Inkabout L. Darby Gibbs

Science Fiction & Fantasy author

Publication

Today I wish I was perfect, and probably tomorrow, too

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It is hard to believe, but I am close to publishing my second book at Smashwords.  This work is an anthology of shorts stories, Gardens in the Cracks & Other Stories. They are loosely connected by the “world” they are all derived from in that similar technology and history are imbedded in each.  The title piece (“Gardens in the Cracks”) and another short work (Scrapper, a novella) have some characters in common as well as time and general locale.  The remaining stories developed out of experiments of one sort or another: repeating motif, what if, narrative from a secondary character, and such.  I think all writers will agree, the editing is the hardest part.  I have gone over them so many times looking for every error I can.

Besides the fact that I write recursively and therefore edit constantly as I write, I am now on my fourth line edit of this work.  I can say that turning on the feature that checks grammar and mechanics in a word processing program can be the most annoying and beneficial experience.  I found myself examining nearly every sentence and defending or correcting innumerable aspects of my writing.  Frequently, the program would highlight a word or two and state “if you are using this to mean…., then you are correct.  But if you mean…., then….”  I can’t say how many times I said, “Can’t you tell?”  Every once and a while I was glad it did not let a single questionable word by, as I had in fact used a word incorrectly.

Dialogue can play a large part of a fiction work, and in an effort to sound like the genuine article, my characters often speak in phrases or are not necessarily grammatically correct.  So I was reminded on a regular basis that I had fragments of sentences or slang where I intended them to be.  This still was a benefit as I noticed that some of my characters did this more often than others, and I had the opportunity to decide if this was a characteristic I wanted for the individual or if it was too heavily used.

The fine tooth comb that I am using now gives me a headache, but not using it would be worse than a headache.  So off I go again scraping each sentence free of error.  This is one of those times when I really wish I was perfect.

A writer’s platform: A scary propostion

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So I have been working on my “platform” (please grimace while saying this, cringe a little, then reset shoulders more firmly).  I have a Twitter (@LDarbyGibbs) account and an Indie Writer’s account, a Google+ something or other and a Facebook page (which I still have not figured out after three months of ownership.  It didn’t help that it changed format just when I was getting less nervous about what I should do with it.)  But Twitter is less overwhelming by far than any of them.  After all, a writer should be able to write a sentence or two on the fly.

My most difficult problem is friend requests.  I don’t get them often, but when I do, I have no idea how to respond.  Mostly I think, “Why do you want to be my friend?  What about me caught your attention?”  If I can look at their blog, profile or information, I’ll see if we have anything in common, or if I find them interesting.  But I don’t just say, “Sure, join the party.”

Follow me, I’ll follow you:  those just make me crazy.  It seems kind of like little kids collecting stickers.  My daughter, when she was little, loved to collect stickers. She would smile gleefully when she received one.  Stick it to something, didn’t matter what, or give it away to someone she liked just to see them smile, but she never asked about it again or searched out where she had stuck it.  Followers are like that if they are just returning a follow.  Sure, I want followers, but I want to earn them, not buy them.

Writer’s platform just coming into visibility

Where was I:  oh, yes, platform.  Mine is in the just-coming- into-visibility stage.  That is if it were a tangible thing, at this point, you would see a vague outline of wood planks, with darkened circular shapes, probably bolts, notable in pairs at the ends and about halfway along each plank.  I work to build solid stuff, but it’s not finished. So, invisible man kind-of-thing just starting to be made solid appearing, but not yet.  This blog is one of those planks, and it is one of two that appears like you could step on it and not fall through. My book is the other solid looking plank.  And see that one over there, off to the right at the top of this foundation?  That one is the anthology I am working on.  The last short story is getting fleshed out.  Then it is heavy duty revise and edit for the lot of them.  Maybe by late June, early July it will debut.  And one more plank will appear.  A person could lay a towel down and get suntanned perhaps.

Happy New Year, happy publishing

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Today started with my usual check in at my blog, at my Smashwords dashboard and at Goodreads.  No one had visited my page, no one had downloaded my book, and I ran short of taking part in Goodreads due to family demands.  And then with this new year winding out before me, I had to stop and rethink where I was about to let my thoughts run off to.  You see, a year ago, I was telling myself that as soon as summer vacation started, I was going to rework the first book in my series of SciFi novels (all unpublished) and check out Kindle and Barnes & Nobel and see about self-publishing an ebook. I was telling myself every day that I was closer to putting my novel out there.

The first week of June, I researched Kindle, then took a look at Barnes & Nobel and on a whim decided to see what else was out there for an author wanting to publish an ebook.  I heard about Smashwords through blogs I read. And that name kept coming up, so I went to the site and looked at what they were offering authors.  I mulled things over for two months, redrafting the entire time.

In August, I finished that redraft, edited, prepared for publication and then uploaded my book to Smashwords, where I decided the best fit for me as an author was.  A year ago, I was not a published author.  This may be only one of three places I call myself one, but it is a place and name I did not have one year ago.  So only 16 people have downloaded the sample of my novel.  I could tell myself, and have, that they did not like my writing or changed their minds and have not even looked at a word I’ve written, but I can also say, that 16 people who would not have seen it at all, never mind download a sample have had the opportunity.  This blog has been viewed 151 times since I started it in September, and that is 151 times more than last year.

So this year my goal is doubled.  I plan to complete my edit on an anthology of SciFi short fiction and complete my redraft on the second in my Students of Jump series.  I intend to publish them both before this new year is out.  It is possible that the third in the series could be out by the end of the year as well.

So it is a very happy new year.  I wish whoever reads this blog has a goal as fulfilling as mine and gets to see his or hers grow to fruition.  Happy New Year.

How I made my book trailer

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I thought that since I just finished  the improved version of my book trailer,
that I should talk about what I used to put it together.  The main
programs (Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere) should be no surprise.  The
pictures were standard digital images I took with a simple digital
camera.  I opened them up in Photoshop and worked them into what I
wanted for the video.  My nerg box is actually a picture I modified of a
large safe.  There are no real nerg box prototypes for me to take
pictures of, so the safe was a great replacement.  Another picture I
took, which was of a wooded area with a path, was also easy to modify in
Photoshop.  The path actually led up to a lake shore, but that is not an
image needed for my book. I erased the unnecessary water feature which
worked out nicely in the video.

I then used Adobe’s
Premiere Pro video software to set up my video.  I uploaded it to my list
of media the pictures I had modified, and some animated backdrops and
royalty free music (I’ll mention those sources later in this blog). 
From that point on it was just a matter of entering titling, video and
audio transitions, though I did have to modify one of my animated
backdrops. It was actually blue, but I wanted to have a  pale white,
rather murky movement going on in the background because my character
travels in time, and the process takes him through a place between
future and past that is rather like a bright foggy day where nothing is
clearly visible.  This modification was not hard to do. Using a feature
called fast color corrector under video effects, I was able to remove the blue tint
and raise the intensity of the brightness.  Dropping in my media by
layers and resizing a few pictures was the last of the easy parts. 
Preparing the titling was the most challenging.  I had to come up with
what I wanted my viewer to read, but also select text size, placement,
font, animation and color.  I worked on titling the most because I wasn’t sure
what sizes and fonts would support my story, and I didn’t want them to
upstage it either.  My most important tool ended up being my daughter.  
After awhile I would get too immersed in the process and just couldn’t
step back far enough to get it an unbiased look.  I would have her
watch and tell me what she thought needed more visual work, and then I
would go at it again.

My source for the music and animated backdrops was
Digital Juice. A person can find all sorts of useful items at their
site, from backdrops to motion design elements, such as snow falling, frames,
and revealers. They are priced reasonably and well done. They also have music useful for every genre imaginable.  The packages include some with variety and well as music under a single genre. So you could order music that is space age
in style, country, jazz or inspiring, etc.   What makes the music
selections so great is that they are provided in various lengths that
usually run in 15 seconds, 30 seconds, one minute and full length (anywhere from three minutes to a bit over four). Having the different lengths already cut to fit make selecting music easier, though selecting the piece for the mood I wanted definitely took time. 
I ended up choosing four or five, dropping them into my media list and
trying each one out with the visuals I had laid out out on the timeline in
Premiere.

Now I had all this available to me because my husband and I had been involved in videography for a few years, and we kept our equipment and software after we got out of the business.  I won’t say that authors need to purchase all these items to make a good trailer, but if you think you are going to be making several trailers over time, these particular software programs and animations do offer advantages.

Those darn book trailers

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I have been working on making a book trailer for my novel In Times Passed. This has not been an easy process. I have pretty much everything I need to produce one except a clear idea of how to put across just the right amount of information to create interest in buying the book and understanding of what the novel is about. I have received some feedback from other writers/readers/trailer viewers/etc. at Goodreads, and this has been helpful.  But again it comes down to me making the necessary changes. I posted my first version on YouTube, at Smashwords on my book page, at Goodreads on my author page and for a short time on this blog.

After considering editing my trailer, I sat down and wrote out the book’s plot in the simplest terms. I thought that this would help me get an idea of what is essential and what I need to leave out. Definitely helped to use the most basic of tools: the plot line.


So I ended up with this brief draft:  
It’s the year 2275 and Brent Garrett has been living off privilege for more than 24 years; however, recently it’s been leaving him dissatisfied.  But it is hard to complain.  

Raised at Meredith Complex, he knows he is expected to add to his orderly and secluded society.  He has yet to contribute anything.  Then he receives a prototype Nerg box and modifies it on a whim with startling results.  Now he has a time machine.  With a means to leave his frustrations behind (or is it ahead of him?), he travels back in time to 1979, part impulse and part destiny.  He meets Miranda Jenkins who offers him a new life, one he’ll have to work for. And it’s satisfying.  

Living the life of the common man has its benefits and its flaws.  Some flaws can shred a heart. For a man with time at his fingertips, running away is a tempting option.  

So that is where I am now. I think I have the text.  Next I have to work on the video.