First I’d like to share with you the second Glister Journals piece drawn by a friend, comic artist Jeff Stokely, before he became famous and notorious (okay he’s not exactly famous nor notorious beyond certain circles but he’s working on it!) I love this drawing. This is closest to how I picture Allison (from my novel Bronze) and I love the way he has portrayed Robin too, though I don’t see her quite this way. (The drawing of Dave and Chris is here.) What do you think?:



Jeff has been extremely busy and is working on two comics coming out this year, a reimagining of a classic pulp, Six Gun Gorilla, and his own (with co-writer/creator Chris Northrop) The Reason for Dragons which I am personally very excited about.

So, I finally saw Wreck It Ralph last night. It’s not a movie that I would normally choose to watch, but I had heard about it when it came out from many kids that loved it. My daughter and her boyfriend just watched it last night and left it for me to watch too so I figured I had better make an effort. I have to admit that I wasn’t at all interested in it and for the first half of the movie was wishing I was watching something else. But I persevered and I’m glad I did.

Now, I’m not going to list the reasons that I found the movie less than captivating. People have different tastes and this didn’t appeal to me to start with. It really bothers me when people write reviews on books, films, whatever, that they wouldn’t normally have read/watched and can’t really find fault with but give negative reviews because they assumed it was something else (don’t even get me started on assumptions) or just didn’t like it for reasons outside the scope of what it is. Why do people do that? So I’m not going to say what I didn’t like. If you like this kind of movie, you will probably love it.

This is a tongue-in-cheek ‘behind the screens’ promo that does not divulge much of the actual movie, but if you haven’t seen it, you’ll get the idea:

I will say that, though I felt ‘meh’ about all the characters from the beginning, Ralph himself, though completely predictable, did grow on me. But what I really sat up and took notice of was the character Vanellope. At first I couldn’t stand her and not because she was obnoxious, but because she was so obviously meant to be too obnoxious so that you would have to like her later. The anti-princess. Ugh. But as I continued to watch, it began to occur to me that this throw-away child was like the neuro-atypical people I see every day. How she was like my character Allison Anderson from Bronze. And, apparently, like me.

Now, Allison is quiet and introspective–not in-your-face obnoxious like Vanellope–nor is she homeless and lacking in personal hygiene. But that ‘glitch’ that keeps Vanellope from being accepted by the other kids–along with having very different ideas of what is attractive, valuable, and funny (not to mention questionable powers of self-assessment and style sense)–is what sets kids diagnosed with PDDs (pervasive developmental disorders) apart. It is also often what gives them heightened sensory perception and out-of-the-box creativity which Vanellope displays beautifully (her ability to see what others cannot, creative approach to problems, etc.) She is not just a quirky character that marches to the beat of a different drummer. I think a lot of ‘normal’ people like to think of themselves that way too.

No, there is something different about her; something in her code, her genetic make up and neural programming. This is PDD. This is what is at work with people with autism spectrum disorders. It is not something they control or choose and it does not necessarily affect their intelligence or ability to take care of themselves and others. It does often make it very hard to interact with other people, react in socially accepted ways, and cope with sensory overload. I don’t know if that’s what the writers had in mind but if you’ve seen the movie or watch it now, I’d be interested to know what you think.

*Small Spoiler Alert* I think the thing I loved most about the character in the movie was at the end, when she becomes accepted by the others (the reasons which I’m not going to analyze too deeply right now.) At first she appears to become a princess, as if she has completely changed and is ‘normal’ like all the others. PSYCH! Nope, she’s just the same as she was, glitch and all. I LOVE THAT! If you are a person with ASD/PDD, you cannot magically be changed. There’s no ‘cure’. Why should we want one? We aren’t ‘wrong’ or broken, just different.


I will leave you with a song and video I would otherwise never subject you to, but I love it. (Metaphors aside, whether this song is appropriate in a children’s movie is also beyond the scope of what I want to deal with here!):

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All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd are copyright 2012-2013 to China Blue Publishing.

The Glister Journals: Bronze can be purchased through any bookseller, or purchase now at Amazon.com

Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze

More Glister info and chapters at the book’s website here: theglisterjournals.com

The first chapters can also be read here at the top of my blog. (and also in a menu in the sidebar!)

A short post to wish all you mums out there a lovely Mother’s Day with a special Mother’s Day song from a very special lady. Flo Paris is the talented daughter of a musical friend of mine, originally from California and now residing in Nashville. I got to know her a little when she was still in high school–an extremely talented performer even then.

Every February Flo asks her friends and fans to send in their ideas for song titles. She picks fourteen and then writes songs to them! This song, Make your Own Way, was written last year but she made a little video to go along with it and just released it for Mother’s Day. It’s lovely and her daughters are adorable. Please share with your moms and sisters and friends!

Happy Mother’s Day!

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All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd are copyright 2012-2013 to China Blue Publishing.

The Glister Journals: Bronze can be purchased through any bookseller, or purchase now at Amazon.com

Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze

More Glister info and chapters at the book’s website here: theglisterjournals.com

The first chapters can also be read here at the top of my blog. (and also in a menu in the sidebar!)

. . . and a very flattering picture.

Ruth over at Reading…Dreaming, a book review blog in Uruguay (how cool is that?) did me the honor of requesting a book to review a few months ago. Unfortunately the first book went missing and I’ve imagined all kinds of interesting stories of where it might have gone and in whose hands it ended up! But she finally received the second book, liked it (yay!), and posted this lovely review.

One of the things I love most about being a writer is the connections I make to those people who like my work, write the reviews, and let me know who they are. I now have friends in Canada, Australia, and Uruguay, as well as several dotted around the United States. The thought of doing a real, physical book tour makes me shudder, except that I would love to get to meet these people. (I do plan on doing a virtual book tour when the e-book of Bronze is released and again when the second book is released, but this will not require airplanes, scratchy hotel sheets, or crowds!)

Then she posted this picture of the bookmark of another author’s novel:



It took me a moment to recognize my own book right behind the bookmark (you can just see the “n” and “z” of Bronze). Totally made my day! Though I’m not sure what that author thinks of it–it looks like she’s kissing MY book! I will have to somehow return the favor!

Thursday (two days ago) I received e-mail notification that ForeWord Reviews had reviewed the copy of Bronze I had sent. This is huge for me. There are not many widely (editorially) accepted book review entities that review indie books. I have received a couple of other media reviews, but nothing on the scale of ForeWord. So I was, as the song says, noivous.

Yeah . . . Bo Diddly.

Now, I’ve lived long enough to know myself pretty well. I had a rehearsal that night so I didn’t want to have anything else on my mind. I also knew that one way or the other the results of the review might (and probably would) keep me awake, so I didn’t look at the review until I got home after work on Friday (yesterday). I figured if it was negative and snarky at least I didn’t have to get up early in the morning and act like a normal person.

Apart from a couple of comments about certain information the main character, Allison, didn’t give soon enough (which, if you understand the concept of the book, was for a reason) and subjective opinion about formatting (if we had formatted over more pages the book would have been HUGE and cost more too!), the reviewer seemed to really like it and basically “got” it, as much as anybody can at this point anyway (bearing in mind, again, the concept of assumptions and how much information is still to be revealed!) The full review can be read here: ForeWord Review–The Glister Journals: Bronze

More music? Of course!!! I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but I wake up with music playing in my head. Every. Single. Day. The really weird thing is that I don’t wake up and the song then starts; I wake up and the song is in the middle somewhere. That’s seems odd, but maybe everybody does that. It’s usually something different every day, but this past week this song has been there several mornings. I love the trumpet part most, but after watching the video (just now) I love it even more and realize how appropriate it is for this post. This is what these lovely, confirming things make me feel like. (The dancing, the dancing! Not blowing things up! LOL)

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All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd are copyright 2012-2013 to China Blue Publishing.

The Glister Journals: Bronze can be purchased through any bookseller, or purchase now at Amazon.com

Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze

More Glister info and chapters at the book’s website here: theglisterjournals.com

The first chapters can also be read here at the top of my blog. (and also in a menu in the sidebar!)

I try to be an optimist by nature and don’t like being an alarmist, but last night I heard the news about Goodreads–I don’t even remember where. (There is a conversation going on about it now at Book Riot. Here is a relevant article on Huff Post.) Forgive me for venting a little.

Goodreads has been feeling like Home: my first stop to see what’s going on; what are my friends reading now; what new books are coming out; are there any new interesting discussions; has anybody new discovered my book–a potential new friend.

Twitter has been my water-cooler/coffee shop. My hangout. I stop by to catch the latest buzz going around about the things that I care about (not necessarily literature related); see who’s new in the neighborhood; look up/discover and listen to people who I find worth listening to; connect with like-minded souls; and make some pretty awesome new friends.

I’m also a member of LibraryThing, a valuable entity I believe, but it does not have the vibrancy, community, and relevancy to me that Goodreads has had. I have given up on Facebook almost completely except to keep a page presence for my series and to keep in touch with personal friends.

So why am I sad? Those of you involved in books at all will no doubt have heard of the Amazon takeover of Goodreads. I quail at the thought. I doubt that they are foolish enough to make major changes immediately, but I have heard there is quite an exodus already underway over there. LibraryThing, prepare! Or maybe someone will start up something new. How annoying is that? Why must every good idea be ruined by mega corporations?

And that Goodreads will now be different can hardly be doubted. Why on earth would Amazon buy it only to leave it alone? It’s bad enough that they are book sellers, but some people forget that they are PUBLISHERS too. I think it’s safe to say that advertising will begin to look a lot different (and probably more invasive) all too soon. And what about all the lovely information at Amazon’s fingertips? My information. Your information.

One of the things I’ve loved about goodreads is that it has at least felt trustworthy. As both an author and a reader I highly value the review and rating system there. Many of the reviews for my own book originated on LibraryThing (the readers having won a book through the Early Reviewers Member Giveaway). After reading (and liking!) my novel, they friended me there and when I discovered Goodreads, we found each other there also. They have become valued friends to me, a source of personal literary encouragement as well as valued referrals to books I myself might be interested in reading. It has also been a place to make new author friends, people to engage with and learn from. Since joining Goodreads I have, as an author, been able to become much more visible and gain many more interested readers. I can also engage with other people much more easily through Goodreads. As I said, it has become my home, my neighborhood. The place where I ‘live’ on the internet.

Now I feel like that home is threatened by an uncaring mega-corporation (slumlord?). The home where I, as an indie-published writer, felt that I had a relatively secure place in the world to interact with others and hope my books receive notice. I’m not completely anti-Amazon, they have their place in the world too, but now I wonder what is going to happen. The slumlord has its own tenants that it will be interested in promoting. The slumlord may deface my beloved neighborhood with glitzy neon advertisements and oversized billboards hawking their own wares. They certainly aren’t going to hawk mine.

And what of the relative fairness of the ratings, reviews, groups, and other ways authors can attract attention and interact with readers? How will these be affected now by the slu… (ahem) company that has so much to gain promoting its own books and publishing company.

I repeat, I quail. And weep. I may even gnash my teeth.

Then there’s Twitter. I actually heard about this through @RachelintheOC who is one of those interesting (and yes, Rachel, smart and beautiful too!) people I found on Twitter. How very appropriate. She posted this link from Mashable. But now I wonder what networking will look like in the future there. I have met many new people there, authors and readers alike, who I might have never met if their “rating” wasn’t high enough. And, of course, the same can be said for me.

If Goodreads has been my home, then Twitter has been my workplace. It has been my go-to place to hear what’s going on in the publishing world, to follow people I’m interested in, and, most certainly, to make connections. I’ll admit that those connections, like those on Goodreads, have double value for me as an author. A place to gain insight and information that I can use in my quest to attract readers for my own novels. I hope to connect with people who might either be interested in my novels themselves or helpful in the spreading the word, and I want to do the same for them.

Now things may change–how, remains to be seen, but it’s sounding an awful lot like Facebook. I HATE the way Facebook tells me what to look at. It’s invasive and invariably WRONG. I am intersted in many and varied things. No engine is going to be able to accurately anticipate them. I am extremely capable of finding what I want on my own. I even pride myself on it. I am much more interested in having people I value refer me to things/people/articles than a Twitter engine of some kind. I don’t want to know what the current pop icons are twirping about. I’m not particularly interested in politics. I doubt if my sense of value will align with the rest of the world’s as far as what is interesting, newsworthy, meaningful, valuable.

I admit that I don’t care for change unless something is really broken and needs fixing. I didn’t think Goodreads or Twitter were broken. I hope good will come from these changes, but right now I can only think of one thing: perhaps I’ll spend less time on the internet and get more actual writing done.

I’m kinda feeling this right now too…

What do you think of these changes?

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All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd are copyright 2012-2013 to China Blue Publishing.

The Glister Journals: Bronze can be purchased through any bookseller, or purchase now at Amazon.com

Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze

More Glister info and chapters at the book’s website here: theglisterjournals.com

The first chapters can also be read here at the top of my blog. (and also in a menu in the sidebar!)

This is Chris and Merle from The Glister Journals as imagined by artist Katelynn Chambers, the last of four pieces commissioned from her to coincide with the release of the hardback edition of Bronze. I absolutely adore her style and her sense of color. All her work affects me quite deeply. I look forward to commissioning (and/or working with) her more in the future.

The Road Home (A continuation)

As usual for me, I didn’t get on the road until much later than I had planned, but still wanted to try to make it to Roseburg, Oregon for the night. It began to rain steadily soon after I left my friends and Blaine behind. By the time I reached Mount Vernon, it was pouring so there wasn’t much to see and I was preoccupied with just seeing the road ahead. But beyond Olympia the rain subsided, the sun came out, and all was green and beautiful.

Around Kalama, a large body of water to the west sparked my curiosity and I began looking for possible offramps to get closer and explore. Keeping in mind how far I wanted to get today (and how far I still had to go) I didn’t want to get too far from the highway. Unfortunately nothing presented itself until Woodland. There, signs for the mysterious ‘Port of Woodland’ and the even more exotic sounding ‘Dike Access’ proved too alluring, and I had to strike off in search of whatever I could find.



Adding to the sense of adventure was what appeared to be a fair sized fire not too far distant.



Considering how green everything was, and that it had been pouring all morning, I felt relatively safe and determined to find water, if not the source of the smoke.

What I didn’t realize then (but see now that I am looking at a physical map) was that the river, the Columbia, is actually the border with Oregon, though it lay north to south (or vice versa, I don’t remember which way the water was flowing) and that the other side of the river was in fact Oregon and had been for quite a while. Isn’t geography wonderful. Anyway, it was very pretty, but I couldn’t find any free river access so headed back the way I had come. I sorely wanted to stop and take pictures of all the emergency vehicles and the almost completely burned down house, but wasn’t sure whether that would be okay. It was obviously a training exercise, but I wasn’t sure how they’d feel about my taking pictures. Sometimes I don’t mind risking a little trouble, but trouble takes time and I still had a long way to drive.

I finally found a place to take some decent pictures just before turning back onto the Dike Access Road.



Having quite a way to go before reaching Roseburg, I pulled over at a rest stop somewhere in Oregon to stretch my legs and snooze for a few minutes. It was an extremely pretty area and I wish I had written down the name of the place (if it had one).





Music
For this leg of the journey I listened mostly to Keane’s latest album, Strangeland. It wasn’t until I had got it home from the store and ripped it onto my computer that I found that it was a Japanese release with bonus tracks. Goody. The bad part of that is that all the track information is in Japanese, which meant manually renaming everything. Luckily the song titles transferred just fine to my MP3 player so at least I could see what they were while I traveled.

Now, I have to say that, if you like Keane’s sound, you will probably like this album, but I can’t say there was anything that surprised me or bowled me over right away. The opening song, “You Are Young,” is nice but the second track, “Silenced By The Night”, jumps out as definitive Keane:

The following track has an even more distinctive sound. Keane utilizes very similar (sometimes exactly the same) interval patterns revolving around 2, 3, and 5. For example, “Disconnected” uses the pattern: 5-3-2-5-3-2-5-3.

This same pattern can be heard in “Day Will Come.” Past Keane songs you may remember with distinctive 2, 3, 5 patterns are:
“Is It Any Wonder” (2-2-3-3-5-5-3-2)
“Nothing In My Way” (2-3-2-3-5 2-3-2-3-5 2-3-2-3)
“Crystal Ball” 5 3-6-5 2-3-L7 2-3-L7 5-5-5-3-2-3-L7
There are other motifs Keane uses, but these are the ones that jump out at me and make the songs so darn catchy.

“Sovereign Light Cafe is another that took hold of me immediately but for a completely different reason. The opening melody is exactly like a song I wrote eons ago. No, you’ve never heard it and you never will, but it took me way back to days when I spent my time writing music instead of words. The lyrics grabbed me next; so evocative. It took me back to days and nights spent in Santa Monica, along the beach front, on the pier; it also took me back to England where I lived for several years, and time spent at Brighton, Southampton, other seaside towns. When I got home and saw the video, it resonated with me even more. It’s now one of my favorites.

I enjoyed the whole album, some tracks standing out more than others, and even the bonus tracks are good. My favorite of these (also reminding me strongly of England) is “The Boys” but I couldn’t find a video for it. I guess you’ll just have to buy the album!

I will leave you with this, set to beautiful locations and subbed in Spanish, “Somewhere Only We Know” (3-2-3-5-3-2 LOL)

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All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd (including music reviews) are copyright 2012-2013 to China Blue Publishing.

The Glister Journals: Bronze can be purchased through any bookseller, or purchase now at Amazon.com

Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze

More Glister info and chapters at the book’s website here: theglisterjournals.com

The chapters can also be read here at the top of my blog. (and also in a menu in the sidebar!)

And please “Like” us on Facebook!

. . . and gone! The end of the year that is. Of course the anti-climactic non-apocalypse has absolutely ruined our plans for a post-apocalyptic tea, but all’s well that ends well I suppose.

As far as life on this end of the computer goes, it goes well, though I’m feeling very much like Wonderland’s White Rabbit, but instead of “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date!” it’s more, “I know, I know, you a proper blog post I owe!” (Sorry, had to horribly twist the gammar there.)

I normally don’t make New Year’s resolutions–I have a dismally bad record of keeping them–but this year I feel it’s not only a good idea but positively necessary. That’s right, I need to Make A List.
And as I didn’t update my Thanksgiving list last year, I will list my intentions for this new year here, mostly for myself; an easy place to look them up when I start to forget. Here we go (and yes, there will be music later):

1. I will WRITE every day. I tried to do it this last year but it didn’t happen. This year, even if it is only a paragraph or two (though hopefully more–once I get started I can usually keep going for a few pages at least) I will put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, one way or the other, and WRITE! Book Two of The Glister Journals is back on track and I’m hoping for a later this year or early 2014 release.

2. I will practice MUSIC every day. Not just listen to it or sing along (that goes without saying), but actively practice SKILZ! At least one instrument a day and guitar at least four times a week. Hold me to it!

3. I will READ FICTION every day. Although I am constantly reading something, either nonfiction books, articles, or researching things, I have gone for long periods without picking up a novel and, gosh darn it, I LOVE reading. It has already become my habit to read before falling asleep (although I read somewhere that it’s not good for you for one reason or another–but I don’t remember) and often if I have time before work in the morning too. So I just plan on keeping that going.

I will even go out on a limb and challenge myself to read 25 books this year. I know that probably seems like a wimpy number to a lot of you, but I really need to WRITE more than I need to READ, so I’m trying to be realistic. I have a lot of older works to catch up on as well as new books that have come out that I’m interested in. For anyone interested, my personal library (and books I plan on reading in the future) is listed at LibraryThing and Goodreads, mostly at the latter because it’s easier to add them, and any reviews I write will be there also. If you’re a member, please stop by and say “Hi!”

4. I will DRAW at least three times a week: just sketching, not necessarily trying to make a finished product, but getting back into practice. It’s the one area of my life that has been the most neglected for years now. I will also work toward creating complete pieces, but for now it seems more important to just flex those muscles.

5. (And the MOST IMPORTANT if I am to accomplish numbers 1-4) I will spend less time surfing, rabbit-trailing, digressing, and checking updates on my COMPUTER. It’s such a jealous, selfish tyrant. It’s time I put it in its place!

6. (Which I will allow myself to include in #1) I will endeavor to post to my BLOG at least twice a month, even if it’s just a review Bronze has received, a giveaway that I’ve opened or interview I’ve done, or my opinion of music I’ve recently found or purchased. I hope to hit the road for some events (pictures!) and I have an idea for a regular “retro” category too that I think will be fun.

Exercise? Lose weight? Eat less chocolate? Pfft. As if resolutions have ever helped me with those!

So to start off the New Year, I’d like to share some music–not exactly mainstream or necessarily new, but great stuff–that has recently been brought to my attention and which I’d like to bring to yours!

The first band, Roll the Tanks are originally from Massachusetts (lately of L.A) and had their first release in 2008. I really like these guys and look forward to following them. Sound? Well, Elvis Costello was the first thing that jumped to mind (who I love), especially the lead singer’s voice, but also The Killers and someone else I’m having a hard time putting my finger on . . . if I figure it out I’ll come back and edit. This is off their 2012 release, Roll The Tanks. This is “Toeing The Line,” my favorite of theirs right now:

Then there’s Art of Dying. Wow. These guys are blowing me away. I wish I had more time in this post to really dig into their sound and substance, but I can’t do them justice here. I could easily compare them to quite a few other edgy alternative bands (one of which is one of my favorites) with metal/hard rock overtones (yes, OVERtones, not undertones) but that wouldn’t be doing them justice either. From Johnny Hetherington’s heartfelt acoustic piano rendition of Sorry to the harder edges of the next song, Die Trying, these guys from Canada have my attention! I look forward to trying to see them live somewhere this year. (Any chance of a Bay Area show guys?)

Finally, a relatively young band that is going to bear watching, Red Tide Rising (the link is to their Facebook page) has Extra Cool factor in having a girl bass player and real strings players. I’ll admit the song reminds me of Staind and I hear a little James Hetfield (and a lot of Brad Roberts–anyone else remember this? Love that song!) in the lead singer’s voice, but it’s a great start and I look forward to hearing more. Although they’ve apparently had a couple of previous releases, I couldn’t find links to other music (help me out guys?) and could only find an official video to one single at this time, but it’s quite powerful, Finding Home:

If you like what you’ve heard from these bands, let them know! Please go to their sites, their Facebook pages, and their Twitters, Like them, Follow them, tell your friends, buy their stuff!

Hope 2013 is a stellar year for you!

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All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd are copyright 2012 to China Blue Publishing.

The Glister Journals: Bronze can be purchased through any bookseller, or purchase now at Amazon.com

Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze

More Glister info and chapters at the book’s website here: theglisterjournals.com

The chapters can also be read here at the top of my blog. (and also in a menu in the sidebar!)

And please “Like” us on Facebook!

Okay, I owe you guys big time, but it’s Christmas, so the most I can do right now is spread some holiday fun and wish you peace, safety, and happiness for the new year.

First, if you’ve played Portal, these characters will be familiar. And if not, that’s okay. I think you’ll still enjoy the video:

The first time I heard Gaudete it was by an old British folk-rock band, Steeleye Span. There are no good videos of them though, and I LOVE Libera boys choir and found this by them. They do a beautiful version of Gaudete:

Finally, you need to full-screen this one, or look it up on Facebook as it only embeds as a small screen here, but this is a great flash mob type choir, beautifully sung and executed.

I’ll be back soon. Merry Christmas everyone!

I can’t believe I haven’t posted since September. Time has gone by so fast! I’ve been writing a lot–I actually got about nine pages of the second Glister Journals novel written just today–so that is my excuse. There are still so many things I’m working on; things for the series’ website especially. I plan to get some more chapters up there and here before Christmas. I still have some blog posts that need finishing too, but would like to get something out for Thanksgiving.

I thought I’d revise my Top Ten Things I’m Thankful For list from last year, but in looking it over, I realize that I don’t need to change a thing. Everything there is still true–nothing to add and nothing to take away. So I’ll share some videos with you instead. My Thanksgiving gift to you.

First, something ridiculously cute to put us in the right mood:

Second, a much anticipated (by me!) movie:

Next, an awesome video game in development which I’m supporing on Kickstarter (go check it out!) This is the latest video update:

And finally, since I ended the last Thanksgiving post with Switchfoot, I will end this one with them too. I think I shall make it my Thanksgiving blog tradition. Whether you celebrate in a special way or don’t celebrate at all, have a wonderful day!

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All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd are copyright 2012 to China Blue Publishing.

The Glister Journals: Bronze can be purchased through any bookseller, or purchase now at Amazon.com

Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze

More Glister info and chapters at the book’s website here: theglisterjournals.com

The chapters can also be read here at the top of my blog. (and also in a menu in the sidebar!)

And please “Like” us on Facebook!

…to everyone who entered my International Goodreads giveaway. My goodness, there were people from all over, which was very exciting to see. In the end the books went to Argentina and Portugal. Again, I wish I could hand out more books for free, but they cost me too much! I am very open to providing books for giveaways on established book blogs, however, so don’t hesitate to contact me about it.

If you haven’t already, I hope you will read the first chapters here or over at The Glister Journals website to see if you like the writing and might be interested in the book. I still plan on adding a chapter (or three) there, but not the whole book.

And I’m sorry I’m so behind on my blog posts. I have two I need to finish with more art and music. I think about it all the time, but work (the paycheck job) has kept me busy and I’ve actually been WRITING! Yay! I sure look forward to giving out some kind of date, but I’m still quite a way away from that.

I hate to leave you without at least some music though. Here’s a band I’ve just recently been introduced to that I’m liking a lot. A lot (thanks, David!) I really like their own music, a nice blend of melodic alt/rock with metal edges…just up my alley. Great vocals too. But this is a cover of a song that might be more familiar to you. Though I don’t care for Mumford & Sons myself, I love this particular track and the way they perform it. I’ll be looking forward to see where these guys go and I’ll be buying the album too. So check them out and give them some love!

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All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd are copyright 2012 to China Blue Publishing.

The Glister Journals: Bronze can be purchased through any bookseller, or purchase now at Amazon.com

Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze

More Glister info and chapters at the book’s website here: theglisterjournals.com

The chapters can also be read here at the top of my blog. (and also in a menu in the sidebar!)

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I’m very pleased to present a piece created by an exceptional illustrator and comic artist, Jeff Stokely.
Jeff has, since doing these pictures for me so long ago, worked on some pretty impressive projects, including illustration for one of the first stories and the first cover of the new Fraggle Rock comic, as well as work for Mattel and TokyoPop. I am especially fond of his “Wonderland” take on Alice’s world, and his “Labyrinth” piece which was recently chosen as design of the day by Tee Fury. Among many other things, he is also doing the illustration for a new comic, “The Truth About Dragons” which is looking great! It will be available through Archaia in 2013.

Jeff did two commissions for me a couple of years ago, but I wasn’t quite ready to share them. And now with the release of the hardbound edition of Bronze I am! I was originally going to defer artwork for this post as I was hoping to perhaps lay some color on this, but the way things are going it won’t happen soon, and I’ve waited too long as it is! This first piece is Jeff’s concept for Dave and Chris from The Glister Journals and I really love it. I don’t quite see them this way, but that’s the point! They could look this way! Those of you who have read the book (or at least the online chapters), what do you think?



Back to my Northwest road trip:
DAY TWO

Knowing how to give good directions should be a requirement of people who work front desks of hotels. After all, if you’re staying in a hotel, it would be reasonable to assume that you might not know the area. At all.

On asking the hotel clerk if there was a Starbucks close by–wondering if, in the wilds of Medford, Oregon** they’d even heard of Starbucks–the nice lady said, “Oh, yes, of course! There’s one right over in the plaza by Fred Myers.”

She might just as well have said, “It’s over in the blahblahblah by the blahblahblah.” Who or what the heck is Fred Myers? More importantly, where exactly is he/it? I headed out in the direction she had vaguely waved in and eventually saw the big “Fred Myers” sign. I guess it’s like a WalMart or something? Enlighten me. I didn’t venture in. I was on a mission.

Fortified with my caffeinated substance of choice (black tea), I hit the I-5 again.

Roseburg is where I decided to stop for gas (and more tea). Buying gas in Oregon is a strange experience. It feels weird to let someone else pump my gas for me; makes me feel guilty as if I’m being selfish or acting entitled. I’d forgotten about “no self-serve” in Oregon, but I could probably get used to it. Especially the gas prices! At least fifty cents a gallon cheaper than what I usually spend. Apparently it costs MUCH more to transport gas into California. You know, because it’s so inaccesible and everything.

I love California, but Oregon is, of course, gorgeous. Most of California (that I had passed through) was brown already, or almost brown, but Oregon was emerald still. I appreciate that.

Somewhere north of Drain (yes, Drain–one of the things I love about road trips is noticing place names!) I passed a pasture where a horse was lying down and standing behind him, obviously nuzzling or licking the crest of his neck and mane, was a small calf. Was this a random occurence? The calf just happened to wander over to the horse and, curious about a different creature, start nuzzling? Or is the calf actually a minion of the horse, subjugated to serve it? Or is it a symbiotic relationship: you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours? I can’t help but wonder about these things. I wished I could have stopped to take a picture, but it’ll make a cute drawing if I ever get around to it.

It seems impossible, but Washington is even more lush and green than Oregon. I have to admit that, so far, it’s my second favorite state (I’ve only been through fourteen). Just from a driver’s point of view, some of the things I noticed:

The “keep right” law. We have signs in California that state, “slower traffic keep right,” but few people pay attention to it and I’ve never heard of anyone being pulled over for blocking faster traffic in the left lanes. I wish I had! It’s one of my biggest pet peeves (that and people not using indicators…grrrrr.) In washington it’s LAW. Awesome.

Signage stating, “Litter and it will hurt,” a vague, non-specific threat that kept my imagination endlessly occupied and made me smile every time I saw it.

Washington Highway Patrol is on the job. Noticeably. The only reason I mention it is because driving through Washington was also noticeably pleasant with people (for the most part) yielding and merging respectfully, using their indicators, driving an acceptable few miles over the speed limit (instead of ten or twenty under or over) and driving on the far right whenever possible unless they were overtaking. An amazing system that actually works.

And MUSIC
For the first part of the journey through Oregon I listened to Gotye’s Making Mirrors. By now I’m sure everyone’s heard “Somebody That I Used to Know” which I still like in spite of it being overplayed, but just for the record, I do NOT like the remix version. Whose idea was that I wonder? Wally’s or a producer’s? The song was fresh and original and they took and made it sound like every other pop tune on the radio. Thankfully the remix is not on the album.

Wally DeBacker (Gotye) has one of the most versatile voices I’ve heard in a long time, not just in range–there seems to be quite a lot of male singers out there right now with incredible range–but in quality and tone. He really works his voice, which I can appreciate. I also love his tendency to use tribal rhythms in much of his music rather than straight-up rock drumkit or electro-dance rhythms. I guess that’s why i don’t like the STIUTK remix. Ah well…

One of my favorite tracks on the album, and which I’d already become familiar with through the video, is “Eyes Wide Open.” This took on even more meaning as I drove through Oregon’s gorgeous pine forests and over blue rivers.

Another track that I really enjoyed on the trip was State of the Art. I admit it took a little while for me to really uderstand what he was talking about, but then I had to listen to the whole thing again and laughed quite a bit. It may not mean much to a lot of people, but it reminded me strongly of someone I actually knew, who had one of those keybords that have rhythms and whatnot programmed into them. It probably cost about a hundred dollars. He thought he was a pretty good musician. He also only used the one-finger chord setting and sang in a “lounge”-y style. Hahaha…oh, memories. Anyway, I like the song better than the video (I think it’s ugly and annoyingly repetitive) so gave you the link in case you want to check it out, but I don’t expect it would mean much to most people.

“Bronte” had me driving through tears, thinking of beloved pets, past and present. When thoughts of people creep in too it’s almost overwhelming for me. I have posted it before here, at the end of the post, so I won’t post it again.

I will leave you with this song which is another favorite. The video is kind of repetitious and annoying too, but the animation is pretty cool (though very simple) so I like it anyway. Haha. Enjoy and I’ll see you next time!

**No offence is meant to Oregon or Oregonians. It’s just my sense of humor. I LOVE Oregon and find the people warm and friendly, even when they know I’m from California!

Note: All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd are copyright 2012 to China Blue Publishing.

The Glister Journals: Bronze can be purchased through any bookseller, or purchase now at Amazon.com

Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze

More Glister info and chapters at the book’s website here: theglisterjournals.com

The chapters can also be read here at the top of my blog. (and also in a menu in the sidebar!)

And please “Like” us on Facebook!