Bøger af Brian Jackson

Learn the GIMP from the Ground UpIn this book I'll show you how to use the Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), a free Photoshop like program, to produce professional looking, high quality graphics on a budget. The book uses the creation of book covers for self-publishing as the basis for demonstrating the use of the program. The techniques demonstrated can be used to create stunning graphics for any purpose including display on the Web.Now I Can use GimpI downloaded Gimp a while back, but thought it would take me forever to figure out how to use it in my spare time. Now Brian comes along with this book and explains how to do the one thing I need to do most--design book covers! I don't have to sift through the entire software manual anymore. Brian gives the essential information and offers links to many great examples of book covers. This book is an excellent value for self-publishing authors who want to go beyond the Kindle Cover Creator without paying for expensive software like Photoshop.---KschimmelwriterThis book provides material suitable for the absolute beginner and includes information on how to install all required tools and resources. It then goes on to show you how to use those components to produce unique, professional looking, and high quality graphics suitable for use as book covers for self-publishing. The course includes information on graphic composition that can be used to cause the most important elements of your image to stand out.Note: I discuss the use of the GIMP on a PC running Microsoft Windows 7. If you're a Linux or Mac user, the GIMP is also available to you, and information in this book beyond installation should be fully applicable.Sell More of Anything with Professional Looking GraphicsThough you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, the truth is that most people do exactly that. Why not produce the best impression you can by displaying stunning graphics mixed with text. Whether you're selling books or some other product, graphics that can capture the customer's attention will give you a leg up in differentiating yourself from your competition.This Book Includes Everything You Need to Know to Become Proficient with the GIMPInstalling and Running the GIMPCreating a Simple Book CoverWorking with Layers and SelectionsLoading Fonts and Using Font EffectsBuying and Manipulating Inexpensive ImagesCreating Colored BoxesUsing Layer MasksSroking a PathPutting It All TogetherLearn to Create Stunning Book Covers and MoreWhy focus on book covers? The course benefits from having a specific focus and I'm the most familiar with using the GIMP to create book covers. Besides, you only need to know the fundamentals of using the GIMP to produce book covers. Don't worry, you can still create amazing images for the Web and beyond using the basics of the GIMP.Informative. Nice to know!!Very informative and nice to know. Very useful for the beginner and advanced alike. Thank you for writing this book !!---Ernie A.Expect to spend several days to weeks digesting all the information provided in this course.Start Today!Silly as it may seem, your book cover is the first characteristic of your book that is likely to distinguish you from the crowd. Why not spend some time learning how to produce a quality, professional looking book cover for your self-published work using free tools and inexpensive professional quality images?About the AuthorHi, I'm Brian Jackson. I'm a self-published author, publisher, web site designer and cover creator for both myself and my wife, author Melanie Jackson. I originally began using the GIMP while working for Cisco Systems in the Silicon Valley.---Brian

Was it murder? No-one could say but Michael is haunted by remorse as he tries to purge himself of shame. Until a chance acquaintance awakens deeper memories. Drawn into a confrontation with his past Michael is forced to re-live a terrifying decision as he faces the catastrophic consequences of love and the death of his friend.

'The Tears of Autumn' is a bittersweet love story that begins in the war and ends leaving the child David struggling to cope with the failures of the adult world around him. When Bill is called up by the RAF Daisy is left with the infant David. Living in squalor with their unwanted child Daisy seeks consolation with other men until the dreadful night when Bill returns unexpectedly and finds her with another man and David filthy and neglected. In an emotional parting David is torn from his mother and sent away to stay with an aunt. They are idyllic days but with the end of the war Bill returns to reclaim his son. Now their search begins; a search for love, happiness and security and when Bill meets Dorothy it seems their odyssey is over. But their love for Dorothy brings other conflicts in the wake of a tragedy neither of them could have foreseen as she descends into insanity. David attempts to escape to find the security and love he seeks with his aunt but he fails. Powerful images continue to haunt him until he is forced to confront the final tragedy in this powerful family saga. Based on true events 'The Tears of Autumn' is the story of a child growing up in a world where the adults around him are struggling to cope with their lives, unaware of the trauma they blindly inflict on the child in their midst.

My name is Steve Merriman and I'm eleven years old. I go to Darby Avenue Elementary School where I'm in the sixth grade. Today, March 11th, 1969, after school, I have to kiss a girl. So begins the opening story in this short, two-part collection, "The Kiss", which tells of Steve Merriman's predicament that comes about due to a dodge ball accident in which he hits Maureen Keller in the face with a scorcher. "The Kiss" was previously published in the Columbia College Spring Review, and in the book "A Curious Affair", published in mass market paperback by New York publisher Dorchester Press. "The Kiss" is followed by the only other story in this collection, "The Finger", in which the narrator of the story wakes to find a severed finger lying on the coffee table of a shared apartment. But that's only the start of a really bad day in which chaos ensues. In "Fading Photographs", the secret life of a beloved aunt is almost discarded in haste, only to be rediscovered in the nick of time. Who is the dashing soldier in the faded photograph? Wasn't Aunt Jen a spinster? These and other questions are answered in this tragic tale of the greatest love imaginable. In "Monster", we see child abuse through the eyes of the abuser as a nightmare from which you can never awake. And just when you thought it was over... "The Night Watchman" shows us that when we need help the most, it often comes from the strangest sources. A quirky story of duty and friendship during the night shift at the old town cemetery. In "Some Enchanted Evening", I tell a story from my youth of getting drunk and dancing with a sweater draped lampstand to "Zoom" by the Commodores. Only in this version, the main character enters a fantasy world in which he must fight to defend his lover before tragedy strikes. In the next story, "In Walked Trouble", we're whisked back to old-time Los Angeles to confront the ultimate evil in a case fit for none other than Hard Case himself. But then, that's the trouble with being a private dick in La La Land."Bitch's Brew", creeps me out. But then, I never did like school. Did you have a favorite teacher you fawned over? Well, guess what you may never have known about them? In the next story, "Gray Wolf", we join the hunt to its ultimate conclusion. What would you be willing to do to save your people from destruction? In "Storm Front", we experience the horrors of war through the eyes of a doctor just trying to do the right thing. "Death Sentence" tells of the end of not only a life, but of the world. Join Robert Buchanan as he remembers his past during the final hours on earth. "While Strangling the Cat" tells the story of an ordinary day while everyone ignores the fact that something horrific is occurring. In "Accordion of Doom", we find out what happens when you play "Lady of Spain" on the devil's own instrument. "The Tomb" is my rollicking answer to Indiana Jones, which wouldn't be complete without a high-speed chase upon the back of a hydroplaning crocodile. "Anticipation" recalls the thrill experienced by a murder tracking a young couple through the streets at night. "The Lair" is an idea I had for a much longer piece, possibly even a series, condensed into a short story. In it, and innocent gas company worker is captured by sewer dwelling creatures from hell. This contains and explosive ending. In my creative writing class, I was given the assignment of writing a short story based on a photograph of a small plane crashed into the center divide of a freeway. "Center Divide" was the result. "138 Grant Street" is another example of the ordinary turned suddenly shocking. Finally, "Nightline" is a sad story that came to mind one day.

In "Spirit of the Heart", Julia Wilcox moves into a deserted southern mansion to do some writing, only to find it already occupied by a precocious ghost. While falling in love, she must save her new lover from his demise, along with the house. In "Moon Heart", Annie Roberts is spending her last days alone in the family cabin when she saves a wounded werewolf. Will she herself be saved by his love? Of Two Hearts presents two novellas for the first time in one volume.