Improvisations on Reality

Over the weekend, the proof files got approved and I bumped up the release date a little.

In other words, please welcome my baby: the wrap-up of the first arc, and the fourth book in The Index Series: Revival.

Press Release

Hard Copy

Kindle

I released four books since 2009. And now that I’m back to the usual daily grind of promo, day job, studying, photo-retouching, and all those other things I do, I’m starting to slowly realize that I released four books, and I’m somewhere between surprised and having a conniption about what I’m going to do next.

This series, this story of non-human people in outer space dealing with very human problems on their scale and in their lives, has been something that I wanted to write since I was a kid. The fact that the story is written and published is more than a little surreal. In fact, I feel like I should pinch myself, just to make sure that it’s happening. Even though the hard copies of the books are all within my line of sight, it’s still difficult to believe that yes, I’ve actually stopped just dreaming and started doing all of this.

But there we go, and here we are. So now what do I do?

Well, first things first…PARTY! It’s the first complete arc. Instead of one volume, I have four to offer, and two more waiting in the wings to get released. This has been a labor of love, and a whole mess of work for more than just myself. My editor, Gayle F. Moffet, has labored over every installment since the second, and I have half a mind of having her overhaul the first, if only to have it up to par. This series, right now, is as much hers as it is my own, because if not for her eyes and red-pen feature on Acrobat, I shudder to think of what would’ve happened to my books otherwise.

And second things second, I have to think of the next arc. It will be three books; I have to start on rewriting the fifth one sooner rather than later (because holy plot holes, batman), and of course…artwork!

And speaking of the artwork…

You may have noticed that Jenna Bacci was billed as the original artist for the cover of Revival. That did not turn out to be the case, and instead, the back cover of Revival features the artwork of Tiffany Chaney, from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This is due to circumstances beyond my control; Jenna is getting ready for college, and working on all of that has been her priority. I’m cheering her on, whichever school she will attend. Tiffany Chaney has been hired to work on the character art for The Index Series, and she will work on the second arc as well. The front covers of Lineage and Revival have both been created by Marion Meadows (yes, the same Marion Meadows who’s on stage with the sax), and hopefully, he will stay aboard as the cover artist for the upcoming arc.

There’s a lot more research to be done for the second arc as well. I will not give away what I’ll be researching just yet, but let’s just say that if you think that this is the last you’ve seen of Morrhia, you’re wrong. And if you’re gleefully thinking that she’ll be back…well, I can’t really tell you what she’s up to, can I? :)

The most important retrospect, though, is how self-publishing has grown since 2009, when I released my first book. Think about it: 2009 wasn’t that long ago, only three years. And if only a year earlier I would’ve said that I’d be going self-pub, I would’ve heard, “That’s great if you want to have your books gathering dust in your closet.” Heck, I actually heard that from a published author as I was tossing the option around. But if I were to be a first-time self-pub right now, the amount of information about self-publishing is astounding. When the Kindle got cheap, it’s like someone poured Miracle-Gro on self-publishing, and suddenly, its view has shifted into a very viable, very lucrative, and very freeing way to get your stuff into print.

It’s been a hectic, madcap, exciting, and completely exhilarating three years in the publishing world, and know what I say? Full. Speed. Ahead.

K.G.

Whew. It just occurred to me: there hasn’t been a jazz-related post on here for quite a while, and I won’t lie, I missed writing about my favorite music.

In truth, I’ve been pretty busy, both with the day job and writing, but as it is, I have been making every effort to see my music. I’ve taken to photographing the shows more than I write about them, and if you have me on Facebook, whether my personal profile or my business page (which I strongly encourage you like on FB to see some of my shots), then you may’ve seen them.

So far, the notable shows have been Ragan Whiteside at Trumpets, Chuck Loeb going straight-ahead with the Plain ‘n Simple Trip at the Blue Note, and Elan Trotman pairing up with Will Donato at the Houndstooth. Ladies and gentlemen, I take back whatever I said about Koz or Brian Culbertson being hams. You just have not met Will Donato, and you cannot possibly mistake it when you do: chances are, he’s either in your lap or pulling you onstage, and yes, I mean that literally.

For crying out loud, when I met him, he was between me and my coffee! :)

(Will, I know you’re reading this. Hi! Hugs! See you soon!)

May and June will be busy indeed. I have so far:

- Smooth Jazz for Scholars, Connecticut. Nelson Rangell is coming for that gig. Uh…yes. Please.

- Shilts at the Houndstooth for the release of his new CD, All Grown Up.

- Newport Beach, CA, for the jazz festival

- Acoustic Alchemy coming back to the Iridium

- Steve Cole and JJ Sansaverino in Lucille’s Grill at BB King’s

- Spyro Gyra at the Blue Note (in July, I think).

There is much to catch up on far as writing about music goes, and once my brain recuperates from being Swiss-cheesed by tax season, I will happily proceed to do so.

K.G.

You guys know what I mean.

If you don’t, then I’ll say it point blank: I love jazz. I love contemporary jazz, specifically. I chase it, I photograph it, and I travel with it.

I’ll be honest, this year had gotten more than a little bit madcap as far as traveling was concerned. I had gone to California, Philly, Texas, of course the Caribbean – and the destinations change year to year. And all of this had been in the name of my music.

I can’t really think of the best moments of 2011 and pick just the one that stands out the most. Especially now, in my hotel room in Connecticut, preparing for another show tomorrow night, I’m raking my mind over the moments of 2011 in the key of jazz.

1. Newport Beach Jazz Fest - my first time attending, my first time meeting my friends from across the country, and my first time seeing the sheer, unbridled enthusiasm with which California embraces its contemp jazz.

2. Dave Brubeck, without a mic, at the Note - let’s put aside for a moment that this was Dave Brubeck, the legend of jazz. This was the first time, in my three years of coming to the Note, that I have ever heard the entire club go silent when Dave was about to speak. There was reverence in the room that night.

3. Boney James at BB King’s - how long has it been since James had been in NYC? Answer: too damn long.

4. Joey Sommerville, Oli Silk, and Matt Marshak at the Houndstooth - I think the Houndstooth Jazz series had become the smaller, NYC version of a jazz festival (an ongoing one, at that), but this show in particular was a party, start to finish. Joey turned out the swag, the funk, and the salsa.

5. Acoustic Alchemy at the Iridium - another great contemporary jazz sound that hadn’t been around NYC for a long while, and if there is ever a piece of auditory magic, it’s The Beautiful Game. Fred White takes the signature Acoustic Alchemy sound and makes a hypnotic tapestry out of it in live show.

Not to mention, Steve Cole came back to Houndstooth, and Peter White did the Elvis at BB King’s – and I have photos to prove it!!!)… Just so many great moments, most of them spent with the people that I am delighted to call my friends.

I look forward to 2012. A lot.

I’ll leave you with a photo that I’ve snapped of Mindi Abair at BB King’s last week. I took it during Silent Night, and it surprised me. I did not retouch the photo in any way, and although I could up the contrast a bit…no. I like it exactly the way it is.

A very merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and a great winter season and New Year’s to those who do not.

K.G.

Copyright (c) KG Creative Enterprises

Just something for you guys to check out.

Marion Meadows, who had guest-starred as my third book’s cover artist, happens to be a stellar photographer. Who had entered the 2011 National Geographic Photo Contest with some entries from his trip to Africa this year.

Check out his photos and cheer him on. His photography is truly brilliant, and I say this without any hint of bias; he has a gift for visual arts, and the entries in NatGeo are only proof positive thereto. My fingers are crossed for him.

K.G.

This is a little bit of new territory, I will confess, but I think it’s a good thing that I’m doing for my business: learning photography.

The way I see it, it’s something that had to happen. As a graphic designer, I use stock photography taken by others, usually via a stock-pic exchange site like iStockPhoto. Far as the artists’ photos, I ask the artists themselves, or their management. But, and especially when it comes to live shots, it comes to working with fellow photographers. While often a great thing, it also puts into question copyright.

Now, I credit photographers when and where I can. But a lot of my work usually comes with a stipulation that I keep my logo, or the photographer’s name (or logo, sometimes) off the finished product. So how would I deal with the copyright issues then?

There hadn’t been any issues that had cropped up so far. However, it’s something that’s perfectly avoidable and something that would also give my creative side a whole new outlet. Solution: do my own photographing.

For those of you who have been on my Facebook page, you may’ve seen the virtual whoop of delight when I caved to temptation (and business requirements!) and bought my camera, a Nikon D5100. I figured out pretty damn quick that kit lenses have major limitations, and high-octane lenses are exorbitant enough to make me think twice about changing day jobs. However, I did receive an early Christmas gift in the form of a Sigma lens that I’ve had the chance to shoot with before (hat-tip to the awesome MJ Jones, who had provided me with the opportunity to shoot with it), and that’s a start.

I am still getting used to the cam itself. The one flaw in the D5100 is that it’s “user friendly” – and yes, it’s a flaw. The camera settings are pre-set by choice of scene, which is great, except that concert photography is a gamble. You don’t know how well the stages are lit, and that can and does make or break the shot. This renders most “scene” modes useless, unless you study each one and work through them on a trial-and-error basis. The thing is, I want to shoot manual, but doing so in iffy lighting (and not yet with my good lens) is a challenge.

But I’m learning. That’s the best part. There’s always something to learn.

And yes, I’m doing plenty of reading. Photography and graphic design always go hand-in-hand, and as I improve, I want to be able to see where I’m going to need more  work.

Truth be told, though, I’m pretty damn excited about it. I’ve always liked to tool around with images, so taking my own, to me, is a perfectly logical next step in Getting Better At What I Do.

K.G.

“…I’m in a New York state of mind…”

- Billy Joel

You know, while that song has been overplayed, I’ve truly been in a New York state of mind the past couple of days.

What you guys may not know about me, and if you do – great!, but I absolutely love walking. In part, because I live in a city that doesn’t require having a car to get around, in another because I’m just the sort of a person whose mind does great things when the feet are in motion, but I love, love long walks through the city. Any metropolis, truly, but this one I lived in for the past sixteen years and, truth be told, I am in love with it.

“Have you ever been in love? With a person, that is.”

Yes, I have. It’s not my general policy to comment on my personal life, but the other times I was in love before ended very, very badly. One of the two times that it didn’t end badly was when I first explored NY for what it was…and never quite stopped doing so. My other love affair is with music.

“So why do you say that you love NYC? You refer to it like it’s a person, almost…romantically.”

For a reason, I assure. It breathes in a certain sense, it certainly has its own heartbeat, and it definitely has good days and bad. It’s just on such a larger scale, and it is alive in its own unique way. I say that I am in love with it because its rhythm – insane, frenetic, multicolored, multifaceted – is the same as my own way of thinking: nonstop, random and yet perfectly organized, colorful and imaginative, everyday and madcap at the same time. It’s a city that is its own way of life, and its own brand of uniqueness.

“It’s just so…fast-paced!”

Ever seen how I walk? ;)

But truly, this is a different love. New York is my heart and soul because of its rhythm, and because of the very unique things I may find in it. I would see a teenage girl decked out like Ricky’s makeup shop used her wardrobe for experimentation playing classical violin concertos on a subway platform, and I’d see people miss their train just so they could sit and listen to her. I did that too, because when the hell would you see something like that, if not right then and there? Or what about the ragtag-looking trio of high-schoolers, two tenor saxophones and a drummer, with a sign of “Need Money to Record Album” blasting into it on the L-train platform with a skill that I’d see at a jazz festival of a far grander scale? These things are unique, they come just in the moment that they happen in; there is no way to repeat them. And each of those moments makes me smile, and file them away into the recesses of my memory for the next time I need to give my day a little oomph of alive.

Today was sunny, I was a guest caller on Talking Smooth Jazz with Oli Silk, a most brilliant young pianist with a new CD in stores on August 31st – iTunes, people, iTunes!!! – and thought to myself, screw it. I need to be out there.

And when that mentality hits, I absolutely have to get the hell to wherever I’m going.

So today, I boarded the train and hightailed it to…Brooklyn Heights.

*cue Down to the Bone song of the same name*

…c’mon, you guys knew that was coming. :)

On the real, my connection to Brooklyn Heights – the neighborhood, not the song – comes from when I was working nightshift and finishing my degree. I also wrote my first book during that time – the first draft of it, in all its imperfect glory, was finalized while I was working at night, would come back to my place and couldn’t sleep. So I’d stay on the Promenade to do nothing but watch the sunrise.

I can’t even begin to tell you how utterly beautiful that sight is. I can only hope that one fine sleepless night, I will be able to stay up and capture that. The colors are inimitable, and I don’t think photos or words do it justice.

So, here I went, and the sun was out in full force. So were the tourists, but you can’t win ‘em all.

Without further ado, here are some choice sights.

The Promenade.

The skyline of Lower Manhattan, as taken from the Promenade.

Cadman Plaza Park, right at the foot of the Bridge.

Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge – a walk I do not do very often, but ought to.

Brooklyn Bridge – a mile and a quarter of walking delight :)

Right off Wall Street, there’s a little square with a patisserie…and a lighted fountain. I love coming to this fountain; it’s a nice place to settle in and just…relax and think.

I do these photo-walks often. I’m not sure where the hell I get the images to, but these walks, for me at least, are a way to just get back in tune with myself. My ears are full of music, my feet are carrying me to various place, and after a while, I just stop worrying. Work, stress, ambition – all of this melts away when I’m confronted by a street overgrown with trees, or amber lighting in Madison Square Park at night, or the fiery colors of a sunset – or sunrise – on the Promenade. It just all takes a vacation, and for a couple of hours, I’m left to simply be me. Slow down, enjoy the music, and sniff at the wafting cinnamony smell from a nearby bakery. Or something.

I do love New York. And I will be showing you much more of it as I go about things.

K.G.

The Man of Camouflage.

Not the official title, but suitable. This is stunning.

I asked Andrew Gordon of The Super Groovers if I could toss together some concept art for him. It didn’t end up used, but this is what came out. I daresay I like it!

Photos are mine, from Jamaica ’09. The subway car photo is courtesy of Getty Images, taken by Mario Tama, 12.12.2009.

This here is a little something else that I do. I have no idea who took the base photos, but this is a simple CMYK layer piece that can well be used as a promo poster or a CD cover. It prints absolutely amazingly on matte photo paper.

I do find it a bit dark in file form. Could also be the comp I’m uploading it from…

Copyright (c) 2010 Katherine Gilraine

Marion Meadows. CMYK, 400dpi resolution, Photoshop CS3 & Paint Shop Pro 8

Okay. First things first, I should really drink some damn coffee before I write here. Sleep-typing is a bad idea, unless I wish to unintentionally amuse my readers by typo. Well, it works! :)

So I still have a bunch of photos, not just from concerts. I also have a ton of storage space from WordPress that I can very easily use to store my best photos. So I’m playing around with it now. Apologies to my Facebook/Twitter people who may get a bit of a whacked-out image there…

This is a photo that surprised me. Boney James, taken at Berks Jazz Fest Finale, by yours truly. And yes, I know it wasn’t allowed…apologies to the lovely people of Berks… but from middle right orchestra, on flashless ISO setting, this is pretty rocking. Copyrighted by me, taken with a Kodak M381. Also, a scene from my favorite places: Long Beach, Long Island, NY. Taken last year with a Nikon Coolpix 7600, 7mp resolution, regular setting.

Boney James at Berks Jazz Fest 2010

Sunset on the boardwalk of Long Beach, NY. 2009