The official website of Seattle sci-fi/fantasy author and geek Michael G. Munz
As I mentioned a few days ago, I now have an official cover design for A Memory in the Black, the sequel to A Shadow in the Flames. It’s now been finalized, and so I now present it to you:
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| (Design by Amalia Chitulescu.) |
I expect to have it published on Kindle in mid-August. Watch this blog, or follow my Twitter feed, for updates…
A few novel announcements…
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| Now 99 cents! |
#1: The revised edition of A Shadow in the Flames is now just $.99 on Kindle, and will be staying at that price for some time in honor of the upcoming Kindle release of the sequel, A Memory in the Black.
#2: Speaking of A Memory in the Black, I’ve just picked a cover design from my design contest on 99Designs. The winning designer is Amalia Chitulescu (link goes to her Facebook profile). I’ll be posting a look at her winning design here soon, once everything is officially official.
For those of you who haven’t heard of 99Designs (and I hadn’t heard of it myself until quite recently), it’s essentially a crowdsourcing website where you submit a design need and put up a sum of money as a prize for the best design. Then designers look at your request and begin submitting designs for you to rate, comment on, and request changes for. I started my contest about a week and a half ago, and I spent about 2 hours each day just going through designs and giving my feedback. Over the course of the contest, I wound up getting 320 total designs from 36 designers. (Of course, some of those 320 were adjustments to already submitted designs that I’d requested, but I still got a LOT of variety.) All of the designers were responsive and helpful in trying to meet my needs.
After four days of open submissions, the contest moves to a “final” stage, wherein I had to pick 6 designers to continue on and work with me for another 3 days to create their final submission. Just narrowing it down to 6 was difficult. When the final stage was over and it was time to pick a winner, that was an even harder choice. I spent three days agonizing over my options, going back and forth, and trying to choose from 6 final (and unique) choices, some of which had multiple versions for me to decide on.
But hey, now I’ve got a great, professional looking cover.
Most of the designs I received were combinations of photographic images – there wasn’t too much in the way of painted artwork, though there was some. I think if I were doing a fantasy book cover, I’d either go elsewhere or create a contest with a higher reward (you can increase the amount you’re offering, which I’m told brings in even more, and possibly better, designers). But I’m more than happy with my results here.
Blogging note: I’ve decided to try to update this blog once per week on Thursdays, so be sure to check in every week for writing updates and general geekery!
I’m looking at (let’s see, what day is this?) eleven more days before my self-imposed deadline to finish writing Legacy of Memory (pre-polishing). At the moment, I think I’m doing pretty well. The denouement of anything is always a difficult thing for me to write; having to tie together so many things and give a little resonance to the entire thing without it coming across as cheesy or forced is a challenge.
With the help of a mocha, I just finished the “final” chapter, and have only to write the epilogue. Once that’s done, I go into full editing mode, polishing language, fixing continuity issues, and generally making sure the characters are both ringing true and have made the transition from my brain to the page. This isn’t to say I don’t edit as I go, of course. The way I generally write is to get a chapter down, then go back and massage it into better shape before moving onto the next chapter. There are certain things you can only see once you’ve got the entire thing written, however. It’s both due to the fact that no matter how well you (or I, at least) outline something, it always evolves a little in the process of getting it onto the page, and the fact that it’s easier to see where some small things need fixing once you’ve got it all done and can stand back and view it as a whole.
We’ll see how quickly THAT stage goes, I guess. One of my chief readers is currently in the middle of selling his house, so he’s selfishly slacking off in his critiquing duties. I suppose I can forgive him.
In other news, I mentioned Mass Effect in my last blog. After a quick RAM upgrade (RAM is CHEAP these days!), I’ve been playing through it and finding myself surprisingly addicted. It’s got a great many of the good qualities of two other favorites of mine: Deus Ex and Knights of the Old Republic. I’ve been playing through it this first time Diomedes, reacting as he would (sticking to a plan, motivated by money, and being a general surly hard-ass). It leaves a lot of game branches and dialogue options unexplored, so it gives me a fun way to experience the game while at the same time leaving a lot for a second playthrough with a different (and more benevolent) attitude. No major review from me yet, though.
It’s June, but here in Seattle it still feels like March. At some point I suppose the sun might come out, but I’ll believe that when I see it.
-Michael G. Munz
www.michaelgmunz.com