Tag Archives: Stephanie Bibb

March 12, 2014 · 7:00 am

A Burning Hope – Book Cover Reveal

This is another cover for Melange Books, for a fantasy short story.

SBibb - A Burning Hope - Book Cover

 

The author and I went through a few slight variations, debating how to get the swamp to look right and where the best place to put the fire was. I also tinkered with lighting to create the mood we wanted. One thing to keep in mind when doing covers is that lighting, and using strong color contrast, can help attract the eye to the image.  Another trick to keep in mind when looking for stock photos is that you might look for something that already has some photoshop done to it, then tweak it further to suit your purposes. In this case, I found the ‘monster’s’ eyes already partially edited. But, because the monsters are supposed to be blind, I did additional photoshop to create the final look.

Stock photos from: Dreamstime.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-floating-fishing-village-image26604324
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-boat-fog-image12261557
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-fire-image16068630
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-horror-blindness-image20380689

2 Comments

Filed under Book Covers, Photo Illustration

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 7, 2014 · 4:43 pm

Ashes – Free on Smashwords Today and Tomorrow Only

Heads up– if you’re interested in my 1000 Words short stories, “Ashes” (a spin-off prequel for “Socks”) is available for free on Smashwords today and tomorrow as part of their Read An Ebook week. After that, it goes back to its usual .99 cent price. 🙂

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/249071

 

When rebels attack the city, two teens race to save the last existing library before it is destroyed.

SBibb - Ashes Cover

3 Comments

Filed under Business Ventures, Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 5, 2014 · 7:31 pm

Cover Reveal and Review – The Devil’s Third

This is the third and final book cover for Rebekkah Ford’s Beyond the Eyes trilogy, as well as a few of the promo pieces I put together for it. You can see the wrap-around cover here: http://sbibb.deviantart.com/art/The-Devil-s-Third-Book-Cover-423981244?q=gallery%3ASBibb&qo=0

SBibb - The Devil's Third - Book Cover

Facebook Banner:

SBibb - Devil's Third Promo

Bookmarks:

SBibb - Devil's Third Promo SBibb - Devil's Third Promo

A bit about the cover: All images are my own, and I used the camera’s timer to get a few shots of me posing for the main character. We had a couple different ideas to work from, and when the first didn’t work out, it turned out handy that I’d done a few standing poses as well. Side note for photography– it can help to take multiple angles and poses in case one doesn’t have the desired effect. Photoshop CS6 to blend everything and photomanipulate the hand reaching out from the text.

(See the the previous covers for the series: https://sbibb.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/dark-spirits-cover-reveal/ and http://sbibb.deviantart.com/art/Beyond-the-Eyes-Wrap-Around-309769699 )

And now for the review. 😀

Disclaimer: Paranormal romance isn’t my preferred genre, and therefore, my opinions may be skewed compared to that of someone who regularly enjoys paranormal romance.

Overall, an enjoyable read. The characters have a realness about them that I enjoyed, and the description of setting was wonderful. (Seriously, I read one passage that made me think I could smell a rainy autumn day. Descriptions that really engage the senses like that make me a happy camper).

My favorite part of the story was where Paige goes into Carrie’s memories (so-to-speak, trying not to give away spoilers). The visuals were awesome, the pace really picked up (the beginning was just a bit slow, but served well to remind me what happened in the previous book), and the plot revealed a few nice tid-bits of information about the dark spirits.

I also enjoyed the magic system and finding out more about their world and <spoiler>the different doorways Paige can open. I actually would have been interested in seeing more of the different dimensions</spoiler> but we also got to see other new abilities, as well, which I enjoyed reading about.

That being said, there were a few downsides for me. A minor thing, but I did notice more typos in this story than in the previous ones. Also, there were several times I felt like something convenient happened or wasn’t fully explained. In all fairness, I was reading this in ten minute intervals while on break at work, so my attention wasn’t completely focused. Might have been different if I’d been able to read it in longer intervals.

I didn’t really get into the romance between Nathan and Paige, but then, I don’t typically read stories for the romance. And Brayden… I still kind of want to strangle him. I did, however, like seeing more of Ameerah’s character, and I also liked seeing the new characters, like Pip.

For me, I think my favorite book out of this trilogy was actually Dark Spirits. I really liked the interactions between Bael and Paige in that story, but I liked seeing Paige’s new powers in this one. Overall, though, I think this was a good series that paranormal romance readers are likely to enjoy. 🙂

2 Comments

Filed under Book Covers, Business Ventures, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 18, 2013 · 7:00 am

Pony Dreams – Cover Reveal

Another cover for Melange Books.

This is one of those covers where the photoshop auto-align layer came in helpful. So did smart object, as a way to keep everything sharp. I created the proof image, and when I went to create the final, I found everything was far too blurry. Finally suspected it had to do with how I’d been tweaking the angles of the image. I ended up redoing the final, with the help of the auto-align tool I was mentioning earlier, and that simplified the process considerably. Like with other covers where I used the proof image first, rather than using full size stock to start with, I did more clean-up to the final image, and thus came out with this. 🙂

SBibb - Pony Dreams - Book Cover

Stock from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-blank-vintage-photo-paper-isolated-image26934533
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-pony-express-rides-again-image147907
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-pony-tail-portraits-image2181833
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-young-caucasian-male-portrait-attractive-handsome-model-wearing-jeans-white-button-shirt-isolated-white-background-image31290860
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-old-farmhouse-shed-image1933102

Leave a comment

Filed under Book Covers, Photo Illustration

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 4, 2013 · 6:36 pm

Second Best – Cover Reveal

Another cover for Melange Books.

SBibb - Second Best - Book Cover

 

This one was actually one of the easier covers for me, largely because we were working directly from a stock subscription, so I was able to work with the full-size images right from the get-go. For this, I played around with overall mood, trying to get a sense of the setting per the art request sheet, and I also asked about extra details regarding the character (which age to go with and so forth) from the author. We later added the faint scar on her cheek, which is more visible at larger resolutions, but wasn’t meant to be the point of focus. Overall, I’m really pleased with how this came out. 🙂

Stock Photography from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-portrait-girl-image15706682
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-old-abandoned-factory-image18763339
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-chain-link-fence-image7247619
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-abstract-chain-link-fence-image7536291

Leave a comment

Filed under Book Covers, Photo Illustration

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

November 13, 2013 · 9:00 am

The Feast of Yule – Cover Reveal

This  was a cover that managed to come together really easily. In this case, the author requested that there be a gnome on the cover if possible, and if we could get an autumn background, that’d be good, too. Mentioned that the gnomes were mischievous and at one point had axes in the story. So I went browsing through Dreamstime looking for images of gnomes. I didn’t find a gnome, per say… but three images later, I’d say that gnome looks mischevious, don’t you?

Sometimes a cover can be amazingly simple to put together. This was one of them. Also, I kept the same sort of title treatment to help it tie into her other story, Forgetting Fallenwood. 🙂

SBibb - The Feast of Yule Book Cover

Stock Photography from Dreamstime:

Leave a comment

Filed under Book Covers, Photo Illustration

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 30, 2013 · 8:00 am

NaNoWriMo 2013

Hello everybody! We interrupt this week’s usual cover reveal (Next week I’ll be revealing the details behind a new cover, don’t worry), to remind all you writerly-inclined folks out there that NaNoWriMo is just around the corner. A couple days away. As in, I really should finish reading through my current manuscript (Distant Horizon, book 3, part 1) so I can be ready to start writing part 2 of book 3. Anyways.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with NaNoWriMo, it’s National Novel Writing Month, which just so happens to be set in the busy month of November. You set out to write 50,000 words in one month, racing against yourself to crank out the rough draft of a short novel. (Or, if your like me and some of the other rebels out there, starting your word count as of November 1st to finish a current manuscript). The goal isn’t to have a complete, polished manuscript, it’s more to motivate yourself to keep writing, not get hung up on going back and re-editing, and simply get that idea that’s in your head down on paper… or in computer hard drive space.  The computer works a lot easier for that word count check in the end.

There’s no punishment for failure, it’s all in good fun. I’ve participated in one year previously (2008, that nice, reasonably quiet freshman year of college). Though I ended up trunking that particular novel, a few of its characters have snuck their personas into my other works. As have a few ideas. Even if you don’t use your story later (I didn’t even try editing that one), you may still find some good from it. Plus, it’s fun to watch your word count slowly heading for the 50,000 mark, and if you want a writerly community there to cheer you on, they’ve got the forums, too.

So, what are you waiting for? Got a novel in mind? Always wanted to write but never had the excuse? Want to get that pesky first draft done? Then check out NaNoWriMo’s website to get started. 🙂

http://nanowrimo.org

So, anyone else out there participating this year? 🙂

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 23, 2013 · 7:00 am

Do your characters pass judgement?

Today I have another writing-related post. Do your characters pass judgement?

It’s something I’ve seen blogged about in regards to point-of-view, and it also has quite a bit to do with showing. Your characters, as you write them (especially whichever character is leading the scene), pass judgment on everything they see or hear. This may be good, or it may be bad. It’s how they view the world, and it shows their attitude and voice. For example, take the small bit of scene from the manuscript I’m currently working on (Glitch).

Val pushes a plate of ham and eggs in front of me. She polished hers off a good while ago, as if she has already forgotten yesterday’s concerns. “When’s the last time you ate?”
I’m not sure. Maybe that’s why my head feels fuzzy. I push the plate aside and go for a bowl of applesauce. Though the chunky apples are practical, they taste far more extravagant than anything the Community… or the Coalition… would serve. I check the recipe in the database: cinnamon, chili powder, nutmeg.
I’d be happy with sugar.

If I’ve done my work right, the scene should give you a few clues into the main character’s personality: a bit more down-to-earth (going for practicality), curiosity (he checks the database for something as simple as a recipe), and to some degree, simplicity (being happy with just sugar, and not the other spices). When you look at the scene on the whole, he’s passing judgment on the applesauce… even though it might not be something we’d normally thinking of passing judgement on. It’s not meant that he’s being negative, only that we see it from his point of view.

Now, for a bit more obvious of a scene passing judgement:

The door opens to a bright, tall room. I breathe sharply. The Legion Spore is ugly. There’s something awkward about the mess of tentacles dangling beneath the Legion Spore’s fleshy, bulbous body, though I’m drawn to the thin membrane of its air sac. Pink fins softly ripple, glowing under the blue light.

Short, since the rest would be confusing out of context, but the main character is being introduced to the vessel he’s going to be piloting, which is a monster in its own right. While it’s supposed to be ugly, like he says, it’s also supposed to be impressive. Now, both these scenes are still in draft-phase, so I may end up changing them or omitting sections altogether, but the idea is there. The main character passes judgement. ‘Awkward’ and ‘mess’ are both negative descriptors, while the softly rippling fins are meant to be positive.

These may just be my own meanderings I’ve been considering, but feel free to share your thoughts. Have you noticed your characters passing judgment? Are the scenes in which they do more prone to being “showing” rather than “telling?” What are your thoughts?

Leave a comment

Filed under Personal Work, Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

October 17, 2013 · 5:30 pm

Cover Reveal – The Revolving Year

Forgot to post yesterday. Today we have a cover reveal. 🙂

SBibb - The Revolving Year Wrap-around Cover

Full size version: http://sbibb.deviantart.com/art/The-Revolving-Year-Cover-405328502

This is a wrap-around cover for Barking Rain Press. (Find the book here: http://www.barkingrainpress.org/dd-product/revolving-year/ )

Photoshop CS6. For this cover, the publisher already had a few images picked out they were interested in. I chose to play with this one, under the idea that the man in the picture needed to be removed, and the season changed to Fall. (See the original Shutterstock image: http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=99948338&src=id ) This was actually quite a bit of fun, and the content aware fill tool proofed to be quite useful, as did the clone tool when I cropped the woman’s hair shorter. The additional fall trees photos are my own. Overall, I quite enjoyed creating this one, especially trying to set the tone. I did the basic title treatment, and the publisher adjusted it to fit their needs.

1 Comment

Filed under Book Covers, Photo Illustration

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 9, 2013 · 8:00 am

Using “How It Should Have Ended” to catch your own plot holes

Taking another week for story-writing related posts. 🙂

For a while now, my husband and I have enjoyed watching a series of Youtube shorts called “How It Should Have Ended” ( http://www.youtube.com/user/HISHEdotcom ). The premise is that they take a popular movie (For example, the Star Wars movies, Hunger Games, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Iron Man, etc…) and look for those little ridiculous plot holes that like to throw a wrench in the whole plot. These are usually simple things, (like the Emperor asking very specifically that there is not a hole large enough for a spaceship to fly through on the second Death Star) that we generally overlook for the sake of the story.

However, keeping this kind of premise in mind when plotting for your own stories can be a useful tool (and a fun procrastination device, while you’reat it). Having watched several of the How It Should Have Ended episodes, my husband had quite a bit of fun finding numerous points where our current manuscript series could have ended quickly. A place where a villain looked back and considers, why didn’t they beef up security if they were trying to capture a high profile target? and etc. While we enjoyed coming up with the ideas, it made me think of how using this technique could help in writing. For one– you look for plot holes. Then you can address them. You can make sure that there’s a logical reason something happened, not just for the sake of the plot.

If you haven’t already, check out the episodes. They’re typically quite humorous. 🙂 In the meantime, have you ever run into any plot holes in your writing that you realized needed to be fixed (or otherwise might have thrown a kink in your story?)

2 Comments

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,