http://www.realmsofimagination.net Realms of Imagionation! The Writing Website of Sci-Fi Author Steven Lake! en-us http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/understanding_magic_vs_technologyscience http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/understanding_magic_vs_technologyscience Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:11:43 -0400 One thing I've noticed of newer authors is the growing inability to differentiate properly between magic and technology in their writing. IE, they call something "technology" or "science" when it's clearly magic, and vice versa. So what is the proper understanding of these two types of environment ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/a_prayerful_idea_-_your_comments_needed http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/a_prayerful_idea_-_your_comments_needed Tue, 04 Jun 2013 14:27:07 -0400 I've created this blog post to further explain my idea I tweeted about earlier. Here's my thoughts. If I started an online prayer request service, would you be interested in participating? Here's my thinking. Years ago someone approached me with a design request that involved an "on demand" pray ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/explaining_the_1-10-5-1_rule http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/explaining_the_1-10-5-1_rule Thu, 09 May 2013 00:33:37 -0400 There has, for many, many decades, or as some believe, since the dawn of modern publishing, existed an unwritten rule of success in the publishing world informally known as the "1-10-5-1 rule", "11-oh-51 rule", or the "Success Scale". So what is this rule and what does it mean? Well, it means a lo ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/announcing_fidgetcms http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/announcing_fidgetcms Tue, 07 May 2013 08:50:18 -0400 Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to announce something new coming from ROI. Well, more specifically from me. For those of you who know, one of the things I do for a living is I design websites with the help of several friends who provide graphics and other assistance to me in that effort, including ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/writing_update_for_april http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/writing_update_for_april Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:40:46 -0400 Hi again everyone.  Sorry for the long silence, but I didn't really have much of anything to report.  So what little I had to say I just tweeted.  But now I've got some updates to make, so it's blogging time!  Anyhow, here's my updates for anyone interested in what's happening.Bo ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/updated_lion_and_the_fire_cover http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/updated_lion_and_the_fire_cover Sat, 02 Mar 2013 12:20:58 -0500 Just thought I'd share this with you guys.  I had my artist and friend, Don Semora, update the cover to better fit with the theme and the story. ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/our_forums_are_friendly_so_come_on_by http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/our_forums_are_friendly_so_come_on_by Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:12:03 -0500 Just a reminder, our forums here are a family friendly, general topic forums, and all are welcome. We're very open, we don't restrict what you say, or what you can post with one exception. What you post [b]MUST[/b] be family friendly. Mostly because under 13's can signup and post here with parent ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/line_breakout_page_editing_format http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/line_breakout_page_editing_format Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:11:02 -0500 One of the single greatest and most fearful moments a writer can go through is when they both hand their manuscript to the editor to work on, and when they receive it back completed. The fear of seeing red really bothers a lot of writers I know of. But to some it's a welcome thing; the final polis ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/authors_the_fires_of_ebook_change_are_upon_you http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/authors_the_fires_of_ebook_change_are_upon_you Sat, 23 Feb 2013 08:22:33 -0500 This is a message and a simple piece of advice to all authors who love their craft and want to stand out amidst the growing mire of ebook publishing. Some have said that lately the waters have become mired with far too many ebooks, the majority of which are bad to absolutely unreadable. This is a ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/new_proof_reading_content_coming http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/new_proof_reading_content_coming Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:17:04 -0500 Just a quick reminder to everyone who hasn't signed up to be a proof reader yet, a new short segment is coming your way soon. So if you want a chance to read it and provide feedback on the story, please get signed up before Monday. Thanks. To signup, just [url=http://www.realmsofimagination ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/march_reading_month_offer_2013_-_read_a_book_get_a_book http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/march_reading_month_offer_2013_-_read_a_book_get_a_book Sun, 27 Jan 2013 08:09:46 -0500 Well, it's almost February, and that means it's time to begin preparing for March Reading Month. As such my offer this year is the same as last. For any child 8-18 who reads a book in March, I will be giving away free to them one copy (ebook only) from any of my thirteen available titles! Yes, th ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/planning_a_mumble_chat_-_comments_welcome http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/planning_a_mumble_chat_-_comments_welcome Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:46:28 -0500 For anyone who is interested, I'm planning to start doing regular [url=http://mumble.sourceforge.net/]mumble[/url] chats here at ROI. They'll be generally casual and informal, and the topic can be pretty much whatever you want it to be. The only rule obviously is that it has to be a family friendl ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/when_creativity_takes_a_dive http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/when_creativity_takes_a_dive Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:40:29 -0500 Being an introverted geek with ADD and possibly a slight case of Aspergers I've come to really pay attention to the things which affect my writing and my general mood. Oddly enough I've discovered an interesting little factoid. It seems that the majority of my writers block occurs when I'm feeling ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/a_writers_excercise_paragraphs_scenes_and_chapters http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/a_writers_excercise_paragraphs_scenes_and_chapters Tue, 22 Jan 2013 09:36:06 -0500 Another element of good writing is good page formatting. There are a lot of rules out there on the proper way to format a page, and overall those should be clung too very strictly. I've even written a post on how to [url=http://www.realmsofimagination.net/blog/124_a_guide_to_properly_formatting_a_ ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/a_writers_excercise_scenery http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/a_writers_excercise_scenery Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:09:14 -0500 Of all the things that a writer is required to achieve in their story, the one that's probably most difficult, and yet at the same time most important is scene description. This can include action, imagery, expressions, and so much more. The biggest reason behind this is that some things need to b ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/a_writers_excercise_language http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/a_writers_excercise_language Sat, 19 Jan 2013 10:31:51 -0500 One of the things I've noticed a lot from writers (probably more of late than before this) is a general misunderstanding of how language works. Now I admit that I'm no linguist myself. If anything my writing is just as riddled with localisms that any writer's work is. However, I've learned throug ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/forum_feedback http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/forum_feedback Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:55:07 -0500 Ok, I've seen enough nods in favor of doing a forum that I'm going to go ahead with it. That then brings up a couple of questions. 1) What default theme would you like. IE, what theme do you think we should start with? (just pick one, because we can always add alternatives later for those who do ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/the_writers_guide_to_success http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/the_writers_guide_to_success Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:18:58 -0500 One of the things I like to do from time to time is to remind new authors (and existing ones as well) what the true reality of being an author is. Not a writer. Not a hack. Not a glory hound. I'm talking about being a [i]real[/i] author. IE, one who loves their work and lives to write. Of the ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/options_for_post_facebook_interaction http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/options_for_post_facebook_interaction Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:53:32 -0500 As many of you know from my previous blog post that I'm leaving Facebook for a number of reasons. I won't explain those here as you can read some of my thoughts in my other post. However, I will be discussing an idea that I've been mulling over most of the day so far. Here's what I'm thinking. ... http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/leaving_facebook http://realmsofimagination.net/blog/leaving_facebook Mon, 14 Jan 2013 08:02:53 -0500 Just a heads up everyone. Due to recent and ongoing changes at Facebook it has become increasingly more and more difficult to operate there with any degree of efficiency or effectiveness. In some cases it's become an exercise in abject futility. So I've decided that I'm giving up it and moving on ...