Aaron Galvin's Blog, page 4

Self-Publishing & Busted Water Lines

Well, I finally did it...made my first ever Instagram post.
Yes, I am officially an old man.
'So why the picture of a sprinkler head and an exposed water line?' I hear you asking (because I need you to in order to make this post work).
For starters, I've had a lot on my plate with prepping for the L.A. Times Festival this coming weekend, getting words written, blah, blah, blah. Suffice it to say I wasn't thrilled with having another distraction to pull me away from the eternal 'Publishing To Do...

Survivor: Game Changers

Oi.
In just two episodes, a couple of my favorite players are gone and both from silly mistakes.
Haven't written about my super-fan nerd status of the CBS reality show Survivor, but yeah...big fan.
I've been watching since Survivor first aired when I was a senior in high school. I've applied several times, had an interview to be on the show once when I was in college - (at that time, they told me I was literally too skinny to physically survive. I wouldn't have a problem now, CBS!) I still think...

Salted & Minecraft

Listen to enough writers, filmmakers, artists, etc. and you'll find a prevalent theme that releasing your work into the wild for the masses to judge is a terrifying venture. Suddenly something you've labored over and poured a piece of your soul into is out there for the internet trolls to potentially find and deride at their pleasure. Worry about such a thing long enough and you'll never release anything.
Today, I want to show you the positive side of releasing your creation into the wild and...

Whittle, Whittle

When it comes to film adaptations, I love to read the book first to get a feel for the original vision, then go see how closely the screenwriter either stuck to it, or if they at least nailed the vibe. Man, when those two things hit....music, baby.
I was a freshman in college when I saw the first trailer for Peter Jackson's film adaptation of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Lost my friggin' mind, yo. He rocked that entire trilogy and even with the extended 3+ hour dire...

2016 & Hell On Wheels

This has been the hardest year of my life, friends.
(**Note: This post has a happy ending, so I promise it's not all doom-and-gloom, people).
So 2016 was the worst, huh, Galv? Not that first year in Chicago (05') when you were literally starving, about to be evicted, had zero friends in the vicinity, and woke up (on the floor) to dead cockroaches by your face every morning?
No - 2016 has been worse,
To be fair,some of this year's general suckiness was a slow descent off the tail end of 2015 with...

The Dryer Vent Surprise

I suck at honey-do lists.
"Honey, can you Glue the broken arm on the kitchen chair?"
I've done it twice and it keeps breaking...think maybe we should just get a new one?
"Honey, can you change out the broken lightbulb?"
There's still three working...
"Well, can you at least--"
Sorry, darlin', there's readers waiting on books! The Salt awaits!
Some of my reasoning for general suckiness at ticking off items on the honey-do list is our house is a natural disaster zone. With two kiddos under 5, it does...

GenCon 2016

A few years back, acouple friends of mine suggested I consider coming to GenCon with my books.
It's hosted in my home state (Indiana) so I'd heard of the con before, but knew it as more of a gaming convention rather than a literary festival or con.
Still, they persisted. My good friend, Nick, even sent me an oh-so-subtle exhibitor application link for this year's event, so I decided to opt in. Figured it'd be at least worth a trip home, even if the venture failed.
It did not. :) My booth nei...

Here's Where I Screwed Up: Salted (pt. 2)

Back for more! In my last post, we discussed how I screwed up my debut novel's cover, then doubled down on the sequel.
Here's the thing - cover design is just one part of the process.
You can have the most gorgeous covers in the world, but if the editing isn't there and the story doesn't hook your reader, then what're you left with?
Nada, Jack.
In this pt. 2 post about where Iscrewed up, I thought to share with you why I made some changes to Salted and (hopefully) made it a better, clearer read f...

Here's Where I Screwed Up: Salted (pt. 1)

Thought about titling this post 'Here's What I Learned', but let's face it - in today's society, more people areinterested in hearing how someonescrewed up than what they actually learned.
I'm gonna give you both.
Today, you get to see the Rascal admit his errors, multiple failings, andeat some crow. I'll show you howI screwed upmy debut novel,Salted,how I doubled down with its sequel, why I've sat on those mistakes for two years.
More importantly, I'll go over the changes I've implemented to h...

Here's Where I Screwed Up: Salted

Thought about titling this post 'Here's What I Learned', but let's face it - in today's society, more people areinterested in hearing how someonescrewed up than what they actually learned.
I'm gonna give you both.
Today, you get to see the Rascal admit his errors, multiple failings, andeat some crow. I'll show you howI screwed upmy debut novel,Salted,how I doubled down with its sequel, why I've sat on those mistakes for two years.
More importantly, I'll go over the changes I've implemented to h...