Ahoy, Fellow Creatures!
I hope all is swell in thy dell and you are surviving and thriving in your neck of Elsewhere.
Hard to believe that it’s November 1st, which means there are 3 weeks to go until Under a God-Made Mountain is officially put out into the wild.
Oy! My head is spinning a bit as it does with most releases. So much to do from a marketing standpoint and so much hope and emotion around it too.
Will it be perceived well? How’s the blurb? How else can I get the word out?
That’s just a smattering of thoughts constantly running through my noggin as we lead to release day.
So what can I do to help...
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Well, if you read my last blog a few weeks back and saw the cover reveal, you knew this was imminent, Fellow Creatures.
And, if you’re part of my newsletter, this is old news.
But Under a God-Made Mountain, my brand-new, standalone, horror-fantasy novel has an official release date.
November 21st!
It’s also officially up for pre-order on Amazon!
Gulp… That date is super close! And it’s always scary to push a new baby out of its nest.
But I think this one is ready. I’ve been toiling with it for over a year now, and it’s time for it to meet the rest of the world.
What’s it about? Well, here’s the current blurb you’ll find on Amazon.
In the...
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What’s that lurking around the bend in Elsewhere?
A new cover?!
Hot-diggity dog!
It’s true. My long-talked-about standalone, horror fantasy novel, Under a God-Made Mountain, finally has a face…
Ain’t she perdy?
A big shoutout to Noah Frase, my cousin and illustrator of some of my other books (the entire Chilongua series and Dragons of Elsewhere) for doing such a kick-arse job capturing the mood of the book in a single scene.
If you’ve been following along, you know that the cover depicts how Melk, the main character in the book, and the other five criminals end up at the top of Mount Methugarna, the holy prison in which they are forced to march their corrupt feet.
I know I’m...
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If you follow my newsletter (which I hope you do!), you know it’s been a wild last couple of weeks.
School is officially back in session!
And while the Summer has been great, and I think the boys have thoroughly enjoyed it with all the outside shenanigans and burying themselves in probably way too much ice cream, I think we all agreed it was time to get back to a bit of a routine.
But with that routine comes the chaos. Homework. Packing lunches. Slinging out breakfast just in time before the bus arrives. Driving to and from Fall sports. Ensuring that everyone gets to bed a reasonable hour so we’re not zombies come the weekend…
If...
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The quest continues, Fellow Creatures!
Coming at you for this latest round of updates with officially starting unit #2 of the solo artist curriculum as created by Radio Runner. And with Unit #2 comes the start of something I’ve been wanting to improve for a long, long time.
Drawing the head and face.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawing the same faces. They all look a little small and flat, with eyes way too big, and mouths that are nothing more than a single line. Not terrible, but certainly not of the quality like Karl Kopinski or Sam Hogg (two of my art idols!).
I’ve long longed (that’s fun to write) to make...
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Hot dang, it’s a great time to be a consumer!
As a writer and an in-the-works artist, inspiration is the unexpected fuel that gives rise to a boost of creativity and productivity.
While I’ve learned not to rely on it for motivation, it’s nice when it does hit as it provides a bonus flare to the imagination that can leave ye feeling invigorated and more curious than ever.
Of late, I’ve been fortunate enough to come across a wealth of great works of art that have colored me excited and thought I’d share in case you’re wondering where I’m spending my time/curious on my thoughts of where to direct your eyeballs on the seemingly unlimited amount...
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Hey there, Fellow Creatures!
What’s good in thy woods? Hard to believe it’s already August! The Summer is flying by like all those Canadian geese I constantly hear honking overhead outside my window.
Hope you’ve been enjoying some sun and shade and are getting into some mischief.
The Hall clan has been staying busy in Elsewhere. There have been many trips to local swim spots, some camps for the kiddos, long walks with Casco and trying to keep him cool, and even some amusement parks thrown into the mix (which has exposed my cowardice in my older age. I can’t even hang in the kiddy-coasters!)
It’s been a bit of a whirlwind thus far, but I’m excited...
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The quest continues, Fellow Creatures.
I’d like to say it’s been smooth sailing, but that would be far from the truth of late. Other priorities have taken the place of when I would be focusing on my art.
Mostly Summer activities, like sports and camp for the kids and a few vacations… which have all been a ton of fun. So, I wouldn’t say that I’m missing art at the time, but nevertheless, I’m still not getting as much drawing in as I’d hope for.
These times, when I do get some time to work on it, it’s usually in the evenings, after all my other responsibilities and goals are finished up for the day (like...
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Hey there, Fellow Creatures!
Hope all is good in the woods. As of writing this, I'm officially done with draft 1 of Stone of the Scarred.
The final word count is right around 117k. How can that be when I just wrote a blog about surpassing the 125k mark the other day?
Well, I ended up taking out a few chapters and switching some things around and cut it a little (or a lot if you think about the percentage of the story 8k is!), and I'm relatively happy where it ended up.
There's still plenty of editing that needs to happen to get it into tip-top shape, but first I'm switching gears a bit to concentrate...
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Gimme a break, gimme a break, gimme a little break after finishing book 2 (sung in my head to the Kit Kat commercial.)
The end is nigh for book 2. Despite me hitting the 125k mark, and seeing the finish line for this one, I’ve still two more chapters to go as of writing this.
But it’ll come up quickly. I’m hoping I’ll be done with them in 2 weeks. After that? I get more serious about my stand-alone novel, Under a God-Made Mountain, and then jump into book 3 of the Scarred World Saga.
Before that though, I’m going to take a small break prior to jumping back into it.
Like a quick nap to recoup...
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