No I shan’t I’m on Vacation

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

I am going on vacation. I’ll be taking a 4 day scenic trip to Tamriel and a few days to work on secret projects.

I have a new story for you while I’m off hunting dragons.

A lot of things are going on right now so I’ll split it into categories:

Writing

My book is now available on Amazon.ca!!!

This is my first novel and I’m so very proud of it. Order a copy from Amazon or wait for it to be available from the Publisher. It’s up to you.

Once you read it, make sure to review on Goodreads and Amazon to have it recommended to friends and so on.

When I get back from vacation I’ll be starting a massive re-write of the next book in the series Memories of Faust.

JenEric Designs

Some Major Changes are coming to the website. There may be an interruption in service next week but hopefully it won’t be long.

Subscribe to the newsletter (Top right sidebar) to get all the juicy details.

Coffee Names and Packaging

Let me tell you a secret… I never expected the coffee to be as popular as it is. Because of that I made a few mistakes when I started. The major one was using copyrighted material in the coffee flavour’s name.

Now that it’s doing well I’d rather not be sued, which means one of the major changes that will take place of this year and the next is an update to the coffee names. It’ll be done slowly since we ordered a lot of labels for some.

The only thing I know for sure is I’ll have to rework some of the artwork for a few of them.

If there are any Copyright Holders or Lawyers reading this feel free to give me some advice or knowledge.

Subscribe to the newsletter (Top right sidebar) to get all the juicy details.

Coffee Sizes and Prices

Changes are coming to the size and price of coffee. With sales up and a regular sales routine I can afford to take a few more risks and buy in bulk. That means things will change a little. Don’t worry it’s all for the best.

We’ll also have some spiffy new stuff to offer.

Subscribe to the newsletter (Top right sidebar) to get all the juicy details.

I’m off

That’s it for now, lots of exciting top secret stuff going on.

Image borrowed from Sean Celaya.
Image borrowed from Sean Celaya.

See you later and enjoy the new story!

Éric

Bali

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Yesterday, I posted on my personal Facebook wall about a ridiculously cheap sale from Toronto, Canada to Bali, Indonesia. The prices have obviously gone up since then. I wish we knew now whether or not Dragon is a calm baby, because I was seriously tempted by the price. Hopefully another crazy awesome deal comes up in September/October, like the one to Japan that popped up about a month ago, or this one.

Balinese temple. Image from www.bali-indonesia.com
Balinese temple. Image from www.bali-indonesia.com

Bali hasn’t had many big films set on it’s amazing shores. The only one I recognized was Eat Pray Love. The third portion of the film was set in Ubud, Bali.

However, despite lacking in fandom culture, Bali has a DC comic book shop, and a lot of their own culture to sample while visiting. The number of temples on the island is staggering, and the craftsmanship of sculptures and other artistic pieces is stunning. The food is excellent, and scenery out of this world!

If you’d like help booking this trip (or others!). You can contact Jennifer Desmarais through Orleans Travel. jennifer.desmarais@orleanstravel.ca

Dear Dragon – The World Today

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Hello Dragon,

I hope you’re afraid of monsters under your bed, boogeymen, or (like your grandmother) of Freddy Kruger. It’s not that I want you to be afraid but that I want you to only have fictional things to scare you.

I hope you never feel the fear of going out to a public place, or going to school.

I hope you never fear for your life walking down the street or traveling to other countries.

The world right now is on the cusp of something. I’m not sure what it is yet. Optimistically it’s the movement towards a united and peaceful world. Pessimistically it’s the movement towards another great terrible war or series of wars.

Weekly in the news, we hear about bombings. Sometimes more than one a week. In the UK they just voted to leave the European Union. Some for economic reasons but mostly for racist reasons; and hate crimes have risen to historic highs. In the US, the argument of politics seems to be more about skin colour and genitals than actual policies.

All over the world people are afraid. Afraid for their lives, afraid of others, afraid for our world.

The earth isn’t dying. People will tell you we’re destroying it. They’re wrong, we’re making it uninhabitable for ourselves. Just another thing to fear. Some people deal with that fear by trying to change things, others by ignoring it.

“I would never bring a child into this world, why would you?”

Someone asked me how I could think of bringing children into such a broken world. My answer to them was simply, “Hope.”

You, Baby Dragon, represent hope to me; a hope that you will have a wonderful life that you will see a world free from hate and fear, that you’ll help make that world.

And the truth is it’s not all doom and gloom. The Ozone Layer has started to heal, infant mortality is at its lowest in history, life spans are longer, more people can read, food production is more efficient than ever. Every day we as a species invent, discover, and create something amazing.

 

The world we’re bringing you into isn’t perfect, far from it, but it has hope and that’s worth a lot.

I love you, Baby Dragon!

Your Loving Papa

A Study in Aether (My Book is being Published)

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Hello My Imaginary Friends!

I’ve gotten word that my first book A Study in Aether has been sent to the printers. It’s also up on Renaissance’s website.

I’ve been working on this book for nearly seven years.  In that time, it’s been completely re-written twice, changed names three times (Elizabeth and the Lost Mittens, The Mitten Wizard were the other names.)

I’m so excited!!!!

Elizabeth Coderre has always known that there was something strange about her home town, Baker Ontario, but it isn’t until her English teacher disappears that she starts to find out how strange. Getting through classes, killer kitten swarms, and bullies are going to be the easy parts of surviving at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle High. Elizabeth and her best friends, Jackie and Angela, are up to the challenge… they hope.
Elizabeth Coderre has always known that there was something strange about her home town, Baker Ontario, but it isn’t until her English teacher disappears that she starts to find out how strange. Getting through classes, killer kitten swarms, and bullies are going to be the easy parts of surviving at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle High. Elizabeth and her best friends, Jackie and Angela, are up to the challenge… they hope.

What’s Next

Sometime this month the books will come in and the publisher will put them up for sale. They’ll be available directly from the publisher or from Amazon. They’ll also be available at multiple events around Ottawa.

I’ll do my best to be at the same events, either selling coffee or just for the book. That way you can get a signed copy. Eek!

Book Launch

Some time in October there will be a multi-book launch held by Renaissance Press and S.M. Carrière.

That will be the official launch party for the book and there will be some other awesome titles available.

Dates

Once I know the official dates I’ll let you know. Trust me, you’ll get sick of hearing about this if you aren’t already.

 

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Éric

 

Blush: Stretch goal

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Sorry, today will be short, and I’m not answering a question. That’s because I’m hard at work researching for the 50 questions that are being added to the game because our first stretch goal was reached. I’m still flabbergasted that this creation of mine raised just over $5,000. Thank you to everyone who has supported this endeavor. I am truly honoured.

We are still accepting anonymous questions! If you’ve got a burning question, please ask us here. If it doesn’t get used in the game, I’ll answer it in a blog post!

Don't dread "the talk." Blush makes it fun, and approachable... no matter what the questions are. Please help make this sexual health trivia game happen by backing our kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1357195744/blush
Don’t dread “the talk.” Blush makes it fun, and approachable… no matter what the questions are.

Ownership of Ideas

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Congratulations!

You made something, a piece of art, movie, song, book, story, sculpture, etc. Legally you own what you made. It’s called copyright. What that means is that no one else is allowed to make money from your thing unless they pay you for that right (Unless you gave up your rights to a distributor or publisher). There are exceptions and loopholes but our laws say you own it.

1024px-Copyright_svg

Your thing becomes viral and super popular. People start writing fanfiction, drawing fanart, making filk, and dissecting every detail about your thing. That’s great. It gets others into it. Your fan community is now self fueling.

You licence out your thing to game makers, movie, television, music, etc. You’ve made it, yay!

You notice that a piece of fanfiction that you read about your thing has had the names changed and is selling ridiculously well. But still using your ideas…

You notice someone has made a Kickstarter to make a fanfilm and it’s in the millions. Using your thing as a basis…

You notice that someone has taken a small sample of your thing and turned it into an earworm that everyone has heard.

You notice that some dumbass has used part of your thing for Geeky Coffee names or logos and is doing ok business. But it’s still your thing…

There are two ways to react to people using your thing to make money, and the most natural one is anger. You get angry and hire a team of lawyers to make sure you get the money from licensing that you deserve or to get them to stop doing what they’re doing. I mean, in theory everything with your thing affects how your thing is seen. You don’t want to hurt or dilute the brand of your thing. How dare they!!!

Or there’s the super-chill way of dealing with it; that is to ignore what they’ve done and make the next thing. You’ve made lots of money, so who cares, right?

Both approaches are extremes and the answer is somewhere in between, I think. You see, I’m not sure where the line should be drawn between fair use and plagiarism.

As a creator, I’m uncomfortable with the idea that someone else could play or change my stories for their own benefit. I’d hate to find out that my book’s characters have been stolen, twisted into a poor semblance of porn and resold to billions. BUT, I’ll be overjoyed when I look on Fanfiction.net or DeviantArt and find fan creations based off my work.

As a consumer, I want more stories, more books, more fanart! I want buttons, coffee, shirts, posters, and all the things!!! I want to tell everyone about the super awesome cup I got based off my favourite thing.

The ethics are obvious; Don’t steal! But does my use of a drawn picture of a Dalek and the name Davroast really count as stealing? I’m not saying it’s mine, I’m just showing my love.

I know that when I’m ready for mass production, I’ll have to change the names of most of my coffee.

I do not have the answers. What do you think?

Éric