Light and Serious, Dark and Quirky

I've got TWO short stories out right now. Both were published online in the last couple of days.

First, in Digital Dragon magazine is my short science fiction story "Prism." When the sun's light touches the prism, Eryk must choose which path to take. Click HERE to find out his choice. But first, look at the cool magazine cover--notice that they actually designed the cover around my feature story:

How cool is that?

An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles

Ah, yes, I know it's New Year's Day. The world is filled with blog posts about resolutions and fresh starts and all that. As worthy as they are, my nonconformist nature won't let me post one of those. Not today--maybe on another day that has nothing to do with New Year's.

Nope, today it's all about beetles.

Oh, but wait--I said I'd be posting this time about my artwork. Well, yes, that's quite what I meant.

Remember that key on the cover of Caprice Hokstad's book, The Duke's Handmaid?

Part of my agreement with Grace from Splashdown Books was that I could retain partial rights to my drawing. In other words, in its singular form I would not resell it to anyone else, but I'm allowed to use it in my own artwork. So, I let the drawing sit for a while as I waited for inspiration.

That's where beetles come in. I love them. They are amazing examples of God's creativeness and love for variety. I have this book called An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles:

The prologue begins with:

Asked what could be inferred about the work of the Creator from a study of His works, the British scientist J.B.S. Haldane is reported to have replied, "an inordinate fondness for beetles."

To make a long story short, key becomes beetle.

And what goes with a key? A lock. Then take that lock-beetle and submit it to Digital Dragon Magazine....

And we've made the rounds back to published drawing! All because of my inordinate fondness for beetles.

Next time, more detail on the process of doing cover and interior art for books.

Today's Randomness

I haven't posted in almost a week, and to be honest it's because I haven't had much to say. You already know about the two new stories out, and the cover art at Digital Dragon if you've been following me. (If not, scroll back to the last two posts.) Other than that, it's been quiet this week.

What has been happening is:

--Last week was my birthday, and we spent the weekend at a Disney hotel (Port Orleans) to celebrate. LOTS of eating out, and we went to see Blue Man Group. That was surreal. Definitely worth seeing if you get the chance. The show's over by Universal Studios, and we went into a gift shop that's outside the park itself. They had Harry Potter Stuff. I couldn't help myself--I bought a t-shirt:



Yes, Ravenclaw is where I see myself :). Oh, and my son bought a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, something he's been begging to do for a while. He loved it, even getting the nasty flavors. Boys :P.

--I've been participating in lots of discussions on my writers (Yahoo) loops about Christian fantasy and horror. Amazing the range of opinions on those topics! (I'll spare you the details.)

--I'm working on a short story to submit to Port Yonder Press for an anthology about Elves. It's yet another story that's related to my book, Finding Angel. What I've got so far was very well recieved by my critique group, so I hope PYP feels the same way!

--I've been submitting some of my previously published stories to places that take reprints, and also submitting artwork.

I wish I had more "news" to bring. Or some deep, insightful article about writing or, well, anything. But my brain's just not going there these days. It's focused on trying to get these stories out and finding places to sell them. And contemplating the different options for getting Finding Angel published. Maybe with the next post....

Anyway, I haven't been ignoring ya ;).

Beetle What?

My artwork made the cover of Digital Dragon Magazine! Woot!



Hop on over and give 'em a read--there are always great stories in this magazine (hence my excitement over making their cover!). Seriously, now. If ya read the story I posted about last time, ya know what's good for ya ;). Digital Dragon Magazine--CLICK.

Coming up for air...

I'm taking a moment to breathe today. It feels as though I've been submerged. I decided to get back into the sequel for Finding Angel this week. I'd put it aside for a while in order to write some short stories and start a completely unrelated novel. But Seeking Unseen started calling again, and I answered. Got about 2500 words done, which is pushing me very close to 60,000 so far.

I've also just finished up a drawing for a superhero novel that will be released by Splashdown Books later this year. I can't give out any details quite yet, but as soon as I have the OK, I'll post the cover here. This is my second cover project for Splashdown. It's been loads of fun!

Hmmm...what else?

Poetry! Yep, I've got a poem accepted by a new magazine. A Flame in the Dark is the soon-to-launch sister zine to Digital Dragon. My poem "Serpent Uncoiled" will be featured in their premier issue on June 2nd!

I guess that's it for now. Other things are bubbling under the surface, but I can't post anything yet.