Upon the Wings of Greater Things

The creative endeavours of Starla Huchton

Milestones and Reflections

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Two of my minions had checkups today, and as I was chatting with the doctor amidst her typing in medical things, she asked what it is I do. I gave my usual answer of freelance graphic designer and author, as that’s become my knee-jerk reaction rather than stuttering, self-conscious response, at which point she asked me if I’d published anything.

This is what gave me pause, not because I was asking myself if I should give the “self-published disclaimer” (this is not a post about that because I am OVER that discussion), but I couldn’t remember what number to fill in for the “I’ve published ____ books” part.

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On the Importance of Community

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helpful tips

Wanna hear something cool? Shadows on Snow is still ranking, 10 days after release, in three different categories on Amazon. While that’s not long-term results, it’s a big thing for me. To date, my new releases have gotten a big bump on release day, then tend to fall away after three days or so. Yay for progress!

But that’s not really what this post is about, although it is related. How? I’m getting there.

I’m firmly convinced that the only reason this book has done so much is because of the people around me that have supported, shared, or otherwise helped out with Shadows on Snow. Today, I’m going to talk about that a little.

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Jumping Genres: Reflections

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At Balticon this past weekend I was part of one of the very last panels of the con. The audience was tiny, which was to be expected for a panel taking place the last day of the con, but I thought you might like to hear my thoughts on the subject.

The title of the panel was “How Hard Can It Be? Jumping Out of Genre,” and was actually one of my suggested ideas this year. Over the last few years, my writing has been all over the place, and I wondered if other authors had experienced some of the strangeness I feel when I talk about writing in multiple genres, or how scary that can be, especially if you don’t know if your audience will follow you.

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Teaser Tuesday – Once Upon a Time

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We’re one week away from the release of Evolution: SAGE, but, this week, I’ve decided to switch gears a bit.

As a writer, I’ve learned to just sort of go with the ideas I get and not worry about keeping all of my stories confined to a single genre. Most of what I’ve written the past two years has been Science Fiction of one sort or another, but I didn’t start off that way. For most of my life, I considered myself firmly entrenched in the fantasy world, never to stray from that. Well, things change, as they often do, and my creativity drifted outside of my self-imposed box. But I’ve spent so much time out of the realm of the fantastical lately, I actually wondered if I could ever have my heart in a story about magic again.

I can now say, without hesitation, that I had no cause for worry. An idea hit me a few weeks back, and, having finished another project and not really feeling another, I decided to pursue something completely different. It’s a refreshing change, and I think it’s one that people who enjoyed The Dreamer’s Thread will heartily welcome.

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Out With the Old

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So it’s been awhile since I gave much thought to The Dreamer’s Thread, but with the launching of the spiffy new podiobooks.com site, along with a slew of email updates on the topic, I got to thinking about my old TDT cover. In particular, how much my design work has changed since I first put it together. This thinking was prompted by an email about covers from Podiobooks Godfather Evo Terra. I sent out a reply email explaining about my design stuff, when I realized that the one cover folks probably identify most with me is my absolute oldest work and not my best. I can see those other podiobook authors reading my email, checking me out on Podiobooks, and then promptly scoffing at my hubris.

That absolutely does not fly with me.

So, I set to myself to the task, worked my Photoshop mojo, and gave my first novel a make over. Because everyone knows a badly dressed book is far worse than a naked one.

The end result? Well, I’ll let you decide for yourself.

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Just a quick update

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Apparently I spaced and forgot to announce a fairly momentous occassion last month. I was so busy with finals for school and family stuff over the holidays that my own news just flew out the window. I SQUEE’d like crazy all over Twitter about it, but I didn’t put it HERE. You know, this being the blog for news and update stuff.

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Atlanta, Corsets, Parsecs, and Stan Lee

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What a weekend! I can’t believe it’s already over. It’s hard to decide where to start this post.

So, bad news first.

The Dreamer’s Thread didn’t win a Parsec Award.

No worries, though. All that saying “I’m really just ecstatic to be a Finalist” turned out to be, well, true. Not a tear was shed. Competition was tough. To be ranked among those folks was amazing for me. The ceremony was fun, also. It was great to cheer on friends as their categories were announced.

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