What a writer like me, is doing at a time like this

 

Hello my friends!

 

Now I know it's been some time but the funny thing about being a writer is that sometimes you need to take a brake and after finishing the second book in my first written series (that will eventually be published) I until recently have been taking it easy in editing, inquiring and planning town.

 

But that might change with something fun coming really soon...

 

But I also can't tell you about it just yet, I should know if it's a go by the end of this month if not sooner. So you had better stay tuned but before I leave you I would just like to give you some art that I have been working on cuz I'm not just an author/writer remember?

 

P.S you may get a clue as to what is so secret that I'm working on at the bottom of all this art!

 

 

 

 

 

So with just a taste of what I have been working on in art I give you the hint for what may be working out...

 

(Ever wanted a new Red Ridding Hood story with a twist and not just the same old retelling with a few little details changed?...)

 

Stay tuned! Your gunna want to see where this all goes.

 

-Anastasia out

 

 

LTUE after the fun,

 

Hello friends!

 

I know it has been some time once again but I was working on art for my booth at Comic-con FanX and have been at LTUE! Which is what I am mainly here to talk about today.

 

Going to the symposium was absolutely wonderful and beyond meeting, talking and hearing from some of my favorite authors I got to sell and sign my own books!

 

Now normally I would douse you with a face full of pictures but I was so absorbed in the event itself I have to admit to capturing almost nothing picture wise but one shot I did get with the help of another awesome author L.Palmer.

 

 

Being my first really big author event with a ton of other awesome story tellers was amazing let alone I sold some books and got to meet and talk with book lovers as well.

 

All in all though this post may be short I would highly recommend going to LTUE next year as it truly is and was one of thee best writing symposiums I have ever been to. 

 

Also on a side note here was my booth at Salt Lake Comic-Con FanX run by my fantastic Father and my best friend and awesome artist Gracie. ( @tiny_olive_art  Go check her out!)

 

(I was not at my booth but in California but that's a WHOLE other story for another time.)

 

So with this all said more writing, book events and so much more coming real soon, so until them stay awesome!

 

Anastasia out-

Ttips on getting Into the writing zone,

 

Hello my friends!

 

So today I wanted to share a few things about what I do to get into a writing zone.

(Mind you what I do may not work for you but hopefully it might spark an idea that helps.)

 

When I sit down to write it's usually between 1:00AM and 3:00AM and If I can get into a story I will write for at least an hour, but we're not hear to talk about how long I write; we're here for what I do to get into a story as I call it.

My first thing that has proven effective to help feeling like writing a particular story or even to help me want to write said story is  music, when I turn it on certain songs remind me of my emotion towards that idea for what I want to become a book.

 

At times that music can influence a feeling for a book and also helps me hone in on what I want the reader to feel. 

I have a whole YouTube playlist that's called book music with songs that for me connect to specific stories I'm working on.

Another thing I do is draw before or even after one of the characters I enjoyed writing that night or saw in my head doing something I have just written or want to write, it gives me a way to focus on the character and what I want to see in the book.

(I know not everyone is an artist but this is just an idea for those who feel so inclined to try it!)

 

 

Another help to getting into the writing zone for me is art by friends of mine/commissioned work; being an artist I get to be around some amazing artist and also get to commission some to do my characters which has really helped me as I keep the art on my walls which both reminds me of the stories I want to share and keeps me reminded of what I really want the world to know about each character.

(This one as a point in case is by a dear friend of mine Katt (Vattukatt on DeviantArt) of my sphinx character Serufim from a story I am writing on and off that will be a book series one day.

Last is sometimes just to give yourself the outdoors, your room or anywhere that you find helps you focus in on your characters and stories. Even just to get away from all my stories at times helps me come back with new vigor to keep going. 

(The shower is another place I think about stories in depth besides going out into nature, don't even try and tell me you don't day dream when your in the shower cuz I know you do too.)

 

Hopefully something above has helped give you an idea for your own writing or artistic endeavors! Best of luck with it all my friends and more book and writing and even some art to come.

Stay tuned!

 

Anastasia out~

A stamp in the book and a craft for the day,

 

Hello my friends!

 

Today I  want to give you a look at something that I have been planning to do the moment I finished writing my first book three years ago.

I look at getting my book published as something special and wanted to make it more so by creating stamps for the book.

 

What kind of stamps you ask?

Well let me show you and tell the idea behind creating them...

 

This is a look at one of the four stamps I have made that is of a dog character in my soon to be released novel "From The Dust." The bottom stamp was my first attempt at my dog companion and I just felt like I could do a better one, so a year later the top is the result of coming back and trying to make it again.

 

Now you may be wondering how stamps are made right or how to make them?

(Trust me I had to do some research to learn when I first started out.) 

 

 

To start it all off I use Speedball Speedy-cut easy (the blue rubber stuff) and using pencil  I sketched out the design I wanted, for this one I redid the sketch three times so in no way was this my first try for the sketch.

As you can see I have already outlined the design and the tool I used to do it is in our next picture!

 

At the top the red stamp carver that's tip can be changed out depending on the cut you want, as seen with the five extra tips in the right hand corner.

Once I'm finished carving down around the design I bought inexpensive stamps and take them apart and put my new one in it's place. It's kind of evil sounding now that I think about it...

  Moving on,

 

Like with the dog stamp for the book this one of the horse companion I had already done but I knew I could do better one now a year later, so I went back to it for a redo.

As you can see the new one looks more like a real horse which is what I really wanted to accomplish.

 

With my books I want to make them something special, I want to do something not many, if anyone has done before for their books and these stamps are my little something special.

 

 I will have all the stamps on hand to add to your copy of "From The Dust" at the launch and any book signing thereafter.  

(The swirled  stamp will only be available if you ask for the Moonstone. *hint hint*)

 

Anyway more book news about launch date, book trailer and so much more coming soon, so stay tuned.

 

Anastasia out~   

 

Book trailer behind the scenes 2.0, voice recording...

"The reality of a dream is the ability to see the impossible as just an option."

 

Good day friends! so with the little quote to get us going lets get into this short post behind the scenes...

 

Seeing as the trailer has been filmed what you ask would be the next step? Though it would seem logical to say putting it all together there is one small piece before we head into editing the video, and that is recording!

 

 

For the book trailer for my novel "From the Dust" I wanted to have someone speaking and telling you what normally in most book trailers is just words on the screen, I think it adds to what you feel about the book.

 

So bringing back the wonderful Summer Lambourne to record the five lines for the book trailer today we spent in all ten minutes recording using AVS audio editor to finish getting the last things in place before I edit it all together.

 

(For a look at the behind the scenes of filming the trailer you can find it here:)

(http://anastasiabolinder.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-trailer-making-we-go.html)

 

And to finish off this post the first look at the finished book cover!

(This wonderful illustration created by the fantastic Ben Simonsen)

 

Lastly the official "From the Dust" website is now live and will be continuing to ramp up with the art behind the book coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

* http://www.from-the-dust.com/ *

 

With all this fun stuff I can promise you more is still to come with an update about Kickstarter goodies coming real soon!

 

Stay awesome people and so much more to come, stay tuned.

 

Anastasia out~

 

 

A trailer making we go,

Hello, figured we might as well start out this blog with a bang!

 

So today we have a look at the behind the scenes of making a book trailer...

 

Working on the book trailer for "From the Dust" has been in my mind and worked on for months, though the filming is the main point you aim for, leading up to it are many smaller actions that make up what the trailer can become.

When I started thinking about making a video I questioned where I wanted my character to be and or how I wanted to show her for people to be interested in the book in a small amount of time as a book trailer is on average around a minute to a minute and a half.

 

Above you can see the thought of how I wanted to capture the shots.
(In reality I did very few of these once we filmed but it honed my idea of what I wanted to see when filming.)

 Next on the list was costume:

Alayna's costume was both easy and hard to accomplish all at the same time, when thinking of what I wanted I went for her simplest look but still keeping it with a feel of magic too the details of her shawl.

Then a test run for location:

Living so close to three canyons made my decision easy on where I wanted to film, big cottonwood canyon has a great rock outcropping that works perfectly to simulate a really nice otherworldly feel.
Scouting locations as well as a test trailer was done with my best friend and it worked out great to get a feel for what was the best way to do shots and where I needed them to be.

Months later  meaning just a few days ago we filmed the real trailer with the fantastic and amazingly talented Summer Lambourne playing Alayna.

 

Upon getting up the mountain it was easier knowing where we needed the shots but as nature has it's own mind we dealt with some different conditions then the tester/scouting as we got dark skies that threatened rain, but did we let that stop us? No sir we did not and it turned out to be a great shoot.

The top of that rock edge is mainly where we filmed.

 

Summer/Alayna looking awesome. 

In case your wondering this looks super not that high up but we were both quite far up and I was leaning into a rock to keep from falling. Yep danger was involved but it was worth the shot.

 

Like you would expect for filming it was moving from location to location with a few takes and before hand practice of  the path I needed Summer/Alayna to take.

 

If you can find my grey shirt up in the brush we filmed next to that tree and the trek to get to up to it took longer to get too then filming and getting down was a nightmare compared to getting up to it but we did it!

 

All in all the shoot was great working with such a fantastic crew consisting of my father/shofar and behind the filming picture taker as well as the wonderful Summer who captured Alayna perfectly. On the ride back home I admitted it was startling how close Summer resembled my character  Alayna and how strange it felt to sit in a car with your character.

 

So with that said I'm off to edit which is the last part of the process and will take some time but it will all be worth it once finished.

(This is a rough color of the cover by Ben Simonsen, finished look coming soon!)

 

For more information on the books release date, Kickstarter and a look at the trailer once completed stay tuned to this blog by following via email and keep dreaming and believing people.

 

Anastasia out~