Sunday, June 17, 2012

Kitchen Revamp

I have just about decided to get new cabinets in my kitchen in the new house. The ones that are here are okay, but the drawers in the lower cabinets, and two of the shelves are showing obvious wear and threatening to fall apart. I've been looking into many different styles, but being a dedicated do-it-yourselfer, I really like espresso kitchen cabinets. They're beautiful, come ready to assemble and are very affordable. Perfect for me, and will look great in my kitchen.

Demon Covers

Thanks to a great friend I met on Twitter, I have a "vision" for Alexander in the demon series. Kevin Rau made me several poses of my idea of Alex and I have recreated the Hell's Own cover as well as made the cover for the next in the series Damned if you Do

Here they are. The Hell's Own cover:

and the sequel
Damned if You Do


Have a Backup

We all know how important it is to back up files. If you don't know that, as a writer, you will at some point learn a painful lesson that drives home how important it is to constantly back up your work--just in case. However, something we don't always think about is having a backup to our computer. I have a laptop that I work all the time on. I confess that I no longer go for the most expensive, top of the line computers regardless of the style I choose. Things change so fast, and upgrading is easier if you buy cheap laptops.

Make sure you get one with enough power to do what you need, and that's enough. If you do go for a big, powerful and expensive computer, having a backup is still important. Too much can happen, and when it does, it happens fast. Anyone who has ever "refurbished" a computer that had a virus knows that it will never again be as good as it was when it was new. I've had several wiped and they never were as good. A few have been almost as good. I still always have a cheap backup. Even if you send your "good" computer (or your main computer, even if it is just a cheapie) in to be cleaned, you're going to be without the ability to work unless you have a backup.

Dark Side of the Moon for 50% off

Get your copy of Dark Side of the Moon for 50% off for 1 week only with the coupon code JE75L (expires 6/24) only at Smashwords.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Versatile Webpage Builders

Making your own website is a lot easier now than it was when I first started doing it back in the "stone ages" of the Inet. Now there are great new programs that can do everything for you, show you exactly how your site will look as you build it and upload it easily to your host. This kind of website builder makes it a joy to have a website, and lets you make changes quickly and easily with all of the hair-pulling HTML hassles of the past. You can do so much more now, too with the improvement of web-building languages. I love my website builder, and I'll even tell you a secret. I use it to help me make my book covers too! That's right. The versatility that you can get to build your webpage you can use to create great book covers.

Dark Side of the Moon

Awesome and fun new book trailer for Dark Side of the Moon