http://www.realmsofimagination.net Realms of Imagionation! The Writing Website of Sci-Fi Author Steven Lake! en-us http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/the_sparrow_syndrome http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/the_sparrow_syndrome Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:04:19 -0500 Alright, with one of my recent works officially on the "ready to publish" list, it's time for me to move on to another. As of this point I've got a couple other existing works to piddle with, and one brand new one. I'll probably work on the existing ones for right now since they're already started ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/books_available_for_free_reading_month_giveaway http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/books_available_for_free_reading_month_giveaway Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:36:10 -0500 For those specifically curious to what books I have available for my [url=http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/read_a_book_get_a_free_book/]free book giveaway[/url] for Feb/Mar in honor of March Reading Month, here's a general overview of what I have available. Book TitlePrint Copies Available ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/the_epublishing_bubble_is_about_to_burst http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/the_epublishing_bubble_is_about_to_burst Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:53:32 -0500 The first signs of a growing, and uncomfortably fragile epublishing bubble are forming. With the massive inflow of new self published ebook titles, it's creating an instability in the force ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/read_a_book_get_a_free_book http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/read_a_book_get_a_free_book Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:08:16 -0500 As an early kickoff to March reading month, I'm offering a special incentive this year for any kid ages 8-18 who reads a book during February or March, by offering a [b]FREE COPY[/b] of [url=http://www.realmsofimagination.net/books/]any one of my eight books[/url] for every book you read. Yes, if y ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/looking_for_feedback_readers_for_rathul http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/looking_for_feedback_readers_for_rathul Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:46:52 -0500 My latest novel, [url=http://www.realmsofimagination.net/pending/24/]Rathul[/url], is nearly ready to receive it's first round of feedback, and as such I'm in need of readers who would be willing to look at the intermediate draft and give me feedback on plot, storyline, characters, and other core el ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/print_is_now_officially_dead http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/print_is_now_officially_dead Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:57:02 -0500 For anyone who still thinks that print is going to survive another 10 years or more as the primary method of publishing, think again. There more and more proof coming in every day that says [url=http://paidcontent.org/article/419-e-books-outsell-print-for-majority-of-titles-on-usa-today-bestseller- ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/calling_all_programmers_i_need_a_libreopen_office_plugin http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/calling_all_programmers_i_need_a_libreopen_office_plugin Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:11:14 -0500 Hey there fellow coders and programmers. I'm making this post in my blog as a plea to the coding community to help out myself, and I'm sure countless others as well, with a small problem. Namely, file versioning. However, before you walk away, let me first explain what my idea is, and then you ma ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/another_way_to_tackle_writers_block http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/another_way_to_tackle_writers_block Sun, 01 Jan 2012 09:05:40 -0500 Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to 2012's first blog post for ROI! Now, onward to today's topic. :) One of the more interesting things I've been discovering lately with working on my latest book is a new way to tackle writers block. It's probably one I'd used before but completely forgot ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/the_year_in_writing_-_2012_predictions_and_plans http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/the_year_in_writing_-_2012_predictions_and_plans Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:16:53 -0500 Well, for those of you who remember, last year I wrote a blog post on my plans for this year and what I wanted to do with my books. Well, let's recap the 8 plans I had, and how well I succeeded.. [h]This Years Goals[/h] [b]1. Finish up book 5 and 6 of the Earthfleet saga[/b] Status: Partial ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/follow_me_on_the_social_web http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/follow_me_on_the_social_web Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:07:17 -0500 For those of you who haven't checked my "[url=http://www.realmsofimagination.net/about_the_author/]About the Author[/url]" page yet, you may have missed all the different social networks I'm on, including [url=http://twitter.com/steven_w_lake]Twitter[/url], [url=http://www.facebook.com/steven.w.lake ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/clarifying_my_stance_on_print_books http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/clarifying_my_stance_on_print_books Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:40:49 -0500 Alright, apparently my recently comments about print books (and my apparent abandoning of them) have gotten a bunch of people confused. So let me take a few moments to clarify my stance so everyone's aware of what's going on. [b]1. Am I abandoning print books completely?[/b] The answer to th ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/explanation_of_portal_transporters http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/explanation_of_portal_transporters Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:01:52 -0500 Someone recently pinged me on Twitter and asked about what Portal Transporters are, and why I thought they were so great. Well, I figure that this blog post will do a lot to explain that. First off, while the concept behind Portal Transporters is not new to the Sci-fi realm, my iteration is. Howe ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/books_to_movies_-_dont_go_there http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/books_to_movies_-_dont_go_there Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:15:57 -0500 Of all the cool things that happened this weekend at Starbase Indy, one of the most interesting was a consistent piece of feedback I got from the celebrities that were there. While talking with each of them I mentioned about my books and how cool it would be to get them made into movies. The joint ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/dealing_with_writers_block http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/dealing_with_writers_block Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:54:35 -0500 One of the greatest banes of any author is writers block. It's that dreaded moment when you most need to write that you find yourself unable to. Any writer who's worth their salt gets it, sometimes frequently, and sometimes strongly. Even I've been suffering from it a bit lately. But in struggli ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/doing_author_events_in_the_digital_age http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/doing_author_events_in_the_digital_age Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:07:32 -0500 Ebooks have brought on a whole new world of potential to nearly every single author on the planet. However, it has made some other things far more difficult, or even impossible. One of these is the great staple of book events and signings. In times past these were a godsend form of "boots on the ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/a_fish_out_of_water http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/a_fish_out_of_water Sat, 19 Nov 2011 12:34:54 -0500 One of the things that bugs me to no end is authors who run around acting like they're God's gift to writing. As much as they might believe that, and as famous as they might be, they're just one tiny fish in a great big sea. Sure, the more successful ones may be luckier, or just happen to be far b ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/when_god_takes_up_the_pen http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/when_god_takes_up_the_pen Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:16:05 -0500 I don't know if I should call this creepy, amazing, or simply proof that God is working behind the scenes in my writing, but I just came across one of the most amazing little vignettes this morning. During the building of the story (I'm not going to tell you [b]what[/b] it was, so as not to spoil t ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/the_introduction http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/the_introduction Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:31:29 -0500 Here's a fun and grin inducing short story I just came up with that you will love. Now, without further delay, here's the story: [center][h]The Introduction[/h][/center] A man walked into a hardware store in the sleepy little town of Hinton, Oklahoma and began walking the aisles in search of ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/updated_author_event_and_toolkit_guide http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/updated_author_event_and_toolkit_guide Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:37:36 -0400 The greatly updated and improved version of my [url=http://www.realmsofimagination.net/files/author_tools_and_events_(2011-10-11).pdf]guide to doing events and signings[/url] is now available. Download and enjoy to your heart's content. Also, feel free to share this with others if you want. If yo ... http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/preserving_your_literary_legacy_in_the_digital_age http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/preserving_your_literary_legacy_in_the_digital_age Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:21:57 -0400 One of the things that authors fail to remember or think about in today's digital world is what will happen to their literary creations should the worst happen? (ie, fire, computer crash, flood, riots, war, end of the world, cats and dogs living together, etc) Or even something as simple as a sing ...