Feeling grumpy over my currently impoverished state, I wrote a parody of an old John Lennon song. If you want the inside scoop on the day to day glamor of writing for a living, hum along.

Here’s the original:

And here’s my parody:

A WORKING CLASS WRITER
to the tune of ‘A Working Class Hero’
with deepest apologies to John Lennon

You think when you’re published, you’ve got it made
After so many tries, you’ve at last made the grade
Then you bankrupt yourself while you wait to get paid

A working class writer is something to be
A working class writer is something to be

At first it’s a thrill to see your name on the page
And you write in cafes, think you’re free of the cage
But when you add up the hours it’s not minimum wage

A working class writer is something to be
A working class writer is something to be

Your fans think you’re rich and they want stuff for free
Your family thinks you’re a celebrity
But you still schlep your clothes to the coin laundry

A working class writer is something to be
A working class writer is something to be

At conventions you sign your books like a star
And you buy drinks for agents you meet at the bar
But you don’t have the money to fix up your car

A working class writer is something to be
A working class writer is something to be

There’s room at the top they’re telling you still
But first you must learn how to be your own shill
If you want to steal money from the kindle-nook till

A working class writer is something to be
If you want to be a writer, well just follow me

When I was at Adepticon, I did a fun interview with Andrew Galea of RHQ-TV which is a miniatures gaming site in Australia. It has finally been posted on You Tube, and I think it turned out great. Here it is!

I’ve been lax lately about linking to cool artists I find on the web. Well, no more!

I found Marek Madej while browsing ConceptArt.org and really liked his haunting, sketchy style. I don’t know anymore about him than what is on his info page, which says he is a concept artist in Poland, but it is obvious from his sketches and daily exercises that he loves to draw. Link through the pics to check out his art blog.

November - Marek Madej

Colossus - Marek Madej

Whew!

For a while there I really thought I would get no entries at all, but finally, right at the end, a bunch of art came in all at once and saved the day. Still, I didn’t get that many entries, so I’m going to go ahead and post them all.

First up, the miniature contest. I only got one entry for this half of the contest, so Adam would have been a winner regardless of quality, but he did a great job. I really like the attention to detail on this. He even got the mask. Congratulations, Adam Parkhouse!

Next up is the Art Contest. There were six entries, and I’ll finish with the winners last. Here we go:

Amos Webb.

Dave Ploss

Ian Rosenthal

Second Runner-Up is Jen Miller

First Runner-Up is Greg Humes

And the Winner is Nadine Greß. Well done, Nadine. Excellent work! The line work and detail are fantastic!

Thanks to all who entered! Congratulations to all the winners! Please, winners, send me your mailing addesses so I can send you your prizes!

At last, Bloodforged had been published, and is available on Amazon. Even better, since I have recently become an Amazon Associate, if you click through to Amazon from my site and buy it there, I get a 5% kickback on each sale. So please, click on the picture below and buy the book through me!

In fact, you can now buy all my books through my site and I will get the Amazon Associate bonus. Check out the Available Books page for the full list.

Yes, I am finally becoming e-commerce literate!