’s coma, I wanted to give them a try.

A hand grabbed my arm. “Cera.” William, a runaway-slave-turned-Union-infantry, leaned closer and raised his voice over the battle noise. “Help us!”

I sighed. William was the only reason I hadn’t left already.

I shook free of his grip and focused on the Confederates reloading their cannons. I wasn’t in the mood for mass slaughter. Defense maybe? I cracked my knuckles. Which gun would go off first?

Second from my left fired. I summoned water and hit the projectile from the side. It flew off-course, taking out chaparral before crashing into the river. Crap. I needed better control over this or I’d kill someone myself.

William stared at me, mouth gaping.

I shrugged and rolled my eyes. Locals. “What did you expect when you asked for my help?”

Another blast from the artillery. I tried for a direct counter and threw up a frozen wall in the shell’s path. The 12-pound round struck it and exploded in a glorious display. Ice and shrapnel rained down on both companies. Cries rose from the men I’d meant to protect.

I winced and looked at William. “You might be better off without me.”

The sinking sun cast hazy Confederate silhouettes against a burnished backdrop.

A cacophony of pistols and swords assaulted my eardrums, but nothing from the big guns. Why hadn’t they fired again?

Then the cannons boomed, belching smoke. And six soaring spheres.

Oh crap.

Horns blared, and Barrett screamed, “Retreat!”

Bella’s Point

Be sure to check out Elizabeth’s new book, Bella’s Point—now available for purchase.

Isabella Troy Stanley is a divorced, slave freeing pariah surviving in the shattered post Civil War south the only way a fallen debutante knows how.

She heads to a Yankee prison and buys herself a husband.

Jack Byron is the former Troy plantation stable boy and object of young Bella’s affection. He rejected her then, and he’s still not sold on the idea of marrying her now.

It’s complicated.

Though to Bella, it’s simple: make Jack love her, marry her, and live happily ever after. The plan seems to work…at least until her secret is revealed.

Cover art by Sprinkles on Top Studios.

Elizabeth is a wife, a mom, and a writer. She has four wonderful boys, one dusty house, and three published books to her credit. Feel free to check them out and buy them HERE! Erm, the books, not the kids or the house…though all things in life are negotiable.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

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Additional fact-checking information:

In his report, Barrett states the enemy used six 12-pounder field pieces. The cannons were likely Napoleons, since that was the favored weapon of both sides, and the shells surprised Barrett and his men. Total casualties came to 4 killed and 12 wounded for the Union (strength of 500), and 5-6 wounded for the Confederacy (strength of 300). The battle was considered a Confederate victory.

Based on the amount of research I did for this piece, I’ve decided I never want to write a historical. I stand in awe of those who do.

Have you ever toyed with history? Have you read Elizabeth’s book? Are you participating in her challenge?

The post Bella’s Point Blog Challenge appeared first on Squirrel Talk.

Featured Photo Friday

Blog wise, I’ve been fairly absent for a week now. I’ve managed to visit some people, but between a birthday party, book-cover photo-shoot, work BBQ, figuring out Lambda expressions and functional programming in Java 8 (aka my job), revising This World Bites, and trying to finish my piece for Elizabeth’s blog challenge…*blink* What was I talking about? Oh, yes. My mental absence.

But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Two of them actually.

This week, I bring you light-based featured photos.

The above picture might not seem like anything more than a doodle line, but it’s my daughter playing with a sparkler, while I play with slow shutter speeds.

I’m finally learning the basics of photography!

Let’s light off some fireworks to celebrate.

Woot! Wasn’t that fun? I hope you didn’t burn yourself. What do you mean the shed’s on fire?

Oh, and if you haven’t seen, Weird Al has a new song out—tailored for lovers of language.

Happy Friday everyone!

Do you like to play with sparklers? Have you seen any good light photography? Do you have a fire extinguisher? What’s wrong with spastic writing?

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