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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

The Creative Process


I wanted to share the creative process... for me anyway...in creating a cover. Author Tifani Clark contacted me to create a cover for her new novel On Liberty's Watch. I was thrilled. She already had the girl in mind for the cover because it was the girl used on the two other covers in her series titled Soul Savers.  She sent me a picture of the guy she wanted to use and gave me a rough idea of what she wanted, then said what every cover artists dream to hear: Feel free to change it up!
Freedom! I have had people who micro manage their cover so much any creative juices are squelched. The covers are...boring! So please trust your cover artist! If you have reviewed his/her work and like it enough to hire them, then trust them!
That being said, a good cover artist listens to the author also. As I mentioned, Tifani sent me some pictures of the guy and girl she wanted and the watch. The picture of the watch wouldn't work and we went through a couple different ones until we found one that did. The original picture of the girl was of just her head. Not good. It looked like a floating head! I hunted down another picture of the same girl but with her full body. I presented it Tifnai along with several drafts of the cover to choose from and together we chose the things from the different covers to create the "perfect cover" for her book.
At the last minute as I was cleaning everything up, I had a brain storm to switch things around so the front and back cover on the paperback flowed as one big picture. I then added other elements like colored clouds, a few spider webs, and even a spider! See if you can find it.
Here are some of the pictures I used, along with elements from others:
In the end this was created:

I really love this cover! I appreciate Tifani for asking me to design it and for being a dream to work with!
Check out more of my work here:


Thanks for stopping by!
Sherry Gammon

Thursday, June 11, 2015

The Hungry Family cookbook


I am not a fan of cooking…I really suck at it. Finding cookbooks that are easy to use and have recipes that actually taste good are a godsend. That is what The Healthy Family Slow Cooker is. Great recipes you make in the slow cooker without tons of prep! So far I have successfully made the Butternut Squash Soup (!!), Citrus Pork Salad ( I used chicken since I didn’t have pork…so good!) and the Slow-cooked Molasses Roast. (AMAZING). Next on the menu: Chicken Quesadillas. The whole house smells edible! I can’t wait for dinner! This is my new favorite cookbook. I keep it next to my slow cooker for ease. I HIGHLY recommend this book. I also recommend Dymock's Bacon Lovers cookbook!! See my review here:

Thanks for stopping by!
Sherry Gammon

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

An interview of me!

       Thank you for taking the time to participate in this interview. Below, you will find twenty questions; some are serious while others are playful. Answer as many as you like.

1.       Talk about your latest work. Is it a novel? Short story?  Nonfiction? Give a brief synopsis, sharing as much (or as little) as you like. My latest is the Audiobook of Not So Easy. Of all the books I’ve written, it is my favorite story

 Not So Easy (YA Fantasy) 

Senior Max Sanchez has it all. 
He’s the star pitcher for Port Fare High’s baseball team. He’s dating the 
head cheerleader, Emma McKay, and he has a great group of friends. 

Junior JD Miller’s life is Not So Easy. 
Unlike Max, JD struggles with making friends. He’s a social misfit, and 
he’s being bullied at every turn. He’s also barely surviving.
 
A tragic accident changes everything, merging their lives together, 
and Max soon learns that life is not so easy for everyone. Max works to the point of exhaustion trying to help JD survive the chaos that is his life, and his eyes are opened to a world he had no idea even existed. 
Not so Easy is a story about hope, surviving, and never giving up.

2.       Where did you get your inspiration to write you latest work? Or, where do you find inspiration for writing? All over! The world, the news, friends. Also music. It really helps me to play the “song” I feel represents the book I’m working on. I post a playlist for my books on my web page to help the reader get into the story more.




3.       Describe your writing process. Blood, sweat, and tears. Along with lamenting, rethinking, and some head banging…then I begin writing the story.



4.       How important are names to you in your book(s)? Do you choose names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? Do you have any name choosing resources you recommend? Names! I hate trying to come up with names. For the “bad guys” I tend to pick mean people that I know. For the good guys I search and search and search the internet name sites and my Facebook friends until a name rings true.

5.       Is there a certain type of scene that is harder for you to write than others? Not really. Once I’m in the grove all is well.

6.       What is your least favorite part of the writing/publishing process? The first draft. After that it is gravy!

7.       Have you read your work since it has been published? Sometimes.

8.       What is your best marketing tip? Search out bloggers and get reviews for your books.

9.       What are you working on currently? What is your next project? I am in the middle of 2 projects right now. The first is a short story. It is a mystery/comedy. The main character, Aleixa, is a writing who wakes one morning to find the man she’s been dating dead in her living room. The second is a full-length novel about 2 high schoolers struggling to survive not only high school, but their families.

10.    What writing advice do you have for other aspiring authors? Write write write and read read read books in your genre!

11.    If you could cast your characters in a Hollywood adaptation of your book, who would play your characters? Unlovable is being made into a movie actually by Films by Serendipity. If I were casting it I would pick Lily Collins for Maggie and Liam Hemsworth for Seth!

12.    Do your characters’ personalities reflect your personality or the personalities of people you know? Mostly people I know. I do try and give the characters one of my traits so I can relate to them better.


13.    What is one place you want to visit that you have not visited yet? Greece, and Italy (Tuscany).
14.    What were you like as a child? What was your favorite toy? As a child I was strong and fearless. And I LOVED dolls!

15.    If you had a superpower, what would it be? To fly!

16.    If you were a superhero, what would your name be? What would you wear? My name? No idea, but I can tell you I would NOT wear a skimpy super hero outfit that you see the heros in the movies wear. It’s FREEZING cold the higher you go! I want a nice worm coat… and goggles.


17.    What literary character is most like you? Cinderella…except both my parents are alive and I have no sisters…Hmmmm…Guess I need a new character.

18.    If you were an animal in a zoo, what would you be and why? Monkey. The look like they are having so much fun. I’d be a smart one and figure out how to escape, that’s for sure.


19.    What is one thing you would like to accomplish before you pass away? I’d like to write and uplifting book on motherhood to help encourage mothers and woman everywhere. There is so much negativity out there and I’d like to encourage them to avoid the naysayers.


20.    What do you want your tombstone to say? She came; she tried; she left…and she was a pretty good mom! (I had my 16-year-old son proofread this and he said to change the 'pretty good mom' to awesome mom  ;'}
Thank you for letting me be a part of your author interviews!!

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