HWWS Hits 250K Views: Thank You ALL!!

We are so grateful and humbled by all of your support!  We have hit more than 250K viewers and what this means to us is that we have shared so many great arts and entertainment creators interviews with such an amazing and growing audience across the world wide web!

THANK YOU!  We love what we do, and we love who we do it with!

The Digital Paradigm Shift: A Tidal Force in Arts and Entertainment

The human being is an inherent story teller. From drawing on cave walls to sharing fireside tales and singing the bard’s histories through village squares, we have striven to pass on our experiences and the truths beyond their facts for as long as we could communicate one to another. Today, in this tradition, those compelled to tell, draw, paint, film, or sing the human tale have found new hope in the digital age.

In or about 1440 Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. His goal was simple: to spread the gospels of the Holy Roman Empire throughout Europe. By 1500, more than 20 million volumes were said to have been published and distributed throughout the Continent.

This invention did much more, though. It brought the written word into the lives of millions previously unable to read, and ushered in a new way for storytellers to spread their work. It created a new industry, in printing and distributing the written word. The invention had one draw back, however, it was limited in it’s ownership, and writers and story tellers were rarely the owners, so publishers with access to the technology controlled exactly what was produced and marketed to the masses.

Visual art began as early as human beings could gather in small tribes, and arguably before they formed villages or communities on any large scale. By the middle ages, however, like the written word, art was oft paid for and limited to the aristocracy. Art patrons commissioned work, attended to artists and more often than not, enjoyed the art that was created as a perk of their investments. A similar history of music runs parallel to that of art. Once created at the fire side, by the time people gathered into cities under the rule of some aristocrat or another, great musicians, like artists were few and their work was distributed to only those with means.

The modern filmmaking can be traced to the 1890’s. Revolutionary in it’s early day, creators flocked to be a part of the new story telling medium. Equipment costs, filming locations and distribution, though, took a hold in the early 20th century and again removed the art from the artist and firmly embedded it in the hands of the business interests most able to afford the production and distribution of the art.

None of this is bad. Under the guidance of those with a vested interest in the arts and entertainment industry, the arts flourished, making its way into the hearts and minds of nearly every human being on planet Earth.

The invention of the television in the late 1920’s and its mainstreaming in the 1960’s, brought storytellers and artists into people’s living rooms. As before, however, the cost of doing so with such a new technology was high, and exactly what was produced and broadcasted depended on those industry professionals at the top of their fields and not always the artists who were creating the content.

It’s been 30 years since the mainstreaming of the internet. Beginning with such home services like AOL, and later ISPs, the internet, created in the 1960’s for scientists and engineers, the shift toward the masses has made the nebulous internet a commercial boom, and has had one seemingly open ended side effect, as well. It has given the arts and entertainment community a cost effective and accessible way to share, distribute and even create their various art forms.

The advent of "print-on-demand" publishing has put an accessible printing press within arms reach of writers. Music platforms such as Soundcloud™ and Reverb have put recording and editing tools at the fingertips of musicians. Youtube™, Vimeo™ and a host of others has given independent filmmakers access to distribution for movie and film projects.  All of these and so many more have had another welcomed effect. Each of these platforms, as well as the growing social media community platforms like Facebook™, GooglePlus™, Twitter™ and countless others from Instagram™ to Reddit™, give content creators and artists access to global audiences in a way never before imaginable.

As a journalist and a creator, while Amazon™ has become the world's largest retail distributor, and the number of Facebook users has toppled the 1 billion mark, it is impossible to dismiss or ignore this shift in the arts and entertainment paradigm.

Today, there are more than 50 million internet based content creators worldwide. Authors, artists, Filmmakers, special effects designers, artisans and creators of all kinds are flocking to the internet to share their hard work with an audience that seems hungry for greater and greater quantities of artistic media content, with no signs of their appetites slowing in the foreseeable future.

It doesn’t matter what one’s tastes are. It doesn’t matter if a creator is experienced, at the top or bottom of their profession, or if a type of art or literary genre is too obscure or fringe. There is an audience for nearly every kind of creative output.

No longer do existing matrixes for distribution and competition speak to the creative desires of the masses. The advent of “binge watching” TV shows and movies via streaming services such as Netflix™, Hulu™, Amazon™ and others, or via production company or personal “Apps,” has meant that one time competitors for attention can share the light on center stage. E-readers mean that writers aren’t competing for that $20 dollar bill for a hardcover book, but instead, 20 can share it through online e-book services. Artists no longer have to compete for limited gallery wall space to be discovered, but can post via social media or websites and be seen by a mass audience.

Of course, these shifts are not without drawbacks. To be seen in the growing seas of creative content on the internet, an artist or creator must learn new skills. These skills are those that were traditionally only known by insider industry professionals, and are essential to success. Production skills like layout and design, film and photo editing, copy and content editing for authors, and the daunting skills of marketing managers to help attract and grow audiences, must be acquired. As it has shifted the way art is made and distributed, so to the Internet has also become a kind of online school for arts and entertainment creators. One can find DYI videos on almost any subject to assist in acquiring the skills to succeed, or even target audiences with one’s work.

In the new millennium, the edges and boundaries of success have been pushed back and away from creative minds in ways never before possible. Today, it is most reasonable to tell a child to work hard and become any thing they desire to be, and it is becoming more possible than ever before in human history.

In the 21st century, it IS possible. Anything is possible. If you desire a creative career, outlet, hobby or a legacy captured in the increasingly digital record, don’t just dream, but do!

Create, Aspire and Inspire!

the 2nd Annual "I Heart Books Author Signing" event brings authors to readers in 2017!

I HEART BOOKS is on its 2nd year of bringing new-to-you and NYT bestselling authors together to the general public. The event this year has moved to Boca Raton and will be held at the Lakeside Terrace from Noon-4 on Sunday May 21. It's FREE for readers to attend. 50 authors across all genres will be there with paperbacks, swag, and giveaways. Family-friendly event!

Author Christopher Cobb said of the event, "I'm truly excited about attending this wonderful event in May...not only representing my two books but Darkwater Syndicate, Inc. as well. There will be a bevy of talented authors and publishers ready to meet and mingle. Mingle? That's a weird word. Mingle. Bevy. Oh well, see you in Boca! Thank you Florida Writers Association!"

Patty Tracy Perrin said, "I'm excited about attending my first I Heart Books event as an author! I look forward to meeting everyone!"

"(I am) very exited to Attend the 2nd Annual I ❤️ Books signing," said Lakeside Terrace, Boca Raton, Florida author Brenda Roman. "... as an author. May 21, 2017."

To bring additional attention to the writers and creators at the event, the Hangin With Web Show is scheduled to attend and interview individual authors about their word and their attendance at the event.

More informations:  https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/55314-free-book-event-in-boca-raton

Five Stars: Aftermath: A Saga Begins (2nd Edition)

Here is a story that rounds all the bases. Friendship, inner turmoil, human growth and oh yeah, healthy doses of futuristic space battles against evil dictators! See what not to love.

In his second edition, F-Kenneth Taylor adds greater depth and insights to his already vivid and well-crafted world.

It’s the 31st century and one would expect in an almost Rodenberry way, humanity would have outgrown the petty struggles of yesterday, but Taylor turns this proposition upside down showing us a futuristic dystopia where the mega-maniacal still rule and like so many of our greatest heroes journeys, where hope comes from some unlikely places.

Aftermath sets the stage by painting a vivid picture of very real characters, each battling their own inner demons, and together finding their way in friendship and against overwhelming odds.

Yes, this book is filled with drama, and very human tropes, but it also packs a hard paced action punch that drives the sci-fi fan deeper into the story! I mean what’s the point of traveling 1000 years into the future without some mind bending heart pumping struggles against the forces of evil that threaten to rule over the dystopian void of space? Well, no worries there, F-Kenneth Taylor delivers us right into the jaws of just such an adventure!

This instant sci-fi classic is the first in what promises to be a terrific series and F. Kenneth Taylor delivers what he claims as he writes his way across the darkness of space in a distant future where mankind still struggles to find its way through its own vices and a new heroes journey begins and embraces humanity's greatest virtues.

Get in on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Saga-Begins-2nd-Book/dp/1544899491 

Wordfire Press Launches Humble Bundle Sci-Fi Special

Get yours TODAY!

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/wordfire-press-science-fiction

WordFire Press Teams with Humble Bundle for Innovative “Sci-Fi Specials” Bundle WordFire Press and Humble Bundle have announced their second partnership with an ambitious “Sci-Fi Specials Bundle” featuring 18 major titles in a pay-what-you-want grab bag, for a limited time.

Kevin J. Anderson, publisher of WordFire Press and an international bestselling author in his own right with 23 million copies of his works in print, says, “Bundles offer an exciting and innovative way for a new independent publisher to draw attention to a lot of titles at once—and everybody benefits, from the authors, to the readers, to the designated non-profits.” Last year, Humble Bundle ran a successful bundle featuring only WordFire Press titles which sold over 11,000 copies in only two weeks.

“The new Sci-Fi Specials Bundle is the best one we’ve ever run,” Anderson says. Instead of just a grab bag of books, fully half of the 18 titles in the Sci-Fi Specials Bundle are not available to the public at the time of the Bundle launch on April 6.

One book—the new anthology Decision Points, featuring stories by bestsellers and award winners Jody Lynn Nye, Lois McMaster Bujold, Robert J. Sawyer, Jonathan Maberry, Kevin J. Anderson, and a never-before-collected Ender’s Game story by Orson Scott Card—is included here as an advance pre-production proof. The remaining books in the bundle have never previously appeared in any other bundle. The Sci-Fi Specials Bundle includes books by Alan Dean Foster, F. Paul Wilson, Dune author Frank Herbert (a collection of four previously unpublished novels), Kevin J. Anderson, J. A. Pitts, Andrew Mayne, Mario Acevedo, D.J. Butler, Ramon Terrell, Neo Edmund, Jason Henderson, Shean Pao, Quincy J. Allen, Peter J Wacks and J.R. Boyett, Josh Vogt, and Aaron Michael Ritchey. Readers choose the amount they want to pay, and the bundle unlocks more titles at certain bonus levels. A portion of the proceeds goes directly to the designated charities—the Challenger Learning Centers for Space Science Education and the Emergency Medical Fund for the Science Fiction Writers of America.

The Sci-Fi Specials Bundle will run exclusively from April 6 through April 20, after which it will no longer be available. https://www.humblebundle.com Humble Bundle sells digital content through its pay-what-you-want bundle promotions and the Humble Store. When purchasing a bundle, customers choose how much they want to pay and decide where their money goes—between the content creators, charity, and Humble Bundle. Since the company's launch in 2010, Humble Bundle has raised more than $71 million through the support of its community for a wide range of charities, providing aid for people across the world. For more information, please visit https://www.humblebundle.com.

WordFire Press is a mid-size new-model publisher founded by New York Times bestselling authors Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta. Their authors include Frank Herbert (author of Dune) Pulitzer Prize-winning political novelist Allen Drury (Advise and Consent), New York Times bestsellers Alan Dean Foster, Michael A. Stackpole, Jody Lynn Nye, Todd McCaffrey, and Christie Golden; multiple award-winner Mike Resnick; Nebula award winner Gregory Benford; legendary comics writer Mike Baron, and Rush band member Neil Peart. WordFire Press continues to develop and release fiction from an impressive stable of authors, and they expect to expand their catalog significantly in the next calendar year.

Get in on this Sci-Fi Action HERE!
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/wordfire-press-science-fiction

An Interview with Wordfire founder and best-selling author Kevin J. Anderson HERE as well!

Nominate Yesterday's Tomorrow for 5-Year Publishing Deal

WE NEED YOU!

From Saturday, March 19, 2016 for the next 30 days, author G.W. Pomichter’s latest novel Yesterday’s Tomorrow is participating in the Kindle Scout program, competing for a publishing contract with Amazon Publishing.

Yesterday’s Tomorrow is a near future thriller about a world forever changed by a devastating terrorist attack that could either cripple the free world or pull communities together as never before.

This will be the 5th book released by author and journalist G.W. Pomichter, who is the host of the growing internet series, the Hangin’ With Web Show, on which he promotes indie authors, artists, filmmakers and other creators through fun and casual interviews. Pomichter was joined in this project by co-author William DuPree.

The pair have been friends for more than a decade, but this is the first time they have collaborated a project of this kind.

If selected for publication, Yesterday’s Tomorrow will be granted a 5-year e-book and audio publishing contract by Amazon Publishing, and DuPree and Pomichter will also be releasing the book in paperback.

“It is a great privilege to participate in the Kindle Scout program and to give readers a chance to help bring this story to life,” said DuPree.

“We have been working on this story for the past year, running various scenarios and narratives to give this world a very 3 dimensional and real-to-life feel,” Pomichter added. “It is going to be something that readers will find completely immersive.”

To help produce Yesterday’s Tomorrow, visit the Kindle Scout campaign page and nominate it for publication.

https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1CLEZWYSY2CQI

OR:

More about the world of Yesterday's Tomorrow at: http://www.yesterdays-tomorrow.com

About Author and Journalist G.W. Pomichter: http://www.hanginwithshow.com/#!about-gwpomichter/mainPage

Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YesterdaysTomorrowBook

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomorrowBook

Latest Review of Lot 28: Thank you JC Brennan

It is so touching and humbling when you know you've entertained and really connected with a reader like this.  The above review was authored by fellow writer JC Brennan, who shared it with me on Twitter.  JC Brennan is the author of The Ancients series which can be found on Amazon.com.  I've only recently started the first book, A Fine Line, and it is wonderful journey I;m looking forward to.

G.W. Pomichter

Lot 28:  http://www.amazon.com/Lot-28-Lucky-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B011PLFN6S

JC Brennan on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Line-Ancients-Part-ebook/dp/B00TMMD80G

Melbourne Author’s new Web-Series is Set to Interview Celebs at Comic Con 2016

Melbourne, FL — From January 15 until January 17, 2016, the new hit web talk series, "Hangin' With ...", featuring show host, journalist and author G.W. Pomichter is slated to be interviewing artists, authors, comic producers, celebrities, filmmakers and creators of all kinds at one of the regional South East’s largest and most prestigious convention events: Magic City Comic Con in Miami.

“Hangin’ With …” is a YouTube based interview show, that was started in Melbourne, Florida by local author and former journalist Garrett (G.W.) Pomichter. The show features professional coverage of artists from throughout the creative community to discuss new books, films, comics, and visual arts. The show focuses heavily on the personal journeys of artists in attaining their goals, the things that motivate them to create, and the pitfalls they face in an evolving market place.

“We started this show as a way to promote independent and other artists who are often lost in a morass of popular culture,” said show founder and host Garrett Pomichter. “We wanted to show a side of those vital creators that it is often difficult to see. We wanted to show the side that succeeds: the personal side of providing the pillars of pop-culture.”

Since it’s creation, “Hangin With …” has interviewed and featured more than 30 local authors as well as creators from around the state and even the nation in more than 45 webisodes, now available on YouTube, including a 30 minute special interview of renowned science fiction author, Alan Dean Foster, who most recently penned the highly anticipated novelization of the record breaking blockbuster hit film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Magic City Comic Con will take place January 15-17, 2016 in Miami, FL at the Miami Airport Convention Center. Join us for 3 days of fun featuring celebrity guests, comic book creators, voice actors, industry guests, cos-players, artists, writers, panels, Q&A’s, films & shorts, costume & cosplay contests, vendors, parties, anime, workshops and video gaming. Pomichter and his crew from “Hangin’ With …” have been invited and accepted to cover the con by publisher Wordfire Press, who represent some of the sci-fi genre’s biggest authors and creators, including Kevin J. Anderson, Peter J. Wacks, Frank Herbert (and Brian Herbert).

“Being accepted at Magic City (Comic Con) is a real treat and a milestone for the show,” Pomichter said. “It means that our message and our guests are resonating throughout popular culture. That is exactly what we have striven to achieve, and we will work to earn such acknowledgements.”

For information, contact G.W. Pomichter and Hangin’ With, at gwpomichter@gmail.com OR by phone (321) 622-4945, (On YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/GarrettPomichter and on the web at: http://hanginwithshow.wix.com/hanginwith

"Hangin With" web series and the Florida Book News: Meet the Authors Book Fair sponsored by Authors fo...

Hangin With host G.W. Pomichter and his team were honored to spend the weekend with a great collection of writers, authors, artists and creators at the 8th annual Eau Gallie Arts Festival and Meet the Authors event at the Eau Gallie Civic Center in Melbourne, Florida.

We interviewed more than 30 authors, artists and creators, and had the privilege of making many new friend including our newest bloggers and web partners, Florida Book News.

As always our interviews will be web-cast from our YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/user/GarrettPomichter and as an iOS Podcast, but look for many of them with our great new friends below!

So log on and tune in to Hangin With..., and in the mean time head on over to Florida Book News and see what they're cooking up next!

Florida Book News: Meet the Authors Book Fair sponsored by Authors fo...:   We had a great day at t he Meet the Authors Book Fair.  If you didn't make it down on Saturday, be sure t o stop by Sunday, 11/ 21.......

Finding Folklore

What is folklore?  When most think of folklore or folk tales they conjure unto themselves images from Grimm fairy tales or Hans Christian Anderson stories.  These certainly do, in fact, constitute the most recognizable of folk stories.  But, do modern novels or films meet the standard?  Are your stories folklore?

When the brothers Grimm traversed Europe they gathered local tales from communities and villages throughout.  They compiled these into a collection that has entertained and even frightened generations.  These European stories of valiant princes and noble heroines, heroic underdogs and monstrous villains have long been staples of what most consider folklore.  But this is not the measure of a folk tale.

Almost by definition, folklore is a story or collection of stories unique to the people, or folk, of a specific geographic region.  Folklore speaks to the hopes, fears and traditions of an area and helps to form a geographic identity.  In this way, the western world and even the United States has it’s own folklore, and these might include many modern stories.

In colonial and post colonial America, in the North East stories like Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow or Rip Van Winkle or the fictionalization of the life and times of John Chapman, known to posterity as Johnny Appleseed, are examples of early American folklore. 

As settlers moved across the plains   From their observations and their shared experiences western tales of Cowboys, Pecos Bill being one such example, became dime store fodder.  Often depicting the Native American culture inaccurately and even vilifying them as well as sometimes glorifying renegade outlaws like Billy the Kid, western stories became some of the most successful folktales in the world.  These stories were even sold and told in the “old world” and came to solidify a world image of America and it’s people as fiercely independent. 

of the Western U.S., they created their own folklore based on the harsh untamed lands they settled, and the pioneer attitudes that often accompanied such an exodus.

Soon and into the 20^th century, America’s West Coast was settled, and like other regions before, they began to shape a geo-specific cultural identity.  Among the many genres that have come from this region, one of the most prominent is the detective mystery noir.  In Chandler stories or others, the American West Coast is as prominent a character as the protagonist or the antagonist.  Hard-boiled private eyes, defiant of traditional law enforcement, the iconic femme fatale and the stark city-after-dark descriptions unique to this region rapidly skyrocketed the genre. 

Since the inception of these staples of the American story, they have pushed and stretched the boundaries of folklore beyond the fantastical and into the almost surreal.

A new phenomenon in folk tales has emerged in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries.  The geo-specific nature of folklore has been challenged.  The emergence of cinema and the worldwide web has helped shape a new kind of collective community.  This time, instead of geographic commonality, members of this community tend to be distinguished by age, experiences or other social standards.  In this way, subcultures have formed making stories of nearly all genres folksy by virtue of their distribution or popularity among a specific global social segment.

With all of the story components of traditional folklore, heavy drama, unlikely heroic characters, damsels or innocence in distress and the rise of underdogs to defeat sometime terrifying and melodramatic villains, as well as their proliferation of society’s pop-culture, it is arguable that the Harry Potter stories or Star Wars could be considered a kind of non-geo-specific generational folklore.

With this understanding of classic and modern folklore, do your favorite stories qualify as folklore?  

Do you write folklore? 

Don’t we all?

G.W. Pomichter's Lot 28 on iBooks

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/lot-28-a-lucky-marks-mystery/id1019799220?mt=11

G.W. Pomichter on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Garrett-Pomichter/e/B00J8GRM2Q