The Fall River-Taunton Art Associations Joint Exhibit is Coming to an End

I was considering entering the juried competition at the Greater Fall River Art Association (GFRAA) later this month. However, it's themed, i.e. Springtime, and I don't have the paintings I think are worthy for such a theme. I've looked around and I am considering entering another competition. It's local but the entry can be made digitally. They don't want the work itself, just the .jpg file in a specific size and quality. I'll have to make a decision pretty soon.

A Couple New Paintings - Work on Book 3 Moving Along

I've included to the right a couple new paintings, both with trees as the subject.

Also, I picked up the pace a little on Book 3, adding some more tension (and potential tension) between Captain Haskins of the US/UK Titan mission and Captain Aiguo of the Chinese mission. As you probably don't know, Haskins' only daughter married Aiguo when he attended college in the US and left. Haskins has not seen nor heard from his daughter in over ten years. Makes him a little cranky when having to deal with Aiguo whom he blames.

My Paintings Made the Newspapers! (Fall River Herald News and Taunton Gazette)

Go to the following link for a story about the exhibit I mentioned in my last post.

http://www.heraldnews.com/newsnow/x1231828090/Fall-River-and-Taunton-artists-featured-in-Creative-Connections

Two of my paintings were printed in the paper, one I call 'Houses, Mon!' and the other 'Reptile Eye'. Links to these are here...

http://www.heraldnews.com/photos/x738243962/Photo-gallery-Taunton-Fall-River-art-groups-joint-show

The Paintings I am Exhibiting are Posted to the Right

For those interested and those not...I have provided four of my paintings to the Greater Fall River Art Association for exhibit beginning next week. The images are posted to the right, labelled Exhibits 1 through 4. My first time.

The Number of Page Views is About to Top 3000! You May Be the One to Do It!

If so, thank you.

Painting...
I am about to expose my artwork to the public in person. Members of the Taunton Art Association will be exhibiting their work at the Greater Fall River Art Association (GFRAA) from 3/24 to 4/15. I've chosen to participate. It's not juried, but it will give my work a chance to be seen in a place other than this blog (and only in digital form). I'm excited to see how my work compares. It will give me something to strive for. Shortly after that, sometime in April, the GFRAA will host a juried exhibit. I'll be submitting three of my better works (fee of $25) and see how they do in competition.

I changed a little of the human eye painting which is shown on this blog. You may not have noticed. The eyebrows and eye redness needed a little modification. All set now. Let's all hope we don't have eyes like that.

Book...
I've slowed down a little on the new book, but intend to pick it up a little soon. I have most of the story. It's a matter of putting down the words.

Book 3 and Latest Painting (the Eye)

Book Three (untitled) is progressing. Up to about 3000 words. I have the story. It's a matter of putting down the words and thinking through the dialogue and action for best effect.

My latest painting is a still life (I guess that's the category it's in) of an eye. For my first year I stuck with landscapes. This year I wanted to venture out a little, so I've tried the reptiles, their eyes, a portrait, a vase of tulips, and now a human eye. It's posted. My wife asked me, "Who would buy that?"

"Probably no one," I said. It was more of an exercise in creative stimulation.

Only 99 more page views for 3,000. Less than a year now for this website. Must be a way to add viewers.

New Book Under Way and a Couple More Paintings

I've started the new book and am just a few thousand words into it. Taking my time after a bout with a 48 hour bug that created some gastrointestinal turmoil. I managed to finish a couple more paintings, one still life and a landscape. I'll put them up for a few days.

Book 3

My research for the third book is pretty much complete. I'm going to use Book 2 as a jumping off point, although I'm not going to say this will be a sequel. Saturn's moon, Titan, the only moon in our solar system with a real atmosphere (thicker than Earth's), will be a main factor.

I just started to put words to paper and organizing my thoughts on the story.

Flatline Virus Shows 15 of 24 Ratings Are '4' or '5' in Apple Bookstore

'Flatline Virus: When Zombies Evolved' continues to have a '4' rating. Fifteen of the 24 ratings are '4' or '5'. 'Homo Optimus' still has no ratings.

I Tried My First Portrait

Until now, I had never attempted to draw or paint a portrait. It's just so hard (I think) to capture the essence of the subject. It was easier with cartoons since there is so much artistic license. Anyway, I've posted it. See what you think. I will say that taking photos of paintings is easy, but trying to get them to look like the painting isn't so easy.

2011 Book Sales Figures by Retail Channel

I just received the 2011 sales figures for my book(s). The sales are mostly due to 'Flatline Virus' sales since "Homo Optimus' didn't get published/distributed until December, for the most part.

So, here they are in order with the results rounded to the nearest percentage:
Apple Bookstore 45%
Amazon 30%
Barnes & Noble 18%
Kobo 5%
Sony 1%
Smashwords 1%

I had suspected my sales reflected a higher percentage of sales through Apple. That channel has been good for me. My best reviews are through Apple and the sales have followed. More good news is that the sales remittances seem to be accelerating, at least by quarter. Each succeeding quarter is an increase over the prior.

Just a Note on the Amazon Reviewer (the lowly 1-rater)

RB (his initials) rated my first book, 'Flatline Virus', a lowly '1' less than a week after it appeared on Amazon. At first, I was surprised and disheartened. Then I was angry. Now I'm fine. At that time, RB was a frequent reviewer of books and other items purchased from Amazon. In fact, he had reviewed 91 items, my book being his latest. It seemed he was often harsh, being rather generous with his '1' ratings. I always felt he didn't provide sufficient or any reasons when he poked his reviewer's stick in the eyes of the author or seller. (As an example, I took umbrage when he claimed that my 'science' in the book was 'flawed'. I did a lot of research to support everything I wrote regarding viruses and other items, i.e body decomposition, etc....or at least as much as you can in a Zombie book).

That was RB's last Amazon review. He thought I was the famous, best-selling William Gibson. If you've seen his (the other William Gibson) books, you'll note that the author's name is always in larger font than the title (the author being better known than any of his books). Plus, his books are always priced higher than $2.99, the original and usual price for my book. Plus, I used a middle initial. Plus, to my knowledge, the other William Gibson would not stoop to writing Zombie stories, instead sticking to true science fiction. All that said, I guess RB still thought my book was the other William Gibson's. Sorry, RB.

I know you can't please everyone and I really don't expect to write a best-seller. I do write stories that I hope most will enjoy. In general, my other reviews seem to support that. I hope you do, too.

Working on Book 3

This one is not a zombie story, although the next one may be. This one involves life forms from a long, long away. It also takes place on the Saturn moon Titan, the one world in this solar system, other than Earth, with a thick atmosphere (1.4X that of Earth). In fact, Titan has many of the ingredients that could support life. Just maybe not life as we would know it. Life, if it exists, is more likely methane-based, or even ammonia-based, rather than dependent on water and oxygen. The moon also has rivers, rain, lakes and oceans (of methane, ammonia, ethane). A possible book cover is down to the right on this blog.

The blog registered 2500 page views a little while ago. Never thought that would happen.

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I'd also like to hear from anyone with comments.

'Flatline Virus' - Rated 4 Stars by 23 Reviewers in Apple Bookstore

15 out of 23 reviewers in the Apple Bookstore rate Flatline Virus four (4) stars or higher. Zombie stories continue to be hot. Maybe I should do another or a sequel. Maybe after the next one. Maybe, probably.

Another Painting - A Reptile / Book Sales

Paintings
I seemed to get stuck on reptile eyes. Well, I'm off that, but wanted to try a larger object, like a reptile's head. What do you think? Check it out on the right side of the blog. It gives me an idea for a book cover.

Books
Regarding book sales...they're moving along. I will say that zombies are probably hotter that aliens, superintelligence and doomsday earth-crossing comets. I should have expected that. Yeah, the zombie book is outselling the new one, at least so far this month.