Chasing Music – What’s On The Menu
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.
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Some people should never be in charge.
Like this guy, the Mississippi governor, who insists that liberals want abortions left and right.
Seriously? Do I really have to explain this shit?
Let me, again and with feeling, explain the concept of pro-choice. See the word choice. It does not mean to abort the ever-loving hell out of every pregnancy. It means exactly what it is: choice. As in, a woman has the choice as to whether or not she wants to keep a pregnancy. If she does – that’s her choice. See that word again? But if she doesn’t and makes the choice to abort, then that is her choice. Funny little word, right?
Now, look at what I just wrote. And now ask me this: where does it get implied, even remotely, that every pregnant woman would traipse into a doctor’s office and ask to terminate a pregnancy like it’s the easiest choice ever? Where is it implied that there’s an abortions-for-all concept here?
I’ll wait.
No answer? Fabulous. I’ll go on, then.
Let’s be frank and call a spade a spade: none of this anti-choice, anti-birth control BS is about babies. NONE. Zip. Zero. This is basically men getting their britches in a bunch over the fact that, now that women have control over their biology and don’t have to be shackled to house, home, kids, and uterus, they are creating viable competition for the men in the workplace and in life. This is all about control. It has absolutely nothing to do with babies, because the same people who would see abortion outlawed are the very same people who would eliminate any and all social safety nets as the next step. They don’t give a damn about babies. They don’t give a damn about women, because they can and will and have imprisoned women for not giving birth the way they want (google the case of a FL woman who was imprisoned because she wanted a natural birth after a C-section with her first child). They only want one thing: to shoehorn women right back into the 19th Century, where there was little choice for a woman but to marry and reproduce, man was the king of the castle, and everyone around him was to worship him.
This is what it’s about. Make no mistake. And lest you believe otherwise, think of this: the Republicans have proposed next to nothing to create jobs. They have, however, proposed – and in some cases, passed – over four hundred anti-choice bills.
This right here is a perfect demonstration of their priorities. None of this is about “saving” anything except their egos.
On a national scale.
And they’re not in the least bit ashamed that they would use women and women’s rights as political bargaining chips and blame “radical feminism” for their own misogyny. Feminism is this superbly radical idea that women are people. You know, human beings.
The Republicans have to lose and lose HARD in November.
K.G.
More from George Elder
George had left this in comments, and I think this is a pretty solid topic.
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Usually, Sci-Fi books are not illustrated, although one can easily claim that many graphic novels are indeed Sci-Fi in nature. Alas, I can’t help but be attracted by drawn images, and I decided early on that Genesis would be illustrated. I believe drawings work with prose to better share what an author envisions than either mode of communication can do alone. My doctoral work at Penn State examined this area, with numerous studies indicating that simultaneously enlisting semantic and visuospatial resources greatly enhances attention acquisition and memory formation.
However, it should be understood that there are marked differences between the writing requirements of a graphic novel and novels of more conventional natures. The plot and character development of both require explication, but a graphic novel does not need quite as much by way of written descriptions. Yes, a picture can say thousands of words, so I decided to give illustrations a try in Genesis.
The issue shifted to cost versus available talent, a practical dilemma. Moreover, all costs were out of pocket, and few of us are rich. I was blessed in having access to the Center for Cartoon Studies, which is located in White River Junction, Vermont. I saw CCS’s student artwork online and was impressed. Good artists can also be found online at Deviant Art, which is an excellent venue for anyone considering hiring an artist.
I opted to employ a competition with CCS’s students and described the Genesis project along with contract terms on the school’s posting board. Five artists submitted artwork. My friends in the art world, after much debate, decided that Randal Drew should be awarded the contract. A price of $25 per ink was offered, with an award for up to125 drawings being made. The price was acceptable, although be advised very experienced graphic artists can be much more expensive.
Since the number of drawings would be limited, I had to select key points wherein the drawings would dovetail with the descriptions, plotlines and action sequences in such a way as to maximize impact. This was far more difficult than I imagined, and I must leave it up to the reader to decide if the purpose was achieved. Clearly, the artwork had to address the characters, time/space capsule, pivotal action scenes, and important plotline shifts.
Some of this was achieved, and seeing a character like Anita in a drawing allows the reader to better grasp her size and power, for she most assuredly does not have a typical female form. Seeing the capsule was also illuminating, as were some of the action scenes. My main regret soon became not having more drawings done for each Chapter, but my resources were limited and the artist was hard-pressed due to time-constraints. Book 1 alone consumed 58 drawings spread over fifteen chapters and many more could have been used.
In many ways, this was an experiment, and if readers of the hard-copy text like them we will extend the drawings to Books 2, 3 and 4. There are still a number of technical problems to overcome. At 300-370 pages, each text is already the size of an average Sci-Fi novel, and adding sixty more pages for the drawings presents a financial barrier to publishers. However, my publisher felt the project was technically and financially feasible for hard copies. Kindle is still grappling with incorporating drawings and other graphics. I imagine time will resolve these issues.
Ultimately, sales will dictate content, which is a harsh reality that any author must confront. Genesis was designed to be visual in nature, and parts of the story would benefit greatly from drawings and artwork—such as the gigantic battles in Book 2 and the surrealistic events that transpire in Book 3 (e.g., the crew’s experiences with the Seekers).
On the other hand, some might find the art superfluous, and this is a point I must consider. We write for audiences and not just for ourselves. We are judged accordingly, but I do not believe it wise to allow our need to follow a given genre form to stifle creativity. Sci-Fi is all about reaching out in new directions, and thus we ought to consider the role of graphics in our novels
There is always the bogyman of cost waiting around every corner, but I’ve no regrets about laying out what I could on a hope and a prayer. Experimentation is the very heart of Sci-Fi! Our shared passion is a conjunction of imagination, knowledge, and dreams that pushes the envelope of what could be to its limits. We are only here for a second or two, so we must do all we can while we can to try something new!
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Another freebie!
Yes, it’s the turn for my second book, Secrets, to be the Amazon freebie du jour!
Link: http://amzn.to/IpDOXz
And already, as of 10:40am, it’s #44 in Contemporary Fantasy. Now look, Book 1 reached #6 in Sci-fi Adventure, so I see no reason why the second one can’t reach Top 10 as well!
In advance, thank you for your support.
<3
K.G.
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Blog Tour Stop: George Elder
George Elder, a fellow writer, wrote a book that looks to be a fascinating read. My Kindle has no shortage of material to keep me reading well into the next month, but what’s a little more? :)
George stopped by Improvisations on Reality to sound off about the personal influence that goes into his writing. We all have it: that teacher who encouraged us, that significant other who always inspires us to do something, that one life-changing event – or simply, as in George’s case, a series of events and strength of spirit.
I am delighted to host him on his blog tour.
Read on below the fold, please.
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On Pricing E-books
In light of the Dept. of Justice coming down on Apple, HarperCollins, and some others in regards to e-book pricing, it’s time to address the question: what’s a fair price to pay for an e-book?
Frankly? Any price that is set that is below the print copy.
Allow me to be blunt about something, and this may not score me any points, but it needs to be said: no author works for free. We have bills to pay. We have mouths to feed. And we certainly reserve the right to profit from our labor. Most people seem to forget that writing is a job, and not a hobby, or “that thing to do to pass the time”. No. It’s a job, it’s a full-time job, because no matter how long you actually, physically write, the mental process of creating a story is interminable.
However, and on this one I’m standing firm, never should an e-book cost more than a new paperback. Yes, HarperCollins, I’m looking at you, because I see what you’ve done with Philippa Gregory books. I shouldn’t have to pay $14 for an e-book if the paperback costs $12. No. While the production costs for paperbacks in trad-pub do, in a way, warrant the percentage of the list price that is withheld by the publisher. However, what is there on the e-book end? The production of an e-book is not difficult. Moreover, it’s a one-time thing. There are no repeated payments to the printer, and there is no sending back the overstock if it’s overprinted with e-books. Formatting and uploading is a one-time affair.
Where is the money going? Amazon’s distribution fee is pretty damn small. The author whose e-book is going through a publishing house gets about 16% off the total price. So the other 84% goes to the publisher…why? What, exactly, does the publisher do in order to warrant that much of a royalty on an e-book?
Formatting? Possibly. But formatting, in and of itself, is not a difficult task. If you own a writing software like Scrivener, it does publish to .mobi or .epub format. Even with something you get off download.com, if you toy with the originating file a bit, it’s not that difficult to have a good end result with the conversion.
To shift gears a little, let’s talk e-books for self-pubs.
I notice that more and more authors are going exclusively e-pub with their self-publication. Know what, awesome. It taps into the market directly and wicked fast, it’s free (contrary to what Writers Beware may say, self-publication is possible for free, and this is one of those ways…ahem), and it’s pretty damn easy. And usually, to generate a buzz, the new authors make their books anywhere from 99c to $9.99.
I am not a fan of e-books being priced at a buck, because the author should get a decent royalty cut. $2.99 is the minimum threshold for a 70% royalty, and believe me, that is plenty fair.
And yes, I think that there is nothing wrong with charging almost ten bucks for an e-book if you’re a self-pub. Personally, I wouldn’t do that for my books, but I can see why one would. For one, it’s profitable. For two, if your book garners good reviews and gets a good sales track going, then you have every right to make a better cut off it.
Let’s not get into the “well, it better be perfect for that price!” schtick that I’ve seen. There is no published work, trad or self, that is absolutely perfect. It’s a human labor, and as such, human errors are made. People seem to either forget that altogether, or don’t even stop to consider it. Nothing is perfect, and some of the books priced for 99c should be priced much higher for their content. Conversely, some of the books priced at $4.99 are poorly written and I would be hard-pressed to look at them again. In other words: forget for a second the standards of “perfection”. For one, there’s no such thing, and for two, you’re wasting the time that you can spend reading in trying to vet someone’s work against a subjective standard.
I will be the first to admit that I’d be hard-pressed to shell out $10 for an e-book, but if it’s recommended to me, then I’ll happily fork over the money. Perhaps there’s a bit of an actor-observer bias in me, considering I’m an author plying my trade as well, and thusly know how difficult it can be to drive sales to your book, but I have nothing against shelling out for someone’s work. They too poured in their blood, sweat, and tears into making it perfect, just like my team and I have invested into The Index Series. But when it gets to be where the print book is cheaper, that’s where we have a problem. Ahem, HarperCollins, that’s on you.
K.G.
My books, should you want ‘em: http://amzn.to/InrIwW
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Da-a-a-amn.
When Amazon does promo, Amazon does promo.
So I decided to make my book free for Kindle, as part of the KDP Select free promo days. So far, just Book 1, though. I did no promo apart from some scheduled tweets with the link, and tossed a couple of FB groups the link as well.
The day is barely halfway gone and over a hundred copies have been moved so far, and it’s not stopping. Across both the US, UK, and German markets. Holy crap. I had no idea I had waiting fans in Germany, but there you go!
I’m delighted, and very grateful to my readers. And, as ever, I look forward to your reviews. Recently, MW from San Diego gave the first book a five-star review. Awesome.
I will happily put up a draft of the film version up if I can. I want to see if people like reading scripts as much as I do.
K.G.
