Category: Cool Websites

Midjourney: My New Art Addiction

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I’ve only recently started paying attention to the field of AI-generated art, and this Discord-based art AI seems to be one of the most advanced. (If you just want to play with something free and web-based, I’ve had good experiences with Dream by Wombo).

In Midjourney, you type in prompts, the software renders out four thumbnails of randomly generated images based on the text prompts, and gives you the option to create larger, higher-res versions (upscaling, buttons marked with a U) or create new variations on one of the thumbnails (buttons marked with a V). After a free trial of around 25 render minutes, you have to subscribe to continue using it, and in the less expensive subscription you quickly find yourself paying for extra render minutes over and above what comes with your subscription, but the program is set up to where you never exceed what you buy. (You pay in advance for what you think you need, they don’t just let you blindly run up a bill.)

I had some luck with space battles, in case I need new covers for Shadow Captain and its upcoming sequel, but in this post I’m going to show off my Jane Austen fan art experiments. A word of warning: Midjourney has trouble with faces, so a human hand has to step in and do a bit of plastic surgery to make them look not disturbing.

Continue reading “Midjourney: My New Art Addiction” →

Real Estate Website That Lists Castles For Sale

Posted on Posted in Cool Websites, Fantasy, Steampunk, World Building, WritingTagged

I suspect I am the last one to find out about this site, but it’s still cool. Great place to research castles for your fantasy novel, or just daydream about how to spend your hypothetical lottery winnings.

Welcome to https://castleist.com

Also, here’s an interesting study from 2018 of how Lake Powell in Colorado suffers from water management rules that favor keeping Lake Mead (downstream of Lake Powell) filled, and by extension favors the lawns, swimming pools and delta smelt of California, the most populous area supplied by Lake Mead.

New Giveaway on Prolific Works!

Posted on Posted in Cheap Books, Cool Websites, Covers, Fantasy, Freebie, Gladiator, Instafreebie, Jaiya, Marketing, MMA Fighter, Myth, Oldblood Series, Space OperaLeave a comment

Happy start of spring! Fantasy author Katherine Wibell has organized a freebie giveaway on Prolific Works (the website formerly known as Instafreebie). She has pulled together a collection of stories and sample chapters that speak of worlds not quite like ours. Some of the covers may not be “safe for work,” but there is a wide variety of worlds and stories represented here.

My contribution is a sample chapter from Slaying a Tyrant, the first book in the Ancestors of Jaiya series: G-rated cover, PG-rated content. Feel free to check it out, if you don’t already have a copy.

New Books in November!

Posted on Posted in Cheap Books, Cool Websites, Fantasy, Jaiya, Marketing, NaNoWriMo, Oldblood Series, Paranormal Romance, WritingLeave a comment

Wilson New Releases Nov 2019

Happy Thanksgiving! So, NaNoWriMo has started, and most of the posts you see from me at this point will have been written a few weeks ago, and scheduled for release during November.

Steampunk author Dean F. Wilson has put together a promotion at SFF Book Bonanza, showing off the latest releases in science fiction and fantasy. He graciously agreed to include Slaying a Tyrant, the first book in my Ancestors of Jaiya series, but there are plenty of other new releases to check out as well. Be sure to click here to check out all the latest books!

Free Kindle Books and Tips

Posted on Posted in Cheap Books, Cool Websites, Fantasy, Freebie, Gladiator, Jaiya, Marketing, Mel Dunay, Oldblood SeriesLeave a comment

Hello! Free Kindle Books & Tips has graciously agreed to feature Slaying a Tyrant on their website tomorrow, and asked that I share a link to their website. I am happy to do so: I’ve been hearing about them ever since I started self-publishing three years ago, and finally had the chance to work with them. They have a really smooth, well-designed website designed to help readers find free and discounted books, and they even have their own app for Kindle Fire! Click here to check them out!

A World Within a Page…Instafreebie Giveaway

Posted on Posted in Cheap Books, Cool Websites, Fantasy, Freebie, Instafreebie, Jaiya, Marketing, Marrying A Monster, Mel Dunay, MythLeave a comment

World Within a page 2018

Hope you’re staying warm this winter! (Or staying cool, if you live south of the Equator!)

Rebekah Dodson is hosting a new giveaway of fantasy novels and excerpts on Instafreebie, which runs until February 6, 2018. You probably already have my contribution to the giveaway, which is the sample chapter for my first novel, Marrying A Monster, but there are plenty of other options to check out. Be sure to click here to check out all the freebies!

Free SF&F Books on Instafreebie

Posted on Posted in Cool Websites, Freebie, Instafreebie, Jaiya, Marketing, Marrying A Monster, Mel Dunay, Paranormal Romance, SteampunkTagged Leave a comment

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Happy Holidays! Steampunk writer Dean Wilson has hitched up his eight tiny reindeer, and loaded up his sleigh with a bonanza of  Science Fiction/Fantasy books of every length, from sneak previews and short stories, to full-length books.

All free, all available on Instafreebie! He was gracious enough to include my short story, “Lost in a Dream,” in his bag of goodies, but there’s lots more to choose from-just click here or on the picture to see the complete list.

News and Updates

Posted on Posted in Cool Websites, Fantasy, Jaiya, Marketing, Marrying A Monster, Mel Dunay, NaNoWriMo, Paranormal Romance, Publishing Plans, WritingLeave a comment

Hello, everyone! Here in the USA, we are transitioning out of spooky candy overload and preparing for turkey meat overload. (Any comments mentioning the election will be marked as spam. Doesn’t matter who you voted for. I don’t care, and I am not kidding).

NaNoWriMo wordcount as of right now is around 17200, but since I’m aiming for 19000 by end of today, I need to get busy.

The big news is that I signed up with the Italian ebook aggregator Streetlib, and Marrying A Monster is now live (in English) on on the French retailer FNAC, and on the Mexican retailer Librerías Gandhi. It will soon be live on Google Play, Overdrive and a number of Italian, Spanish, Polish, Turkish and Russian ebook vendors and library services. I also have my own e-bookstore on the streetlib website.

I joined the Streetlib aggregator primarily to distribute my books to Google Play. Google Play is notorious for slashing prices on ebooks without the publisher’s permission, and Streetlib only allows publishers and self-publishers to set a single price for all the channels they distribute to.

The result is that the default price for my books through the vendors that Streetlib aggregates is going to be on the high side, except in cases where the retailer takes the initiative to discount them or price-match to Amazon (as FNAC and Gandhi seem to be doing).

Science Fiction & Fantasy $0.99 Sale!

Posted on Posted in Cheap Books, Cool Websites, Covers, Fantasy, Jaiya, Marketing, Marrying A Monster, Mel Dunay, Paranormal Romance, UncategorizedLeave a comment

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Patty Jansen has pulled together over a hundred and eighty books that are on sale in these genres (Science Fiction Fantasy, and Fantasy Romance), and sorted them by store: basically, you click here or on the image above, and then beneath the banner you click on the store symbol of your choice (Amazon, Nook, Kobo, etc) and then you can see the books available in each store. I’m very grateful to Patty for doing all this work, and very glad for the chance to participate in this sale, which runs today and tomorrow.

Yet Another Cool Source for Free and Discounted Ebooks!

Posted on Posted in Cool Websites, Jaiya, Marketing, Marrying A Monster, Mel Dunay, NaNoWriMo, Paranormal Romance, WritingLeave a comment

I booked a promotional slot for today with Ebookasaurus, another website which keeps its readers informed of all the best sales available on ebooks. This one covers multiple stores, so if your preferred store is Nook, iBooks, Kobo, etc, they have you covered. Feel free to check them out!

In other news: National Noveling Writing Month 2016 has begun! Once more into the breach, my friends….