Trump’s support of racism leads to death near my home…

Posted on April 28, 2019 by pouringmyartout

PhotoFunia-1556485314

The rhetoric of hate and Nationalism. It is real. There was a mass shooting yesterday at a synagogue near where I live in San Diego in Southern California. I have been to that building. I have been in that building. My daughter went to high school with the shooter. He used to wear a MAGA hat to class. She didn’t like him.

This isn’t random violence. This isn’t someone who snapped. This was a kid indoctrinated in hate. Maybe some of that hate was picked up at home. Maybe he met some racist asshats somewhere, and got sucked deeper into the hate.

But that hate was supported by Trump. That hate was whipped up by Trump. And this isn’t some twisted form of delusional revenge against Muslims because he thought they were going to kill us all. This wasn’t directed at Latin Americans because he thought they were coming to steal his job. This was pure, unadulterated murder of people of the Jewish faith, for nothing but hate. This is right out of Nazi Germany.

No, Trump never killed anyone of the Jewish faith, Neither did Hitler. At first, he just suggested it, hinted at the need to do it. It wasn’t until Hitler took full control of the apparatus of the State that he could order killings.

Let’s not let Trump reach that point.

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And now, some random animal photos for you to look at, while I finish editing my newest novel and doing the cover art…

Posted on April 27, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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That might be the best photo of a lizard I ever took. I saw him outside at work. He let me stick the phone right up to his face. Totally not intimidated by my size… or the idea of becoming world famous on my blog.

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Me, posing awkwardly with a grizzly bear.

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Uh… one of my dogs has a really long tongue.

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The cat has retained control of the dog bed in the sun.

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I think she lays like that to be ready to claw any dog stupid enough to get too close.

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A bunny. My wife and daughter made that for Easter.

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I still see that hawk all the time at work. I am trying to get a picture of the coyote I see running around every night, but the lighting is not good.

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Seriously, who sleeps like that?

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I think Shiloh practices being cute.

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Okay, I have work to do.

a 11

See you soon.

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More California sunsets to look at if you are sick and tired of looking at the cover ideas for my newest novel…

Posted on April 25, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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Let’s make a cover for my new novel; a step-by-step blog series, and I want your input!… part 12…

Posted on April 24, 2019 by pouringmyartout

mockup 2

The newest mock-up of just the front cover. I added some ships. And some flowers. But now, the flowers sort of clash with the patches I added to our princess’s jacket. Too much red, maybe? I did change the jacket more, to make it look less like a modern military jacket. I changed the cammo pattern, and got rid of the pockets. I also elongated the helmet. Oh, and I added wooden buttons to the jacket, which does help, I think.

I put the title over one of the ships. This isn’t the final layout, I just want some feedback. I will add some ships to the back cover. I can squish the title over to the right to get it off the ships. Or make the ships smaller. What do you think?

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Let’s make a cover for my new novel; a step-by-step blog series, and I want your input!… part 11… the results are in!!!

Posted on April 23, 2019 by pouringmyartout

cover test 1

Here it is… I mean, sort of… the very first mock-up of the cover for my new novel, as determined by excessive testing and polling. This is the background you liked best. This is the text setup you liked best.

I am still going to add some black sailing ships out at sea. And I am still altering the foreground. Our princess will end up looking much more like something other than a modern soldier, in keeping with the story.

cover test 2

Here is the whole thing, including the back cover, where the background photo wraps around. The white line represents the spine of the book, so it will obviously be thicker, and have sideways text on it. And I doubt that the text on the back cover will be those exact words… although I do sort of like that.

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And here is something to entertain those of you who aren’t interested in helping me with the cover of my new novel…

Posted on April 23, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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Consider it a gif-t… ha… see what I did there?

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Let’s make a cover for my new novel; a step-by-step blog series, and I want your input!… part 10…

Posted on April 22, 2019 by pouringmyartout

It was unfair of me to expect you to try to help me pick between 20 versions of the cover for my new novel. I have now narrowed the choice down to the five that I think work best. Please tell me which one you like the best, because one of them will be the new novel cover.

b 1 copy 1

#1-A

The first two are the only ones where I have the background facing both ways… because the background photo works in both directions. Remember, the cover will wrap-around. In other words, the background will extend to the back cover of the book. The white line in each picture represents the edge of the cover, so the side with the title and my name is the actual front of the book. These first two mock-ups are the only ones you haven’t seen in earlier posts… I think.

b 1 copy 2

#1-B

See, it works both ways! I can still play with the details. That is why I am using different colors for the text in some of these mock-ups. I can also make the princess in the foreground a little bigger or smaller. I can move the text. I can make the title as one continuous line, or stack the words in a vertical column.

b 2 copy

#2

I have come to think that a background with a curving coastline only works well in one direction. It is confusing to have the coastline swinging out on the back cover. That is why I am only doing one version each of the last mock-ups. I do like the red text for the title. But if you like the white, let me know. And having my name in white, and the title in red, makes me seem less pompous. HA!

b 3 copy

#3

I have decided that I like this font, so I don’t want to change that. It might be a plainer text on the back cover where I put the blurb… whatever that will be.

b 4 copy

 

#4

Also, I can still remove more of the bushes from the foreground if you think that is a good idea. And I am still going to add at least a few black sailing ships. And I am making her uniform look much less like a modern military uniform.

All of the backgrounds have things I like about them. I don’t know if it is better when I took the pictures from high up on the cliffs, or down near the ocean. I took all these a Christmas or two ago, driving back from the Bay Area to San Diego on Highway One.

Please tell me which one strikes your fancy. Or if you like one image, but the text on another one. Any input is helpful.

 

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Let’s make a cover for my new novel; a step-by-step blog series, and I want your input!… part 9…

Posted on April 22, 2019 by pouringmyartout

c 7

#7

Okay, I think people are getting bored with helping me make a book cover for my new novel. I gave you too many choices to choose from.

c 7 copy

#7-A

But I did get some valuable feedback… at first. I am going to narrow down the background choices. I had ten photos I took of the Northern California coast. I put our princess in the foreground on each… and flipped the background over, thereby doubling the number of options.

c 8

#8

But did you notice that I removed a lot of the bushes from the foreground image, and now we have a better field for the text?

c 8 copy

#8-A

Did anybody notice the car on the road over to the far left? I just wondered. Even though, because we are doing a cover that wraps around the back of the book, and the car would be on the back cover, it isn’t going to work.

I am, because I am stubborn, going to do the mock-ups of the last two… or really, four… background options, with the new, less cluttered foreground. Then if I don’t here some more from you about which you like best, I am going to pick just a few backgrounds that  I like best, or that you liked best, and we can focus on those.

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Let’s make a cover for my new novel; a step-by-step blog series, and I want your input!… part 8…

Posted on April 19, 2019 by pouringmyartout

c 4

#4

Okay, I do love the font… but I need to trim those bushes back. Gray sky would be better to show off the text.

c 4 2

#4-A

Same background, but I reversed it, left to right. Remember, the pointy rock will be on the back cover of the book. I am still doing these in pairs, with the backgrounds facing opposite directions.

c 5

#5

Our princess looks a little too bright for the overcast sky, but I can fix that.

c 5 2

#5-A

Still playing with the font layout. Can’t decide whether to do it as one line or up and down stack.

c 6

#6

Yeah, I need to do a quick version of the foreground with less foliage.

c 6 2

#6-A

Well, since we have ten backgrounds to pick from, I will do a quick and dirty foreground with less plants, and use that on our final mock-ups.

 

 

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Some weird pictures I took of birds and flowers, for those of you who are bored to death by the posts about my new novel cover…

Posted on April 18, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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My orchids are blooming… again…

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I am still seeing how much better the camera is on my new phone than my old phone, so I take a lot of sunset, bird and flower pictures at work.

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I like flowers.

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Fuzzy flowers!

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Flowers that look like bananas!

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Purpleicious!

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Okay, that one was left over from when me and my daughter went to see the super-blooms of flowers and the snow.

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We had a mourning dove lay two little eggs in a hanging plant basket in our backyard.

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The basket is below the level of my head, which is how I got such a good photo of the little mother… unfortunately, something ate the eggs. Like my mom always says; “Nature in the wild is seldom mild”.

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A mockingbird messing with a red tail hawk, at the top of a eucalyptus tree at work.

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The hawk was not enjoying it.

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I see hawks at work all the time, because the place I work is right above a big green valley, perfect for hunting for small mammals.

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I like the hawks.

a 14

I am not going to explain that one… but it is, technically, a bird… and I am not climbing on it.

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