Buried Under Book Covers by Joan Reeves

Image created with AI by Joan Reeves

I do apologize for missing my blogging date yesterday. I blame Artificial Intelligence for that.

Actually, I must take some blame too. It all started last week when I completed all of the  Facebook Ads training tutorials. I was pumped and ready to get going.

There was one thing holding me back. My book covers. I learned that the most successful book ads had cover art featuring men. 

Having a woman on the cover art gets men clicking but not to buy the book.

I wrestled with that intel until Monday when I decided to "just do it" and change out the book covers in question.

OMG! DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

After more than a week of trying to come up with cover art featuring an attractive male that organically represented the theme, story, etc. I'm ready to throw in the towel. Agh! So I waved the white flag of surrender and called my daughter the graphic artist for help. We meet tomorrow.

UNEXPECTED BENEFIT OF LOST TIME

One positive of this exhausting week was that I learned how to use an AI graphics program. Well, more or less learned. In many ways, it was harder than I expected and easier than I expected.

Harder? Because it requires far more hours of time and endless trial and error to create an image suitable for a book cover, i.e. an image that looks "real" and is specifically tailored to an element of the book.

Easier? Because with just a little effort you can create an interesting graphic good enough for marketing purposes. The image at the beginning of the post is one I made in about 5 minutes time. Of course, it took me about 4 hours of learning time to be able to make the image.

LAST THOUGHTS

I've always been willing to try new things and learn something new. However, I have conflicting emotions about using AI. I'm sure there are photographers and musicians who are also upset that AI is being used to create images that look like photographs and music that doesn't come from a real person.

I know I hate the thought that unscrupulous would-be writers will use AI to write novels. They're already doing it.

I will never do that. In fact, I think I'm going to put something in my book blurbs that goes something like this: "The content of this book was created entirely by the author, Joan Reeves. No artificial intelligence was used to create any part of the text."

I've heard other authors are inserting that into their blurbs and into the book's front matter. Do you think this is a good idea? As a reader, do you want to know that a real, live human created the book you're reading?

Image created with AI by Joan Reeves

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Trick or Treat by Bea Tifton

Yesterday at the grocery store I pondered that oh, so important question, What Halloween candy will we buy? We really don’t need to buy any, because we don’t have any trick or treaters. I don’t think many kids even go door to door now. When I was a kid we did. We planned our costumes carefully and greeted the holiday with anticipation and excitement. We would go door to door. If we knew the people, we were allowed to take cookies or the ultimate fun Halloween homemade treat, popcorn balls. Word quickly traveled when one house had particularly good candy. Some people I knew piled into a parent’s car and drove to the wealthy parts of town, but to my friends and I that was cheating. It was a neighborhood thing. We would go door to door, escorted by our parents when we were very small, then allowed to go on our own. When we got tired, we would come home and gorge ourselves. Mom and Dad would pick through our haul to get their favorites as well.  After a few years people began to circulate rumors of razor blades or candy poisoning, and while we still got to trick or treat, Dad would buy our candy from us. It wasn’t quite the same but as an adult I understand. (Hey, at least we got money to replace the candy if we wanted.) 

Now I see elaborate Halloween yard decorations, but I think most kids go to Trunk or Treat celebrations instead of going door to door. I think those are nice but not the same as the neighborhood celebrations. It’s a little sad. Today’s kids don’t know what they’re missing, but I do. And my father really misses opening the door on Halloween. He loved the little ones the best because they just looked so cute in their costumes and the proud parents would be hovering nearby.

We have a new routine where we buy some candy “just in case” and order pizza for Halloween. We watch the original “Ghostbusters” and “Practical Magic” and snack. I enjoy it. Last year I had choir rehearsal on Halloween night and we did the pizza thing the day before, but it wasn’t the same. This year, the way is clear for pizza and candy on Halloween night. I may even put a Halloween shirt on the dog.

 

Do you have trick or treaters? Do your kids do something for Halloween?

  

Photo Credits:Pexels.com
Terrance Barksdale "Pile of Halloween Sweets"
Yuting Gao "Group of Children in Halloween Costumes"
Charles Parker "Little Girls in Halloween Costumes Standing on Stairs"
Sam Lion "Small Dog Sitting in Light Studio"
Kaboompics.com "A Room with Halloween Decorations" 

Fiber Fest 2024 is on the Books~ Sherri Easley

Well, after months of preparing, my big show ended with a twisted finale.  DFW Fiber Fest is an annual three-day event held at the Irving Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. Next year will be their 20^th year. With over 100 vendors of fiber related products such as hand dyed yarn, project bags, raw wool, spinning devices, weaving looms, supplies and classes, it is a playground for the crafter.

I worked for months to prepare for this event, planning everything in minute detail, such as the placement of my items, what to sell, and my list of tools and things I needed to be my best for the big three-day show.

By all standards, I had a great show, except for that little thing I mentioned in the beginning…

Being a hyper independent person, I set up my booth all by myself, grid wall and all. After about 5 hours, it was ready. I put everything extra back on my dolly, more than I should have to save a trip, and headed for my car.

As I moved across the parking garage, eyes on my car, something fell off my dolly, causing me to trip. I face planted in the parking garage. My glasses broke and left a C shaped cut around my eye that bled like the victim in a teenage horror movie. I sat in my car feeling my arms and wrists and felt no protrusions and held McDonald napkins on my face to stop the bleeding. Then, after convincing myself I did not have a concussion, and putting on the extra pair of glasses I always carry, I drove the hour and half home.

The next morning, I put a band-aid on my eye and did my show. Repeat on Saturday and Sunday, and yes, my arm was a "little sore".

After the show, I tore everything down, moved it to my car and went home. By Monday, dark bruising showed up. My eye was completely black and my fingers tingled. I went to Minor emergency on Tuesday, 5 days after the event and guess what? My elbow is broken.

That’s been a couple of weeks now. My black eye is gone, and my cut has almost healed. My arm still hurts at night and getting new x-rays on Tuesday.

I hope all of you started your October on a much brighter note. 

Anticipation

 Stephanie Suesan Smith writing for Caroline Clemmons

It is fall in Texas and the temperatures are starting to drop enough to go outside during the day.  I am eagerly waiting for November.  I have a birthday then.  More importantly, a book comes out I want to read.  

Amazon Link

The Mirror, the second book in the Lost Brides Trilogy, by Nora Roberts comes out November 19, 2024.  I read the first book in the series, Inheritance, when it came out in the spring.  I also read Nora Roberts series In Death that she writes as J.D. Robb.  They come out in February and September.

I eagerly drop whatever book I am reading when a new In Death comes out and read it.  I usually finish it in two or three days.  Then I have book regret.  I have to wait six months for the next one.  Do you ever have problems with book regret?

As authors, having readers so excited about reading your books must be wonderful.  I usually write nonfiction articles and I don't know of anyone watering with baited breath to read my next gardening text.  

Of course, I have lots of books in the to-be-read pile to fill in the time between the publication of another book in the series I am reading.  

I had to switch to collecting ebooks when I moved from a house to an apartment, so the stacks ar metephorical.  I am always adding to it, but I miss real books.  I had a full room just for my books.  Somehow, it isn't the same to curl up with my phone to read them.  Do you prefer ebooks or physical books?  I still have some physical reference texts, but just don't have room for my library anymore.

What series do you rush to read?  Many of Caroline Clemmons' books are now in audiobook format, great for listening to while driving back and forth to work or on errands, or cleaning the house.  

The Legendary Yeti by Laura Hunsaker

 I probably should be writing about something book-related, but honestly, I just really want to talk about Yeti.

He's my new dog.

This good boy was found trying to get into the fire station. One of the guys fostered him for about a month, but this skinny white husky pup needed a forever home. My husband sent me a photo of him without any context. Just a cute 1 year old husky pic. He took the kids to meet him, and the meeting went really well. We picked him up in August and we're almost 2 months into having him.

He's such a lovebug. I really expected a lot of issues since he'd been on the streets for who knows how long. But he just adores the kids and his favorite thing is his 3:00 nap. 

I've never been the type of person to allow dogs on my furniture, but well, he's won me over. He's also claimed a blanket as his own. Here he is after gathering it up for himself. It was flat on the couch (for dog hair purposes). He nibbles it, he moves it where he wants it, he burritos himself with it. He's just absolutely adorable. And he's my new couch buddy. 

I've started running again, I mean he's a 1 year old husky, so he needs activity. He and I go out every afternoon before dinner, and whoever is home in the morning takes him out then. But he and I have our runs every day, no matter what, and, wow. He's really fast. I don't know as I will ever truly be able to keep up with him, but he's kind enough to slow his pace for me LOL

And he is learning to play. He didn't play before we got him. In fact, we had to teach him to play fetch, and to play with toys. He's getting there. But you know what he does love? His blankie.

So this month, no book post, only the wild Yeti in his natural habitat-a cozy blanket. 

Ch-ch-changes by Liz Flaherty

It's such a pretty time of year here in Indiana's middle. The beanfields have gone from dark and heavy green to golden as the trees are trying on their shades of orange and yellow. Kids and teachers are back in school. Football and soccer fields have replaced baseball diamonds as the bleacher sites of choice. 

I've never been much of a fan of change. I despise DST with the kind of anger I reserve for pedophiles, racists, homophobes, and misogynists--yeah, I know that's extreme--and really wish Facebook would stop insisting everything in my house that I love is passe and obsolete and should be gotten rid of immediately if not sooner. Every time it's mentioned that Boomers are no longer relevant, I want to cry (I'm not only extreme, I can be childish as well), because I think we are relevant indeed. We have knowledge and memories to share, we are funny, we spend money, and we remember when kindness and truth were good things.

Oops, sorry-not-sorry, I didn't even intend to go there. 

Where I meant to go is to admit that I'm often wrong about change. Changes of seasons are just the tip of that iceberg. 

As in, for years and years, we drank a certain brand of coffee and we loved it. I remember when it came in one-, two-, and three-pound cans. Then, as the cans all grew smaller and the prices grew bigger, they started offering different blends, and we loved some of those, too, only every time we got used to one, they discontinued it, so we changed brands. 

It's better, and our chosen blends have been around for a long time. I wonder if it was better all along, or if we were the ones who changed. 

My grandkids all print. I think they can write in cursive, but they usually don't. In truth, I don't like it that it's not necessarily taught anymore, but that's because I DO still write in cursive, which means everyone should, right? I haven't yet looked at anyone and known which way they write, so maybe my concern is a non-starter. 

The moon--I think maybe it's the harvest moon; depends on who you ask--is extraordinary right now, and none of our pictures do it justice. It will still be extraordinary next week, too, but it will be different. It will change. And we'll still hang over the porch rail saying, "Oh, wow, look at that!"

I remember when cataract surgery required long hours of lying still. People approached it with dread. Now it's done with lasers. It's fast and painless. 

I used to have my oil changed every 2000 miles; now it's every 6000, and both the dash of my car and my phone let me know when it's time. 

If I were still working on a typewriter, I'm pretty sure I'd have given up writing books a long time ago or be spending much more than I can afford hiring a typist. 

So, yeah, I love...well, no...I accept that change is often good. Sometimes fun. And yes, of course that's my natural hair color--it hasn't changed at all. 

Speaking of change, I have a new release of an old book with a great new cover by Nancy Fraser. I hope you'll give The Girls of Tonsil Lake a look!

https://books2read.com/u/bxGQQk

https://a.co/d/h9vKvxL

Cautionary Tale by Joan Reeves

Today's post is short because I'm typing with my left hand only.

Why? Good question. I did something dumb. I picked up something heavy and felt a ping of pain in my right wrist.

Then I spent a couple of hours doing graphics work, using the mouse constantly, whih put more strain on my wrist.

I packed up my laptop so Darling Hubby and I could go to our house in the country.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I woke up and found my right wrist was a little swollen and about a 20 on a pain scale of 10. After ibuprofen and icing the delicate joint, I wrapped it in an ace bandage which helped a little. So instead of a pretty bracelet today, I'm sporting a good old ace bandage.

There are 3 things to learn from my mistakes.

1. Don't pick up something you know is too heavy!

2. When you feel pain in a joint, be smart and don't overwork it which exacerbates the issue.

3. Carry a microphone in your laptop case so you can dictate and continue writing—just in case you find yourself unable to type.

Wishing you a happy autumn which commenses in a few days. Now I'm going to sit on the porch, enjoy a cup of tea, and watch the clouds roll past.

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