Here we are all are in Apocalypse mode: Coronavirus, riots etc. I’m surfing the sewage right along with you. But, I’m still on my board...hanging two.

OK. So, what’s up with the book? Here it is (very short version): fter my last update due to major flooding, I had re-pipe and repair my entire house - a massive hairball and delay-all this just before the Coronavirus hit. (foreplay?). . .

So, now I am considering publishing a special abridged Corona Version very soon. By abridged, I mean that it may not have the cool sci-fi images included and perhaps not even the index. We'll see. Everything else will would be there. This wiould enable me to publish without having to worry about getting “lawyered” into bankruptcy while I work out the details of covering what’s left of my tush for the full unabridged hardback edition.

I am not only exploring the traditional hardback, and paperback formats but also looking at the possibility of doing an audio/video book as well.

I am also considering creating series of videos related to the book - expanding on the subject of the Creation Process® and its infinite applications (including art).

To accomplish the above, (working without a net, mind you), I have been doing numerous tutorials on video production, lighting, etc., while at the same time re-tooling my studio, upgrading my computer hardware and software and researching numerous publishing platforms, various equipment, etc., etc., etc. (insert long tortured scream here)

…a rather formidable amount of stuff to absorb for a 73-old brain with only three working brain cells.

I have not updated until now for two reasons:

So, there it is. That’s where it stands as of this date. If I don’t short out and keel over, something should pop soon. (hopefully, not me) I’ll let you know when it does.

P.S. I have changed the title (a little)-it now reads: How. The Creation Handbook

P.P.S. This book is now even more relevant than ever before as you can also use it to re-invent your whole life (not just works of art) which is why the Covid Edition.  Just sayin. . .

Surf’s up!

RGB

UPDATE: 11/24/19

Still alive. The text of How the Creation
 Handbook is done. It has been done for more than 8 weeks. A little tweeking is still to come-then the 30+- page index hairball.  As mentioned in my previous update, I want to use 50+- really cool sci-fi illustrations from previous decades/centuries and put them in a totally new context and share this wonderful art with a whole new audience and make the book more fun to read. To that end, as an artist myself, I absolutely do not want to infringe upon anyone's copyrights. So, I have to try to establish whether or not each image is in the public domain. This is really tricky. I did much of this research in the early pre-internet 1990's. I am redoing it yet again in 2019 using the internet and other 21st Century resources, including local libraries, and the Library of Congress. Ultimately (and expensively), I will be consulting with my Attorney as well.

Further complicating all this research is the fact that international copyright law is Byzantine. As I currently understand it, for an image to pass into the "public domain" in the U.S. it is the date of the artist's death plus 50 years, in most European countries it's death plus 70 years, in some South American countries it's death plus 100 years before an image can be safely used. Worse, is the fact that on many of the images, if the artist's signature appears at all, it is undecipherable. (Hard to research that).  But, I am doing the best I can to make sure I do not infringe on any of my fellow artist's copyrights. Please understand, however, I do not need any of these images to make the book work.  I can and probably will use various substitutes over time. I only wish to honor these fantastic artists whose work has so fired my own imagination and have some fun while I am at it.  I think you will appreciate the result (and hopefully,  forgive the delay).

 Anyway, that's what's up. I'll keep you posted.

UPDATE: 7/29/19

Sorry for not doing this update until now. I figured that my time was more usefully spent actually working on the book than telling you about how the sausage is made. Anyway I am learning many interesting things. Among them, I am very disappointed with GoDaddy's idea of mass mailing (so I could easily update you without having to write each person on the mailing list individually- That takes 2 days). Nuts. I tried these mass updates twice to see what kind of response I'd get…crickets. But I learned a lot. Some of it, may make it into the book. . .
Anyway: Also, I'm inventing all kinds of weird work-arounds to compensate for the patchwork soft/hardware I am using.. but The Book is actually coming right along. But, as I actually follow my own Magnetic North I refuse to give you a half-baked product--even if you end up forgetting why you may have asked to be on this mailing list in the first place.
I write like I paint. My last major painting, Two Hawks took nearly 1700 hours to paint. Trust me when I say that Two Hawks was a kindergarten finger-painting project compared to creating this book. Not complaining mind-you, I love it! This is what I do. I live for the challenge of passing along the secrets of the Creation Processâ so you can explore your own creative genius (and I can, in turn, learn from you…).

Currently, I am writing, editing, doing graphic artwork etc. So far, there are 50 of what I call sci-fi illustrations (7 or so more to come) as well as 14 system-specific graphics I am working on and all while not chewing gum simultaneously. Then,  there are the 30+ pages of two-column index entries on the horizon. . . the point is, it is taking WAY longer than I had hoped to get this bloody thing up to my standard so I can comfortably put my name one it and share it with you. One the one hand, I am fighting creaky multi-gen hardware and software, old age, bad attitude, carpal tunnel, no butt to sit on, and no hair to set alight… (I have reconciled myself to the fact that any possible good from the buzz generated by CIYL video has long since dissipated as I am taking so long to get this book out.. Such is life).

On the other hand, I am polishing this thing so you and I will actually use it while adding new stuff. To me, it is and always will be about the final product. Not the best model for profit. But, the best model for awesome... After all the creative issues, there are still numerous publishing, vendor. and other things to sort out. (not my fav.parts…)
Okay. Enough foreplay-- realistically, it is looking like the physical book will ship around Christmas (barring  too much more help from Murphy…) A digital version will be available this fall details to follow. . .

How.  is not like any book you have ever read. It is intended to be used again and again. Since doing this update has taken time away from the book, and insanely, mass updates via my vaunted Godaddy marketing tools are a cruel joke, forget that. So, I will keep focusing on the book and continue to learn new things to share with you rather than wasting too much time on the updates that would have ended up ignored in your junk mail. . .

Comments welcome.

I will respond-- Cheers, Geoffrey

To contact me click here: