• Tag Archives artist

  • The Daily Schedule of a Writer/Artist 2

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    Since recovering from being ill–and I’m still recovering–here’s what my current daily schedule looks like:

    Wake up and pet the dogs. I’m usually up before everybody else.

    Post my daily Good Morning post on Facebook and give the day’s positivity rating. The rating is given based on how I feel at that exact moment.

    Make coffee.

    Have a small bite to eat.

    Have coffee and surf the feeds and check email, taking note of which ones I need to respond to later.

    By now Melinda is up so I have more coffee and spend time with her before she has to go to work.

    Work on the current project. As of this writing, it’s proofing the galley for the reissue of REDEMPTION OF THE DEAD.

    Break

    Non-committal work. By this I mean work I can do and get done but not share with anybody yet (i.e. a blog post, the newsletter, YouTube video, etc.).

    Break

    Work on the current project.

    Break

    Review and share the non-committal work

    Personal tasks (i.e. personal correspondence, bills, etc.).

    Break

    Nap

    I may or may not call it a day at this point. Depends what time it is. Melinda gets off work at 4:30 and then it’s time to get ready for supper.

    Evening walk with Melinda and then a quick walk with the dogs.

    Chill out time.

    Bed.


    📂This entry was posted in Canister X Life Publishing Self-publishing Writing 📎and tagged

  • Station Ident – Apr242020

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs
    station ident apr2420

    This is your station identification for April 24, 2020.

    I am . . .

    . . . A.P. Fuchs. I’m a writer, artist, and freelancer in the worlds of books and comics. This is Canister X, my official web presence and the Realm of Heroes and Monsters, where we attempt to entertain and inform you on a regular basis.

    I’ve been at this publishing game for 20 years and I still have plans.

    My various social media presences are:

    Ello

    MeWe

    Twitter

    Facebook

    Instagram

    Pinterest

    Tumblr

    LinkedIn

    WT.Social

    YouTube

    Ko-fi

    My Patreon page is here. It’s a special place where I post serial novels, essays on the creative arts business, behind-the-scenes secrets, and more. Join me and my other patrons and be a part of something entertaining and interesting with consistent content.

    Soon, I’ll be launching my webcomic, Fredrikus. Go here and bookmark the page to get in on the ground floor for when this strip debuts.

    On Saturdays, I send out my newsletter, The Canister X Transmission. It’s a weekly newsletter where we all come together after a busy week, unwind, regroup, and kick off the weekend. Presently, we are finishing off The Long Year Five, and Year Six will start before the first half of 2020 is over. Join us.

    End station identification.


    📂This entry was posted in Blogging Canister X Web Stuff 📎and tagged

  • On Art and Never Arriving

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    Prompted by a chat with artist Sean Simmans last night, I got to thinking that it is impossible to ever fully arrive in the arts field.

    You may be doing poorly or extremely well on the scale of subjective success, but wherever you are is only temporary and never stable.

    Any art form is about finding one’s voice, which is different at 30 than it is at 50 than it is at 70. Your style will constantly change, sometimes–and ideally–for the better, but also sometimes not.

    Unfortunately, we have been sold this packaged idea of what success looks like in the art field, genres ripping apart the industry, and marketing madness brainwashing us into what we’re supposed to think art looks like . . . but it’s never accurate.

    Ultimately, art is living and fluid and is like water, always flowing, not a dam in sight.

    Your work might be polished, but even in a polished state, it’s incomplete because there is always that one thing you could have done better or a little bit smarter.

    Art isn’t prefect. It’s not supposed to be. Then it isn’t art. That’s Sean talking and I agree with him.

    Whatever your craft, where you are is where you are. If the art is made, you’re an artist. And, in that context, you have arrived . . . but our work never will.

    It’s all about the journey.


    📂This entry was posted in Public Journal 📎and tagged

  • Station Ident – Mar132020

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs
    station ident mar1320

    This is your station ident for Mar132020.

    This blog is now reactivated for new content after a temporary hiatus due to my web provider switching this site to a new server. It took longer than expected, no one’s fault. Details were given in my newsletter.

    I am . . .

    . . . A.P. Fuchs. I’m a writer, artist, and freelancer in pretty much anything to do with publishing. This is Canister X, my official web presence and the Realm of Heroes and Monsters, where we broadcast our pirate signal and hack into the Matrix.

    Or something like that.

    I’ve been writing since 2000, drawing since before then, and publishing books and comics since 2003.

    My various social media presences are:

    Ello

    MeWe

    Twitter

    Facebook

    Instagram

    Pinterest

    Tumblr

    LinkedIn

    WT.Social

    YouTube

    Ko-fi

    My Patreon page is here. It’s a fun place where I post serial novels, essays on the creative arts business, stuff from behind the scenes here in the Great White North at Axiom-man Central, and more. Join me and my other patrons and be a part of something entertaining and interesting with consistent content.

    On Saturdays, I send out my newsletter, The Canister X Transmission. It’s a weekly newsletter where we all come together after a busy week, unwind, and kick off the weekend. Presently, we are finishing off The Long Year Five, and Year Six will start before the first half of 2020 is over. Join us.

    Tip: If you see an Agent, you do what we do. You run. You run your ass off.

    End station identification.


    📂This entry was posted in Blogging Canister X Web Stuff 📎and tagged

  • Station Ident – Dec272019

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs
    Station Ident Dec2719

    This is your station ident for December 27, 2019.

    My name is A.P. Fuchs and I’m an author, artist, and freelancer in everything and anything to do with publishing. You are tuned into my blog, Canister X, my official web presence and the Realm of Heroes and Monsters. I’ve been writing and publishing since my first short story sale in 2000, and have been publishing books and comics since 2003.

    My various social media platforms are:

    Ello
    MeWe
    Twitter
    Facebook
    Instagram
    Pinterest
    Tumblr
    LinkedIn
    WT.Social
    YouTube
    Ko-fi

    My Patreon page can be found here. It’s where I post serial novels, essays on the creative arts industry, what goes on behind the scenes here in the great white north at Axiom-man Central, and more. Join the journey and be a part of something special.

    Hope you had a pleasant Holiday week.

    Ps. All my superhero and monster fiction eBooks are presently on sale at 50% off on Smashwords until January 1, 2020. Please go here (and scroll down a bit) to stock up before the discount ends!


    📂This entry was posted in Blogging Canister X Web Stuff 📎and tagged

  • Quotes on Writing – Dec1719

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs
    A.P. Fuchs Bookshelf Section
    A couple of bookshelves showing part of the library here at the Central.

    As I’m getting back into the swing of creating things, I’m also in a place where I’m digging into the masters of the mediums I pursue to see what their thoughts are/were on a particular craft and how those views align or don’t align with my own (the latter approached with an open mind so I’m not closed off in my thinking). In the case of today’s blog entry, quotes on writing were the order of the day.

    I’m a firm believer in always learning even if there are stumbles along the way. I also believe every artist regardless of their craft never arrive. Practicing a craft is a lifetime pursuit and ends when you die. Perfection will never be obtained because there is always one punctuation mark to adjust or one fine line on a drawing to tweak. The goal is to do your best while making every effort to improve along the way.

    Here are three quotes on writing–more specifically reading–to ponder:

    “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” – Stephen King

    I am in agreement here, and by reading, Mr. King is talking about actual reading, not social media or simple headlines. Reading is part of the job.

    And so . . .

    “Read, read, read. Read everything–trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.” – William Faulkner

    This I’ve practiced since I started in this field. I believe that every piece of writing has at least one good sentence in it, or one good turn-of-phrase, or one lesson of some sort to learn. The ideal is to find all those things repeatedly in the same book, but at a minimum, every type of writing has at least one thing going for it that is worth learning from.

    “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” – Ray Bradbury

    I chose this one because I was often criticized for living in Fantasyland. I’ll let this one speak to you in its own way. I know how it’s spoken to me.

    Last, in regards to reading, this is a note to say the latest chapter of Gigantigator Death Machine was posted to Patreon today. Please go here to start reading this exciting and terrifying serial novel and its preceding chapters for just a buck. Thanks.


    📂This entry was posted in Books and Bookshelf Pics Patreon Quotes Writing 📎and tagged

  • Station Ident – Nov292019

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    This is your station ident for November 29, 2019.

    My name is A.P. Fuchs and I’m an author, artist, and freelancer in all things publishing. You are tuned into my blog, Canister X, my official web presence. I’ve been writing and publishing since my first short story sale in 2000, and have been publishing books and comics since 2003.

    My multi-faceted presence on social media includes:

    Ello
    MeWe
    Twitter
    Facebook
    Instagram
    Pinterest
    Tumblr
    LinkedIn
    WT.Social
    YouTube
    Ko-fi

    My Patreon page can be found here. It’s where I post serial novels, essays on the creative arts industry, what goes on behind the scenes here in the great white north at Axiom-man Central, and more. Join the journey and be part of something special.

    Have a wonderful weekend.


    📂This entry was posted in Blogging Canister X Web Stuff 📎and tagged

  • Creator Breakfast with G.M.B. Chomichuk and Jonathan Ball (Publishing Business)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs
    Publishing venture sketch by G.M.B. Chomichuk
    Publishing Model Visual Documentation by G.M.B. Chomichuk

    This morning I once again met with writer/artist G.M.B. Chomichuk and writer/editor Jonathan Ball at Clementine Cafe in Winnipeg’s Exchange District. On top of the outstanding fried chicken on toast I had for breakfast, we got to work talking about the publishing business.

    See, I have a major advantage over other writers: I’m tapped into both the book publishing world and the comic book publishing world. While there are similarities in the overall business side of things, there are distinct differences and, I believe, it’s a merge of these two models that are the future of publishing.

    What’s happening in the book publishing world at present is an old archaic system at war with the new digital paradigm. While some adaptations have been made, for the most part book publishing is operating on an out-of-date system that doesn’t work in today’s reading climate which is why most writers cannot make a living from their craft. What compounds the problem are publishers–big and small–stuck in the old way of doing things and writers who don’t want to do anything but write. This is a major problem that hurts both publishers, creators, and readers.

    Ground was gained this morning in coming up with a new way of doing things that merges the best of the book publishing world and that of the comics publishing industry while setting aside dated systems that hinder bringing books and comics to the reader. Some of the ideas put forth were new (to me) and others were in line with the bomb that went off when my workload exploded.

    The above photo–a visual documentation of our little meeting created by G.M.B. Chomichuk–shows how three creators think when hashing out how to create a publishing system that benefits both the creator and reader. Yes, the image is hard to follow without explanation, but will serve as a future reference point for a venture that was brought up during the meeting (details still to be ironed out).

    The main goal with these meetings outside of spending time with friends is to learn something new, have discussion, and then apply those lessons to see what works and what doesn’t.

    In the end, it was a productive morning and one that will stew in my brain for a while as I retool things over here.

    (Please also see my first entry about my breakfast with these two creators by going here.)


    📂This entry was posted in Life Publishing Self-publishing 📎and tagged

  • The Magic of Blogging – An Invitation

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    The magic of blogging . . .

    Once more I’ll state my belief that blogging is not dead, just misplaced. In a world of quick social media posts and soundbites, it’s easy to forget the Web is loaded with websites chock full of information, entertainment, and news. Many folks are dissatisfied with the way social media has gone and how it affects their mental health and overall well being, so I encourage you this coming week to spend time web surfing to see what you’ll find. Check out articles you’ve been meaning to read, creator websites you’ve been meaning to go to, topics you’ve been meaning to investigate.

    As an invitation from me, please take a moment and explore this blog. There is a lot here by way of free entertainment and free information. A decent portion of my creative output is spent giving readers things for free and I want you to take advantage of it so you can get to know me as a creator. On this site alone you have access to numerous articles, artwork, movie and book reviews, links to other creators, and more. This blog–the magic of blogging–is my way of getting information and entertainment to you in a way social media doesn’t let me. This blog is my house and you’re welcome to stay here and put your feet up for a while.

    On a personal note, I’m enjoying blogging five days a week. It’s an opportunity to share ideas and information with the world on a platform that is my own. I’ve always believed writing is about honesty and that any creator needs to live and express themselves honestly without fear of what other people think. There are enough clones in this world and part of the role of the arts–when handled without pretension–is to speak to the human condition and portray things as they are uncut and uncensored. This role also falls on the creator and not just their work. The idea of art being about self-expression (that is, the work created) but not the artist themselves being self-expressive is a contradiction. I’m not saying an artist needs to put their whole selves on the display for the world to see, but I am saying that–and I’ve seen this countless times over–it’s a disservice to the reader or viewer for the artist to put across one message with their work but then muddle that honesty by playing to the public and telling the public what they want to hear instead of being truthful in whatever is being expressed.

    The magic of blogging is that a blog is one way for a person to express themselves honestly. Sure, some folks might not like what they read. Others will be all over it. The point is that the expression was made and, frankly, these expressions will be all that’s left of us after we leave this world. I’d rather leave bits of my true self behind than an illusion for the public.

    This is my approach and arguments can be made against it being the right one. What I do know is that my blogging and what I blog about works for me both professionally and personally. And that’s really the trick, isn’t it? Finding out what works for you? The only way to do that is to experiment and play around and find your groove. Only then will you, too, discover the magic of blogging.

    Get to it.


    📂This entry was posted in Blogging 📎and tagged