34 felony counts and still allowed to be the republican nominee for president. He cannot even vote but he could be elected president?
40+ Anti trans bills – just in Missouri.
And that was just what filtered through social media.
There was more but I am trying to not bring others down to the level I am finding myself. I don’t like what humanity is becoming.
The urge to become the witch in the woods grows greater with each passing day.
So I have buried myself in books. Reading because I have been unable to write all week. Instead of Artsy fartsy thursday I think I will tell you about the three lovely books I have gotten to read recently.
[Verse 1] My entire childhood I thought I had to hide who I was I never let anybody see I finally accept now That some things never change How your image will always matter more than me I never really seem to measure up I gave my all, but it’s just never good enough[Chorus] But I’m your daughter, ain’t that enough To be someone you’re proud of? I tried my best And yet you wish that I was different And the reason why I always shut you out Was because I felt like I let you down If I continue this way I’m gonna break I’m not the one who needs to change
[Verse 2] I always used to hold back Afraid that I’d be too much ‘Cause my whole life you taught me that I was Afraid I was too wild When in fact I was just a child Who desperately wanted to be loved So I chased the love from others You never understood But did it ever cross your mind that maybe they gave me what you never could? [Chorus] ‘Cause being your daughter is not enough To be someone you’re proud of I tried my best And yet you wish that I was different And the reason why I always shut you out Was because I felt like I let you down If I continue this way I’m gonna break I’m not the one who needs to change
[Bridge] And I know my sexuality Doesn’t go well with what you believe And when I started in recovery You became my worst enemy It’s like I’m always almost good enough It’s like I always almost measure up But if I could then I would be the one that you want me to be I just don’t see why
[Chorus] Being your daughter is not enough To be someone you’re proud of I try my best And yet you wish that I was different And the reason why I always shut you out Is because I know that I’ve let you down If I continue this way I’m gonna break I’m not the one who needs to change
My 2 cents –
This is Pride month. And though my own mother barely reacted when I came out of the closet, there was so many other reasons why I felt like I had disappointed her. And this song felt so much like someone understood. This month I plan on mostly hitting on the songs that fit the queer tags, but Like usual I try to also pop the ones in that feel like they give me something to say.
The purpose of this one is simple. Most likely everyone here knows I run Fae Corps Publishing and I have been doing this in the background for a while now. I plan on talking clearly about the tools I use for publishing, and the way that each one works. Demystifying what I do. Is that to say that I will be making my own self unnecessary? No, because my experience is valuable. I just feel like so much of the process is made out to be harder than it needs to be.
Okay. Finally we are going to talk about the covers.
I do the original designs on Canva. I sometimes will adjust with art programs on my computer to get the exact look the author (or I) am aiming for. I do have the pro version of Canva. This allows me access to all of the images, and only costs me $12.95 a month. I feel like it is worth the cost as much as I use it.
Then I have the template downloaded for the 6×9 from Amazon. I make the front and back and use the templates for the front and back covers in pdf to set it up. Since I have Master Pdf Editor…I add the image, make sure it sits right…then I use the arrow tool to Select all…It will say I have 61 objects. I click on the image holding the control button until it says I have 59. Then I hit delete. that will delete everything behind the image.
I do that for both front and back covers. Then I use Barnes and Nobles to create the spine. I can download the full cover (and often do) from there and make minor adjustments as needed.
All of Fae Corps books have the logo in the Left corner of the back cover. The spine text if there is any always is in Libre Baskerville. This small continuity keeps a easy to recognize brand across our books.
If you need to find the template to download for the book you are working with…Amazon has all of them with a calculator to get the right one here…
I will leave on the bottom of the post the upcoming calendar. I feel like that will help.
June –
4th – Anthology The Owl Light Menagerie (a special venture with the owl light network)
14th – Hope Splashes by Patricia Harris
21st – Chasing Ghosts by Serena Mossgraves
July –
1st – The Life Collection by Ashira Datya
5th – The Lightning War: Grounding Unit by Parker LaVitte
19th – Falling in Flames by Ashira Datya
August –
16th – Darkness lies heavy in the heart by Joshua Pavelsky
23rd – Beneath the Deep Wave by Andrew McDowell
September –
6th – The Fall by Mariah Lynde
20th – The Magick Saga Collection by Ashira Datya
October –
18th – My Gothic Angel by Laj & Khoury Hawkins
25th – Anthology Nightmare Whiskers
November-
15th- Would You Like Fries with That By Mariah Lynde
December –
1st – unknown by Raz T Slasher (middle grade) (*though I don’t normally have an unknown in my list of release dates… from a couple of authors I will take the chance for “kids week” and save the spot. If I don’t get the book from them I will just have an empty spot for the day. But I think that they are worth it.)
2nd – where’s my Sugar by Patricia Harris
3rd – Pip 4: Pip that is not Yours! By Patricia Harris
4th – Anthology Fae Recipes
5th – Unknown by CM Snow
6th – kids week open
7th – kids week open
8th – Hood of Sedna by Mina Skye
13th – Anthology Honesty in Verse
2025
I will get those listed closer. I feel like if I were to put them on the blog it would put too much pressure. I have “penciled” in dates for several authors for 2025 already.
Everyone is so busy building walls that we forget the reasons why we try to hide within.
Keeping your heart from feeling, keeping it from breaking, is safer than trying to live don’t you know?
building walls in front of my dreams stops the pain from ever entering, it stops people from touching the tender places that I can’t heal from the other hands that left me broken.
This is in some ways a very commercial art. And it is regulated by genre. People expect each book in a genre to have similar covers. To the point that unique covers in the industry are the stand out instead of the standard.
When I started my journey with publishing, I was sure that I had to follow those rules. My original covers were very bland. As most poetry volumes have…
Then someone I respected quite a bit told me that the only thing wrong with my books was the covers didn’t match me. (next week on publishing demystified I will be talking about the covers and the tools I use to deal with them).
I think my covers have become more unique and I really enjoy the making of them. Here’s some of the ones I have made.
Now he’s thinkin’ ’bout me every night, oh Is it that sweet? I guess so Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know That’s that me, espresso Move it up, down, left, right, oh Switch it up like Nintendo Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know That’s that me, espresso I can’t relate to desperation My ‘give a fucks’ are on vacation And I got this one boy And he won’t stop calling When they act this way I know I got ’em Too bad your ex don’t do it for ya Walked in and dream came trued it for ya Soft skin and I perfumed it for ya I know I Mountain Dew it for ya That morning coffee, brewed it for ya One touch and I brand newed it for ya Now he’s thinkin’ ’bout me every night, oh Is it that sweet? I guess so Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know That’s that me, espresso Move it up, down, left, right, oh Switch it up like Nintendo Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know That’s that me, espresso Is it that sweet? I guess so I’m working late ’cause I’m a singer Oh, he looks so cute wrapped around my finger My twisted humor, make him laugh so often My honey bee, come and get this pollen Too bad your ex don’t do it for ya Walked in and dream came trued it for ya Soft skin and I perfumed it for ya I know I Mountain Dew it for ya That morning coffee, brewed it for ya One touch and I brand newed it for ya Now he’s thinkin’ ’bout me every night, oh Is it that sweet? I guess so Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know That’s that me, espresso Move it up, down, left, right, oh Switch it up like Nintendo Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know That’s that me, espresso He’s thinkin’ ’bout me every night, oh Is it that sweet? I guess so Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know That’s that me, espresso Move it up, down, left, right, oh Switch it up like Nintendo Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know That’s that me, espresso Is it that sweet? I guess so That’s that me, espresso
My 2 cents –
The beat of this is contagious. I have been an insomniac for so long that I tend to be drawn to songs and art that feels like I am being seen.
The purpose of this one is simple. Most likely everyone here knows I run Fae Corps Publishing and I have been doing this in the background for a while now. I plan on talking clearly about the tools I use for publishing, and the way that each one works. Demystifying what I do. Is that to say that I will be making my own self unnecessary? No, because my experience is valuable. I just feel like so much of the process is made out to be harder than it needs to be.
Last time I said I would be discussing covers. I decided that will be next week. I realized that I was not as in depth about the epub as I should have been.
When you first open the epub with Sigil it will ask you if you want to add the doctype html to the document. For some reason open office forgets to add this and it is necessary.
In the stylesheet section there is a line that says something about direction. I don’t remember the exact line but it is the only line that says direction. That has to be removed.
You need to go through and check your pages for the way you want it to be laid out. Merge pages and cut pages as needed. Adjust the toc.
When you go through if you notice your text is not colored properly you can take the color information out of the stylesheet.
The last thing I recommend is taking out the <title><title> at the top of each page. I don’t know why but it causes error messages if you leave it in.
Don’t forget to save your work.
I will leave on the bottom of the post the upcoming calendar. I feel like that will help.
May –
29th – (not a release date but I will be on the Owl Light Network reading Pip and Friends Live)
June –
4th – Anthology The Owl Light Menagerie (a special venture with the owl light network)
14th – Hope Splashes by Patricia Harris
21st – Chasing Ghosts by Serena Mossgraves
July –
1st – The Life Collection by Ashira Datya
5th – The Lightning War: Grounding Unit by Parker LaVitte
19th – Falling in Flames by Ashira Datya
August –
23rd – Beneath the Deep Wave by Andrew McDowell
September –
6th – The Fall by Amima Raziel
20th – The Magick Saga Collection by Ashira Datya
October –
18th – My Gothic Angel by Laj & Khoury Hawkins
25th – Anthology Nightmare Whiskers
December –
1st – unknown by Raz T Slasher (middle grade) (*though I don’t normally have an unknown in my list of release dates… from a couple of authors I will take the chance for “kids week” and save the spot. If I don’t get the book from them I will just have an empty spot for the day. But I think that they are worth it.)
2nd – where’s my Sugar by Patricia Harris
3rd – Pip 4: Pip that is not Yours! By Patricia Harris
4th – Anthology Fae Recipes
5th – Unknown by CM Snow
6th – kids week open
7th – kids week open
8th – Hood of Sedna by Mina Skye
13th – Anthology Honesty in Verse
2025
I will get those listed closer. I feel like if I were to put them on the blog it would put too much pressure. I have “penciled” in dates for several authors for 2025 already.
Pattimouse 