15 September 2016 - BOOK COVER DESIGN - TAMIAN WOOD

BOOK COVER DESIGN

- TAMIAN WOOD -

G'day folks,

Welcome to a guest post from a former guest on my blog. Tamian Wood has a wealth of experience in designing books that sell. So, today Tamian has an offer for you authors who have been labouring over a book cover design. 

Take it away, Tamian ...

Hello fans and followers of Clancy's blog. I'm Tamian Wood, a professional, award-winning cover designer with BeyondDesignInternational.com. I have over 20 years of experience, creating compelling designs that sell books. 

And I'd like to help you.

Many new authors think they can't afford to hire an accomplished, trained designer for their books cover. Fair enough. If you want a professional cover, created by a designer with education, skill, experience, and a good reputation, that doesn't come free. (Money well spent though, and worth every penny!) 

My advice to new authors is to start saving the day you start writing. Because, after all, you know it's going to need a cover…

But let's say you didn't happen to run into me last year when you started. And now, you are ready to let your baby out into the world, for all the universe to love and adore! YIKES! You can't let that baby go out there NAKED! 

But you haven't saved, so you feel you have to do the work yourself. Maybe not the best idea, because let's face it, you're a writer, not a designer. Right? But, it's got to have a cover so, you give it a go.

This is where I come in. I'd like to help you, free of charge, by offering a cover critique on my new blog. Show me what you have and I promise an honest, kind and constructive insight into how you might make the cover better before you display it to the world. 

My goal is to help YOU, the self-published author trying to create their own cover, with advice and helpful tips that can make your efforts shine just a little bit better. In the meantime, my readers and followers will get the advantage of the advice too.

Give your story the best chance possible of being discovered by readers with the best possible cover within your budget.
 

Contact me, Tamian Wood, at BeyondDesignInternational.com and let's collaborate.

Tamian Wood
Graphic Designer
Beyond Design International
designer.tamian@gmail.com
www.BeyondDesignInternational.com
Video Trailer: http://bit.ly/1k4NppT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/beyonddesignint
Facebook: facebook.com/BeyondDesignInternational
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/designertamian/graphic-design-by-tamian/

Clancy's comment: There ya go, folks. Take advantage of this offer and receive some serious assistance. And, don't forget what I've always said to my students about book covers, 'Cover, blurb, cash register.'

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28 July 2016 - THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES

THE SWORD 

OF DAMOCLES

G'day folks,

Damocles is a figure featured in a single moral anecdote commonly referred to as "the Sword of Damocles", an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power.

The famed “sword of Damocles” dates back to an ancient moral parable popularized by the Roman philosopher Cicero in his 45 B.C. book “Tusculan Disputations.” Cicero’s version of the tale centers on Dionysius II, a tyrannical king who once ruled over the Sicilian city of Syracuse during the fourth and fifth centuries B.C. Though rich and powerful, Dionysius was supremely unhappy. His iron-fisted rule had made him many enemies, and he was tormented by fears of assassination—so much so that he slept in a bedchamber surrounded by a moat and only trusted his daughters to shave his beard with a razor. 

As Cicero tells it, the king’s dissatisfaction came to a head one day after a court flatterer named Damocles showered him with compliments and remarked how blissful his life must be. “Since this life delights you,” an annoyed Dionysius replied, “do you wish to taste it yourself and make a trial of my good fortune?” When Damocles agreed, Dionysius seated him on a golden couch and ordered a host of servants wait on him. He was treated to succulent cuts of meat and lavished with scented perfumes and ointments.

Damocles couldn’t believe his luck, but just as he was starting to enjoy the life of a king, he noticed that Dionysius had also hung a razor-sharp sword from the ceiling. It was positioned over Damocles’ head, suspended only by a single strand of horsehair. From then on, the courtier’s fear for his life made it impossible for him to savor the opulence of the feast or enjoy the servants. After casting several nervous glances at the blade dangling above him, he asked to be excused, saying he no longer wished to be so fortunate.

 For Cicero, the tale of Dionysius and Damocles represented the idea that those in power always labor under the specter of anxiety and death, and that “there can be no happiness for one who is under constant apprehensions.” The parable later became a common motif in medieval literature, and the phrase “sword of Damocles” is now commonly used as a catchall term to describe a looming danger. Likewise, the saying “hanging by a thread” has become shorthand for a fraught or precarious situation. 

One of its more famous uses came in 1961 during the Cold War, when President John F. Kennedy gave a speech before the United Nations in which he said that “Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness.”

  

 Clancy's comment: Mm ... I seriously doubt if many Aussie politicians even give the sword a thought. Sadly!

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27 July 2016 - P. J. HARVEY

P. J. HARVEY

G'day folks,

Welcome to the life of a singer, songwriter and artist from the UK. Polly Jean Harvey, MBE, known as PJ Harvey, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, writer, poet, and composer. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments.

Synopsis

British singer and songwriter PJ Harvey was introduced to music at an early age and began writing songs as a teenager and joined with bassist Steve Vaughn and drummer Robert Ellis to create PJ Harvey in 1991. She is best known for her wide range of musical styles, exploring rock, electronica and folk. Outside of music, Harvey also expresses herself through art.

Early Life

Born Polly Jean Harvey on October 9, 1969, in Corscombe, England, PJ spent her early years on her family's farm in rural England. Both of her parents loved music and introduced her to blues, jazz and rock.

 As a teenager, Harvey began writing songs and learning to play different instruments. She also had a passion for art. For a time, Harvey thought she would pursue a college degree in art, but music soon won out. She joined with bassist Steve Vaughn and drummer Robert Ellis to create PJ Harvey in 1991. The group released two singles in England—"Dress" and "Sheela-Na-Gig"—both of which attracted a lot of positive reviews. The trio built on their early success with their first album Dry the following year.

Career Breakthrough

By the time the tour for their second album Rid of Me (1993) ended, Vaughn and Ellis had left the group. Harvey continued on, releasing her first truly solo effort, To Bring You My Love in 1995. "I knew all along that I'd want to work with different musicians eventually, which is why I used my own name for the group. I wanted to be completely freed up by not having to limit my writing to what I thought they would be able to perform," Harvey told the press at the time.

 The album proved to be a career breakthrough for Harvey. Praised by critics, To Bring You My Love made her into one of the darlings of alternative rock. It featured her greatest American hit to date, "Down by the Water." The video for the song was played frequently on MTV, and she developed quite a following among the modern rock set.

Since this first wave of success, Harvey has continued to record and tour. Her music has evolved over the years. One critic described her career as "brilliantly mercurial" with her songs "leaping between the intimate and the mythic." Still "her sound is too abrasive, her lyrics too intense to enter the mainstream," wrote another critic.

Harvey has also found time to work with other artists. One of her most fruitful collaborations has been with John Parish. She and Parish have recorded two albums together, Dance Hall at Louse Point (1996) and A Woman A Man Walked By (2009). Harvey has worked behind the scenes as well, serving as a producer for Tiffany Anders and Marianne Faithfull.

Most recently, Harvey released Let England Shake (2011), on which the artist took a more political stance. She told a reporter that she is "taking a look at the world and what happening in the current world affairs" on the album. But she doesn't "feel qualified to sing from a political standpoint. I sing as a human being affected by politics."

Outside of music, Harvey also expresses herself through her art. She has created and exhibited numerous paintings, drawings, and sculptures. At present, Harvey is working with photojournalist Seamus Murphy on a joint project.

Clancy's comment: Obviously a creative soul. Nothing wrong with that, eh?

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