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A cover for Steven the Vegan

Posted by Dan on March 10, 2012 4 comments

The cover for my next book, Steven the Vegan is done. Well, the front cover anyway. Ron and I have been using Skype to share his computer screen and to talk. This allows us to collaborate even more effectively on our work. (Isn’t technology wonderful … take that Amish!)

It was important for the cover to be colorful, and cute to a degree of putting someone into a diabetic coma. Ron’s ability to draw cute animals could put anyone into sugar shock. We both agree, using Skype is definitely more effective. I can tell him he’s doing it wrong, he can tell me I’m crazy, we can both compromise and BAM! we have another successful project.

We have already agreed that this will be the way we will work together on our next projects like Fields of Dreams, and Eartha 2. (Oh was I not suppose to mention the sequel to Eartha the Sea Turtle?)

Right now, Ron and I are also going over each page. Usually, he would send over a page, and I would critique it and send it back with some notes. Now, with Skype, we can actually work together and talk it out.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to see a cover for the book. What do you think of it?

UPDATE : The cover has been updated. As you can see, Steven’s palm is now open where the baby chick stands.

 

Wordcamp 2012 – Miami

Posted by Dan on February 18, 2012 No comments

I just got back from WordCamp 2012 in Miami. WordCamp is a conference for people who use, design, and develop for WordPress. The conference was awesome. I gathered so much information I still have to sift through it all just to process it.

Right now, I am working with a company that is heavily into WordPress and I am developing some custom plug-ins. It’s actually a lot of fun, and challenging. The more I dig into WordPress the more I see how sophisticated it really is. It’s versatility allows me the freedom to create some very cool new features as plug-ins.

WordCamp was also a great way to meet new people. I look forward to next years event.

Looking forward to the New Year

Posted by Dan on December 31, 2011 No comments

With 2011 now behind us, we have no choice but to look forward to the new year. The first thing I am looking forward to in 2012 is to finally finish and publish my second children’s book, Steven the Vegan. It’s been a real challenge to get this book completed and I could not have done it without the crowd sourcing support of Kickstarter.com. Through Kickstarter.com I was able to raise over 2700.00 to complete the book.

2012 will also make way for my next project, another collaboration between myself and my longtime friend and illustrator, Ron Robrahn. Fields of Dreams is something we both came up with and will publish together. This won’t be a work for hire project with Ron, this is a true collaboration.

It’s been a year since I started my online serial, The Gaia Code, and I’ve already thought about some rewrites. Writing an online serial is not easy since you write on the spot with just a guideline and some notes to go by. But I plan on posting some new pages this next month. I usually write the page the night before and post the following day. Once complete I think I’ll work on the rewrites, then possibly look for a ghost writer or editor to hep finalize the work. Publishing a novel would be awesome.

My little black book, know as the app Evernote, holds every story idea I come up with, and there are quite a few. I have several new ideas in there, as well as a sequel for Earth the Sea Turtle.

Well this post is longer than I had anticipated. I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and good luck to you in all your endeavors.

 

Kickstarter.com for projects

Posted by Dan on November 14, 2011 No comments

I recently created a project on Kickstarter.com for my latest book Steven the Vegan. The way Kickstarter.com works is like this. I setup rewards for people based on a specific donation about. For example, for $5.00 you can get a PDF version of the book when it’s available. For $15.00 you get a signed copy by myself and Ron Robrahn the illustrator. For $750.00 you get the signed copy, and a character in the book named after you.

In essence, Kickstarter.com allows you to “sell” your product, before it’s complete. No money changes hands until the project is fully funded.

Ron and I plan to use Kickstarter.com for our future projects as well, including Fields of Dreams.

Check out our project at Kickstarter.com

How I Write a Children’s Book – Part 9

Posted by Dan on August 28, 2011 No comments

We are quickly coming to the end of our story. I’m sure by now most of you know how it will end, but we’re here for the long run. Slappy now realizes he’s the one “person” who can save the baby pigeon.

In our final pages Slappy will come to the realization that he doesn’t need to fly, he’s unique as is. He will realize that being a plain-old-penguin is pretty special.

 

Page 25 : He dove into the water, flapping his flippers as fast as he could.
(Slappy diving into the water. On the water’s edge a woman says “Look at that penguin go!”, while a nearby man says “Wow!”. A child says “Mommy! Look!” )

Page 26 : Slappy just knew he could save the pigeon. He swam faster and faster.
(Slappy zipping through the water with a look of determination. )

Page 27 :Being underwater, he could see the pigeon above him nearby. The pigeon was fluttering his little wings trying to swim.
(View from Slappy’s perspective seeing the pigeon above him with ripples in the water as he splashes about.)

Read more »

Fields of Dreams Volume 0 – Writing Complete

Posted by Dan on August 20, 2011 2 comments

One of the projects I am working on with my long-time friend and illustrator, Ron, is a comic book called Fields of Dreams. Recently we decided to create a volume zero, rather than start with volume one. Volume zero will be free. This will allow us to introduce the comic to the world at no cost.

Fields of Dreams is the story of a scarecrow that daydreams while standing in the corn field. As you have guessed, the comic is about imagination. Events that transpire around him will trigger his imagination and his day dreams. In his own mind, he looks more human than his true scarecrow form. It’s very “Don Quixote” in his mind. He battles dragons, monsters, a dark knight, space aliens, and whatever he can dream up.

The cast of characters includes the Farmer, the Farmer’s wife, their mean-spirited granddaughter Dot, Winston the old barn dog, and two crows named Sid and Marty.

The sketch to the right is a rough draft of what our scarecrow will look like.

Please leave feedback and let me know your thoughts on this project.

How I Write a Children’s Book – Part 8

Posted by Dan on July 17, 2011 No comments

Let’s continue on with our story. When we left last our little penguin, he was daydreaming about what he would do if he could fly. It’s time we turn our daydreamer into a hero.

As discussed, our victim is a baby pigeon who will fall into the pond from it’s nest. We will setup our penguin to save the pigeon, and become a hero.

Instead of blathering about what we will do, let’s jump in and do it.

Page 20 : Slappy opened his eyes and sat up, “It was only a dream.” He said, sadly.
(Slappy sitting up,  depressed.)

Page 21 : He stood up, and stretched his flippers as he looked out over the wide pond. He looked at all the birds flying around the pond.
(Slappy looking out over the pond with all the birds flying around.)

Page 22 : He was about to go for a walk when he saw something happening across the pond. There was a mama pigeon crying and flapping her wings.
(View across the pond with mama pigeon frantically flapping her wings.) Read more »

How I Write a Children’s Book – Part 7

Posted by Dan on July 6, 2011 No comments

I want talk a moment about verbiage. In the beginning I mentioned that the grade level of the words did not matter at the first draft time. Although this is true, for me, I wanted to let you know the process I use to check these words. The Children’s Writers Word Book is a fantastic resource to find words, and learn what grade level they fall into. It also has a thesaurus for similar words and what grade level they are. Here are two words that I think may need to be replaced.

Imagined

“Slappy closed his eyes, and imagined what it would be like to fly through the air.”
The word “Imagined” is considered a 2nd grade word. If I wanted to change it, I have the option of using a kindergarten level word like “pictured”(K), or a 1st grade word like “thought’. Here I’m going to disagree with the book. (What?) I believe that young children today know what “imagination” is. It’s used in SO MANY kids shows that it’s no longer bound to a 2nd grade reading level. So, no change here. (Side note: I could change it to dreamed, but I did not want to imply he was sleeping)

Retrieve

“If I could fly, I could retrieve other things that get stuck in trees, like footballs, hats, and kites …”
The word “retrieve” is a 6th grade level word. Ouch! That may be a bit out of reach for our readers. We could simplify it with “get”, “find” or replace it with “return”, also indicating a sense of helpfulness. Read more »

How I Write a Children’s Book – Part 6

Posted by Dan on July 3, 2011 No comments

We are now getting to the meat of the story. Back in Part 1, I mentioned that the concept for this story came from my Illustrator, Ron Robrahn. He had sent me a sketch of a penguin and told me he had an idea for a story about a penguin who wishes he could fly. The story concept was sound, but needed some more substance to it. I saw the opportunity to make this more of a self-esteem story.

By the way, here is the sketch he sent to me. If you have the means, and have an illustrator, or someone with drawing ability. Try to get a sketch of your character, it can help in the story development process.

When I said this was a sketch, I wasn’t kidding. If you notice, it was done on the back of something that said, “CREWMEMBER”.

So let’s move forward with our story. When we last left our airborne-impaired penguin, he was watching the other birds flying around Sunshine Park. We established that he had tried some Wile E Coyote style methods to get into the air. To go to those lengths, we need to show how much he truly wants to fly. So how do we do that? Well, we could have him just go to the airport and buy 50 different tickets for 50 different destinations. (I’m sure Delta would love that.  “Penguins, they love to fly, and it shows.)

How about something a little more subtle, but with great graphic potential. Let’s spark the imagination in the reader. Let’s have him daydream about flying. This way, we show the use of imagination, and get to show what it would be like if penguins could fly. We can also show intent. By this I mean, what he would intend to do with this gift. Would he just fly around dropping ice cubes on people? What would he do? There would have to be a selfless act involved, since we are trying to make our protagonist into a hero.

So without further ado, here we go. Read more »

How I Write A Children’s Book – Part 5

Posted by Dan on July 2, 2011 No comments

We are already on part five. Be sure to check out the other parts if you’d just started reading this because you’ve missed some good stuff.

We’ve already introduced our protagonist, Slappy the penguin, and we’ve partially introduced the scenario. We now need to express his love of bird, and his sadness for not being able to fly. We can also introduce the relationship between him and Sam the ice cream man.

Page 4 : Slappy loved the mornings. This was the time of day when birds would sing, and fly from tree to tree in search of breakfast.
(Arial view of the ice cream cart in the park. On the cart are also pretzels, and donuts. You can see the walking paths, and closer to the readers view, some pigeons and blue birds flying about. Small, and near the cart is Slappy looking up toward the reader.)

Page 5 : Summertime is hot in Sunshine Park, and everyone knows penguins prefer cold weather. Slappy’s friend Sam runs the ice cream cart. He always makes sure he has something special for Slappy.
(Slappy tugging on the pant leg of Sam the ice cream man.)

Page 6 : This was Slappy’s favorite treat. Ice cubes on a stick.
(Closeup of Sam handing Slappy what looks like a shish-ka-bob skewer of ice cubes)

Page 7 : With his treat in hand, Slappy headed off to his favorite spot in the whole park.
(Arial view, similar to page 4, showing Slappy heading down the path, with ice-cube treat in hand)

Page 8: Slappy has a special secret spot in the park where he loves to watch birds. From there he could see the lake, and all the trees around it.
(Montage image of him scurrying under a bush, and up onto a boulder, with a wide view of the water and all the trees around it. Many birds fly around, darting in and out)

Let’s review : We now know that Sam the ice cream man is Slappy’s friend. So much to a degree that he creates a special treat for Slappy each and every day. We also know that Slappy has a special place in the park. This establishes that Slappy has been there for a while. In the illustration descriptions, we’ve included several statement indicating “birds”, lots of birds. Birds are a big part of the story and we need the illustrator to know this.

What we haven’t done yet is establish his love of birds, and his sadness about not being able to fly. Read more »