Greetings, fellow Bearers!
Ah, Thanksgiving is in the air. If you're anything like me, you're looking forward to that plump, sumptuous turkey spread out on the table, with all of the fixin's on the sides-and then, afterward, if you're like me, you won't want to think about eating turkey for another two months afterwards. I get a bit tired of turkey leftovers after an extended period of time. That's why having the number of a good local pizza place is recommended for the Saturday after Thanksgiving :D
Alright, after this holiday break, I intend to get back to putting up stuff from the omnibus. Sorry to say that I don't have any artwork yet for anyone to see, but the verbal descriptions will hopefully turn out to be a pleasing set of teasers for those curious to venture into the world of the Vein.
May you all have a happy Thanksgiving, and have much to be thankful for!
See you in the Vein,
J. Dean.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Life in the way...
Greetings, fellow Bearers!
Ugh.
Unless you're doing well enough to call writing your primary career, then you have the same problem I do: that it can get awfully difficult to find the time to sit down and write. One of the things I've learned about myself is that I write better when I have larger, uninterrupted blocks of time. Mind you, it doesn't have to be THAT long (about 45 minutes to an hour will do if the creative juices are really flowing), but too little time leaves me little room to put anything of decent substance down for the Vein novels. If I find myself losing time, I have to resort to working on my short stories, as they don't require me to necessarily put as much organizational thought into them. Admittedly, I envy those writers who can work with sliced up time periods to write their novels; they are far better and more disciplined than I am.
So, while progress occurs with my short stories, Old Velt is stumbling along. I hope to have my schedule pretty much set in the next couple of days, so that this almost-finished novel can be finally done, edited, and ready for print and digital text.
In the meantime, I'm also continuing work with the Vein omnibus, and have possibly found somebody who may be able to do some artwork for me. That's pretty exciting, because I'd really like to see the images of the Vein come to life, particularly through somebody who has good skills with art. With me, I'd get last place in a kindergarten stick figure contest :D
For those who have recently made purchases of CLADE JOSSO, thank you very much! It was very encouraging to see a few sales made recently! I hope you enjoy the book, and invite you to continue on with us into the Vein! For those who haven't done so, as with most of my blogs, I'll include purchase links for the novel down below. Also, a big thank you to those who have bought the VIRTUAL IMAGININGS short story collection. Your purchase goes toward a good cause, and we thank you for it.
Which reminds me, I need to get reading my copy of it.
So off I go, trying to write, market, and read-oh, and I guess I could put some time in on my other job while I'm at it too ;)
See you in the Vein!
J. Dean
THE SUMMONING OF CLADE JOSSO: THE FIRST DESCENT INTO THE VEIN, available at Amazon.com, and Smashwords.com
Ugh.
Unless you're doing well enough to call writing your primary career, then you have the same problem I do: that it can get awfully difficult to find the time to sit down and write. One of the things I've learned about myself is that I write better when I have larger, uninterrupted blocks of time. Mind you, it doesn't have to be THAT long (about 45 minutes to an hour will do if the creative juices are really flowing), but too little time leaves me little room to put anything of decent substance down for the Vein novels. If I find myself losing time, I have to resort to working on my short stories, as they don't require me to necessarily put as much organizational thought into them. Admittedly, I envy those writers who can work with sliced up time periods to write their novels; they are far better and more disciplined than I am.
So, while progress occurs with my short stories, Old Velt is stumbling along. I hope to have my schedule pretty much set in the next couple of days, so that this almost-finished novel can be finally done, edited, and ready for print and digital text.
In the meantime, I'm also continuing work with the Vein omnibus, and have possibly found somebody who may be able to do some artwork for me. That's pretty exciting, because I'd really like to see the images of the Vein come to life, particularly through somebody who has good skills with art. With me, I'd get last place in a kindergarten stick figure contest :D
For those who have recently made purchases of CLADE JOSSO, thank you very much! It was very encouraging to see a few sales made recently! I hope you enjoy the book, and invite you to continue on with us into the Vein! For those who haven't done so, as with most of my blogs, I'll include purchase links for the novel down below. Also, a big thank you to those who have bought the VIRTUAL IMAGININGS short story collection. Your purchase goes toward a good cause, and we thank you for it.
Which reminds me, I need to get reading my copy of it.
So off I go, trying to write, market, and read-oh, and I guess I could put some time in on my other job while I'm at it too ;)
See you in the Vein!
J. Dean
THE SUMMONING OF CLADE JOSSO: THE FIRST DESCENT INTO THE VEIN, available at Amazon.com, and Smashwords.com
Monday, November 9, 2009
VIRTUAL IMAGININGS now in Paperback.
Greetings, fellow Bearers!
Well, Old Velt is coming along, although admittedly not as quickly as I'd like. That's okay; I've been able to put some time in for some short story writing. I've got one done that I hope to share with you in the future. It was probably one of the fastest written stories I've done-and admittedly, it wasn't totally original-I gave a nod to Mr. Ray Bradbury in some of its elements. But it's being proofread, and once I get permission from the proofreader, I'll be looking for a venue in which to put it up for public consumption.
On another note, the hard copy version of the short story anthology VIRTUAL IMAGININGS is up and running on Amazon.com (AVAILABLE HERE). For those of you who prefer old fashioned paper books (like me) instead of digital text, you can get the collection of short stories put together by me and other writers in that form now. Remember, all profits go toward research for a cure for breast cancer, so it's good reading for a good cause. The idea of putting together another collection is being discussed already, and from what I hear, we've already sold quite a few copies, so that's great to hear!
Well, when next I post, I hope to be focusing more on the work in the Vein. As good as it is to do the short stories on the side, my main drive is fleshing out the continuing adventure of Old Velt. Again, a thank you to those who have purchased the book, especially for the four new purchases on smashwords! If you like the book, tell others about it!
See you in the Vein!
J. Dean
Well, Old Velt is coming along, although admittedly not as quickly as I'd like. That's okay; I've been able to put some time in for some short story writing. I've got one done that I hope to share with you in the future. It was probably one of the fastest written stories I've done-and admittedly, it wasn't totally original-I gave a nod to Mr. Ray Bradbury in some of its elements. But it's being proofread, and once I get permission from the proofreader, I'll be looking for a venue in which to put it up for public consumption.
On another note, the hard copy version of the short story anthology VIRTUAL IMAGININGS is up and running on Amazon.com (AVAILABLE HERE). For those of you who prefer old fashioned paper books (like me) instead of digital text, you can get the collection of short stories put together by me and other writers in that form now. Remember, all profits go toward research for a cure for breast cancer, so it's good reading for a good cause. The idea of putting together another collection is being discussed already, and from what I hear, we've already sold quite a few copies, so that's great to hear!
Well, when next I post, I hope to be focusing more on the work in the Vein. As good as it is to do the short stories on the side, my main drive is fleshing out the continuing adventure of Old Velt. Again, a thank you to those who have purchased the book, especially for the four new purchases on smashwords! If you like the book, tell others about it!
See you in the Vein!
J. Dean
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Interviews and Interviews: my kind of fun!
Greetings, fellow Bearers!
I have a couple of interview links for you to check out. I really like doing interviews most of the time. It's fun talking about the novel and about writing. Once you get the jitters out, it's not so bad; just pretend like you're talking to your best friend about your work-and if that doesn't help, pretend your best friend is dressed in a clown suit :) .
Here is a FACEBOOK INTERVIEW that I did for Flint talk radio last summer, archived on facebook. You get to see my ugly mugwump on camera. Bring your vomit bag if needed ;)
The second one was an inteview via Email, and will be found at the Aspiring Mangaka and Writers Club on December 29th-a nice little Christmas present for myself and for all of you.
So enjoy the interviews and get the books (Links are provided below, and at the end of every post)!
See you in the Vein!
J. Dean
Buy the Summoning of Clade Josso On paperback at Amazon, For your Kindle at Amazon, or At Smashwords with multiple digital text options.
I have a couple of interview links for you to check out. I really like doing interviews most of the time. It's fun talking about the novel and about writing. Once you get the jitters out, it's not so bad; just pretend like you're talking to your best friend about your work-and if that doesn't help, pretend your best friend is dressed in a clown suit :) .
Here is a FACEBOOK INTERVIEW that I did for Flint talk radio last summer, archived on facebook. You get to see my ugly mugwump on camera. Bring your vomit bag if needed ;)
The second one was an inteview via Email, and will be found at the Aspiring Mangaka and Writers Club on December 29th-a nice little Christmas present for myself and for all of you.
So enjoy the interviews and get the books (Links are provided below, and at the end of every post)!
See you in the Vein!
J. Dean
Buy the Summoning of Clade Josso On paperback at Amazon, For your Kindle at Amazon, or At Smashwords with multiple digital text options.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Whoops.... Call me Mr. Short-term memory....
Forgot to add the link for the VIRTUAL IMAGININGS. That's what I get for trying to do too much at once. My apologies.
Okay, NOW here is the short story anthology that I've been gloating about: LINK TO VIRTUAL IMAGININGS
This is the address for the digital copy. The hard copy paperback should be available soon. I will be happy to put the heads up for it as soon as it comes through!
See you in the Vein!
J. Dean
Okay, NOW here is the short story anthology that I've been gloating about: LINK TO VIRTUAL IMAGININGS
This is the address for the digital copy. The hard copy paperback should be available soon. I will be happy to put the heads up for it as soon as it comes through!
See you in the Vein!
J. Dean
Monday, November 2, 2009
VIRTUAL IMAGININGS, a short story that includes one of my pieces, now available.
Greetings, fellow Bearers!
More exciting news from the homefront! The short story anthology VIRTUAL IMAGININGS is now available on Amazon! This is an eclectic assembly of works from various authors assembled together for your enjoyment. All proceeds from this book will go toward research for a cure for breast cancer.
I had a great time helping out with this project. The other authors are very talented writers, and for me to include one of my stories in this analogy is a real honor, because the people with whom I collaborated are REALLY good writers, who know their stuff. My piece is entitled "The Accordion", a short little creepy story that was inspired by a real-life incident told to me by one of my students.
It's really amazing what kind of inspiration you can get from real life. When I first started writing, I tried to go way off the deep end in trying to get ideas. What I've learned since then is much better: all you have to do is take a situation in real life-preferably one that you have personal experience with-and "twist" the situation just a little bit. Not only do you make it easier on yourself in some ways, but you also relate to your audience a whole lot better. Stephen King and Ray Bradbury were very influential on me in that regard; they are both masters at doing this.
The other thing that helps is not growing up :D. I learned that from Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who said that he stopped growing up at eight years old. Keep that young imagination, and you'll never starve for ideas.
So check the book out and enjoy it! And like everything else: if you liked it, tell other people about it.
Well, until next time, it's back to work for me. Like a moron, I left my flashdrive with the second Vein novel on it back home (ask my wife about my amnesia-particularly when it comes to "honey-do" lists). Instead, I'm starting up another short story for one of my students. I tell ya, if you want great ideas for short stories, work in a junior high or high school for a while and get to know your students. You'll get lots of material to work with.
See you in the Vein!
J. Dean
More exciting news from the homefront! The short story anthology VIRTUAL IMAGININGS is now available on Amazon! This is an eclectic assembly of works from various authors assembled together for your enjoyment. All proceeds from this book will go toward research for a cure for breast cancer.
I had a great time helping out with this project. The other authors are very talented writers, and for me to include one of my stories in this analogy is a real honor, because the people with whom I collaborated are REALLY good writers, who know their stuff. My piece is entitled "The Accordion", a short little creepy story that was inspired by a real-life incident told to me by one of my students.
It's really amazing what kind of inspiration you can get from real life. When I first started writing, I tried to go way off the deep end in trying to get ideas. What I've learned since then is much better: all you have to do is take a situation in real life-preferably one that you have personal experience with-and "twist" the situation just a little bit. Not only do you make it easier on yourself in some ways, but you also relate to your audience a whole lot better. Stephen King and Ray Bradbury were very influential on me in that regard; they are both masters at doing this.
The other thing that helps is not growing up :D. I learned that from Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who said that he stopped growing up at eight years old. Keep that young imagination, and you'll never starve for ideas.
So check the book out and enjoy it! And like everything else: if you liked it, tell other people about it.
Well, until next time, it's back to work for me. Like a moron, I left my flashdrive with the second Vein novel on it back home (ask my wife about my amnesia-particularly when it comes to "honey-do" lists). Instead, I'm starting up another short story for one of my students. I tell ya, if you want great ideas for short stories, work in a junior high or high school for a while and get to know your students. You'll get lots of material to work with.
See you in the Vein!
J. Dean
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