Email Subscriptions are Back
Subscribe to Newsletter (photo credit: Gerd Altmann ) In another case of Google killing off a service that a lot of people use, they killed off the RSS to email subscription feature of Feedburner, which is what this site (and many, many others) used to provide email subscriptions for updates. After a lot of hunting, I settled on follow.it to replace that functionality. It’s completely free for subscribers and has a lot more options than Feedburner offered. We’ve imported our previous subscribers who had previously confirmed their subscri…
Smashwords End of Year Sale
Derrick the Dog is free for the rest of the year through Smashwords with coupon code SEY25 . Merry Christmas!
Site Update
It was overdue that I needed to update my site. The old one not only looked dated, but it was also not responsive (as Google kept reminding me). Thanks to a new premium template from Sora Templates , the site is now: Responsive Mobile Friendly Fast Loading Minimalistic Simple SEO Friendly Clean Layout Clear Design Using HTML5 & CSS3 Improved Modern Browser Compatibility I also took this opportunity to update the Gallery page , as the old gallery plugin from deviantART had stopped workin…
It’s Been a Long Time Coming
It’s been a long time coming, getting this blog post written. I wish I could say that I’ve been busy writing and illustrating, but that’s not true. I have, however, been busy. Since I last checked in, I’ve changed jobs, sold a house, moved across the country, moved into an apartment, bought a house, and moved in there. Whew! Things are finally settling down on the job and home fronts, and I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things on the creative front. Someday, I’ll get some new content out. A hot air balloon in the…
The Fitbit Versa. It's Almost There.
Hello. As any long-term reader of my blog knows, I usually talk about the arts, specifically writing, publishing, and illustrating. But occasionally, I hang a sharp right and go off-topic. This is one of those times. I recently received an email from Fitbit showing off their new Versa smartwatch . I've used a Fitbit One for years and love it, but I recently discovered that product has been discontinued (boo!). With that being the case, I've been looking into their wrist-worn devices. Thus, I followed their link, and I read an…
Hello 2018!
It's 2018! I know, it has been for over a month, but I've been busy. Sadly, that busy time has mostly been made up of real life and work. I didn't have turnover at the day job this past year (yay, finally!), but I still stayed incredibly busy. We spent a lot of 2017 fixing up the house. So, at the end of the day, not much time or energy left for writing or illustrating. So, what did my 2017 look like? English: Christmas fairy tale, light show, Grabrovnica, Croatia Hrvatski: Božićna bajka na imanju obitelji Salaj u Grabrovn…
Quotes I Like
Fall is here! Fall is here! I thought it might be fun to kick off my favorite season by gathering some of my favorite quotes together. Some of these I find funny, others are inspirational, and some give pause. They’re in no particular order. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, and most tend toward art. I've given credit where I've known the source. Anyway, hope you enjoy. And happy Friday! Let’s party like we’re Lacey! English: Oscar Wilde, photographic print on card mount: albumen. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) It…
ArtRage 5 Review
As any reader of the blog knows, I’ve been an ArtRage user for years . I started off with 3.x and moved onto 4.x when it came out. It’s not the only tool in my tool belt (I also have Manga Studio , Illustrator , Photoshop , and Paint.NET), but it’s the one that I use almost exclusively for illustration work. I noticed a few weeks ago that it had been awhile since I’d gotten an update to my 4.5 install, and I thought that perhaps the next version was out or would be soon. So, I went over to the ArtRage site and found my suspicions confirmed…
Two Writing Contests
Two emails recently came through my inbox about writing contests that are under way and that carry monetary prizes. I don’t know if these are legitimate, and I’m not endorsing them, but I wanted to share with my readers so that you had the opportunity to check them out. If you have any feedback about them, please post in the comments below. Without further ado, here are the details. Shame Kills Shame Kills and Swift River are sponsoring a spring essay contest titled, “My Mother, My Hero.” Shame Kills is dedicated to eradicating th…
New Year’s Resolutions 2017
Well, another year is drawing to a close. So, it's time to look back at the year nearly passed, as well as my resolutions from last year . English: New Year's Resolutions postcard (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In 2016, I was still dealing with turnover at work, which robbed me of a lot of illustration and writing time, but I managed to improve my habits this year. I more consistently got up early to invest the time in the craft. And it paid off. As of the start of this blog post (which I began on 12/16/2016), I had logged 74.98…
Indispensable Writer's Tools
All you really need to be a writer is something to write about, on, and with. That first one's pretty important, but the last two could be as trivial as some paper and a pencil. In fact, there are writers who just use those. Or even typewriters. If that's you, and that works for you, then this post isn't for you. But if you have gone, or are considering going, the digital route, then read on. Windows Live Writer (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I've been writing for awhile now and have, what's for me, a pretty good wor…
New Year’s Resolutions
2015 is almost in the bag. This year has flown by for me. However, most of the reason it flew by was because of the day job. While there was a welcome promotion in January, my old position wasn't backfilled, so many of those duties followed me. Then, one of my direct reports left, and I was back to doing my old job, plus his, plus the new job. Eventually, the direct's position got filled. I spent a couple of months training him, and then it was right into a big Office 365 migration. All that has meant much unpaid overtime and li…
Easy Epubs with Scrivener & Sigil, Part 1
I make my own epubs because I like having control over the final product, I don’t find it terribly difficult or time-consuming to do, and I can update it whenever I want. However, I find myself forgetting which settings to choose between sessions, so I thought it would be best if I wrote out the directions. Thinking it might be useful for someone else, I thought I’d post it here. If it’s useful to you, good deal. If not, well at least the price is right. Background: I’m using Scrivener 1.x on Windows and Sigil 0.7.x. Sigil is free…
Book Review Etiquette for Authors
I’ve been thinking about book reviews lately. I use them when I’m deciding whether a book might be worth my time (along with the description, genre, etc.). I’ve even written some . Now I find myself on the receiving end of book reviews. So, what’s an author to do about reviews of his or her books? English: Open book icon (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) That’s kind of an important question. Pick any random book from your favorite online bookstore. See those reviews? Except for the ones who have but a few or the sad ones without any, tho…
My Precious
Recently, I received a welcome promotion at the ol’ day job. Shortly thereafter, the following dramatized, condensed conversation between me and my wonderful, beautiful, understanding wife took place: Miranda looked at me with big eyes and said, “Congratulations, Brian! You’re awesome!” WELCOME TO Microsoft® (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Twirling my equally awesome, albeit imaginary, mustache, I replied, “Yes, I know.” “It’s not every day you get a promotion. We should get you something special.” My ears perked up. I made an inq…
