A Halloween Poem: The Witch of His Dreams!

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Karen DeMers Dowdall

THE WITCH OF HIS DREAMS

She comes to him at Midnight,

The Witch of his Dreams,

Her eyes a forest green,

Her hair, dark and long,

Her voice, a sweet magic,

Calling out his name,

He could not help but watch her,

Dance among the flowers,

Beneath a waxing moon,

She whirls and cast her spells,

Upon him,

A haunting chant she sings,

And soars into his soul,

On gossamer wings,

She whispers things he longs to hear,

Of secret longings in his ear,

She enchants him with delights,

Though she must fly into the night,

She tells him of her love,

And casts her spells upon him,

To love him evermore,

Though never shall she return,

For she was only ever,

The Witch of His Dreams.

Composed by K. D. Dowdall October 2017

Watching Scary Movies: Horror & the Inference of Blame in Current Events

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Karen DeMers Dowdall

KC.. another wise and important post, that tells the tale of humanity. Blaming sex movies and horror movies on humans “evil” behavior, is such a cop-out by so many people. From the Cave Man forward, people have done horrible things to other humans, and they had no Horror movies to watch or read, or imagine. And, by the way, Horror movies always, always tell a tale of goodness, how humanity somehow manages to subdue and vanquish the evil scourge that threatens our human sense of what kind of beings we really are! Not generally very good actually, because the meek run off the ledge like lemmings, the bad ones hide their mentally deranged cowardly selves, and the brave stand up and are often martyred, leaving the middle-of-the road rest of us..trying to be better and that works for a while…then the bad ones raise their deranged selves, again, like Trump, when they spot the weak, selfish, jealous, head-in-the-sand lemmings and it starts all over again. So, horror movies are the opposite of what many call “evil”, a way to excuse our human derangement due to anything, but horror movies.

Zombie Salmon (the Horror Continues)

Horror has always been suspect.

What kinds of people watch, write, or put on film and in our minds such awful images? What kinds of people like that sort of thing?

Since it first emerged as its own genre, Horror has been blamed for being the cause or the effect of mental derangement, of moral impropriety and religious slander. Hidden behind the guise of the immaturity of adolescent boys, everyone has intentionally overlooked the real origins and depth of the genre, trading it for gratuitous sex and violence and wielding it like a magic wand to explain the irrational behaviors we have come to embrace as “evil.”

Most recently we had the Slender Man girls. And now we have the Scary Movie-Watching Florida middle school girls who planned to murder smaller classmates in the girl’s restroom…

As a Horror writer, I feel we must brace ourselves for the interrogation of…

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An Attack On American Democracy

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Karen DeMers Dowdall

Thank you, Dr. French, for the excellent and most needed post. It is shocking and terrifying that political opponents are being threatened in this way. Our civility in this country is at the lowest point in modern memory.

charles french words reading and writing

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(https://pixabay.com)

American democracy is under attack–the threat of the bombs that have been found that were aimed at numerous people, including political figures, business people, artists, and leaders from national intelligence–has precedent only in the assassination of President Lincoln. That conspiracy intended to kill 3 other government figures and bring down the Union.

There can be no doubt that this is a domestic terrorist attack, and all Americans should be horrified by these actions. These are the kind of actions that put many people, including the people who work in the postal facilities and offices where the bombs were sent, into grave danger. This is an attack clearly focused on one political side. I would condemn this kind of action, no matter who is the focus.

We are supposed to be Americans, regardless of political party affiliation. After 9/11, we had a brief moment of unity. We need to end…

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An Interview with Judy Bullard, Book Cover Designer!

Posted on October 20, 2018 by Karen DeMers Dowdall

An Interview with Judy Bullard, Book Cover Designer!

I am interviewing today a very talented Book Cover Designer, Judy Rumsey Bullard, customebookcovers@cox.net. She has designed all of my book covers and I love each and everyone of them. Don’t miss 6 of her great designs at the end of this interview! It is my pleasure to introduce to you, Judy Rumsey Bullard, a book cover designer extraordinaire!

Judy, please tell us where you are from originally and a little about yourself.

I was born in Oregon but only lived there for my first two years. My parents then moved to California where I’ve lived for most of my life. My husband and I were married while he was in the Navy on the aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise. I was a stay at home Mom while raising our two sons who are now married. For most of our lives we’ve lived in California with the exception of 5 years in Oregon. After leaving Oregon we moved to San Clemente, CA where we currently reside.

What peaked your interest in making book covers for novels?

While I was designing websites one of my clients, Linda Pendleton, an author and artist thought it would be fun for us to create custom bookmarks. While making bookmarks, Linda asked if I would redesign a few of her book covers. I enjoyed it so much I decided to give up the custom bookmark business and concentrate on covers.

Judy, when did you start creating book covers?

I think it’s been about 15 years.

How many book covers, in the span of your professional life, have you created?

I can’t even guess, there’s been so many.

What did you have to learn to be able to create beautiful book covers?

When I started designing websites I took an online class from one of our local community colleges to learn graphic design. At that time I was using Paint Shop Pro, which is similar to Photoshop. I had a hard time getting into Photoshop but forced myself with a little help from You Tube tutorials. I now use Photoshop exclusively.

Where do you get your ideas from when designing a book cover?

I always ask the author what they have in mind and if they have a certain vision. I find most people do have something in mind and that helps me tremendously. If they don’t, I just ask for a brief synopsis of their story, which gives me ideas.

When did you consider yourself to be a professional book cover designer?

That’s hard to say, there’s always something new for me to learn but to have the confidence to say I am a professional, maybe 10 years ago.

What inspires you when you are doing a new book cover?

The author… I have been so fortunate to meet a large number of talented people who now have the opportunity with self-publishing to see their vision in print. How exciting is that, to be able to go to Amazon, Smashwords or other self publishing companies and share your work with the world.

What genre is your favorite when it comes to designing a book covers?

I don’t really have a favorite, I enjoy each one because they are all so different. I really do enjoy the lightheartedness of children’s books and on the other hand, thrillers are quite challenging.

Do you focus on a particular style when you are creating a book cover?

No, each cover has its own particular style.

When an author contacts you to do a book cover or even a book series, what kind of questions do you ask them about their book or series?

The main question I ask is what do they have in mind. Most of the time I can get pretty close to what they want. I use stock photos which I manipulate to best suit the story. Sometimes I can’t make it work and have to go into a different direction but in the end, the author is pleased with what I come up with.

Do you have any advice for wannabe book cover designers?

I think the best advice is to listen to the author. Communication is very important, don’t leave them wondering what’s going on.

Do you have a particular time schedule for designing or just when you are inspired?

There’s no particular time schedule, sometimes I have to sleep on an idea but by morning a light bulb goes off in my head and an idea comes to me. Once I start a project I am usually finished within a few days.

Is there anything you would especially like your authors to know about book cover designing?

Have an open mind because sometimes it won’t be exactly what you had in mind.

Judy, Thank you so much for being here today, and we would love to see some of your favorite Book Cover Designs, displayed here on WordPress. And, please let our authors know where to fine you by listing all of you social media here.

You can find more of Judy Rumsey Bullard’s beautiful Book Covers on Facebook and her website and contact her at her email address: customebookcovers@cox.net.

https://www.facebook.com/Custom-E-Book-Covers-by-Judy-Bullard-252852781478412/ http://customebookcovers.com/

An Interview With Judy Rumsey Bullard, Book Cover Designer, This Saturday, October 20th!

Posted on October 19, 2018 by Karen DeMers Dowdall

As writers and authors, we know or should know, the importance of creating a book cover that shines. The cover should also represent as much as possible what the novel is all about. On October 20th, 2018, I will be interviewing Judy Rumsey Bullard, a very talented Book Cover Designer, who will talk to us about Book Cover Designing. She will be displaying 6 more of her great designs, and will talk to us about what it takes to be a successful Book Cover Designer! Here are three Book Cover designs that she designed for three of my novels and I love each one!

Spirit Day 2018 Standing Up For #LGBTQ Youth #spiritday

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Karen DeMers Dowdall

Thank you, Tony, for helping us remember #SPIRIT DAY for the prevention of bullying of LGBTQ youth. We are all different, but the same – we are all human beings deserving of Equal Rights and the right to live without bullies, meanness, and cruelty.

The Tony Burgess Blog

Spirit Day now occurs every year on the third Thursday in October, during National Bullying Prevention Month, and has become the most visible day of support for LGBTQ youth.

Here’s to those who are standing up and supporting LGBTQ youth.

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Smorgasbord Blogger Daily – Monday, October 15th, 2018 – The Book Designer #Amazon Reviews – Leslie Tate with Kendra Olsen #Editing and Robbie and Michael Cheadle with James J. Cudney

Posted on October 16, 2018 by Karen DeMers Dowdall

Sally, I did go to The Book Designer website and I am so glad I did. Thank you and Debby Gies (D. G. Kaye) as well as Joel Friedlander’s website, The Book Designer, for posting this extremely important post. So, for authors who have not read your post, I am reblogging this critically important post. Thank you so much for sharing!

“Ravioli” and Goodnight Moon

Posted on October 14, 2018 by Karen DeMers Dowdall

Jennie, I love this post and the pictures, so adorable and so charming!

A Teacher's Reflections

One of our favorite times of the day at school is chapter reading. It is intimate. We feel snuggled together. Much like being in sleeping bags while camping, with nothing but words to hear, we look forward to that time.

Before we begin chapter reading, we recite Goodnight Moon. Those timeless words, soothing and rhyming, are a favorite. Children have nearly memorized the words, and they look forward to hearing them every day. A favorite is doing it “the silly way”, adding every child’s name into the verse. “In the great green room there was a telephone and Mary’s red balloon, and a picture of Tommy jumping over the moon”, and so on. Children are on the edge of their seats!

We can forget how much a child is truly absorbing, if s/he is quiet. Often something then happens that surprises us, and we are reminded just how important…

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George Carlin 8-23-18

Posted on October 9, 2018 by Karen DeMers Dowdall

Velma, yes, it is beautiful, and incredibly true. Thank you so much for sharing! I think that many of us have bit into the poison apple of wanting, but not needing, and have forgotten the beauty of simple things that mean a life well-lived. Written by Pastor Bob Moorehead back in 1995, article entitled, The Paradox of Our Time. Information submitted to me by Robert Kirkendall, a WordPress author.

fiercefabulousfunny

George Carlin’s wife died early in 2008 and George followed her, dying in July 2008. It is ironic George Carlin – comedian of the 70’s and 80’s – could write something so very eloquent and so very appropriate. An observation by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have…

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