Greg Lilly

Author, Writer, Editor, Publisher, Painter, Technologist

[greglillyauthor]

The Shadow Wolf (Book 2 of The Tales of the Abingdon Wolves) is available. Thanks to Bridgeforth Design Studio for the illustrations. #books #mythology #kidsbooks #abingdonva #bookstagram #bookstoread (at Wolf Cave) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAX0QpqnNfc/?igshid=1sjnqy2ro4ghn

[greglillyauthor]

Too many screens! #workfromhome #writing #projectmanager #sidejobs #AbingdonVa (at Wolf Cave) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAFyYlGHEuI/?igshid=1akq2igtjskfy

[greglillyauthor]

A book by its cover

In a discussion with some local writers the topic of book covers emerged... 

I have to admit, I have an aversion to adult fiction with whimsical cartoon covers. It lessens the literary expectation of the work -- you DO judge a book by its cover. 

As well, I avoid overly “artist” or moody covers because they usually have nothing to do with the book once you read it. 

A great cover (and title), I learned from a bookstore owner and author, is one that conveys the theme of the genre and specific story while it reveals a new twist from the story once the story is read.

[greglillyauthor]

#rainlit #williamsburgva (at Iron-Bound Gym)

[greglillyauthor]

#rainlit #williamsburgva (at GuernseyTingle)

[greglillyauthor]

#rainlit #williamsburgva (at The Corner Pocket)

[greglillyauthor]

Happy to be part of #RainLit (at Williamsburg, Virginia)

[nprfreshair]

Terry Gross spoke with New Yorker editor David Remnick and staff writer Evan Osnos about Putin, Trump, and the New Cold War. Here’s an excerpt from that interview about Trump using the phrase “enemy of the people.” 

TERRY GROSS: Trump tweets a lot about the press. On February 17, he tweeted “the fake news media, failing New York Times, NBC News, ABC, CBS, CNN, is not my enemy. It is the enemy of the American people.”

DAVID REMNICK: Yeah, what a phrase, “the enemy of the people.”

GROSS: Yeah, I know. That goes back to Stalin, right?

REMNICK: Well, it goes back to Robespierre. It is an ugly, ugly phrase. I don’t know how self-aware Donald Trump is of that kind of phrase. I guarantee you Steve Bannon knows what enemy of the people means. Stalin used it to keep people terrified. If you were branded a “vrag naroda,” an enemy of the people, you could guarantee that very soon there would be a knock in the middle of the night at your door and your fate would be horrific.

To hear that kind of language directed at the American press is an emergency. It’s an emergency. It’s not a political tactic. And if it’s a political tactic, it’s a horrific one. And that needs to be resisted not just by people like me who are, you know, editors or writers but all of us. This is part of what distinguishes American democracy. And it’s untenable, immoral and anti-American.

[culturenlifestyle]

Stunning Abstract Mountain Paintings by Conrad Jon Godly

Swiss painter Conrad Jon Godly effortlessly manages to capture the terrain and texture of the Swiss Alps with the use of oil paint, turpentine and incredible skill. By mixing the turpentine with oil paint, Godly is able to apply thick and rugged brushstrokes, which beautifully drop from the canvas.

Although the art of painting usually makes reality seem two-dimensional, Godly has depicted the true texture, roughness and concave of the mountainous landscape in every brush stroke. Overall his skill lends itself beautifully to one’s of nature’s grandest bodies. By carefully combining the colors, blue, black and white, Godly creates what seems to be a photograph. 

[greglillyauthor]

Let it out in 2017

For 2017, I'll write the most honest and emotionally-open work I have done. My novels have all had hard truths exposed for the characters, but the new novel surpasses those by tapping into my life and those around me and those who came before me. 

At 53, I've experienced the death of my father, the declining health of my mother, the complicated relationships of close family and extended family, and on the positive side, a strong 20+ year relationship, the birth of the next generation in our family, the discovery of ancestors that tie generations together and give depth and understanding to our struggles.

Yep, I couldn’t write this book in my 30s or 40s. I’ve earned this one. I feel it with each page -- in a great way! 

[greglillyauthor]

Like craft breweries and farm-to-table restaurants, artisan/boutique publishers produce innovation & creativity. Try a taste of rich, original books from Cherokee McGhee Publishing.

"Artisan" - made in a traditional or non-mechanized way using high-quality ingredients.

[historyvikings]

[persephonierose]

“Serious art requires serious play.” -Julia Cameron,  The Artist’s Way

[hashtagcwinstagram]

#Repost @colonialwmsburg ・・・ ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, 1781: the Governor’s Palace burns down. • At around 11 p.m. on Dec. 22, 1781, a fire broke out in the Governor’s Palace, burning it to the ground in just a few hours. • For some time since the state capital moved to Richmond a year earlier, the fancy residence anchoring the Palace Green had been converted into a hospital for sick and wounded soldiers. There were many, as the decisive Battle of Yorktown had just been waged in October. • It was “with the greatest mortification” that Francis Mentges, an American officer, informed General Washington of the fire: “Luckily [all] the sick & wounded were saved, but one, who perished by the flames. It is generally thought the fire was laid in to the lower rooms, where no sick were, by Negroes or disaffected persons.” • That judgment was contradicted by General Lauberdiere, one of the many French soldiers keeping winter quarters in Williamsburg (and Rochambeau’s nephew), who wrote that the destruction was actually the result of “the negligence of a few American soldiers.” The actual cause will probably never be known. • The immediate challenge was what to do with just over a hundred displaced residents of the hospital, who “lost all the trifle of clothing they had and are mostly naked.” Fortunately, Comte de Rochambeau offered financial support, and the ladies of Williamsburg stepped up to make them new clothes. • With the ruins beginning to collapse as people stole bricks from the site, the state government decided to sell off what could be salvaged in May 1782. The advance buildings continued to serve as residences until the Civil War, when Union soldiers dismantled them for use at nearby Fort Magruder. Archaeologists uncovered foundation walls, steps, doorways, and stone pavings in 1930, and the reconstructed Governor’s Palace opened to the public in 1934. • • #governorspalace #18thcentury #history http://ift.tt/2hdwRkR

[greglillyauthor]

Celebrate Christmas as if Ann Miller planned to visit.

[greglillyauthor]

Alfred Hitchcock: The Difference Between Mystery & Suspense

[greglillyauthor]

Basic Oil Painting Techniques : What Is One Session Painting?