Asides

Assorted Updates

Happy Easter.

A lot is happening in the Davidson household. The little magical girl is now fifteen months old. As is typical for a girl her age, she’s hit a sleep regression. She is having trouble getting to sleep at night and can’t handle being in her crib by herself, which is putting some strain on both her mother and me. My wife is a nurse and works nights; previously, when she worked, I could put the baby to bed and then write late into the evening, but now that the baby is fighting bedtime, I’m struggling to find time for other things I need to do. I’m attempting to rearrange my schedule to write early in the morning … but the baby wakes up really early to demand milk and cuddles, and then she won’t go back to sleep. I usually end up holding her until my wife gets home, and then I don’t even get breakfast before I have to rush to work.

So it goes.

My parents-in-law have been here for a while and have been a huge help with the baby, but they’re heading back to the Philippines now, which means I need to up my game. I’m trying to figure out a system to write and watch the baby simultaneously; the problem is, I can’t write in her presence because she wants to bang on my keyboard and has a tantrum if I don’t let her. I could potentially block her off so she’s in the room with me but can’t reach the computer, but that will make her cry.

On another first-time-parent, first-time-homeowner front, we’re working on the house. We’re putting in a garden and planning to plant fruit trees in the back. Also, we’re going to plant hedges in the front because the direction of the wind and location of the house cause a lot of trash to blow into our front yard. I figure, if we have hedges, the trash can pile up against them on the street instead of scattering across our grass. We’re moving slowly on all this because budgeting is tight, but we’re moving.

Also, it appears a vole has destroyed part of our sprinkler system. After reading some articles online, I suggested to my wife that I might be able to repair it myself, but she gave me “the look” and told me to call somebody instead.

And although this isn’t the highest priority, I want to put one of those miniature free libraries in the front yard. Having retired from archaeology, I work as a librarian, so passing out books to others is a mtter of principle for me. I don’t want to be officially associated with the organization called Little Free Library for the same reason I refuse to join the American Library Association despite official pressure: Because those guys are assholes. Nonetheless, I’ve always liked those miniature libraries, and I think there’s only one other in town at the moment, so I’d like to host the second. When I finally get it set up, I’m going to fill it with books that are edifying but not too demanding, such as Mortimer J. Adler’s Aristotle for Everybody and H. G. Wells’s Short History of the World.

I have plans to DIY our guest room after the grandparents head out. It may turn into a disaster, but it will at least be a disaster contained to one area of the house. Our house has an atrocious interior texture, and the walls were abused by previous occupants who didn’t understand the concept of stud-finding and thus ripped holes in the sheetrock that were then hastily patched. So I intend to try my hand at skim-coating. Some DIY sites online claim, no doubt falsely, that it’s super easy with the right tools, so I’m going to give it a shot, and if I destroy a room, at least I will have only destroyed one room. But if I succeed, that means I can go on to do the other rooms. The plan is, rip out the carpet, skim-coat the walls, apply new texture (orange peel, probably, because it’s easy and looks okay and comes in cans), and put down a floating floor. If that works out, I’ll move on to other rooms to do the same thing.

I have some ambitions that are beyond my skill level, such as a built-in bench for the dining area and built-in floor-to-ceiling bookcases for my office, which would be extra cool because the office has high ceilings. These projects would, at the least, require tools I don’t currently own and can’t presently afford.

On a more serious note, my computer desperately needs replacing. One thing slowing down my writing is that I simply don’t know if my machine will cooperate with me when I turn it on. Sometimes it boots up fine. Sometimes it takes twenty minutes. Sometimes my word processor crashes unexpectedly or slows down the computer to a crawl. Sometimes I think I can squeeze in a little time to write but actually can’t because the computer is too slow. This computer is now over a decade old, well past its life expectancy. As with everything else, this is a budget item for which there are no funds. But I have been expecting for years now that this thing will simply one day fail to turn on when I press the power button, and although that still hasn’t happened, it is fast approaching.

I have yet another item that is halfway between a hobby project and a religious devotion. I am a fanatical Bible annotator. My notes are a stream of consciousness consisting of points from sermons and my own thoughts but mostly snippets from books and articles I’ve read, with quotes ranging from Jules Verne to Bertrand Russell to the Bhagavad Gita as well as a slew of archaeological journals. I’ve been through three different study Bibles over my lifetime, and I am almost finished copying my notes from the previous two into the third one. That third one is a first edition, in leather, of the Harper Collins Study Bible, and it is getting worn out, so I am seriously considering copying all of my notes, a project that would literally take years, into a new, fourth study Bible.

To that end, I recently acquired, for an embarrassing amount of money, a rare leatherbound edition of the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, a volume I have coveted for a long time. But after examining it and finding it dissatisfactory in some ways (poor binding and narrow margins mostly, but also the annotations are obnoxious), I think I am likely to settle for the fifth edition of the New Oxford Annotated Bible, which I also acquired recently. The New Oxford is horrid in many respects but is also the only “ecumenical” study Bible that updates regularly, is designed for personal annotations, and is printed by a company that actually gives a darn how the product looks.

I anticipate that the fifth edition will be the last version of the New Oxford that is actually useable. All of the Bibles I just mentionend use the New Revised Standard Version, which is an offense to the ears that wreaks havoc on the texts it pretends to translate, but it is the only English version, unfortunately, that includes all the books used by the Eastern Orthodox and some prominent lesser Eastern Churches. A new version of the NRSV is forthcoming, which promises to be worse than the current one; the current NRSV I can fix with a red pen, but the new version will be beyond saving. I expect that the sixth edition of the New Oxford, whenever it appears, will use this newer version, so that means the fifth edition is the last “ecumenical” study Bible that will not be worthless. For that reason, I expect it will be the last study Bible I buy and may be the one into which I copy all my notes to create my own personal “definitive” edition. The New Oxford lacks features that anything calling itself a study Bible ought to have, such as a cross-referencing system and a concordance, and its formatting is horrendous, but it is, sadly, the best thing available in its niche and is likely to remain so.

On the writing front, I have two projects. I am working on a collection of Rags and Muffin short stories, though this has proven difficult: Although I’ve been editing, formatting, and promoting Rags and Muffin, actually writing and living in their world isn’t something I’ve done for some time, so it’s hard to get back into. I’m also moving ahead with the third volume of Jake and the Dynamo. I was having some difficulty with the plotting of that book, but I’ve recently found the solution. Finding the time to write, however—and getting my computer to cooperate—are other matters.

Book Interior Formatting: $45

I’m not yet planning to advertise this on other platforms yet because I’m hoping to get one or two takers to see how it goes, but I’m offering professional-grade book formatting for only forty-five dollars, a considerably lower price than you will find anywhere else.

I own the latest version of Vellum book-formatting software. I will use Vellum on your book to give you a professional-looking product for considerably less than you would pay either to buy Vellum yourself or hire a designer.

My novels Jake and the Dynamo and Rags and Muffin are formatted with Vellum. Follow the links and check out the See Inside option to observe their interior layouts. These are relatively simple designs, but numerous others are available, including ones that are more flashy or complex.

I will format nonfiction or fiction. Print versions are available in black-and-white only, but eBooks can feature full color. I can fit the book to any measurements required or allowed by your preferred print-on-demand platform. I will format any kind of book except erotica.

I need:

  • Word Document (or similar) containing the full text of your work. Authors who submit a document with both a semantic heading structure and triple asterisks (***) for section breaks get a $5 discount.
  • Any interior illustrations with directions for placement (optional). See your preferred publishing platform for instructions on size or file type.
  • Any images to be used as chapter headings or section breaks (optional).
  • Cover image (for eBooks), preferably measuring 1800 x 2700 pixels (optional but strongly recommended).

I will provide:

  • Basic typographical formatting (EM dashes, proper ellipses, and correctly oriented apostrophes, if needed). Tell me explicitly if you don’t want this.
  • An attractive, professional layout using Vellum’s templates. I will provide samples for your approval so you can pick the layout and fonts that work best for you.
  • Up to three free template alterations if you decide you need a different layout.
  • Free corrections of any compatibility issues (such as margins not matching a print-on-demand service’s requirements).
  • One free revision if you edit your manuscript or add cover art after submitting to me (additional revisions will require another submission with the same $45 price tag).

I will produce:

  • All eBook formats for all platforms, including optimally sized cover thumbnails if you provided cover art.
  • A PDF suitable for paperback or hardcover print books. (Interior only; all platforms will require you to upload the cover as a separate file.)

Bonus:

  • Additional, smaller documents, such as PDFs of short stories or sample chapters for use in promotion, are $10 each.

Contact me at dgddavidson@hotmail.com.

Reedsy Review of ‘Rags and Muffin’: A Preview

I just received a book review from Reedsy Discovery for Rags and Muffin. The review won’t be live until February 8th, at which time I will link to it, quote it in its entirely, and also add it to the book’s metadata on Amazon and other locations.

This is an official, professional review, not as presitigious as, say, Kirkus, but more affordable (yes, I paid for it and yes, that’s a legitimate practice).

For now, I’ll just say that the review is quite flattering. It has a few minor but understandable errors, but it correctly perceives the influence of manga and anime, though the reviewer suggests, as comparisons, titles I’m wholly unfamiliar with. In fact, Cardcaptor Sakura is its most immediate inspiration from manga, but that’s hardly obvious. Most of the story’s elements are ones I developed independently, before I knew much about manga or anime at all, so many of the resemblances are coincidental.

I’ll give a teaser quote:

Luckily, Davidson is an able storyteller with a knack for describing his chosen world and crafting his characters. Sights, smells, and sounds are brought to life with startling clarity, as are every bruise, broken bone, and bleeding wound the children experience.

The reviewer correctly notes that this is a niche title—that it’s unusual to have child protagonists in a story aimed at an older audience. But so it goes; I have my niche and like it even if it’s a tiny one.

Speaking of which, I have a collection of Rags and Muffin short stories underway. I’d like to get that done before writing my planetary romance, circling back to Jake and the Dynamo, and continuing with Rags. An author’s work is never done.

Merry Christmas

It is okay to say merry Christmas still because Christmas is twelve days, not one.

The blog has fallen into neglect (again) since I’ve spent so much of my time on the publication and promotion of Rags and Muffin, a novel I strongly recommend you consider purchasing for your post-Christmas relaxation reading. But I’m now looking to get back into my regular projects since the promotion is, for good or ill, now largely on autopilot. I am working on a planetary romance, but I think I may be able to crank out a collection of Rags and Muffin short stories before I’m done with that one. Stay tuned.

Christmas was a good time for our family. The magical girls and I traveled up to visit my parents, so the little magical girl had four grandparents to dote on her. She also got to meet her cousins for the first time. She’s a very little baby who recently started the stranger-anxiety phase, so I was worried about how that would go, but she warmed up to them with surprising ease. She adored her older cousin, who’s five, though she merely tolerated the younger one, who is about her age, and she occasionally cried when he touched her. She doesn’t like being touched by other babies.

My wife is currently planning the baby’s first birthday party with a Filipino enthusiasm for social gatherings. I worry that the baby is going to cry the whole time with so many strange people visiting our house. Although she was unusually calm for the first several months of her life, she’s reached the point where every little thing that happens to her is high drama. So the birthday is coming at an innoportune time in her emotional development. But so it goes, I guess.

A Review of MiblArt

I have to say, I lucked out. Once I finished the manuscript of Rags and Muffin and finished the interior formatting, I faced the prospect of finding and hiring a cover artist. The artists who worked on Jake and the Dynamo had been recommended to me by others, and while their art is great for that particular series, Rags and Muffin demands something less cartoonish.

I went to the internet and found several obviously talented artists, most of whom cost more than I could reasonably put down up front. At some point in my searching, I came across MiblArt, and though they did good work for a reasonable price, I initially passed them by because their cover designs appeared to be shopped versions of stock photos, a style that does not appeal to me: I find that real people look fake when they appear on book covers, perhaps because they’re too obviously models wearing makeup. Also, any design for Rags and Muffin would call for children on the cover, and given the amount of violence and abuse depicted in the book, I would prefer if no real children were involved, however tangentially.

As I continued my search, I came across MiblArt a second time and looked at their offerings more thoroughly. Then I discovered that they not only did the photo-based covers but completely original compositions as well, albeit for a higher price.

I have been quite pleased with the entire process and its results. It began with a form that is analogous to an interview, asking a great deal of information about the book in question and what a writer wants on the cover. The staff at MiblArt contacted me repeatedly for elaborations and clarifications to make sure they understood what I wanted. I sent reference photos, including goofy pictures of Japanese models in gothic lolita and a screenshot from Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, both of which they incorporated creatively into the final design without complaint or comment.

They sent me initial and rough sketches, followed by a preliminary final draft, and allowed me to request changes on each. I sent back a few designs for revision and received no complaints when I did so.

The final design is quite striking and captures the concept of the book, and I got it for considerably less money than I might have spent elsewhere.

My interaction with the MiblArt staff has been professional, if impersonal. Certainly, the relationship has been less warm than what I had with the previous cover artists, whom I worked one-on-one with, but it has been entirely cordial. Their turn-around time has also been fast.

I would recommend MiblArt to other indie authors. Their portfolio displays consistent quality, and my own experience confirms that they can deliver.

(This post contains affiliate links.)

Magical Girl Jack-o’-Lantern Carving

In which I again attempt to carve one of the world’s most famous silhouettes.

Jack-o’-lantern carving is a newly established annaul tradition in our house. Last year, I attempted to carve the famous silhouette of Sailor Moon. It proved too much for my modest skills, and the result was a total loss. This year, despite my wife’s derisive laughter, I made a second attempt.

Pumkin-carving equipment and Sailor Moon stencil.
I gather my tools and my beer and prepare.

We got our pumpkins earlier this month. Like last year, we bought them at the local “Pumpkin Patch,” which is not actually a pumpkin patch but an annual event, like a miniature theme park, where pumpkins are showcased and sold. I didn’t post photos of the Pumpkin Patch this year because all the photos I have include my daughter, and I’m trying to keep pictures of her on the internet to a minimum.

At the start of the jack-o”-lantern making process, I cut a stencil out of paper, a process that probably took an hour. I didn’t save the stencil I used last year, but I was able to find it again with a quick internet search.

Peeling up the cut stencil.
Cutting out the stencil.

Applying the two-dimensional design to the pumpkin’s surface is always a challenge. It’s important to maneuver the paper to keep Sailor Moon’s limbs and the crescent moon from getting distorted.

The stencil on the pumpkin.
The stencil applied to the pumpkin.

Once I got started carving, I realized that I would be better off doing this as a two-tone design. Someday, I may be able to cut this intricate design all the way through the pumpkin, but not this year. Instead, I picked off the skin and much of the meat so the light could shine through.

Sailor Moon picked out of the pumpkin.
I picked out the figure first.

After I finished Sailor Moon’s figure, I cut out the moon shape. This was the most dangerous part as the long curve of the moon weakens the pumpkin considerably.

Sailor Moon pumpkin design complete.
The design is complete when the moon is carved out.

Here, you can see my finished jack-o’-lantern alongside my wife’s. She chose a simple design, but she had a good reason: We were having a party that evening, and she had a lot of other tasks to complete while also pumpkin carving.

Two handsome pumpkins.
Two handsome pumpkins.

‘The Cup of Agamemnon’ Progress Update

Time to be working on my next project, a planetary romance full of war and exotic creatures, called The Cup of Agamemnon. The book is obsessed with cups and cup imagery from ancient literature, as will be evident from this three-part novel’s epigraphs, the first of which is Jeremiah 25:15–16.

I just made progress on The Cup of Agamemnon! So far I’m 4.5% complete on the Writing phase. 3 Months remain until the deadline.

The Cup of Agamemnon
Phase:Writing
Due:2 years ago
4.5%

On the Possibility of Hardcovers

Amazon has just added the ability to publish hardcovers through its print-on-demand service. I’ve seen other indie authors talking about this in hushed whispers, but the option just appeared on my KDP account today.

To amuse myself, I tried setting up a hardcover version of Jake and the Dynamo. The results were not unexpected. Although the interior dimensions of my manuscript are fine, the dimensions of the extant cover image are way off, as you can see from the image at the top of this post. Thanks to Amazon’s insistence that a custom cover be uploaded as a single file, this is no easy fix.

I’ve idly dreamed before of a hardcover of Jake and the Dynamo with full-color interior illustrations, but there are three things that make that difficult. The first, of course, is the need to redo the cover with a considerably larger image. I don’t know exactly what that would mean for the artists who made my cover, but I know it would mean a lot of money out of my pocket. The second thing, which is a much bigger nuisance, is that the software I’m using for the interior, Vellum, is unaware that Amazon offers full-color printing, so it automatically renders my interior illustrations in black and white. I will not be surprised if a future update fixes that problem, but that update hasn’t come yet.

The third problem, of course, is that the book would be ridiculously expensive. The paperback versions of both novels in this series already cost considerably more than I would like, probably because of the combination of length and illustrations. Judging from my sales, the novels are much more popular in Kindle and Kindle Unlimited versions than in print. I’m not sure what a full-color version would have to cost, but it would likely be upwards of twenty bucks.

However, since I now know this option is available, a hardcover version of Rags and Muffin may be a real possibility since it has no interior illustrations aside from the black-and-white chapter headings.

The Ice Ball Cometh

For a couple of years now, I have been passionate about making clear ice for my drinks, especially in the form of large “whiskey balls,” which are superior to crushed or cubed ice because they melt slowly.

There are a lot of videos online on how to make clear whiskey balls, and I tried a few methods, but most of them were messy and took a lot of room in the freezer. Finally, for simplicity’s sake, I bought a whiskey ball mold from Corkcicle. Their mold comes in an insulated mug, which causes the ice to freeze from the top down and squeeze out air and impurities. It consistently makes clear, crack-free balls, though they do occasionally have minor imperfections, and I’ve been very happy with it.

Anyway, an orange peel is the normal garnish for an old fashioned, and I recently had the idea of combining the ice and garnish by spiral-cutting a mandarin orange and then placing the orange peel in the ice mold in such a way that it comes out frozen into but attractively enwrapping the ice. These balls have come out looking quite good overall, though they for some reason develop a large imperfection at the top. I’ve made a few of these, and now that I’m over my cold, I decided today to test one.

To get an impression of how well this works, I mixed an old fashioned as simply as possible: I took a cube of sugar, soaked it in Angostura bitters, added a teaspoon of filtered water, and stirred until it dissolved. Then I added two ounces of Woodford Reserve bourbon and poured the whole over the ice ball in a chilled rocks glass.

Appearance-wise, it looks very sharp, and I don’t think the photo does it justice. The drink tastes fine but, as described has no bells and whistles: It is bourbon-forward with just a touch of sweetness and bitters to make it more drinkable. I personally prefer a bit more citrus in my old fashioned, so on my next attempt, I might add one splash of orange bitters for extra flavor. I suspect a lot of the oils in the peel disappeared during the freezing process: The water in the bottom of the insulated mug has a yellowish appearance, suggesting that a lot of flavor got squeezed out.

Still, these peel-wrapped ice balls look cool. They’d make a good complement to drinks at a party.

Initial Sketch for the ‘Rags and Muffin’ Cover!

Alas, I can’t display it this time, but I have received the initial sketch for the cover of Rags and Muffin. For this one, I’ve contracted a professional company, and I don’t want to give any details yet until I’ve been through the whole experience, as I don’t think it would be professional to do otherwise. But I received the initial sketch today and sent my feedback. I’m quite excited to see what the final version will look like.

I’m planning to spend this evening adding the new internal illustrations I’ve received to the chapter headers, and then the manuscript will be in its true, final form. If the company I’m working with continues at its present pace, I should be able to meet the October 1st release date.

Anyway, I’ve been out of commission for the last several days. The baby caught a cold, her second—which is pretty good, I think, since I have read that babies in their first year can get as many as ten. Only two in eight months isn’t bad. I didn’t get her first cold, so I figured that my grown-up immune system was too strong for whatever baby diseases she was coming down with. That’s why I didn’t stop her when, during her second cold, she decided to chew on my nose.

To make a long story short, that is the sickest I have been in years. It lasted almost two weeks for both me and the baby. For the baby, it turned into an ear infection and a mild case of pneumonia, so she went on antibiotics. It was threatening to turn into pneumonia with me, too.

Both of us are now recovering. I had a long weekend thanks to Labor Day, but I got nothing done. I spent it on the couch, coughing and complaining and reading until my wife, tired of my whining, finally cured me with a magical noodle soup.

While sick, I got through a number of books I should have read already but hadn’t for one reason or another, including 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and King Solomon’s Mines. I also read a disappointing and deservedly forgotten sequel to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World called The Poison Belt.

I might discuss The Island of Doctor Moreau later, mostly because the 1996 movie adaptation is a scarce-to-be-believed legend in the history of film disasters.