High Stakes
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/High-Stakes/145217621090?ref=ts
L'Empire De La Mort
http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#!/pages/LEMPIRE-DE-LA-MORT/266006578233
Parable
http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#!/pages/Parable/376395887081
Dragon Mountain
http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#!/pages/Dragon-Mountain/216925399549
Superstar Transfer
http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#!/pages/Superstar-Transfer/377885820601
Cain v/s Able
http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#!/pages/CAIN-VS-ABEL/128100057215860
Alice Wishlist
http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#!/pages/Alice-Wishlist/302470605161
Project Guardian (pilot episode)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#!/pages/Project-Guardian-Pilot-Episode-Sci-Fi/229834467839?ref=sgm
What So Proudly We Hailed by Jim Howard (book)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#!/pages/What-So-Proudly-We-Hailed/108410569199500?ref=sgm
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Writing: An Act of Worship
By Kelly Lowe
(originally published online; CMA, November 2009)
Last month fellow writer and friend, James Howard, sent me the following email.
I went online and was checking out my Amazon site for my book Glimpses of My Friend the King and was surprised to see what some of them are selling for! Remember a few years ago one that was selling in England for 50 pounds? Well, I’ve topped that! One is listed for $64! (They must think I’m dead!) It’s probably just a mix-up, but it’s still fun to see. (Too bad I don’t get royalties for sales of used books!)
By the way, I still need readers of Glimpses to go to Amazon and write a quick review for me. You will have to sign in, but it’s easy to do. And I’ll tell you what, the first 15 people who write a review will get a cruise ship buy-one-get- one-free coupon - good until the end of the year! That’s pretty good for doing something that would take 15 minutes at the most! If I could offer you more I would, for crying out loud! C’mon, people! It’s not just for me; it’s for the cause of Christ! Let’s lift Him up to the world. They need Him! (Now I’m getting worked up!) The link is below!
Thanks! God bless you all! With much love, James/Jim/Butch
http://www.amazon.com/Glimpses-Friend-King-James-Howard/dp/1594572763/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256773666&sr=8-1
Since sending that email, our small writer’s group has met a couple of times. At our last meeting James shared something from his own walk with the Lord as a writer that, I think, sums it all up. I’m going to paraphrase with his permission.
Jim shared with us that he has really been struggling with the purpose of his writing. If not for publication so that others may come to a new understanding of our Savior then why? Why spend so much time writing, editing, praying about and worrying over it? What is the point?
He was away with his family and had come to a low point in this struggle to understand the purpose of his work. His wife was in another room painting while he quietly prayed asking God, “Why?” His wife entered the room as he was praying and said that the Lord had prompted her to tell him that ‘Writing is an act of worship. This is how you worship your King.’ How beautiful, to have a God who takes our every moment, our every effort to His heart.
How wonderful, to worship God through our writing.
(originally published online; CMA, November 2009)
Last month fellow writer and friend, James Howard, sent me the following email.
I went online and was checking out my Amazon site for my book Glimpses of My Friend the King and was surprised to see what some of them are selling for! Remember a few years ago one that was selling in England for 50 pounds? Well, I’ve topped that! One is listed for $64! (They must think I’m dead!) It’s probably just a mix-up, but it’s still fun to see. (Too bad I don’t get royalties for sales of used books!)
By the way, I still need readers of Glimpses to go to Amazon and write a quick review for me. You will have to sign in, but it’s easy to do. And I’ll tell you what, the first 15 people who write a review will get a cruise ship buy-one-get- one-free coupon - good until the end of the year! That’s pretty good for doing something that would take 15 minutes at the most! If I could offer you more I would, for crying out loud! C’mon, people! It’s not just for me; it’s for the cause of Christ! Let’s lift Him up to the world. They need Him! (Now I’m getting worked up!) The link is below!
Thanks! God bless you all! With much love, James/Jim/Butch
http://www.amazon.com/Glimpses-Friend-King-James-Howard/dp/1594572763/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256773666&sr=8-1
Since sending that email, our small writer’s group has met a couple of times. At our last meeting James shared something from his own walk with the Lord as a writer that, I think, sums it all up. I’m going to paraphrase with his permission.
Jim shared with us that he has really been struggling with the purpose of his writing. If not for publication so that others may come to a new understanding of our Savior then why? Why spend so much time writing, editing, praying about and worrying over it? What is the point?
He was away with his family and had come to a low point in this struggle to understand the purpose of his work. His wife was in another room painting while he quietly prayed asking God, “Why?” His wife entered the room as he was praying and said that the Lord had prompted her to tell him that ‘Writing is an act of worship. This is how you worship your King.’ How beautiful, to have a God who takes our every moment, our every effort to His heart.
How wonderful, to worship God through our writing.
Trending: E-Books; (September 2009)
AMAZON - the online retail giant, has done more than any other company to turn the sale of digital books into a strong and growing business with the 2007 launch of the Kindle electronic reader. Having sold an estimated 1.7 million of the handheld devices in the U.S., Amazon is now preparing to ship millions more. New Kindles will come complete with a key feature that allows users to wirelessly download e-books from Amazon in more than 100 countries.
E-READERS - have been around for more than a decade, but haven’t been popular due in part to high cost and the reluctance of book publishers to sell digital versions of their best-selling titles. But just as digital music has become mainstream media by Apple's iPod and iTunes, Amazon's Kindle and its online bookstore, with more than 350,000 titles, are proving there's a mass market for e-books. Total industry revenue from digital book downloads has risen 149% this year, according to the AAP. E-reader sales are expected to reach 3 million by Dec. 31 of this year. An estimated one million devices could be sold during the upcoming holiday season alone. In 2010, sales are projected to double.
PRICE WAR - between Wal-Mart and Amazon accelerated mid-October when Wal-Mart shaved another cent off its already rock-bottom prices for hardcover editions of some of the coming holiday season’s biggest potential best sellers, offering them online for $8.99. Skip to next paragraphPublishers, booksellers, agents and authors, are concerned that the battle will take prices for certain titles so low that it could cause fundamental damage to the industry and limit the ability of future authors to write or publish new works.
LIBRARIES ACROSS THE US - Eager to attract technologically-savvy patrons and capitalize on the growing popularity of e-readers, public libraries across the country are expanding collections of books that reside on servers rather than on shelves. “People still think of libraries as old dusty books on shelves, and it’s a perception we’re always trying to fight,” said Michael Colford, director of information technology at the Boston Public Library. “If we don’t provide this material for them, they are just going to stop using the library altogether.” About 5,400 public libraries now offer e-books, as well as audio book downloads. The online collections are still small. The New York Public Library, for example, has about 18,300 e-books, compared with 860,500 in circulating print titles, and purchases of digital books represents less than 1 percent of the library’s overall acquisition budget. Circulation is, however, expanding quickly. Skip to next paragraph Publishers, of course, are nervous about allowing too much of their intellectual property to be offered free.
E-READERS - have been around for more than a decade, but haven’t been popular due in part to high cost and the reluctance of book publishers to sell digital versions of their best-selling titles. But just as digital music has become mainstream media by Apple's iPod and iTunes, Amazon's Kindle and its online bookstore, with more than 350,000 titles, are proving there's a mass market for e-books. Total industry revenue from digital book downloads has risen 149% this year, according to the AAP. E-reader sales are expected to reach 3 million by Dec. 31 of this year. An estimated one million devices could be sold during the upcoming holiday season alone. In 2010, sales are projected to double.
PRICE WAR - between Wal-Mart and Amazon accelerated mid-October when Wal-Mart shaved another cent off its already rock-bottom prices for hardcover editions of some of the coming holiday season’s biggest potential best sellers, offering them online for $8.99. Skip to next paragraphPublishers, booksellers, agents and authors, are concerned that the battle will take prices for certain titles so low that it could cause fundamental damage to the industry and limit the ability of future authors to write or publish new works.
LIBRARIES ACROSS THE US - Eager to attract technologically-savvy patrons and capitalize on the growing popularity of e-readers, public libraries across the country are expanding collections of books that reside on servers rather than on shelves. “People still think of libraries as old dusty books on shelves, and it’s a perception we’re always trying to fight,” said Michael Colford, director of information technology at the Boston Public Library. “If we don’t provide this material for them, they are just going to stop using the library altogether.” About 5,400 public libraries now offer e-books, as well as audio book downloads. The online collections are still small. The New York Public Library, for example, has about 18,300 e-books, compared with 860,500 in circulating print titles, and purchases of digital books represents less than 1 percent of the library’s overall acquisition budget. Circulation is, however, expanding quickly. Skip to next paragraph Publishers, of course, are nervous about allowing too much of their intellectual property to be offered free.
Script Tip: Capitalization within Action
By Kelly A. Lowe
(originally published online; CMA, September 2009)
The first time a character’s name shows up in an action sequence, it should appear in ALL CAPS. Action is written in present tense. In the script, it should look something like this:
Oswald groans and pops a handful of painkillers. He walks across the room to the table and picks up the ray-gun. He looks at it thoughtfully, then turns and heads toward the door.
(originally published online; CMA, September 2009)
The first time a character’s name shows up in an action sequence, it should appear in ALL CAPS. Action is written in present tense. In the script, it should look something like this:
Oswald groans and pops a handful of painkillers. He walks across the room to the table and picks up the ray-gun. He looks at it thoughtfully, then turns and heads toward the door.
Script Tip: Slugline
By Kelly A. Lowe
(originally published online; CMA, October 2009)
This month’s screenplay term is “slugline”. Slugline is another word for scene heading. Appearing at the beginning of a scene, sluglines tell us where the action takes place. For instance:
EXT. LIBRARY - MIDNIGHT
The following three elements make up a slugline:
“INT.” means interior or indoor locations and “EXT.” means exterior or outdoor locations.
The name of the location; LIBRARY is our example.
The time of day or night; this can be a generalization such as “NIGHT” or more specific as in “LATE AFTERNOON”, “SUNSET”, or “6:32a.m.”
Sluglines should always be expressed in ALL CAPS; “INT.” or “EXT.”,
followed by “LOCATION”, a hyphen, then “TIME”. Every once in a while you will need to give a more specific explanation of the location. For this, you may add a sublocation. It should look like this:
EXT. LIBRARY - BASEMENT - MIDNIGHT
Remember, to use a slugline every time your character changes locations.
(originally published online; CMA, October 2009)
This month’s screenplay term is “slugline”. Slugline is another word for scene heading. Appearing at the beginning of a scene, sluglines tell us where the action takes place. For instance:
EXT. LIBRARY - MIDNIGHT
The following three elements make up a slugline:
“INT.” means interior or indoor locations and “EXT.” means exterior or outdoor locations.
The name of the location; LIBRARY is our example.
The time of day or night; this can be a generalization such as “NIGHT” or more specific as in “LATE AFTERNOON”, “SUNSET”, or “6:32a.m.”
Sluglines should always be expressed in ALL CAPS; “INT.” or “EXT.”,
followed by “LOCATION”, a hyphen, then “TIME”. Every once in a while you will need to give a more specific explanation of the location. For this, you may add a sublocation. It should look like this:
EXT. LIBRARY - BASEMENT - MIDNIGHT
Remember, to use a slugline every time your character changes locations.
On Screen: Film Success
By Kirk Lowe
(originally published online; CMA, September 2009)
The following is an informal study of motion picture success over time comparing the Top 25 All-Time U.S. Box Office Figures. It might surprise you to know that the most successful genres on this list are Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Superhero.
Of the top 25 grossing U.S. movies of all time, 18 fall into these genres. The Fantasy genre garnered the most films in the inventory with seven, followed by Sci-Fi with six, and finally, Superhero with five.
The Fantasy genre is headlined by Shrek 2 (#4 all-time) and includes all three of the Lord of the Rings (#11, 15 and 25 all-time respectively) movies. The films in this genre contain fantastic creatures like dragons, ogres, and orcs. They transport viewers to other worlds full of intrigue, relatable yet uncommon conflict, and out-of-the-ordinary situations. They’re visually appealing and display high levels of artistic beauty in costume and setting.
The Sci-Fi genre is headlined by, of course, the original Star Wars (ranked #3) and contains the Transformers movies as well as Star Wars Episodes I and III. This genre has some of the same qualities as the Fantasy genre, but with a somewhat more technological bent. They are highlighted by contemporary or futuristic elements as opposed to the Fantasy genre films, which are typically historical, gothic, or classic in nature and setting.
The Superhero genre is headlined by The Dark Knight (#2 all-time), and includes all three recent Spider-Man movies, as well as Iron Man (2008). This genre is classic good v/s evil, hero v/s villain, crime and vice v/s justice. The Superhero movies delve into personal morality and psychological analysis. They make audiences consider, “What would I do in this situation?” They may stir the questions, “Can I be a hero?” or, “Am I a villain?”
These top-three genres also outperform the others in total combined-gross box office by three-to-one. The total combined box office for the Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Superhero genres comes to nearly 7 billion dollars, while the sum of all the rest is around 2.6 billion. Think about that difference for a minute.
In sum, the sometimes-maligned genres of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Superhero are reported to be the most financially successful. I’m not saying that if you feel a slump in your writing you should jump genres … just consider whether you can maintain the integrity of your story after adding a few elves. Hey, it worked for Narnia.
(originally published online; CMA, September 2009)
The following is an informal study of motion picture success over time comparing the Top 25 All-Time U.S. Box Office Figures. It might surprise you to know that the most successful genres on this list are Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Superhero.
Of the top 25 grossing U.S. movies of all time, 18 fall into these genres. The Fantasy genre garnered the most films in the inventory with seven, followed by Sci-Fi with six, and finally, Superhero with five.
The Fantasy genre is headlined by Shrek 2 (#4 all-time) and includes all three of the Lord of the Rings (#11, 15 and 25 all-time respectively) movies. The films in this genre contain fantastic creatures like dragons, ogres, and orcs. They transport viewers to other worlds full of intrigue, relatable yet uncommon conflict, and out-of-the-ordinary situations. They’re visually appealing and display high levels of artistic beauty in costume and setting.
The Sci-Fi genre is headlined by, of course, the original Star Wars (ranked #3) and contains the Transformers movies as well as Star Wars Episodes I and III. This genre has some of the same qualities as the Fantasy genre, but with a somewhat more technological bent. They are highlighted by contemporary or futuristic elements as opposed to the Fantasy genre films, which are typically historical, gothic, or classic in nature and setting.
The Superhero genre is headlined by The Dark Knight (#2 all-time), and includes all three recent Spider-Man movies, as well as Iron Man (2008). This genre is classic good v/s evil, hero v/s villain, crime and vice v/s justice. The Superhero movies delve into personal morality and psychological analysis. They make audiences consider, “What would I do in this situation?” They may stir the questions, “Can I be a hero?” or, “Am I a villain?”
These top-three genres also outperform the others in total combined-gross box office by three-to-one. The total combined box office for the Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Superhero genres comes to nearly 7 billion dollars, while the sum of all the rest is around 2.6 billion. Think about that difference for a minute.
In sum, the sometimes-maligned genres of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Superhero are reported to be the most financially successful. I’m not saying that if you feel a slump in your writing you should jump genres … just consider whether you can maintain the integrity of your story after adding a few elves. Hey, it worked for Narnia.
Writing to Promote Your Writing... BLOG
By Kelly A. Lowe
(originally published online; CMA, August 2009)
People want to hear what you have to say…they just don’t know it yet. With attention spans as short as they are these days and information being served up fast from every possible angle you have to be smart, quick, funny, and familiar in an instant to try to gain a new readers’ interest. Blogs allow readers to get a sample of you and of your work in a few hundred words or less. They can be a useful tool for an author to promote their latest published work or a new writer to find followers to support their entry into the industry.
Here are some simple rules to live by when you decide it’s time to start your own wildly entertaining, not-to-be-missed, personal online saga relaying your lifelong dream of becoming a professional full time writer; your blog:
1) First and most importantly, add links to an online location where a sample of your work may be read, links for reviews of your work, and links for where the book may be purchased. You may also support your post with links to web pages that give contextual background information or source data for your writing.2) Remember, this is not your novel. The blog is a venue to promote your novel. Give readers the most information using the least amount of words that you possibly can. Decide on a limit before you begin writing. Two hundred-fifty to three hundred words (ok, we’re all writers here, so five hundred at the outside) should be enough to get your point across and, frankly, if you haven’t captured their attention in the first paragraph they probably won’t read the second one. Very short attention spans abound these days.
3) Consider using a headline for your blog. Keep it short and snappy. A blog headline should be like a hook or a log line; long enough to let them know what you’ve written about but with an angle to keep them reading. If you want to know how it’s done check out any national newspaper. They know something about raising readers’ interests.
4) Bullet points are not just for your resume. They can be useful in a blog, especially if you want to get across more information than you really should in this format. Bullets may be use to break up content into more easily digestible portions.
5) If you choose to go for a longer blog try to add occasional subheadings so that readers can scan your post and read the parts they want to instead of becoming overwhelmed and skipping it altogether.
6) Keep your style consistent. Write in the same voice for your blog that you use in your novel. Readers need to know what to expect. If you feel creative and want to write a blog in the voice of your edgy bloodthirsty Victorian age female pirate character, be sure to let readers know that before they are invested. Once they buy the book, they’ll love your pirate but may not understand why her book is written in a much more passive voice.
7) Don’t forget to edit your post and read it through once before you put it on your blog.
Check out the link below to read Forbes’ reviews on eleven of the most popular blog sites on the web today. http://www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/category.jhtml?id=311
Links to the reviews can be found at the bottom of the article.
(originally published online; CMA, August 2009)
People want to hear what you have to say…they just don’t know it yet. With attention spans as short as they are these days and information being served up fast from every possible angle you have to be smart, quick, funny, and familiar in an instant to try to gain a new readers’ interest. Blogs allow readers to get a sample of you and of your work in a few hundred words or less. They can be a useful tool for an author to promote their latest published work or a new writer to find followers to support their entry into the industry.
Here are some simple rules to live by when you decide it’s time to start your own wildly entertaining, not-to-be-missed, personal online saga relaying your lifelong dream of becoming a professional full time writer; your blog:
1) First and most importantly, add links to an online location where a sample of your work may be read, links for reviews of your work, and links for where the book may be purchased. You may also support your post with links to web pages that give contextual background information or source data for your writing.2) Remember, this is not your novel. The blog is a venue to promote your novel. Give readers the most information using the least amount of words that you possibly can. Decide on a limit before you begin writing. Two hundred-fifty to three hundred words (ok, we’re all writers here, so five hundred at the outside) should be enough to get your point across and, frankly, if you haven’t captured their attention in the first paragraph they probably won’t read the second one. Very short attention spans abound these days.
3) Consider using a headline for your blog. Keep it short and snappy. A blog headline should be like a hook or a log line; long enough to let them know what you’ve written about but with an angle to keep them reading. If you want to know how it’s done check out any national newspaper. They know something about raising readers’ interests.
4) Bullet points are not just for your resume. They can be useful in a blog, especially if you want to get across more information than you really should in this format. Bullets may be use to break up content into more easily digestible portions.
5) If you choose to go for a longer blog try to add occasional subheadings so that readers can scan your post and read the parts they want to instead of becoming overwhelmed and skipping it altogether.
6) Keep your style consistent. Write in the same voice for your blog that you use in your novel. Readers need to know what to expect. If you feel creative and want to write a blog in the voice of your edgy bloodthirsty Victorian age female pirate character, be sure to let readers know that before they are invested. Once they buy the book, they’ll love your pirate but may not understand why her book is written in a much more passive voice.
7) Don’t forget to edit your post and read it through once before you put it on your blog.
Check out the link below to read Forbes’ reviews on eleven of the most popular blog sites on the web today. http://www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/category.jhtml?id=311
Links to the reviews can be found at the bottom of the article.
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