Almost 6000 Page Views, Zombies, Painting Business

This is the first month I've gone without a blog entry since I started it in 2011. I'm just finishing up the painting season. . This blog is just short of 6,000 page views, a level I never thought was possible. I'll be looking to increase the momentum of viewing in the near future. . Zombies.. I've begun to assemble some ideas for a sixth book, one with Zombies. The storyline, science, apocalyptic direction and characters are all important aspects, so I want to take some time to have it right. . Painting.. I have an idea for customer-friendly, modestly-priced painting product. I'll have to do some more marketing research and develop a few samples. This could take a few more months. More to come.

Check Out the New Page - A Gallery of This Winter's Paintings

It's to the right under Pages...then under Home. Click on it and the Gallery of photos of this season's paintings will appear. Thanks for clicking.

A Day/Night Painting Time-Lapse Video

Day/Night - Summer/Winter Painting Video

This is a video of the creation of a recent painting in time-lapse form. The part of the painting to the right of the tree (in the middle) is a winter night. To the left is a summer day. Thanks for watching.

Latest Painting in Time-Lapse Start to Finish

First Review of 'Pulseless Pandemic' is Five Stars!

A review of Pulseless Pandemic on Barnes and Noble shows a five star [*****] rating (nothing written). That explains a recent mini-surge of sales on Barnes and Noble for the book. Love those Zombie thrillers. The book story is as follows...

An African virus, born in the Congo, jumps from the high primates to humans. It demonstrates a 100% kill rate. It didn't stop there. The dead rise to feed on the living. Some interesting sub-stories develop, including a Paris flight with an infected pilot; a Big Easy 'bushmeat' dinner; a ship traveling to the Bahamas with infected items; a sick U.S. Senator determined to reach his home in the D.C. area; and a buffet of ape meat flown in to the U.S. from Kinshasa in the Congo. Each has a common theme. The living are just trying to survive, find refuge, and survive assaults. The violence unravels into an apocalyptic ending where a cure is available, but the end may or may not be.

Sales Channel Results for 2011-2012

Here is the breakdown of my book sales by distribution channel for the last two years:

Apple - 41%
Amazon - 34%
Barnes & Noble - 22%
Other - 4% (Kobo, Sony, Smashwords)

Results are rounded. Apple's percentage dropped, mostly at the hands of Barnes and Noble. Apple still remains my largest outlet for sales. It probably won't surprise anyone that the two Zombie books represent 80% of the total.

Here's a collage of some of my paintings this winter so far..

Off to the right, you'll see a collage of eight of my paintings this winter so far..and it's not over yet. I should have well over a dozen by March or April. I just received permission to paint a scene I really like, so that will be next.

With regard to book sales, the figures for 2012 are almost in. I can see that Apple will continue to lead the pack over Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo, Diesel, etc. Barnes & Noble is making an international push and I can see some results even this early.  When I receive final totals in a couple weeks, I'll publish percentages from each sales channel.

Flatline Virus, my first book, a Zombie thriller, continues to lead the rest. Be sure to go to the Apple bookstore (the link is a few lines down on the column to the right) to check it out. It is four star based on the reviews of 29 reviewers.  If you like guns, I pay attention to these in the story (check out one of the reviews). That's how our heroes defend themselves, although not only from the undead.

2013 will be rougher on independent authors as there will be more competition...i.e. many more books written, published and ready to read and only so much demand. One good thing is that digital books and reading on digital devices will take over hard and soft cover books this next year.

Newest Painting on Video - Two minutes time-lapse!

This is a time-lapse video of my latest painting from beginning to end in two minutes. I've also included a written, running commentary as I paint. Like I admit on YouTube, it's not necessarily a how-to instructional video, but I always think it's useful to watch how someone else paints, i.e. doing something I can learn from or seeing how they 'fix' things.  I know I make mistakes. The learning comes in having to fix the mistakes, make adjustments, sometimes painting over whole areas. Compared to where I was three years ago when I started, I feel like I've come a ways.

I paint in acrylic usually, but not always landscapes. I'm enthralled with lighting and the effect it has on the painting. I'll use sponges, fan brushes, my finger, a paper towel, anything to get the effect I'm looking for.

Thanks for watching.

Painter at Work - Check out the video

Just a peek while I work on a couple of recent paintings. http://youtu.be/vs5c0b00cHQ

Flatline Virus - Book Trailer

A Zombie story...gears up from New Mexico as the undead population spreads and evolves. Follow the story through Europe, Baltimore, Dover AFB, Naples (Italy), and finally to a well-armed standoff in the Southwest. Plenty of guns and ammo, the undead on planes. Four stars in the Apple Bookstore.

Collage of Paintings of Segregansett Country Club

I've put together a collage of nine of my paintings of Segregansett Country Club. It's shown over to the right side of this blog. For those golfers who know the course, you will notice that the path between the 17th green and the 18th tee (painting on middle left) used to have a number of trees which are now cut down. They provided one of the most colorful scenes in the fall. Not so much now. Also, the tree behind the fourth green (painting on upper right) used to have three big branches or trunks. One came down last year, so there are only two. Anyway, the holes shown include the two I've already mentioned in addition to holes #10, 6, 14, 15, 2, 16 and the entrance on Gulliver Street.

5,000 Page Views !!!

Sometime within the last several days, this blog surpassed 5000 page views. It's not a lot for many blogs, but I'm quite happy to have made it this far. The blog is less than two years old. It began in March 2011 as I was finishing my first book and had painted my first few paintings. The counter is at the bottom of the page.

Four New Paintings Finished

I've completed four paintings. See them to the right. I've got two city street at night scenes, a sunlit forest, and a scene along Route 10 near Deming, New Mexico. All were completed from photos.

Flatline Virus is a 4 Star Rating Zombie Novel !!!

Based on 29 reviews in the Apple iBookstore and the 3 reviews on Amazon, 'Flatline Virus', my first book (and first Zombie novel) is weight-rated four stars. It's a fast moving apocalyptic story that takes place in Italy, Baltimore, Texas, on planes, and in New Mexico, among other places. Hope you enjoy it!
                   
Also, this blog is closing in on 5,000 page views (counted at the bottom of this page).