Rivi's Pain- Five Sentence Fiction

Image by Coconino National Forest on Flickr

   I'm getting back to doing some more 5 Sentence Fiction. Originally started by Lillie McFerrin, occasionally I find my own picture and am hit with inspiration.

This week I found this picture on Flickr and am challenging you with the word Fog. Use the word and the picture as inspiration and write your own 5 sentence fiction. If you write it on your own blog I would LOVE to see it- or you could share it in the comments if you don't blog.

Rivi's breath caught in her throat, a scream being stifled by the overwhelming horror she saw all around her. As the Aunantet fled their planet, every living plant and being that was touched by the fog shriveled and died. 

"I don't know what the Aruk did to your friend, Rivi, but he is no longer his old self, we have to leave him!"

"I can't," Rivi replied, "I know he's still in there, I can feel that much."

Rivi put up her electrostatic shield and centered her sights on the one her heart called to.

I hope you enjoyed this- this piece is a work in progress from the sequel to The Alien Mind. It may not make it into the second book, but my muse finds it helpful to get these scraps of scenes written down until I get to that point in the story.

*In my last post I told you that the overcoat that I am making for Rivi's outfit was ready for trim. Well, It's done now and I'm beginning work on the main piece of the outfit. The overcoat was quite a bit of work all by itself! Whew! Check back later and I will post some pictures here on my blog!

In more news- the brand new edition of The Alien Mind is soon to be re-released by PDMI Publishing LLC. and their imprint Rara Avis. It is freshly edited, brand new formatting, as well as illustrations by Matt Ostrum and myself.

The book tour for both the second edition of Visionary From The Stars as well as The Alien Mind begins on the 13th. If you would like to help me spread the word please click on the book tour page and let me know!

Find The Alien Mind on Amazon!

Did you like this post? If so you might enjoy my book!

For adults and teens alike, it is truly a science fiction adventure for the whole family!

If you'd prefer an autographed copy straight from the author you can buy one here as well!
Autographed Copy:$13.00 + Shipping

 

Making Rivi's Costume For Cosplay 2

Rivi's Costume- Collar Troubles

The last time I blogged about the making of Rivi's costume I mentioned that I couldn't seem to get the inner collar pinned in properly in order to stitch it down. Every time I tried it ended up too short in some places or bunched up in others. I finally figured out a trick!

See those boxes there? Yup,
Still stuff to unpack from the
move lol.

I nabbed one of my minions to help! My youngest is 3... my eldest is taller, and a girl so she might have worked better, but the older two were both at school. So I called my youngest over and prayed he would stay still enough not to step on the hem.

He did, and I actually got the collar pinned in! It looked perfect! (and I had to nab a picture of him trying to figure it out.)

So I threw it through the sewing machine and even though it looked straight and lined up with the pins the inner collar and the outer shoulder seams are not lined up. The good news... no one will see the inner collar and it looked fine turned right side out so I left it just the way it was.

*facepalm* yup those are my toes and
my youngest's flip flop lol :P

I've hemmed the shoulders and cut up the crease in the center front. Now all I need to do is hem the sleeves, hem the front opening, and the bottom and then add the trim!

Want to see what it looks like when I'm done with this first part? Stay tuned! I'll keep you updated!

Speculation About Blog Readers

Blog Readers- Who Are You & What Do You Like

Networked Blogs

Hey I might be a blogger... But I'm a reader too. I read a LOT of blogs. Today I'm posting to introduce to you Networkedblogs.com . I've been blogging and reading blogs for years. The number one thing that irritates me the most is when I am FORCED to sign into some social login thingy in order to leave a comment. It takes time- and what if I don't have any of their social sites? Well then dear blog owner, snooze you lose! This is why you will see that I have removed the google friend connect feature from my blog as well as google comments. It FORCED my readers to have a google sign in. LAME!

Along with that came the problem of considering how I would show and collect followers now. Sure- you could sign up with my feedburner option and have my blog sent to your device or e-mail. However, there is just one problem with that. I'M a blog reader and I dislike digging through my e-mail to find blog posts by my friends- and I also do not have a device that I would like to read all these blogs on.

In walks Networked Blogs! I LOVE this site. You can sign up for free. ANY blog that has networked blots enabled can be found through searching networked blogs or you can click on their networked blogs widget on their site to follow their blog. Whats so great about this? ALL the blogs that you follow appear on a dashboard so you never miss what any of your bloggers are posting! Its like facebook for blogs- but more organized!

See the green left and right arrows at the top right hand corner of the picture above? Those allow the blogs to slide sideways to show me the rest of the blogs on my list!

So if you read a ton of blogs- consider signing up for this website and telling your friends who blog to add their blogs too!

Never stop speculating about real world stuff- you might just figure out an answer to your problems!

* Did you know that making comments on a blog actually helps support that blog by increasing its google ranking? Maybe you didn't. But thats ok because I'm not here to bug you about all that. BUT- If you are a blogger and have added networked blogs to your site- drop me a link in your comment to this post and I will check your blog out!

Making Rivi's Costume For Cosplay

In progress:

As many of you know- I'll be attending the Novel Wine Tasting Arts and Literary Festival at September Oaks this October. (October 25th from noon till 6). My publishers will be there and both of my books are scheduled to be released for this event too!

This year I thought, What if I dressed as one of my characters? I chose Rivi from The Alien Mind. I had already designed the costume with an illustration while writing the book because I needed to figure out how to describe it. The hard part was trying to figure out how to bring it to life.

There is no pattern in the Walmart sewing department labled Rivi after all. So I found an outfit that looked close to the style elements I needed. A straight skirt and a vneck shirt. The pattern came with short sleeves so I am going to have to experiment in making the sleeves longer but here we go!

Meshing two patterns

To start off with I took the skirt and shirt pattern and layed them over the top of each other, lining up the "waist line" line. I melded the pattern lines together while cutting so the outfit gets cut all in one seamless piece. The picture is after I had removed the extra fabric from my cutting area. (I work off to the side of my living room and TRY not to impeed the flow of traffic... can't say that always works though.)

Rivi's second layer to her outfit is the same basic design but cut down the middle and trimmed so I needed two sets of everything! One in light blue and one in dark blue. Halfway through cutting I realized I didn't have enough dark blue and had to drive 45minutes away to the nearest fabric department. Thats country living for you!

Next I laid out the fabric for the sleeves and used a straight edge to continue the pattern lines. Please don't copy me yet as I have NO clue if this is going to turn out right- I've never made sleeves from scratch before. I'm good if I have a full pattern, this is out of my comfort zone!

I've sewn up the back and sides. Since this one will be the jacket piece and I'll be cutting it up the middle I won't need the zipper so that step was easy.



Now I am stuck working on the interior of the neck section. THIS part always gives me grief on any project I am working on. Oh well, I'll figure it out in the end- no worries!


Stay close- I'll post more as I get farther along!

Why I Write, Create, Build, And Ask Questions

Found on: http://teespring.com/iamauthor

My uncle shared this picture of this tshirt on Facebook with me. I love it! I think it perfectly describes why I write! 

I write because I am intrigued by the way writing removes the limitations of this earth. From an early age, I was amazed at how words strung together could create new worlds. Reading gave me new places to explore that I would never be able to go to otherwise (like other planets). I also use my writing to help convince people of all ages that they are capable of so much more. I want to inspire people to reach for their full potential, do things they've never done before, and achieve things they may not have thought possible.

I enjoy writing for middle school age students because that age is when I found myself struggling between the adult world and losing her imagination. Back then I found fewer and fewer science fiction books in the library geared toward my age level. I am a speculator at heart, I want to encourage people, especially the younger generation, to keep asking questions and try to see things from different angles. Never stop exploring the hows and whys of things around you, this is where the real wisdom and our human potential comes from!

So how did my writing career start?

How I Began My Writing Career

handwriting

I started writing small things in elementary school, poems, book reports and the like. It wasn't really until 6th grade that my english teacher Mrs. Troublefield encouraged and inspired me to write longer things outside of class work. My writing back then was FAR from being anything worth reading... but she took a look at a few of my stories that I had written for fun. Instead of pulling them apart and redlining the entire thing she told me there was potential there and to keep on working. 

I was homeschooled through the rest of my school years, but I continued on with my writing. In the evenings as I lay in my bed I would analyze the structures of  sagas like Harry Potter and Star Wars. Then I would begin creating and recreating (as in I would throw them away and start over) my own worlds in my mind and imagining what the characters would say and do.Many times my stories would bleed over into my dreams and continue developing there!

When the stories got long enough I finally sat down with stacks of notebook paper and wrote them out. (I still have those pencil and ink splotched manuscripts) Later I began typing them up. I hadn't reached 18 by the time I was finished with my first book. I was told by agents that although they liked my work they didn't want to deal with having to work contracts with parents in the mix. So, I paid to self-published my first book. My second one Visionary From The Stars was published by a publisher that shall not be named- (BUT if you find out who it is PLEASE don't take anything to them- you have been warned. I went with them in 2006 before I knew anything about Writer Beware)

In 2012 I saw all the changes in the book industry, with CreateSpace and KDP (amazon's kindle program) opening up new avenues for authors. Neither of my books were in e-book format and my publishers didn't offer those services at that time. So, I got the rights back to my first book and self-published The Alien Mind. It was from that experience that PDMI Publishing LLC found my work and offered me a contract to publish both of my books under their imprint Rara Avis with their distributors. 

I LOVED self-publishing but it was hard for me to market as much as I needed to, and without the backing of a publisher I found it very difficult to get bookstores to even consider stocking my books. More on why I have enjoyed being a PDMI author here.

In 2013 I illustrated a book for PDMI called Wiggle Worm's Shape Adventures by author twins Karen and Kathy Sills.

And in the summer of 2014 PDMI hired me on to be their Illustration and Design Department Manager. Both of my books should be published and released by them sometime this fall (stay posted!). Rumor has it that I may be able to bring both of them to the Novel Wine Tasting Arts and Literary Festival!

Why I Signed With PDMI Publishing

www.pdmipublishing.com

As many of you know, my books use to be (and one still is for now) self-published. I loved self-publishing, but there were many things that I just couldn't achieve with my limited budget as a self-published author. 

I checked out agents and other publishing houses before I chose self-publishing and decided then that what those other houses had to offer wasn't worth the creative input (and the royalties) that I would need to give up.

Then one day, PDMI Publishing approached me with a contract proposal after seeing my work on my website. I'm here to tell you that the PDMI versions of my books are not even published yet and I already have a million reasons why I love being an author with PDMI. I'll go through only a few of them here though...

Authors should be allowed to have a voice in the process of bringing their books to life. No one wants to see the books they have worked so long on torn to shreds and completely changed from how they saw their story unfolding, and yet many mainstream publishers out there change the author's story.  PDMI does not. PDMI works with the author to make sure any changes made to the book still fit within the author's intended vision of the story.

Working on my edits with the editor from PDMI was actually really rather fun! My editor was Clay Gilbert- his comments were hilarious!

Many publishers publish the author and then the author is left to do most if not all of the promoting. Now, PDMI does expect their authors to promote their books- BUT they also help on their end! PDMI has a marketing department that is constantly knocking on doors to get their authors into book events and onto shelves. They maintain an active and personable social media platform and are always looking for new ways to get their authors out there. They even help their authors figure out how to navigate social media effectively!

PDMI also has a massive professional distributing network that makes their books available through any book buying avenue out there. PLUS something else that all bookstores require for shelving that self-publishing can not offer- book store returns! Bookstores want to be able to know that they can return the book if it doesn't sell. (This was the number one reason I was always given as to why I couldn't get my self-published book into the bookstores I approached.)

PDMI even helps support their authors at events! They have represented one of their authors at a film festival when the author was wanting to drum up financial backing to get the author's book made into a movie. They even go to book festivals all over the United States to support their authors. 

When the book is released they'll even help you set up a book tour if you are game for that!

Above all, they are down to earth people that really want to make a difference in the literary world. They promote quality over quantity and strive to design and publish books that will catch the readers eye. They even strive to keep ahead of the market trends!

One of the main things I checked for before signing on with them was their book covers and interior design. If the book covers are plain jane two or three photoshopped photos thrown together you will not get that WOW response from your reader. PDMI has their own illustrators and cover designers on staff and their covers and interior designs are amazing! No other publishing company out there that I have seen publishes books with this amount of quality and thought put into the design! Here are some of PDMI's book covers.

"Yeah but I bet you have to pay for all that!" Says the cynic.

NOPE! On the contrary, they offer a 50% royalty rate to their authors (40% on childrens books), and they publish your book the way any non-vanity professional publisher would- without charging! 

PDMI Publishing is the pinnacle of what I believe a publisher should be. They have an ethics committee that keeps them honest and they strive to treat authors the way they should be treated, like family. After all, if my book sales pay to keep your company open and your company is enabling my book sales everything works out better if we work hand in hand right! To prove that, they have a group on facebook to allow their authors to interact with all the department heads as well as the owners Tc and Nessa Mckenny. We laugh, joke, share and support everyone; that group is our main hub!

Many of their authors are even integrated into their company staff as well. This further helps connect them to their authors and keeps the company down to earth.  I myself was hired to be their Illustration and Design Department Manager just a month or two ago. Speaking of which, their illustrators are even paid by royalties in order to help solidify the idea that everyone benefits when everyone works together to promote the books!

Now yes, I may LOOK a tad biased because I am now on their staff but in all fairness, I had this blog post written out on my old blog over a year ago. My blog got munched by the internet pixies a few weeks ago and I am trying to rebuild lol.

If you get the chance please stop by and give their page a like. Drop them a line and tell them to keep up the good work if you get the chance! The heads of the company, Tc and Nessa, the company director Victoria, and the rest of the staff, are all wonderful people and would appreciate your encouragement!