25 February 2011

RENEGADE CORE

I blog today (well...tonight, really; it's midnight here) with glad tidings and joy in my heart...and my colon.

Allow me to introduce you to my new website: https://sites.google.com/site/renegadecore/

(There's also a link to the right)

This is sort of what I've been talking about on and off over the few months I've had my blog. Renegade Core is my eBook and eComic sales site. Here there will be novels, novellas, short stories, comics, and more for sale. Take a look around the site. The "Free Stuff" section already has some items up for your enjoyment. And there is definately more to come.

This began as a desire to start a small business of my own. Initially, though, the idea was to not only write the books and draw the comics (I would have had a staff working with me), but to also purchase office space and digital printing presses. Upon deeper research, though, I found such a plan was folly. A single digital printing press that I wanted to produce books cost over $500,000. That's one digital printing press. I wanted four.

So I sat down and re-looked my business plan. I wanted to write, and work with others to write stories and draw comics. Creating new, exciting worlds and interesting people to populate them has always been a hobby of mine, and to do so as a job (even a small, part time job) has always been my dream. A friend of mine suggested I go full digital (thank you Martin). At the time Pres. George W. Bush had published his book Decision Points. Data showed that, of the over two hundred thousand copies that were sold that first week/month (I forget at the moment), 60,000 were digital copies. And now eBooks, in either epub or mobi format, are outselling print books (http://www.beyond-black-friday.com/2011/01/27/are-eBooks-finally-outselling-printed-books/).

So I decided that's what I'd do. I write the stories, edit, revise, rewrite (repeat those three numerous times), and then publish them in eReader format and sell them. I would control the content, distribution, pricing, and marketing.

Renegade Core is the culmination of this hair-brained idea. The book I'm writing, In Darkness Forged, is slowly nearing completion and I've set a release date for 1 June 2011. In the meantime I will also be writing two short stories and a novella that will be free to download and enjoy to entice you a bit more. Of course, other content will be put on the website for sale before the big release date of my first book, but it will not have the fan fare (at least for me) as the book.

I hope you enjoy the site. And please, give me feedback on what you like and don't like, and what you would like to see added in the future. I'm an definitely open to ideas.

Until next time...

02 February 2011

My New Wacom Cintiq 12WX

Today I received my new Wacom Cintiq 12WX. It was a breeze to assemble and install. All of maybe 15 minutes.
Here it is as I begin to set everything up. This is pre-software-installation.


And here it is with all the software, including Corel Painter, installed.


Here I am, diligently trying to learn the new system. Note: It does take some getting used to. But once used to it, it is an excellent way to go about drawing.


And here is my first drawing with my Wacom Tablet :)


This is a profile picture of Amelia, a character from the book I am writing. Again, I was just getting used to the tablet, so it's not Da Vinci quality.
Here is a picture I drew from this photo: http://kayleigh.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2vmx6y.


Again, still working on getting used to it.

The Wacom Cintiq 12WX is $999.00 on the Wacom website (http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-12wx.php). But I purchased mine on Amazon for the amazingly low price of $940.00 (http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Cintiq-12WX-12-Inch-Display/dp/B00115OFJK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296696953&sr=8-1). Though I think they were having a sale, as now it's $970.00. But still cheaper than the Wacom website. The Wacom website also has this weird thing where it tries to charge your account even if you did not make a purchase...it doesn't go through, but it WILL hold up funds/credit card accounts until it disappears.

Hope you enjoyed this little piece :). If you get one I wish you the best! The Wacom Cintiq 12WX is a great tool.

Until next time...