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New SatSD art!

smaller_ginny_elaborate miki hair red
Well, kind of. I’m working on cover art for SatSD and developing characters. :) While working on Victoria’s character, I decided to also create a Ginny. (I mean, they WERE built on the same base…) So that will be The Real Ginny Project. Here’s the first pic! There’s a long way to go with the character, but I do like the hair. It was a remarkable pain in the butt to render. For any Poser users out there, she’s built on a Miki 4 base. Kind of ironic that I’m not building Victoria on the Vicky base… but I don’t really like Vicky that much, even though there are about 46584098,000 products for her.

BTW. there WILL be more posts once this hacking horror is cleared up… (said hopefully)

All About Being Hacked, Cont.

So the fun just went on, and it didn’t stop here. >:[ This WP blog wasn’t the ONLY thing that was hacked. Yahoo mail and Facebook were hacked too, and I’m not exactly sure what else. (looks at long, long, long list of sites I have a password for.) These should all be changed. ICK.

There are some morals to this story, almost all of which came from advice given by a very good computer tech I know at Portland Computerworks (hi, Joseph!)

  • Do NOT use the same password (or almost the same password) for everything. Yes, you have a lot of company if you do this– it’s what most people do– but it’s a terrible idea.

    If this happens to you, change as many passwords as possible. I’m not going to change every single ONE, such as the cute cat group, but I’m going to change as many as I can. (Amazon and Gmail, for instance.)

    If your domain is hosted by Dreamhost, send an email to them, and they will help you.

    Do not panic.

    Avoid running around in circles and screaming incoherently.

    Try this site: All you have to do is remember one password (theirs), and they then keep track of passwords on all your other accounts. (Or almost all– I don’t think that sites like Bank of America are good for this.)

    Oh, while we’re on the subject– change your online banking password. If you don’t remember your pin number because you never use it, do not get upset over how long you have to wait in the lobby in order to change this. Bring something to read, or you’ll be stuck with back editions of the Tigard Penny Saver.

  • So far, it looks like the problem is under control. :) (Finds a lot of wood to knock on.) There will be much more actual content here soon!

    New SatSD Cover!

    vic and ryan pensive

    Hi all! Here’s the latest cover for SatSD.:) They WILL get better… Nathaniel’s pants are enough to scare small children. But this gives you a rough idea.

    I’ll start posting more– that being-hacked incident was not very encouraging to creativity. However, SatSD IS done– the beta version, anyway, it’ll be revised a lot! Much more very soon. And a new chapter of Malfoy In a Glass posted on FIA soon too.

    The blog was hacked.

    And yes… this may happen to you, too.

    The plugins were reinstalled, and Dreamhost did a bunch of things. If I were you, I would change your password constantly to try to avoid this… keep an eye on your stats to see if people were referred to strange pages… there’s a program that someone I know told me about that changes all your passwords on a regular basis. I’ll look that up and post the info. In the meantime, if you registered on this site, you’ve gone to registration heaven (or hell, for the spammers.) If you are REAL, you need to register again.

    Anyway… an actual post later!! I haven’t really been in the mood with this going on.

    SATSD IS DONE.

    I WROTE THE WORDS “THE END.”
    (runs around screeching)
    (Brain is gone)
    (men in the white coats are coming to take me away)
    (laces up sneakers)

    More later. :)

    For now, please enjoy this cover I made for Malfoy In a Glass, one of my favorite fanfics. (Of mine, I mean.)(And yes, this IS Scorpius.)
    Malfoy In a Glass

    A Short Break From Losing My Mind

    floral_01_satsd_fontchange_more floral

    I’m on the home stretch to finishing Sex and the Single Devil. Yay! (Well, the first final version, anyway…) (searches for brain) (cannot find)

    But sometimes, I just have to take a Photoshop break. :) Here’s the latest cover. This is the classy, subtle one. The next one will have naked male torsos, of course. ;)

    No cookies from the book today– but more soon!

    Sex and the Single Devil– Done By March 25th!!

    Oh No, You Didn't.

    Oh No, You Didn’t.

    Well, that’s what I promised my novel critique group, anyway… ;) I’m not sure if I lost my mind DURING the writing of this book or if it’ll be gone AFTER the (first) finished version, but either way, I might have been nuts to promise it by that date. But I am determined! I’ll make it happen! Yay! Go me! (Waves the Happy Anise Writing Flag.)

    And you know that there has to be a cookie crumb… ;)

    Continue reading

    How to Market Like Coca-Cola– Pt. 1

    Quick. What’s this?

    coca cola

    Unless you were raised by the Amish on an island near Antarctica—and maybe even if you were—you almost certainly had no trouble recognizing that logo. (Yes, even if you’re one of those unbearably cool Portland hipsters. ;)

    Why is that?

    If you guessed that the Coca-Cola corporation spend lots and lots of money buying brand recognition, you’re right—but you’re only partly right. The answer is a lot more complex than it seems. And it holds the key for indie book marketing that just might really work.

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    Out Into the Desert…

    10452595-paysage-death-valley-national-park-californie
    Hey all!

    A QUICK post to let everybody (hi, sis!) know that we will return to our regularly scheduled blog after I get back from… THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.
    If there isn’t a sign saying that, there should be! ;)

    Death Valley is the most spiritual place on earth, and we are headed there! No cell phone reception! No TV’s! No constantly checking Facebook! Just land, and space, and desert, and craters, and Scotty’s Castle, and a lot of German tourists. (There’s something about this time of year…)

    And DV is a very inspiring place to create art. ;) So that’s all I’ll say!

    Terrible Copyright Traumas

    big-eyes-cute-baby
    Where to start when it comes to problems with the photograph of the baby? There are several, and all of them are important. But they’ll be covered in the design section… except for one. And in a way, it’s the most crucial of all.

    Continue reading