HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY! Fact: One of the cruelest questions a person can ask a book lover is to name their favorite book. Rather than compiling my definitive “Favorite Books Ever”, here are some of the books I love. What about you? What books do you like? Do we share any of the same favorite…
LEAP DAY I hope that you celebratethis intercalary date(24 hours morethan were had years before)and three-hundred-six days that remain.
The Seeing-Spectacles of Aberdeen Gray: a Short Story / Zine by Jess Smart Smiley Check out this 8-page mini zine I made out of a single sheet of paper and keep reading to find out how you can print and fold your own copy! What’s Inside The whole story is in this tiny, pocket-size zine…
A Short Story by Jess Smart Smiley 4-5 minute read Aberdeen Gray was convinced she was cursed. She claimed that her eyes were made blind by her husband—“The Conjurer” she called him—because she refused the “singularly ugly and frightful” portrait he had gifted his bride for their wedding. Young Frederick was shocked by Aberdeen’s response,…
Wardenclyffe’s Presentation Jess Smart Smiley I have chosen my subject. My tools and supplies are arrayed before me. Master Wardenclyffe tends to the maintenance and construction of the other machines. The warehouse is substantial and frequented often by Master Wardenclyffe’s countless investors and admirers. Many financiers, heads of state, cultural mavens, and military leaders observe…
There’s a big difference between a sketchbook and a portfolio. Growing up, I erased, scribbled over, and tore out my mistakes so that only my best work remained. I didn’t know any better at the time, but I could have gotten much more of out of my sketchbooks with a few simple tweaks. What I…
I’m happy to share that I FINISHED WRITING THE ROUGH DRAFT of my gritty sci-fi adventure novel last night! Clocking in at 175,000 words and exactly 700 pages, my sketchbook ideas are now fully fleshed-out characters, creatures, and technologies that make up a single, cohesive story. Is it perfect? YES! Just kidding. Among other things,…
Read part 1 here or keep reading to learn how I found and reached out to beta readers, and shared my all-ages graphic novel before it was published. Finding Beta Readers It might be somewhat easy to find people online who want to read a book for free, but I figured I would need to…