If you look closely, you can see the book title and the author name.
Thanks to the incredible talents of Philadelphia’s Big Red Tank design studio, the cover for my novel is just about finished. And I couldn’t be happier with the look. The font, the colors, the photography… it’s all just perfect.
I’ve posted the way the book will look with the spine and backcover as well, right after the jump. The designer left plenty of space for the publisher to place the necessary business: barcode, company logo, the book’s summary and author (me!) bio. There’s still some more tinkering to do on their end, but this is what it’ll look like. I’m so excited!
Next up, working on the book’s website and podiobook.
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That kid in the gray shirt was totally paying attention. He was taking notes. Seriously.
So last week, armed with a bottle of Mountain Dew, I gave two guest talks at University of the Arts, speaking to students about social media, blogging, and the importance of maintaining an online identity in today’s briskly moving world of new media. It was a lot of fun, I spent more time answering questions than I did actually lecturing, so that was nice.
It wasn’t enough to just use personal examples, like Uwishunu or Geekadelphia with these students. After-all, these kids are artists.
I brought up other blogs, like Philadelphia’s Artblog, the Autumn Society artist collective, and even my good friend Jordan Griska’s personal website. I was stunned at how many students had actually heard of Jordan. Several recognized his sculptures. I suppose he’s an even bigger deal than I thought.
We talked about social media tools, how blogs can help you reach a bigger audience, and how an online portfolio can give some permanence to art that, in the case of installations or experimental work, is only temporary. In the end, I walked away happy that these students were fortunate enough to have a teacher like John Freeborn. It’s imperative to have an online identity these days, and I think these UArts students are going to be prepared.
Looking forward to giving future talks. Thanks for inviting me out, John.
University of the Arts
www.uarts.edu
I talk to my students about a lot of important people in my English classes. William Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift, Dante Alighieri, Christopher Marlowe, Darius Rucker… what? I’m serious. Not understanding the poetry of Darius Rucker is grounds for failure in my class. Look it up. It’s on the syllabus.
I love talking about plagiarism with my students for a number of reasons. I can express my opinions on academia’s standing on the matter, I establish trust with my students (I refuse to use Turn It In), and I get to play Only Wanna Be With You by Hootie & the Blowfish on my classroom’s incredibly loud speaker system, much to the displeasure of neighboring teachers. Sorry guys, Hootie needs to be blasted.
The case of Hootie vs. Bob Dylan (note: it’s not really called that) is probably one of the most unfair cases of plagiarism in the history of music, in my opinion. Only Wanna Be With You quotes Dylan’s Idiot Wind at one point, and references the song You’re a Big Girl Now. I like discussing this example in my classroom, because it shows students that even the most innocent incidents of plagiarism, like Hootie shouting out references to favorite songs, can have far reaching consequences.
We’ll spend a good half hour looking over major and minor cases in music, often by watching the accompanying music videos, and discussing whether or not we think it should be considered plagiarism. Students usually respond well to this, and I get to rock out to some Hootie. Best. Lecture. Ever.
Other musical examples I enjoy using?
- David Bowie & Queen (Under Pressure) vs. Vanilla Ice (Ice Ice Baby)
- The Rolling Stones (The Last Time) vs. The Verve (Bittersweet Symphony)
- Huey Lewis (I Want a New Drug) vs. Ray Parker, Jr. (Ghostbusters)
Have any I should add? Leave a comment, let me know.
This popped up on my email yesterday, and I simply had to save it.
Just remember friends. No matter how bad things may get, you’ll never be as sad as email spammer Ahmd Alhlmd.
This weekend, my editor gave me back my manuscript of the novel. And yes, that’s an actual photograph of some edits. I’m fortunate to be working with someone kind and good humored. For every grammatical correction, there was a smiley face and a written laugh near one of my quips. I’m working hard through the end of the month, fixing bits and pieces here, adjusting characters flaws and plots holes there… it’s strange. I thought I was done.
Ah, and then there is her character. The love interest, who I based strongly on my now ex-girlfriend.
How does one make changes? I mean, she effectively ripped my heart out, rolled it around in sea salt, and doused it in delicious buffalo sauce before taking a vicious bite out of it. She may have squeezed a lemon wedge over the exposed, pulsating muscle as well. I couldn’t see. I was too busy trying to make out what sort of buffalo sauce she was using. I hope it was Frank’s. She could have at least done me that honor.
Good humor aside, it’s rough.
I’ll always know that this character I wrote and breathed life into is based on someone I cared about dearly. No one else will know that the wild, free spirited woman in my book is her. The characters look different and don’t share the same name, but it’s the little things. How they both have one off-white tooth. Swear at adorably inappropriate times. Carry themselves with careless grace.
When she first read my novel, she said it was like falling in love with me all over again. Now that I’m editing it, I’m profoundly reminded of why we fell in love in the first place.
So like I said. It’s rough.
It’s easy to edit someone out of a book. It isn’t so easy to edit someone out of your life.
Last week I attended a fancy art opening at The Galleries at Moore over at Moore College, where my good friend Jordan Griska had his latest piece on display. Simply entitled Gas Pump, his newest sculpture is a kinetic piece that crumbles into itself over time, and was actually created using an old, 1930’s gas pump. It was pretty damn cool, and clearly spoke to our country’s reliance on gas.
I’m not going to lie to you, Internet. Sometimes I really don’t ‘get’ art. I can appreciate a pretty painting at the Philadelphia Museum of Art or some fancy bronze sculpture in the local park, but when it comes to a deeper understanding of the work, I’m almost always at a loss. Literature, of course I get that. Post modern experimental performance art… not so much.
However, Jordan’s works are always easy to understand, comfortable to grasp. He somehow manages to create sculptures that speak to the more common (ie: me) folk. Their meaning doesn’t evade the non-art connoisseur. His pieces aren’t condescending. They’re fun, crazy. They move and are interactive. He creates them on a grand scale and sometimes, they are dangerous. He was working on his piece Sisyphus when we first met two years ago. A wild kinetic beast of a sculpture, he fell off and broke a disc in his spine.
Ad Infinitum is another great piece, massive tubes painted with electric paint, lit up by thousands of LEDs. Check it out. Seriously.
Keep it up, J. I’m proud of you.
Jordan Griska
www.jordangriska.com
Whoa, shiny! Backgrounds courtesy Anthony Clark.
IZEA, a wonderful social media and marketing group that occasionally works with Geekadelphia, awarded me “Postie of the Month” for the month of January. It’s pretty exciting, and looks super cute on my desk. I always wanted a shiny glass award.
For those of you who don’t know, Izea works with bloggers on a pay-per-post basis, and I’ve been fortunate enough to work with them on a number of fun projects. Thanks to them, I was able to make the connections to Hewlett-Packard for Geekadelphia’s big three year anniversary party. I was also able to donate printers to local in-need institutions, raffle off electronics for charity in November, and this month, donate money to the American Red Cross.
I know there’s a stigma in the blogging community when it comes to pay-per-post. As for me, in a time when internet advertising isn’t as popular as it once was, I see it as an opportunity to do some good, and interact with the community I love. Thanks Izea.
Today at work, I was pleased to find a large box of Quirk Books’ upcoming release, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, waiting for me at my desk. The book doesn’t come out til the end of March. Awesome.
My lovely blog, Geekadelphia, is hosting a Zombieland movie night at The Trocadero here in Philadelphia next Monday, and Quirk was kind enough to donate these books as giveaways / prizes. I’m keeping a copy for myself to review on the blog, of course.
I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a goal of mine to one day pitch a book to Quirk. I just need to think of that killer, uber-creative idea. I mean, I’m an English professor! This should be easy. Let’s see…
- Oedipus The Bling: A Hip Hop Greek Opera
- Spamlet: A Hamlet Adaptation in the Vein of Monty Python
- Beo-wolf: The Untold Story of Beowulf vs. The Wolfman
- Oliver’s Fist: Oliver Seeks Revenge on Those Who Wronged Him
- The Waist Band: T.S. Eliot’s Guide to Losing Weight & Staying in Shape
Quirk, if you’re interested in these, I have about a dozen more. Let’s talk. I will totally accept hugs, high fives, and a value meal from Wendy’s as my advance.
My debut novel comes out this Fall. You'll be able to download free audiobook podcasts 
