Showing posts with label Cornell Dyer and the Necklace or Forgetfulness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cornell Dyer and the Necklace or Forgetfulness. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Early Cover Drafts

"Don't judge a book by its cover" the saying goes, but today's book covers are so part of the reading experience, we rarely give thought as to how the cover came to be.

But the design of a book cover evolves in much the same way the

Ever wonder what the early versions of the BryonySeries covers looked like?

Here's a few:







(Note from Sue Midlock when we were talking cover art concepts for Before the Blood:
I was thinking, what do you think that each book, the covers are different color? One emerald green, dark blue, dark brown, not sure on the 4th color. What do you think?)

I have to admit, I did like all the different color versions, so it was tempting. But since BTB is really one large book published in five installments, we decided to go with red for all five.

Now if BTB was five separate and distinct books in a series, color-coding them by the book's theme would have made sense.

Next time, perhaps?

For more photos, check out The process of creating a book cover at facebook.com/pg/BryonySeries/photos.

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Art of the BryonySeries: Sue Midlock

An exhibit of BryonySeries-related art by four of the artists who created book covers and interior illustrations for books in the BryonySeries art is currently on display at the Book and Bean Cafe in Joliet through the month of October.

This week, I'm sharing photos from exhibit's installation on Sept. 3. All four artists are taking commissions.

Today's featured artist is Sue (Sue Mydliak) Midlock. Sue created the cover and interior art for Cornell Dyer and the Missing Tombstone, the upcoming Cornell Dyer and the Necklace of Forgetfulness, and the covers for the upcoming, five-volume novel Before the Blood, which is a prequel to the BryonySeries trilogy.

 Sue Midlock is a local author, illustrator, and photographer. She writes and illustrates her own books and creates book covers and illustrations for other authors. Sue has also exhibited her work at various galleries in Illinois.

Contact her at suemydliak@yahoo.com.

To view photos of Sue's exhibit, visit https://www.facebook.com/BryonySeries/

To view more photos of Sue's work, visit fineartamerica.com/profiles/sue-midlock.html.

To view the Cornell Dyer book cover, visit www.bryonyseries.com.





Photo of Sue Midlock by Timothy Baran

Monday, July 23, 2018

The Obligation of Buying

I recently read an indie author's rant on Twitter about the consumer's overall lack of support for indie and local artists and why people ought to buy local and indie.

I'm all for supporting local businesses and indie artists often do.

But not to the extent the customer is obligated to buy.

The author on the rant was extremely upset at the lack of support at a signing at a local bookstore. This included lack of attendance (and sales) from family and friends, as well as the customers marching past the table and vanishing among the shelves.

Believe me, I get it, except the part about getting used to rejection. I'm not sure anyone is ever 100 percent comfortable with readers preferring to read books other than our own and choosing them over ours at every opportunity.

It is, unfortunately, part of the process of hanging out our shingle. When the product we're selling has sprung forth from our creative selves, the shunning feels doubly personal. But we are not small children, and the world is not our refrigerator from which we post our handiwork.

Bookstores, libraries, really any venue, host authors in their space to attract potential customers to the store and not necessarily to the author's table. For the venue, a sale of any product still makes the cash register cling.

Now, it's nice if customers stop and buy one or more books. But no one is, or should be, obligated to buy.

Rather, the obligation is on us to help attract the public through the door.

We build the best product we can. We build the best reputation we can for us as and our works. We promote the event in courteous, non-spammy ways, knowing we can't control the outcome.

Be thankful for even the opportunity. No one owes you.

Sidebar: As I leave a busy weekend in the past, how did all those "Ws" work out?

Wonderfully!

Surprisingly, I got more writing in than I anticipated. I scrolled through chapter seventeen and found it ready for editing. I spruced up eighteen and nineteen and made my way about halfway through twenty when Rebekah had some time to help me create a template for the newsletter (this is for another post).

Createspace flagged the cover for Cornell Dyer and the Necklace of Forgetfulness, so Sue Midlock resized it last night, and Rebekah reuploaded it. I'll know in a day or two if I can finally order a proof.

Here's a sneak peek:




Friday, June 1, 2018

Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, May 27 through June 1

Can you believe it? How did it get to be June already?

Especially since we in the Midwest lost spring altogether, a long winter and then straight to summer!

First question: did I get lots of writing done last weekend.

And then answer is, "Yes."

Not as much writing as I wanted to get done, but that's not the fault of distractions and obligations, only my limitations as a human being and author. Except for a couple hours each day where a few lingering deadlines had to be met, scant family and walking times (focused on writing, too hot), and sleeping, I wrote.

And wrote.

And wrote.

I finished Cornell Dyer and the Necklace of Forgetfulness and hope to complete the editing this weekend.

The entire first book of Before the Blood is self-edited and ready for the editing and hope to get a good chunk of the second one done this weekend. 

BTB No. 5 is about a third to half done. I reread this week what I wrote last weekend and am happy with progress thus far.

And this morning, I'm surprising one little Bertrand fan with a visit to her school (shhhhhh). Bertrand has been up since before dawn grooming for his appearance. You can see the final results later today at bertrand_bryonyseries.

For those of you following the inaugural BryonySeries blog tour (and for those of you needing to catch up on posts or pick up some souvenirs), I hope to archive the entire tour this on a dedicated page at www.bryonyseries.com. I'll keep you posted.

Have a beautiful weekend readers, writers, vampire fans!

Non-bylined features:

Monday through Saturday I assembled my non-bylined works - brief posts and calendar listings - into one convenient file and posting them on Facebook in the evening, so readers can easily choose the ones they want to read.

 One can also find those event listings, the Gotta Do It calendar, as well as the pets, health, faith, and arts and entertainment calendars, under the sections tab on the left hand side of http://www.theherald-news.com/. Click on "features" and the topics drop down.  Gotta Do It runs under "people."

Community news? Again, under the sections tab, under features, and by topic. Updates are posted on these days in print and web (and some only on web on other days as I have the time): Monday (pets), Tuesday (health), Thursday (faith), Friday (arts and entertainment), and Sunday (people).

Social media:

Daily updates: I do post the briefs and calendars on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.

BryonySeries stuff: I post curated content relating to the BryonySeries at @BryonySeries. And assorted related content at www.facebook.com/BryonySeries. And of course, please follow the adventures of Bertrand the Mouse on Instagram at bertrand_bryonyseries.

If you're a writer anywhere in the world, you're welcome to jon WriteOn Joliet's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/writeonminooka/?ref=bookmarks. We're based in Joliet, Illinois, but we love to meet and interact with writers outside our area, too.

Books and Such

Information on my books (including where to buy) along with upcoming events is at www.bryonyseries.com.

Thank you for reading The Herald-News. And for reading this blog. And if you've read (or plan to read) any of my books. And for those who came out to WriteOn Joliet's open mic night last night. Your support is greatly appreciated.



These 2 friends won't be parting ways

 They became friends at Lincoln-Way Central High School in New Lenox where they participated in swim team and water polo team together.

By coincidence, they ended up at Joliet Junior College together in the pre-engineering program.

Somewhat by design, they both earned engineering degrees at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where they graduated on May 12.

Last week, they two of them flew out to Sparks, Nevada. Both have jobs as quality technicians at Tesla Gigafactory and, yes, they are sharing an apartment.

How did this friendship developed?



With great courage and commitment
Despite her own health issues, former New Lenox resident Tracy R. Sefcik took a 61-day solo bicycle journey to raise money for veterans

She called her event "Cross Country Cycle 4 Vets" and said it was her way of helping fellow veterans, as well as first responders, and thanking them for their "sacrifices and commitments."

But this isn't just a feel-good human interest story.



Aurelio's in Morris serves the best pizza

I ate my first Aurelio's pizza when the Joliet location was located in Marycrest shopping center. I remember well the distinct taste of Aurelio's, so different from Barone's on Jefferson Street or Pizza King on Route 30 in new Lenox, both favorite venues of mine and both now gone.

http://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2018/05/28/362db7b3fb74436ea9cd861a2031db4c/index.xml?page=1



New York times author and genocide survivor to offer retreat at Joliet church

"I felt that was an important lesson all of us needed to learn in high school and all the things that can happen to people in any aspect of their lives but especially when going to high school," Katie Dow, Joliet Catholic Academy graduate, said. "Forgiveness is a powerful tool to have."




Former students surprise retiring band director with an alumni concert 


"Dan [Valkema] was one of the biggest inspirations in my life, basically," Kurt Gros, now a school band director, said. ""It was just a fitting celebration for someone who changed so many lives for the better."



Artworks: Joliet native bringing jazz to New Orleans North

New Orleans. It's a very musical town," Sophie Lee said. "There's music everywhere, on every corner. Most of my friends are musicians. Everyone is dedicated and hardworking and it has really helped me with my own songwriting."



LocalLit author spotlight: Peggy Lindgren of Shorewood 

Lindgren is currently working on a memoir about one local boy who had a difference for many.