Category Archives: Books

Snowed In

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This image is from Liminal. We had our once-annual snowstorm here (Asheville, NC) in December, and my yard buddha statue was up to its neck in snow. (It is about 36 inches high which gives you an idea how much this storm produced.)

Since there was nothing else too do, being snowed in, I wandered around the yard taking pictures, and spotted this, half in shadow and half in sun. it seemed so serene and totally representing what Zen means to me: not one thing or the other, not dark nor light but both at once – hey, that’s exactly what Liminal is all about.

This image was produced with my Sony RX100III, and cropped and curve-adjusted in Photoshop.

 

Matter and Anti-Matter

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 This is a page that didn’t make it into Liminal, although it defines the concept of the book. these are some of the transitional states that I explore, themes of not being quite one thing or another. And also, the page gave me a chance to play with typography, which is one of my favorite ways to spend time. I can take one phrase, a word even, and get lost for hours framing it in different ways, designing it in such a way that it conveys meaning or evokes some particular feeling.

Art Tunnel

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 This is one of my favorite images from Liminal (see previous post for announcement and link). The original inspiration was the door of a painter’s studio in the River Arts District, which was layered with paint, comics, playing cards, and general wear. There is something about texture that is just fascinating to me. I took a picture of the door, and layered it with a picture of another favorite subject, a tunnel. (This was one of the tunnels on the Blue Ridge Parkway, that goes under a part of the mountain. When the Parkway closed because of a storm, I hiked up and took pictures.)

After layering the images, it was a matter of applying filters and adjusting blend modes and opacity until I got the effect I was after. Aside from the visual, it appeals deeply to me because it gives me a feeling of glimpsing down into a creative space. That’s exactly why I created this image for Liminal – doors are in between one room and another, and tunnels provide access through otherwise impenetrable areas. Together, this is magic.

Liminal, now available on Amazon

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Link here:  https://www.amazon.com/Liminal-shirley-braley/dp/0368030504/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=shirley+braley+liminal&qid=1549805541&s=books&sr=1-1-spell

This book is an exploration of techniques that have appealed to me for a long time, images I see in my head that are crying out for release into the greater world. The response to these images has surprised me: instead of seeing them as obscure, introverted or obtuse, people like them. They appeal to the eye, because you have to look more deeply, think more.

i love watching people leaf through the book; I can see where they pause, where they move the book closer to see it better, what pages they go back to. I love feedback, which sounds strange, because often it’s not fun, but it’s a great gift. Your responses to my work are of great value, so thank you in advance for ordering the book. Enjoy, and be sure to leave a review on Amazon.

My book is finally out!

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So far, “iPhoneography – where reality intersects with imagination” is only available on Blurb.  But far more exciting is the fact that it is DONE and published and available.

Blurb link here:  http://www.blurb.com/b?ebook=673004

Amazon link to follow, which will include the print version.

Just wanted to give you all a heads up that it is on its way.  This volume includes my favorite photos from TheDailyGrunge, as well as a few newer works that have never made it onto the blog.  A few of the flash fictions are also included.

Ah, fandom

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Is there anything quite so satisfying as a tattered paperback, read many times, well-loved; each time you open it you get a snootful of that heady aroma: memory. Where you were when you first read it … how it made you feel. Things you saw the second time that you missed the first.

This old chestnut is a particular favorite. When I recently pulled up sticks and moved across country, I was forced to donate or otherwise part with about 2000 of my least-favorite books. Some got donated by accident; much-loved volumes, even a few autographed for me by the authors. It was tough, but I have to move on. Fortunately, Zombies of the Gene Pool made the move.

It’s cross between a mystery, a cult classic, and *almost* sci fi, because it’s ABOUT sci fi, and even though nothing happens that couldn’t happen to you or me (no alternative universe, no time travel, or dragons or spaceships), you feel that you are immersed in a sci fi universe. This is actually the sequel to the equally marvelous Bimbos of the Death Sun, in which an unlikely couple (English professor and electric engineer) end up at a sci fi con, and find a killer by playing Dungeons and Dragons. That might not sound like it makes much sense, so I advise you to read it yourself, it’s available on Kindle or paperback from Amazon.

The plot, ostensibly, of ZotGP, is that a group of sci fi writers from The Golden Age, who co-habitated in the backwoods of Tennessee, buried a time capsule of original stories and assorted ephemera, back in the 50s, before the whole area was buried under a man-made lake. (This concept appeals to me particularly, since I live a mile or two away from an enormous man-made lake, and can’t stop wondering what it buried down there.) In the 90s, when the book was written, the group, now geriatric, decide to dig up the time capsule and sell the stories for big bucks.

It’s a great setup, and I won’t give any of it away, because if you are a fan of sci fi you should read it yourself. But the story isn’t why I’m writing about it. It’s a book ABOUT sci fi fans, FOR sci fi fans. Of which I am one. If you didn’t know that already.

In fact, there is so much that I want to say about fandom, the particular addictive fandom that the book eulogizes, that I am going to continue the topic in my next post. In the meantime, get your hands on a copy of BotDS and ZotGP buy Sharon McCrumb.