Author: Filigree

Artist and writer living in the Southwest USA.

Web: cranehanabooks.com/blog

April 20, 2015 by Filigree

Thesis mills

Especially in America, there is immense corporate pressure to have a college degree – as a meal-ticket to a better job and future, not necessarily as a proof of one’s intellectual skills. When the fact of having the degree is more important than the process of earning the degree, the stage is set for fraud…

Aside

If all you write are erotic ‘romance’ books where the plot is a flimsy excuse for more (and more graphic) contractually obligated sex scenes…then yeah, you might burn out on writing sex scenes altogether.

April 13, 2015 by Filigree

Dryland Codex (in progress, post 1)

In my typical ADD fashion I was reorganizing fabric yesterday, in preparation for some housecleaning. Found snippets of printed map fabric left over from one of the award ribbons projects. Remembered a possible book project I’d sketched, using digitized fabric prints of some old Southwestern mini-landscape paintings I’d sold to galleries years before. Why yes,…

April 11, 2015 by Filigree 2 comments

Selfie or not?

There’s a writers group on LinkedIn I was considering joining. I’m not, now, because they require a headshot photo of all prospective members. (I did end up joining, after all; see update in Comments below.) I don’t have many pictures of myself not costumed or otherwise masked. They’re around. I’m just not happy about adding…

April 10, 2015 by Filigree

Below The Boat

While browsing for out-of-copyright quotes about maps, journeys, and wanderlust (for an upcoming book art project), I stumbled across some incredible wooden bathymetric charts. ‘Below The Boat’ creates unique, breathtaking maps of laser-cut, stained, and layered birch plywood, each following a coastal area’s underwater terrain. It’s a deceptively simple concept, brought to reality by skilled…

Aside 1 comment

(Borrowing from Stephen Colbert): A Tip Of The Hat to commercially published authors who are self-publishing their backlists. That’s good for them and their readers. We don’t want a return to the days of the midlist mass-market paperback that had a print run of 2000 copies, and about two weeks on the bookstore shelf to prove itself.

A Wag Of The Finger to those same authors who imply or state their current self-publishing experience and results are 100% applicable to the masses of unpublished, unagented, likely unpolished, and possibly under-informed writers who follow them.

A reasonably successful commercial author can springboard their self-publishing efforts off already existing readerships, and whatever work their old publisher’s marketing department did on their behalf.

Unknown self-published authors have a far rougher road. ∞

April 5, 2015 by Filigree 2 comments

Happiness

…is typing ‘the end’ on the last page of an 83,000-word revision of the fantasy novel that has been kicking my ass for fifteen years or more. It’s going to beta readers tomorrow, then the agent and I will hash out what we want to do with it. Tired. But happy.

April 1, 2015 by Filigree

pieces of ‘Whisper’

Inspired by the tiny books, I’m re-energized to attack a mini-book that’s been in progress for over a year. Here are the components laid out in an old teak tray I like for beading: Whisper, 1″ x 1.75″ x 1″ when complete. The tiny fabric pages are layers of linen and commercially printed cotton, hand-inked,…

March 31, 2015 by Filigree

Tiny books

Just…tiny books. They’re awesome. They’re like…Night Vale meets a dollhouse. Go see them here. The first pieces of ‘real’ art (the ones I remember) I did at age 5 were miniatures, and the concept has stayed with me through many different crafts (jewelry, alabaster sculpture, felt sculpture, weaving, painting, mosaic, etc). But the smallest book…

March 30, 2015 by Filigree 4 comments

Moss agate pillow

…or, experiments in home decor. For a decade or so, I’ve been seeing Chinese jade, agate, and tourmaline-beaded pillows on the import market. Some are panels of beads sewn onto a pillow-top. Others are elaborate hollow cage structures shaped to fit the head and neck, and supported by jade or wooden end-caps. Metaphysically-inclined folks will…

March 20, 2015 by Filigree

More fiber art award ribbons

It’s spring. Next weekend is the Tempe Festival of the Arts, where 40,000 people will somehow find places to park around the core of Tempe’s Mill Avenue Downtown district. Hundreds of artist booths will line Mill and its side streets. There will be decadent food and more decadent booze. Several million dollars will change hands,…

March 11, 2015 by Filigree

our version of March Madness

Throughout the month, the authors over at Marketing For Romance Writers (MFRW) will be having Tweet Days, blog hops, interviews, and contests showcasing some of the best romance writers around. I like this group because it connects commercial and self-publishers, writers across all subgenres of romance, and some amazing promotional opportunities. Today is one of the…

March 8, 2015 by Filigree

Margo Bond Collins, Legally Undead

A reluctant vampire hunter, stalking New York City as only a scorned bride can. From Bathory Gate Press principal Margo Bond Collins comes another fast-paced, grimly funny paranormal romance/mystery/horror/comedy. And this week only, it’s $.99! (Buy links after excerpt) _______________________________________________________ Elle Dupree has her life all figured out: first a wedding, then her Ph.D., then…