I discovered Michele Albert when she joined an online discussion about using 3D programs to design cover art and illustrations for her books (both printed and ebook).
Went to her site and found a blog dedicated to her trials, tribulations and triumphs as she continually hones her illustrative skills.
She’s done some great work, and you can pick up some good tips from her commentary.
Check out her blog HERE!
I’m not sure exactly when I met Steve. It could be the year he won the Kerrville Songwriters’ competition. Or, it could have been in the Kerrville campgrounds before that.
Either way, when I moved to New York in 1986 and joined the volunteer staff at Fast Folk Musical Magazine (their catalog is now part of the Smithsonian’s archives), Steve was a stalwart member helping get unknown writer’s as much exposure as possible. (People first showcased on Fast Folk include Lyle Lovette, Suzanne Vega, and Michelle Shocked.)
When I moved to Washington, DC in 1991, there was Steve, hosting open mikes, running songwriter showcases, always supporting others. I was quite complimented when he asked me to be one of the 40 songwriters who helped him celebrate his 40th birthday.
All of this support for others is pretty impressive for a guy who is a great songwriter himself. Check out his song Record Time on Kathy Mattea’s album Lonesome Standard Time as an example. Fast Folk had its annual concert at the Bottom Line in the Village. Kathy Mattea had been a featured guest. As she was leaving, she heard another great songwriter Josh Joffen on stage singing Record Time. It stopped her in her tracks, and she ran backstage to get rights to Steve’s song!
Today Steve is back in his home state of California, performing up a storm and showcasing bunches of other artists (naturally).
You can check him out HERE.
Not about the profile. I’m pleased and proud of the piece SmithMicro, the creator of Poser software, just put up as a Poser User Story on how I used Poser for the illustrations in my story Kelm’s Revenge.
But, I’m both thrilled and embarrassed.
Thrilled to be in the company of so many other capable illustrators using Poser.
Embarrassed because when I read the article I discovered I had a typo on the cover for Kelm’s Revenge. I had NOrsodian instead of NUrsodian! It’s the headlines and captions that get you every time, and I should know this after 40 years in publishing of one sort or another.
Oh well, I submitted revised cover art to Amazon as soon as I saw it, and sent SmithMicro revised art as well. It will take a few days to fix.
Meanwhile you can check out my profile, as well as those of many others who use Poser professonally, at:
Wanted to check out my new novelette, but not sure you’d like it?
Well, you can get it FREE (that’s right – for nothing more than the effort to download the sucker) through Sunday 1/29/12.
get it at: www.amazon.com/dp/B006ZQEPEK
Don’t have a Kindle? No problem.
Amazon offers FREE (don’t we love that word) apps for reading their Kindle ebooks, and they’re available for iPads/iPods/iPhones, all Android devices as well as Macs and PCs.
Just go here:
Now, with nothing other than the free app and your existing Amazon account, you can join the millions of Kindle ebook readers (there’s lots more ebooks available than my stuff – free and otherwise - just in case you didn’t know that).
I needed a unique “artifact” for my next Nursoda story, so, with fear and trembling, I fired up Blender, created exactly what I needed starting with an empty screen, exported it as a 3DS file (a file format used by Autodesk 3ds Max, a $3,500 program — Blender, otoh, is free), and loaded it into Poser (you can get more info on Poser and Blender on my site under the Art/3D menu).
It worked!
Now, it’s not a complex item, and it doesn’t have any fancy surface textures. But, if a 67 year old guy who never tried computer graphics of any kind until a year ago can do it, you can too!
Here are two sections i cropped out of larger images using the prop. In the darker one, I was actually able to get it to glow and cast a red light into the face of the acolyte wizard holding it!!
Back in the early 1980s, a fellow named John Gorka won the Kerrville Music Festical’s annual songwriter contest. His prize was two-fold: first, he go to open the two week festival on the main stage. Second, he received a free scholarship to the mid-festival three day songwriters’ workshop.
I had the good fortune of attending that workshop (see post on Steve Gillette), and instantly fell for John’s songs.
How could you not love songs about wanting to grow up to be a tree, how BB King was wrong, or fantasies of the thoughts and dreams of dairy cows in the winter fields of the midwest?
When I moved to NYC in 1986, I kept up with the songwriter community by joining the Musician’s Coop that oversaw entertainment at The Speakeasy on MacDougal Street in the Village. And who should later also move to NYC but John Gorka.
I wouldn’t say we became more than acquaintances, but one of my best memories is trading songs in the Village’s Washington Square on a warm Summer midnight with John Gorka and Michelle Shocked.
John went on to Nashville, TV appearances, etc., and easily sells out the Barns at Wolftrap when he plays the DC area.
Check him out here:
Also, see his wikipedia entry:
My latest eBook – Rat’s Chance – is up in Amazon’s Kindle store:
amazon.com/dp/B006ZQEPEK
A send-up of pulp detective fiction, it chronicles the adventures of former janitor Henry Sampers and Persi, a randy, telepathic rat with an IQ of 180.
Follow Persi and Sampers as they seek to make the world safe for designer bubble gum, but end up in the middle of international mayhem.
