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This weekend has been kinda like a “normal” weekend: no events, nothing on the schedule, just catching up. (Except for the idiots who are committed to blowing off their hands with all the fireworks they’ve been setting off. Went to bed to the sound of lots of booms, then some idiot decided to start again this morning at 6:10 AM. Grrrr.)
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Twenty years ago, I read a study about how people’s tastes “froze” in their mid-twenties, how over 50% of the population stopped trying new food, stopped listening to new music, stopped trying different styles of clothing, etc.
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I was so horrified that I started what I call the “anti-stodgy” campaign. I’ve been dedicated to trying something new regularly. At first I believe it was just once a month. Now, I figure it’s probably once a week that I’ll try something new. Might be a new food, or a new recipe, or driving down a new street, or going someplace new.
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Not everything I try is successful. I’m not attached to the outcome, but to the learning process itself.
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A little more background. I’ve finished book six of the Water Witch mysteries, “The Bad Apple Witch.” I have the edits back and so will be putting the final version up for preorder everywhere sometime this week.
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On August 22nd, I will have an all-day signing at Bundok Books (in Puyallup) for the book. There will be six other authors joining me in “shifts” coming in for a couple hours to sell and sign their books. So an all-day author party, if you will.
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One of the things that I’d like to offer readers at that time is a boxed set of the books.
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This means figuring out how to create the slipcase for the books. I watched a few YouTube videos, got the right type of stiff board for the case, then tried actually making a case on Saturday.
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The first one, as you might guess, was not a success, let’s just say. I wasn’t as precise in my measurements or my glueing as I needed to be. You can see how the back piece doesn’t align with the rest of the box, the gaps there.
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However, as I said before, I’m not attached to the outcome as much as I’m focused on the learning. Here’s a picture of the interior of box two. It still isn’t perfect, but it’s so much better.
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With the first box, I didn’t bother trying to cover it. With the second box, I moved onto the next step, and covered it with left-over marbled paper.
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So here’s the full set, the box with the books. Obviously, it isn’t perfect or good enough to sell. This is very much a prototype. But I’ve learned so much through making these two samples. For example, how the cardboard bends slightly when I paste the white paper on the inside of it, and so I need to let it dry for longer under a heavier weight.
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I mostly enjoyed the process. I need better tools to get the sides aligned. But honestly, that frustration is to be expected. It’s part of the learning. The next box I make will be better. Possibly even good enough to sell to readers. We’ll see.
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I only plan on having a couple of these available at the Bundok signing. I’m also considering making one that’s for the two omnibuses. We’ll see.
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The other thing that I tried and am still learning about is something called forced edges. It’s where you apply a very thin border on ever page of a book. Because of how it’s printed, the very edges of the book look as though they’re decorated.
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I chose to do book one of the Cassie stories. Here’s the original design. It’s supposed to be smoke curling on the page. (Cassie smokes cigarettes.)
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Here’s an interior shot, to show what the pages look like:
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And here’s a shot of the edge:
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I knew that the edges would turn out lighter than the original image. This wasn’t a success. I’m going to have to try something else that doesn’t rely as much on the contrast between the dark and the light. Still thinking about it.In addition, this collection is only available on the Knotted Road Press store. (Though if you go to see Leah at a live sales event, she will sell you the paper version, also for a bargain, at just $40.)
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So that’s it for me. What have you been learning recently? What new thing have you tried?
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It's July! And yes, we're offering another of my books on sale. This time, it's Live Alien Contact Omnibus.
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In the twenty-third century, one question haunts Humanity.
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Why are the aliens ghosting us? Aren’t we cool enough?
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Spread out over three hundred planets, Humans have run across the remains of only two alien species to date. Both suffered cataclysmic wars centuries before.
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Surely more aliens must be out there. Somewhere.
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Join Rosey the racer and the other quirky character on The Roadrunner (yes, run by Dennis, who'd much rather be designing things than flying a spaceship!) as they go searching for aliens.
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Though June has come and gone, we're still offering The Long Run Omnibus on sale for merely $9.99! That means four novels (yes, FOUR novels) for the cost of two. What a bargain!
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In addition, this collection is only available on the Knotted Road Press store. (Though if you go to see Leah at a live sales event, she will sell you the paper version, also for a bargain, at just $40. That's $10 a book, instead of $15 for each.)
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Judit—a hard-headed captain of a starship who may swear too much in Hungarian—gets hired by a powerful alien to break the stranglehold that the Universal Trading Cartel has on, well, everyone in the galaxy.
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Follow Judit and her quirky alien crew as they con their way across planets and through star systems, as well as all the corporate machinations.
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This omnibus contains all four books in this completed series!
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They say history doesn't repeat itself, but it will frequently rhyme.
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However, what about crimes that get repeated? How are they similar to the original? How are they different? And why?
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The devil is in the details, after all.
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Come see what the syndicate members of MCM have done with crimes that riff off of events from the past.
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MCM. So Criminal, It's Good.
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