Misc. Ramblings

Nightwolf’s Corner Birthday Giveaway

KWhipkey 20 Comments

Birthday Candles

“Birthday Celebration” by Cédric Boismain
Copyright 2013

Last week, I mentioned that the one year anniversary of my first post was rapidly approaching– in 3 weeks, 1 day, to be exact. I honestly never expected to last this long. (I don’t exactly have the best track record for finishing what I start unless there’s money involved.) And I certainly never expected to have so many wonderful people support me with follows, likes and shares every week. So, in honor of this milestone, I’ve decided to celebrate. It is a birthday after all. And no birthday is complete without presents! Or, in this case, a giveaway.

I’ve got some rather interesting (and hopefully exciting) prizes for you. As you know, Nightwolf’s Corner is split between the three aspects of my storytelling life– writing, art and martial arts demo teams. Therefore, it seemed only fitting to offer a prize from each area. But my schedule is a little flooded right now, so as much as I’d love to pick a winner for each prize, there can only be one. That winner will get their choice of the following:

 

Prize 1: A Substantive Editorial Critique

 

Writing has had an unfair advantage on this blog over the last year– something I hope to change in the coming months– so I suspect a majority of you will be interested in this chance to score editorial services for free.

I’m offering the writers in the audience the ability to gain some outsider input on your WIP. I’ll give you a full substantive (structural) critique, illustrating what’s working and what might need a little improvement. I’ll cover everything from flow, to character/world development & consistency,  to believability,  to scene transitions, etc. I won’t provide feedback on a line-by-line basis, (you’ll still need a copy editor at some point), but this will give you a definite leg up on the way to publication. And the best part? I don’t care if your manuscript is finished or not.

That’s right, you can submit your WIP in all it’s unfinished glory and still receive the same level of critique I would give a finished manuscript. That’s pretty cool, if I do say so myself. There aren’t many chances out there to get an editorial critique on an unfinished work, so I would jump on this opportunity, if I were you. 😉

 

Prize 2: A Custom Logo Design

 

I realize this may be the least popular option, since most of you haven’t seen what I can do artistically. Art has been sadly neglected over the past year, all my grand topics languishing in the draft queue unfinished. But that’s about to change. I’ll be posting examples (specifically of logo’s I’ve done) to the Art Gallery over the next few weeks, so don’t rule this prize out just yet.

I’ll create a custom, vector-based logo design for whatever you want– business, t-shirts, decals, whatever! (Remember, a logo is a simplified image meant for wide distribution on various printed materials, so please don’t request something that would be better served as a traditional painting/sketch.) The value here, besides having someone design your vision into reality, is the inclusion of commercial rights to the image– meaning you have the exclusive right to merchandise and profit from it. (I still own the copyright though, and retain the right to display it in my portfolio.) These rights can cost hundreds of dollars above the design fee itself, so this isn’t an offer to scoff at. If you’ve ever wanted to create a logo for something, or need a revamp on your current one, here’s your chance!

 

Prize 3: A Ready-Made Demo Concept

 

I’m not gonna lie, this is the prize I’m most excited to reveal. Many of you are familiar with my particular brand of demos– a hybrid of theater, dance and martial arts. Many of you have also expressed desire for learning how I create them. Over the past year, I’ve delved into the nuts and bolts of my demo team storytelling technique, but there’s nothing quite like actually applying it. And since I can’t travel to every school that might be interested and literally coach you through the process, this is as close as I can get to loaning you my brain.

For the first time ever, I’m offering to supply a ready-made demo concept. What does that mean? I’ll supply the music (usually something I’ve mixed for optimal storytelling capability. Yes, I can do that and I’m quite good at it, so stop giving me the skeptical eyes 😉 ), the overall concept (aka theme), a script detailing the storyline and how to sync it to the music, the costume/prop design and casting recommendations in terms of abilities needed per role. All you have to do is create the choreography. (You didn’t think I was going to give you everything, did you? There still has to be a shred of your creativity in there somewhere!) Pretty cool, huh?

Have I caught your attention yet? Good. Here’s how it works:

The giveaway will run from now, April 12th, until midnight on May 4th, at which time I’ll randomly select the lucky winner and notify them via email. All you have to do to enter is click here and follow the prompts.

That’s it! Let the birthday celebrations commence! Here’s to another year full of sarcastic storytelling awesomeness and wonderful people to share it with. Thank you for reading! 🙂

Randomness Galore: An Interview With Me

KWhipkey 4 Comments

I know, I know, I have a rather lengthy About Me section that pretty adequately introduces myself. (Bonus points if you’ve actually read it! 😉 ) But last week I was tagged by Andrew Toynbee in one of those informational interview games that shows you the person behind the blog. Some of you may remember my stance on participating in chain letter-esque things from the last time I was tagged in one. But like that previous post, I feel this one has some merit. And since I’m not one to scoff at the gracious gift of being tagged, I’m going to participate. I can get back to whining about my lack of progress on Unmoving next week.

The Rules:

 

  1. Post these rules. (Are we really not smart enough to figure these out from the post?)
  2. Post a photo of yourself. (Seriously? Ugh, guess I better go dredge something out of the archives where I don’t have 3 extra chins and look like I’m completely high.)
  3. Post eleven random facts about yourself. (Hmmm, this could get interesting.)
  4. Answer the questions given to you by the tagger’s post. (Thank you, Captain Obvious. Isn’t that the whole point of participating?)
  5. Create 11 new questions and tag some people to answer them. Make sure to go to their blog, twitter, etc. and let them know they’ve been tagged. (10-4. Time to come up with some really embarrassing informative questions and some willing victims participants! ;))

(I took a few liberties with the order of the rules to allow for snarky side comments. But you’ll forgive me, right? Everyone loves some sarcasm with their instructions, don’t they?)

The Photo:

 
This one seemed appropriately mischievous, and I only have two chins, so that’s a plus:

Mischief

Looks like I’m about to send that poor guy (aka my husband) barreling down the side of the cliff on a spooked horse, doesn’t it? I would never do that, of course. Especially since this was taken on our honeymoon and I still rather liked him at that point. (Just kidding, I still love you, babe!) But yeah, that’s me, looking all evil and stuff. On to the next part of the game!

11 Random Factoids:

 

  1. I’m a vegetarian who hates all things vegetable. How’s that for a difficult diet?
  2. My first concert was The Backstreet Boys. (Yep, that’s not embarrassing in the least.)
  3. I have a weird obsession with all things office supply.
  4. I hate having stuff on my feet, but absolutely love shoes.
  5. I’m a shopaholic. When I’m not broke as a joke, that is.
  6. I think chocolate should be its own food group. Which explains why photos of me with 3 chins exist.
  7. It drives me nuts to get stuff on my hands. Dirt, charcoal, chalk, stickiness, whatever. I don’t like it!
  8. I still listen to The Backstreet Boys. (That’s even more embarrassing!)
  9. I don’t think I’m funny. It amazes me when people laugh at something I meant as truth.
  10. I think in pictures. Seriously. Like animated pictures. (Who wins the freak award of the day? This girl!)
  11. I loathe pink but look amazing in it, so half my closet is pink.

Andrew’s Questions for Me:

 
1. What was the last book that you read?

Oh jeez, I’m all about embarrassing myself today! The last book I read was…wait for it…50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James. Yep, that’s right. I read it. In its entirety. I think any time a book rockets to that level of stardom it’s worth reading, if only so you can catch all the references to it that surround you for the next 6 months. But in all honesty, I kind of liked it.

2. If you could retire within the next five years, to where would you like to retire?

This is an easy one. Hawaii! Or pretty much anywhere that’s warm and near the ocean. I don’t care for the rain and have an extreme dislike for snow. So naturally, I moved to the rainy capital of the pacific northwest. Makes perfect sense, right? No one said I was the brightest crayon in the box.

3. What genre are you writing – and have you attempted any other genres in the past?

Currently, I’m writing Urban/Contemporary Fantasy. But the bulk of my work is actually in Dark Fantasy. I suppose, if you want to get technical about it, they’re both the same genre– Fantasy. I have yet to step outside that realm, but I do have a few plans for branching into Sci-Fi. Other than that, I’m pretty set in my ways. For now. Who knows, I might randomly decide to tackle Mystery, or Literary, or Hamster Romance. ( No? That’s not a thing?) That’s the beauty of creativity– you can do whatever you can imagine. 🙂

4. Fruit or chocolate?

Chocolate. Duh! See Random Factoid #6, where I declare that chocolate should constitute it’s own food group. (Seriously, who do we have to convince to make that happen?)

5. What stage is your current WIP at?

Right now, it’s languishing on the corner of part-way-done and never-getting-finished. In all seriousness though, I’d say it’s roughly a third of the way complete.

6. What colour is your hair – and your eyes?

My hair is medium brown with grey highlights, thanks to my inherited curse of premature grey. I’m still hoping for an awesome skunk stripe, but so far, it’s not that localized. 😦

According to my driver’s license, my eyes are hazel. But they’re more toward the green end of that spectrum. With the right clothing and make-up, I can actually push them into green, which is awesome. I love green eyes.

7. Agent or self-publish?  And why?

Both. I’ve spoken quite a bit about my reasons, so if anyone is curious, I suggest browsing the archives for the full disclosure. Basically, it came down to branding. Since my Urban Fantasy series is the anomaly among my work, I’m choosing to self-publish those, while seeking to place everything else with a traditional publisher. I find the freedom and challenge of self-publishing appealing, but there’s still part of me that can’t let go of seeing my work on the shelves of Barnes & Noble someday. Although, if they close too, I suppose I won’t have to worry about that dream anymore.

8. What was the last movie you went to see?  With friends or alone?

The last movie I saw was Oz,  The Great and Powerful. I saw it with my husband. I’m not brave enough to see movies alone, so he gets dragged to a lot of films I’m sure he’d be alright passing on. But I do have to say, Oz had some of the best 3D I’ve ever seen. The stunning visuals were well worth the price of the tickets.

9. How long have you been with WordPress – and what was your first post about?

I’m actually coming up on my 1 year anniversary, on May 4. I signed up a few months before that, but waited to start posting articles until I had finished setting up the rest of the site. Well, most of it, anyway. I still have to finish some of the things I had planned, like the Art Gallery. But I’ll get to them eventually. I hope.

My first post was basically my thesis statement, explaining why I was starting this blog and what I intended to write about. For the most part, I think I’ve held pretty true to that thesis. Although that first post is probably the shortest one I’ve ever written that wasn’t an announcement of some kind.

10. What can you see beyond your screen?  If it’s a wall, what’s immediately behind you?

Aw, my blank white wall isn’t good enough for you? Let’s see…*turns around*

Behind me is a window, looking out on one rather large tree in the middle of the lawn. Beyond that is the road, and across that is some kind of weird church thing. I think I need better surroundings. That was almost as exciting as the wall.

11. Do you type head-down or head-up?

If by head-up you mean looking at the screen instead of my fingers, then yes, head-up. I’m a secretary by day and a writer by night. So I pretty much type all the time. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is most definitely in my future. Yay for impending surgery!

~

 
That’s it for me. Which means I now get to spread the joy. Since a lot of the lovely people I would have tagged have already had the pleasure of being grabbed by someone else, I’m once again going to be a rule-breaker. Instead of tagging any one blogger in particular, I’m tagging all of you– my readers. (Boo-yah! Bet you didn’t see that coming!) I know a lot of you have blogs of your own, so feel free to continue the posting fun. As an alternative, or if you don’t have a blog, you can also answer the following 11 questions in the comments below. I think it will be just as much fun for me to get to know all of you as it is to learn more about my favorite bloggers. So I hope at least some of you will participate. You can’t possibly embarrass yourself more than I have; what have you got to lose?

My 11 Questions to You:

 
1. Where are you from?

2. If you’re a writer, what genres do you write? If you’re not a writer, what’s your favorite genre to read?

3. What’s your dream job and are you lucky enough to have it?

4. Name someone who inspired you and tell us why/how.

5. What’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but haven’t?

6. What’s your favorite animal? (Real or Fictitious)

7. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

8. You’re getting shipped to the proverbial deserted island and can only bring 3 things. What are they?

9. List your top five all-time favorite songs, including the artist.

10. Where is your happy place?

11. What’s your favorite girl’s name? Boy’s?

Memorializing Firsts: A Celebration of Author Bridget Zinn

KWhipkey 4 Comments

Poison_cover640

This week I’m doing something a little different. During my weekly perusal of the blogs I regularly follow, I stumbled on a story that really moved me– the story of a girl who finally realized her dreams but was never able to see it. Her story touched me so deeply that I decided I wanted to help commemorate her accomplishment by promoting the release of her debut novel: Poison.

A fellow Portlandite, Bridget Zinn was a librarian and writer who loved making people laugh with her creations. She believed the young adult genre needed more humor, and so, created a book that she hoped would inspire, entertain and be loved by her teen audience. In 2011, two years before the release of that creation, Bridget succumbed to her battle with cancer, passing away at the much-too-early age of 33. But her legacy lives on in the form of her novel.

About the novel

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart…misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she’s certainly no damsel-in-distress—she’s the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

I pause today to honor Bridget’s accomplishment and to feel grateful for the small successes in my own life. I have yet to publish a novel, but I still remember when I received the acceptance letter for my first short story. I stared and stared at it, in the cliché fashion of someone gaining admittance to their top college, unable to comprehend the words that very clearly said, “we’d like to publish your work.” I had to get confirmation from someone else before it really sank in; I’d finally done it. After all the rejection letters, all the failed attempts, all the years of pretending I didn’t really want to be a writer, I’d made it. Yes, it was only a short story, but that magical moment of validation is what every writer dreams of. The first toe in the door to becoming an author.

I can only imagine that Bridget felt very much the same when she finally received notice that Hyperion wanted to publish her book. It’s unfortunate that she didn’t get to experience the second burst of joy that seeing Poison on shelves, in the hands of her readers, would have brought. Thankfully, we can still give her spirit that satisfaction by spreading the word and hopefully helping Poison become a bestseller.

Sharing so many similarities with Bridget, I am saddened that I will never get to meet her. Her story of optimism in the face of adversity is an inspiring one and reminds us that every day is a gift we should be grateful for and that no victory, no matter how big or small, should ever go uncelebrated. Here’s to you, Bridget; may your book find all the success you dreamed for it.

bridget_zinn_photo

Bridget Zinn

You can learn more about Bridget and Poison, including how you can help, at Bridget’s Official Website.

Holiday Giveaway 2012

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Holiday-Giveaway_2012

The holiday season is upon us. Christmas lights glitter everywhere like tiny rainbow stars. The smell of pine trees and gingerbread mingles with that of wood smoke and the crisp bite of snow. Cheesy Christmas music haunts us through any place even remotely retail, and the mystique of presents and Santa breathes anticipation into these last few days.

It’s my favorite holiday. So, in the spirit of celebration and to thank all of you for reading my random, sarcastic musings over the past months, I’ve decided to run a little giveaway while I’m on a brief hiatus. (Yes, I’m actually chaining my workaholic side in a dark corner somewhere so I can spend time with friends and family.) I will be returning with new content on Jan. 4th, providing the Mayans weren’t correct and everything doesn’t go down the crapper tonight. 😉

But on to the free stuff. Everyone loves free stuff, right? As some of you may have noticed, I offer autographed versions of my published short stories, one of which is no longer in print at all. I only have a select number of each left, but a few lucky people are about to win a bundled set of all three issues. That’s right, I’m giving away signed copies of Shelter of Daylight Issue 1, 3 & 4, featuring “The Bardach,” “Spinning,” and “Confessions.” All you have to do is click on the link, Holiday Giveaway 2012, and follow the instructions to enter.

For those unfamiliar with my works, (Shame on you! Their info is conveniently posted on the sidebar), here’s a little history on each, including links to the excerpts.

This was my first successful foray into the magazine market, and graced the cover of Shelter of Daylight, Issue 1. Inspired by Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life,” Nightwish’s “Nemo,” and “Main Theme” by Christophe Beck from the Elektra Soundtrack, The Bardach actually started as an assignment about the origin of creativity for a college humanities class. It soon became the foundational tale for many of my flagship characters, including Nameless and the Nightwolf, and is the precursor to a much longer version.

Featured in Issue 3 of Shelter of Daylight, this is my personal favorite of the three shorts. Inspired by The Script’s “Breakeven” and “Spinning” by Jack’s Mannequin, Spinning is a tragic tale of love cut short, and introduces readers to the world of the Spinners– an elite group of bards with the ability to morph time.

Arguably the most popular of the three, Confessions was featured in Issue 4 of Shelter of Daylight and was the last story to be published under my maiden name of Kisa Rupp.  (I got married in October, 2010.) Inspired by Within Temptation’s “The Truth Beneath the Rose,” Confessions is a story about losing faith, told in an unconventional format more frequently seen in film. The action-oriented pacing of this piece was one of the more challenging ones I’ve done, and I’m pretty proud of the outcome. Shelter of Daylight, Issue 4, is no longer available, making the few copies I have left rare treasures indeed.

The giveaway will run until 12 am on Jan. 2nd, 2013, at which time, I will randomly select three winners. Until then, I wish all of you a safe and joy-filled holiday season. See you next year!

Happy Holidays!!

Channels of Distribution

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Over the past week, I’ve been involved in several conversations about the changes to the way we find and consume media. And it got me thinking. Over the past 5-10 years, there really has been a dramatic shift in the way consumers find and purchase entertainment. Gone are the CD store dinosaurs where I got my first job, except for a couple that refuse to face the music. (Yes, horrible pun intended. 😉 ) Gone are the days of browsing genre aisles of shiny new books in Borders (now just depressing, vacant buildings scattered across America like the remnants of a zombie apocalypse). Even the way we watch TV has changed, our schedules no longer dictated by the networks. But is that a bad thing?

Most articles you read talk about this shift from the perspective of the artists, the people creating the products. But what about the impact it’s had on the consumers, on the way people buy? That’s what caught my interest and made me realize just how much my own buying habits have altered over the past few years. Yours probably have too.

Until the digital era began, entertainment industries, whether music, literature, or film, were all dominated by the same business model– large companies that acted as gatekeepers, filtering the creative content the public received. Record labels told us which artists were worthy, the “Big 6” publishing houses defined what “good” literature was, and large film/TV studios determined which movies and shows made the cut and when we were supposed to watch them. But then suddenly, consumers were given choices. Upstarts like iTunes, Amazon, Hulu and Netflix challenged the traditional, declaring that there shouldn’t be a middle man between artists and consumers. And we liked it.

This shift has taken the vast majority of power away from the gatekeeper companies, resulting in larger royalties for artists, a broader spectrum of content and an overall increase in interaction between artists and their fans. But it’s also created a mess of the shopping landscape. From an artist’s standpoint, yes, having to get through the gatekeepers made things more difficult. It sometimes seemed unfair to be forced to bow to their rules and standards, to compromise artistic vision in the name of profit. But the one thing they did was make it easy on consumers. They placed content where it could be easily found, creating focused avenues that shopper’s knew to go to when they were looking for that type of entertainment.

All that has changed. The majority of entertainment consumption seems to happen over the internet now, thanks to the advent of iPods, eReaders and Tablet Computers. And we all know how vast the internet is. So how do people find things? How do they discover new artists, new authors, or TV shows from around the world? How do they wade through an unfiltered swamp of products without the direction the gatekeepers always provided?

I think there are only a handful of strategies:

  1. Personal Recommendations from friends, family or professional reviewers.
  2. Website Algorithms that recommend based off previous purchases — think Amazon’s recommendations, iTunes Genius, or Pandora Internet Radio type services.
  3. Random browsing.

Things like bestseller lists, or recommendations based on your previous purchases and what other people bought after viewing the same product have become far more important in a shopping environment overwhelmed by billions of titles. But while this approach to filtering content can give the illusion of a more personalized shopping experience, there’s one flaw– the lack of a vetting process.

With self-publishing becoming such an easy option for every type of media, the markets are being flooded with products that are released prematurely, leaving consumers to wade through the bog, looking for the gems among the crap. Which, I think, gives rise to the stereotype that self-published equals bad as customers become more and more frustrated with the lack of quality. The gatekeepers might have controlled what the public received, but they also had a built-in quality assurance system. Regardless of personal taste, people could trust that the products they were getting were something of quality that would be worth their hard-earned money. Now that those gatekeepers are being sidestepped, that expectation of professional-grade work is often disappointed.

So we can’t have it both ways apparently. At least not yet. On the one side, we enjoy the wider diversity of content, supporting indie artists in all genres with enthusiasm. But on the other, we complain about the lack of quality in a majority of products, feeling that we’re wasting our time and money on rubbish. Where’s the happy medium?

I expect that the next few years will continue to see a significant shift in the way consumers approach entertainment as both artists and customers adjust to these new shopping strategies. I think that eventually the customers themselves will become the gatekeepers, and that the quality products will rise to the top because they deserve to, not because they’re backed by a large company. But it does beg the question of what purpose the traditional avenues of distribution, the record labels, publishing houses and film studios, will serve in the future. Will they adjust to the changing times, taking on a different role, or will they eventually go the way of Borders, disappearing into nostalgia? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.