December 2007
32 posts
Orcaman →
Painted this tonight, an orcaman with lance. I’m going to get back to writing this exact scene from chapter 21 as soon as I post here. Detail image below. Click the pics to see the larger view.
WisCon 32 →
Okay, I’ve registered, booked a room. I’ll get flights arranged in a bit. Otherwise, I’m there, WisCon in May. Who else is going? WisCon 32: May 23-26, 2008 The Concourse Hotel in Madison, Wisconsin http://www.wiscon.info/
The Wolf →
Here’s Alice and Lykeia —“Keia,” our 12-week old German Shepherd.
Winter wildlife →
A couple deer wandered into out backyard this morning, but didn’t move far from the forest, and didn’t hang about long—probably that guy with the clicking camera. Birds…lots of them this winter. Nothing stops these guys… And these are our girls, Lykeia “Keia” is a 12-week old German Shepherd, and Penny is a four year old Jack Russel/Australian...
OctoKass →
A little more goofing with my last painting. Click to see the large view.
Happy Holidays! →
This year I have two paintings…Happy Holidays everyone. <raises coffee mug> Here’s to a great 2008! Click the pics to see then larger.
Main character →
Painted this afternoon. Here’s where my main character is right now… Click the pic to view it larger.
Juno Books Countdown Widget →
Here’s something for the Juno Books authors with a future release date—that includes me! I like the idea of a graphical panel with links for pre-ordering, book info, and a countdown timer to the release date. So, I spent a couple hours goofing with javascript, images, styles, etc., and created the Juno Books Countdown Widget. Here’s what it looks like with Dru’s...
Where do your characters live? →
If you’re writing in this world and not some other, do you have real places in mind when you write something like, Joe turned left at Nor’east Lane, and made his way down the sandy path to his cottage on the beach? And is it ever a real place? Some place you like? Your favorite house in the world? Do your characters live somewhere nearby? Are you neighbors? Maybe a better...
Amberlight by Sylvia Kelso →
Amberlight by Sylvia Kelso Juno Books (November, 2007) Language: English ISBN-10: 0809572052 ISBN-13: 978-0809572052 Way late on this. I’m in the middle of Carole McDonnell’s Wind Follower—hoping to follow up with a post on it shortly. I read Amberlight a few weeks ago and loved it. I bought it at the Prime Books/Juno booth at World Fantasy 2007 in early...
Balance →
So much of the writing craft is about balance, how much to tell the reader. There are many aspects of this balance: how many hints, how deep the info—too much and you give away the surprise, or you kill your suspense. I have been struggling with this very issue in the sequel to Seaborn, but I’m thinking of another aspect of balance. How much do you write for the present, an...
Balance →
So much of the writing craft is about balance, how much to tell the reader. There are many aspects of this balance: how many hints, how deep the info—too much and you give away the surprise, or you kill your suspense. I have been struggling with this very issue in the sequel to Seaborn, but I’m thinking of another aspect of balance. How much do you write for the present, an...
IF: backwards →
IF: backwards →
To people living at the bottom of the sea, up is bad, down is good, and our world is backward. I was up late last night—couldn’t sleep—and painted this scene and character, the next ruler of the Seaborn, a few years after she’s settled in, after the current king is removed from the throne. Click the pic to view it larger. http://illustrationfriday.com/
IF: backwards →
To people living at the bottom of the sea, up is bad, down is good, and our world is backward. I was up late last night—couldn’t sleep—and painted this scene and character, the next ruler of the Seaborn, a few years after she’s settled in, after the current king is removed from the throne. Click the pic to view it larger. http://illustrationfriday.com/
A little animation →
I have this idea (perhaps lunacy) that I want an animated book trailer for Seaborn. So, I spent hours tonight playing with what turned out to be four seconds of animation. Posted it to YouTube. Love to hear what you think. http://www.youtube.com/v/lfYJgzS9Rr4 Here’s one frame:
Let it snow! →
Coming down pretty hard. It’s been snowing maybe twenty minutes and I can’t see the driveway. Cool. I mean cold. Drive safely out there. http://www.weather.com
Organization for Transformative Works →
Saw this at Tobias Buckell’s, passing it along: An organization dedicated to helping, growing, protecting the fan writing community, led by a board of teachers, professors from a range of disciplines, chaired by Naomi Novik. The vision (from the site),
We envision a future in which all fannish works are recognized as legal and transformative and are accepted as a legitimate creative...
Interstitial Arts →
I was only vaguely aware of the interesting ideas and work being done over at the IAF—how unfortunate for me. Thanks to an invite from Ellen Kushner (via Facebook) to check out the Interstitial Online Salon, I’ve set out to find more about “art made in the interstices between genres and categories,” and I encourage you too. I’ve been pulled in by everything...
The visual side of writing →
I’m a visual sort of person, and at times think entirely in pictures. In writing, I always “see” what’s happening to my characters, I picture scenes, see the tension in the room through the posture, the space between two characters, the expressions on their faces. I see characters in action and I write what I see. Pretty much the way it works for me. I have sketched...
Making Mayhem, and then napping →
Here’s a video of Penny (Jack Russell / Australian Herder) making mayhem with Lykeia (“keia”), our new German Shepherd puppy. Plus some pics of Keia resting after endless days and nights of rough housing. The famous Penny: http://the0phrastus.typepad.com/the0phrastus/2005/06/mans_best_frien_1.html http://the0phrastus.typepad.com/the0phrastus/2007/09/make-him-squeal.html...
IF: little things →
Earth is an ocean world—and worlds come in all sizes…depending on who or what you are.
http://illustrationfriday.com/
Mermaidicon →
I made emoticon happy mermaid t-shirts and stickers over at CafePress.com in a variety of styles. (Click the pic to view full-sized). I broke some rules, adding tildes for hair, and then the line, “SEABORN ¤ Chris Howard ¤ Juno Books” underneath. Get yours here: http://www.cafepress.com/seaborn Here’s the actual reproducible text: §:)¤8º0oº°°{...
"I have no recollection of remembering that... →
I really wanted to say that , and then cover the microphone to discuss my next brilliant response with my legal team. Okay, that’s just my imagination. But I was there yesterday, in that very room where people have been known to say things like that. We met in the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing Room—you know, you’ve seen it on TV, newspapers, C-SPAN. I was in...
Just want to take a moment... →
…to post about how impressed I have been with the print services of deviantArt (www.deviantart.com). I just received my second order, this one’s an 8 x 10 of Tim Lantz’s Seaborn (the cover art for my novel—coming out next summer from Juno Books), and I can’t be happier with Tim’s work, the quality of the prints, and the care that went into the packaging. ...
Discover [del.icio.us] →
DiscoverWorks.org is a place to find and post information about the copyright status, ownership and metadata for all kinds of content, from books, blogs and images to music, videos and beyond.
Discover →
DiscoverWorks.org is a place to find and post information about the copyright status, ownership and metadata for all kinds of content, from books, blogs and images to music, videos and beyond.
YouFinishIt [del.icio.us] →
YouFinishIt →
Cold Quiz at Juno Books →
Answer the questions, email them, win a Barnes & Noble or Borders gift card. Cool. http://juno-books.com/cold_quiz.html
Each answer is the title of an sf/f novel. All titles include a word association with the winter season and weather. If we were using, for example, children’s books, Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin might have been used; Cold Mountain by Charles...
What are you doing for Pretend to be a Time... →
Get ready. Saturday, December 8th is Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day, when you’re invited to, “pretend for the day that you are a traveler from a different time - except that, of course, you can’t actually *tell* people you’re a time traveler, because they’ll think you’re crazy.” Check out some of the options: Utopian/cliché Future, Dystopian Future,...
Poseidonis Prints →
Selling prints of this one over at deviantArt, my first shot at this. Click the pic below to go there and order.
Posedonis by *the0phrastus on deviantART .
