Category Archives: creativity

Did You Know? I design my own covers!

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I’ve designed every cover of my stories. I’ve also done some covers for other authors too! I’m always open to working with indie authors for covers. I know that indie authors don’t have much money like traditional publishers working on their books. I have some flexible pricing when it comes to cover creation, but let’s get into that later.

I have over twenty years of graphic and web design experience, which is what I’m doing right now as my day job. I love writing, but I love my day job working on graphics and websites as well! And well, creating book covers, photo-manipulations and banners is one of my favorite hobbies.

Here are some of the covers I’ve done.

  • The Sinner and the Serpent: Tales of Lilith and Eve
  • Mod Fury – New urban fantasy series coming soon on Amazon!

And I’ve also worked with indie writer Rebecca Crunden. Her Outlands Pentalogy are some of my favorite covers.

The Outlands Pentalogy by Rebecca Crunden.

If you need some help with book cover design, please send me a comment! I’d love to help.

Cheers,

HK Rowe

NaNoWriMo – Day 2

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Cat editor says “Why aren’t you writing right now?”

I’m maintaining velocity on writing. I’m one chapter away from finishing a story, and then onto the next one. I’m determined to clear up a majority of WIPs so I’m hoping to keep up with it. I find that working at night is best, usually when the household is quiet and everyone is asleep.

I tried writing a bit during downtime at work, but I was too distracted. I don’t know, I feel a little guilty about writing during work hours.


3432 / 50000 words. 7% done!

Saturday Share Day

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I’m going to try to make this blog a little more active, even during this really hectic writing and editing period for me.  So on weekends I intend to share something to help out another fellow independent artist or writer. Hopefully, you can check them out, give them kudos or drop a line, or check out whatever event their having and participate. Show some love! We’re all trying to make something of ourselves and do what we love.

The first recommendation is for a fellow writer Rebecca Crunden who is doing a Free Book Giveaway for her stand-alone book about angels and demons called A Game of Wings and Marks. I’m sure lovers of City of Bones would love this!

Please enter the Free Book Giveaway here. If you don’t have a Livejournal account you can use OpenID.

 

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Comic artist Heather R. Holden is currently open for commissions. She does an online comic called Echo Effect and is working on her next comic The Undeath of Me. She is looking for Patreon patrons and freelance commissions. Please check out her Commissions Blog Post here.

You can also support her Patreon page or Buy Her a Coffee.

Creatives thrive off making some extra money and starting a legitimate profession from their talents and endeavors. I hope you can help these talented ladies!

Cheers,

H.K. Rowe

Current Projects

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writing woes

One of the hardest things as an independent writer is updating my blog with writing “things”. I’m definitely writing, yet some periods are slower than other, but this summer is one of the busiest writing times for me. I have multiple projects going on at once.

Come Halloween, I’m going to have two short stories in anthologies with other indie authors. One of the anthologies I’m organizing with other writers I’ve known for a long time, so it’s exciting. Though organizing it and keeping a schedule is the hard part! But it’s going well. Then, there’s another anthology I joined and I’m working on a story for that.

Plus, I’m still tapping away at War Fury, and the editing for Killer Orange has been a bit quiet. Most of the editing is in my head for ideas on how to improve it.

I’m also working on a couple side short stories – romance/erotica just to get more works in my library.

So here’s the list of my current projects:

  • Three Times Dead – my short story for the Ghosts anthology slated for Halloween
  • Little Girl Lost – another short story for a Halloween anthology
  • War Fury – the next book to Mod Fury
  • Blazing Heat – short story romance one-shot
  • outlining of Circle of Whispers, my series about Reapers
  • various editing of Killer Orange, fan works, and a couple of older short stories that might turn into something.

So yeah, I’m busy! I hope to be able to share something, as well as publish, soon!

Other things to look forward to:

  • a giveaway for paperback of Unbridled
  • free promotion for Mod Fury

Until next time. Cheers!

H.K. Rowe

 

 

The Sinner and the Serpent: Tales of Lilith and Eve

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Just a quick update!

I know I’ve been absent from here for a long time again. I recently got a new job, and I’m getting used to a new routine with my daughter in daycare as well. I’m hoping to get back into writing soon. I plan on publishing “Mod Fury” within the next couple of months to Amazon Kindle Publishing.  I’m still drafting a few other stories as well. I am going to attempt Nanowrimo again this year. Let’s hope with better results. Things are much harder when you become a new parent!

In the meantime, I’m working on a collection of short stories that revolve around Lilith and Eve from Judeo-Christian mythology. I have uploaded all current stories on Wattpad FREE to read. I am working on more as well. They will be short stories, drabbles, flash fiction and poetry, whatever my muse wants! Please feel free to check it out. I also designed the cover as well.

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Link to The Sinner and the Serpent.

I’ll update again soon! Thanks for sticking with me.

Cheers,

H.K. Rowe

Fight for Your Right to…

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I know this is an author blog, but it must be boring waiting around for someone to write about “writing” or books and never really get anything. I’m beginning to think that this blog is not all about writing. It’s my blog, so my choice, I guess.

On that note, I work at an IT company and I have a big important meeting tomorrow with a great company in Chicago – on a project that could really boost my career and I’m really excited about it. Unfortunately I’ll be going there on the tail end of a sinus infection and pink eye thanks to my five-month old (don’t worry, I totally plan on bringing this up to her later when she’s older), but life is full of pitfalls. One thing I will not compromise on is my breast pumping. I damn well plan on breastfeeding my kid for a year (or until she weens herself) and I’m sticking with it, no matter where I have to go.

It’s been easy to go to work, pump 2-3 times in the spare office, and then do my work and not worry about being somewhere where I *can’t* do my motherly duty. I asked the Project Manager to make sure they talked to our client and ask where I can go to do my thing, and of course his response that they probably didn’t have some place. I try not to get discouraged about this, because I’ve pumped in bathrooms before — really bad, disgusting ones too, and I made it work.

When he called, they DO have a lactation room, and we got the contact number and person and I’m all set! I get excited when this happens. I ADMIRE companies that have designated rooms for mothers. Then, I kind of want to work there, because the room I have to use, I have to put on a sign to stop people from coming in because there is no lock, and as expected, no one reads signs and interrupts me anyway. Hey dudes, your problem not mine if you saw something you didn’t want to see.

I guess the lesson here is don’t get discouraged. Fight for your rights and take a stand on things that make others uncomfortable. You don’t have to settle for “No.” If I have to bring my cover and sit in the break room and pump with people coming and going, I WILL. I hope I won’t have to, but I will. Anything for my daughter.

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She’s the reason I procrastinate on my writing projects.

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Two short stories are coming soon. I gave myself a deadline for the end of April.  Yes, Mod Fury is one of them. I’ve teased that enough. The cover reveal is coming shortly too. I promise!

I’m going to attempt Camp NaNoWriMo again this April. It’s hit or miss to find time for myself with a baby, trust me. Sometimes I’d just rather cuddle.

Cheers,

H.K. Rowe

Boy and Girl Clothes

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Happy Ostara! Happy Spring!

I’m hoping 2017 will be good for me to do some spring cleaning. I have already begun my Great DeCluttering of 2017 and 2018, where I’m making goals for myself – read all the books and empty one bookshelf by end of 2017 and sell the books. Unfortunately I tend to accumulate more books. I don’t know how that happens…

I did clean out one shelf so that’s good. If anyone is my friend on Goodreads you’ll see a mass addition of “read” books in the coming year. Next I want to clean out closets again, especially the baby’s as she grows out of clothes, and then start on the kitchen with dishes that we don’t really use. My friend and I intend to have a garage sale soon, so I’m gathering up stuff in boxes in a place in the garage for when that happens. I just hope the weather gets nicer so I can go out and start pricing things.

Speaking of kid’s clothes, I have another friend who’s expecting a boy soon and she’s always lamenting how boys clothes are not at cute as girls clothes, and it’s funny because I’ve kind of felt that both clothes are cute, and I’ve wanted to buy my daughter boys clothes before, and we have, but clothes with dinosaurs, super heroes, and power rangers on it were cute too, and made me miss having a boy as well. I love my daughter, but maybe some day I’ll be able to have a boy? I know it’s not really up to “me” if that happens, but I would love a little boy to buy clothes with dinosaurs and lizards on them, as well as play outside in the mud with him, find toads and earth worms — I guess I can do that with a girl too. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not limiting what my daughter can do either…

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We definitely bought this boy’s onesie for our daughter. Because this is totally her. You can find this at Target.

But maybe I feel cliche as a mom that wants to have one of each. I’d love to see my husband bond with a son like I do with my daughter, and hope that he has a relationship with a son that he had with his father.

Oh, and yeah, I’m sure he wants to buy our future son dinosaur shirts too.

No matter what, if we have girls, a girl and a boy, or just one girl, I hope we can take them to Gatorland like we did for our Honeymoon in Florida. No matter what gender you are, they have to enjoy seeing big crocodiles, pythons, turtles and all the other kinds of animals they have there. That’s my hope anyway.

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In other news, I’m still working on the short stories. I was looking for stock art for covers the other day and enjoyed it very much.

There is this stock photographer that I follow at DeviantArt that has a lot of book cover contests with her art. Sometimes I vote on them, but I also think in the back of my mind that I can do a better job. I know that’s rather pretentious of me, so I kind of thought if I think that, why don’t I do it? I can’t be all talk. I have to show that I can do it. So I looked at her current contests and downloaded the images and plan on entering. Fingers crossed!

If anything it’ll be good for my portfolio.

Cheers,

H.K. Rowe

Hobby Doesn’t Mean Free

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Sometimes I am just baffled by people who still don’t think being an artist, photographer, videographer or designer deserves compensation, that the jobs that we get should be for “exposure” because it’s just a “hobby”.

Today our Program Director came up to me (the resident Lead Designer) and asked me if I knew any students/interns in art or photography that would come to our Meetups downtown Chicago and take photos and videos for us.

Me: “Like for internship credit?”

Him: “No, not interns. Students that like to take photos and video. It would be like a hobby. [Our Company] would not pay them.”

Me: “But you’d have to pay them. Even interns get paid these days. And if you want them to come downtown to Chicago, there’s parking expenses, train ride expenses. Plus no one would do it for free.”

He gives me this blank look. “These students wouldn’t even do it because they like it? Because it’s a hobby?”

Me: “Nobody, not a student or anybody, is going to do photography or videography for free. At least an intern should get minimum wage.”

He looked completely baffled that we would pay someone to come to our events in Chicago, whether by train, bus, or car of their own expense, let them take photos and video of our speakers, and not pay them a single thing.

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I’m kind of livid, as an artist, you know? Like it’s unreal.

No, artists do not do things for free. We do not do things for trade. We have these skills, hone them, and use them for money so we can eat, put a roof over our heads, and clothe ourselves and our family.

Don’t let anyone try to persuade you to do things for exposure either. Work = $$$. Bottom line.

Cheers,

HK Rowe

 

Unscheduled Sabbatical

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It seemed like only yesterday since I updated this blog. Though I know it’s been longer. Wow, I feel so bad how behind I’ve been on my writing and my blogging and catching up with my friends’ posts. Though it was all for good reasons, I assure you.

I wish I could say I was writing. I’ve been thinking a lot about writing, and I’ve been writing for work and personal things, but other than that…I’ve just been enjoying this roller coaster that is my life.

We sold our townhome, moved into a new house (in which we are still not settled), and I’m happy to report that after two years of stressful trying and worrying, my husband and I are finally going to be parents! I’m still early in my pregnancy, but the last month or so I’ve been ill (creating a human as my friend calls it) so I’ve been resting.

I hope eventually I will find some time to write, though, now I’ve just been “writing” my experiences of pregnancy in my journal. The descriptions and accounts may come in handy someday, especially since babies grow up so fast – I hear. It’s a different experience for sure, one that needs to be thoroughly recorded.

I hope to share some of my writings with you here soon. Thanks for those who stick around and I shall definitely catch up with you as well.

Cheers,

H.K. Rowe

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It’s almost over!

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In one week, I will be moving! Well, moving from a small condo into a single-family home, hopefully the home of my dreams! Haha, after all the moving, house hunting, house showing, and processes, I’m ready for this to be the last house of my life. My husband is another story.

I have been pretty incapable of writing lately. I’ve done SOME writing, but it’s little stuff and more for practice than anything.

I have a lot of plans, especially when I get in the new house. I have a lot of WIPs to work on to get ready for betas and my editor, and it’s my goal to get to them this year. I know that should be an easy goal but for me, it’s a challenge.

Besides the WIPs, I am accumulating a list of short story anthologies that I want to enter. I’ll probably be looking into that as well.

So, other than writing, my free time will be taken up by decorating and settling into my new house. I’m already making plans for my office room, which is currently a medium shade of blue and really pretty – and I’m not changing it. I am thinking of adding a decorative element to the door. Such as this…

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😀 I think the space would be very creative if I did that. It would be a big project but definitely enjoyable. But of course, this is just one of many projects I want to do.

I just hope that 2016 is productive for writing and great for creative energy!

I’ll be back soon, hopefully less frazzled once I move in.

Cheers.

HK Rowe