Overlord Enterprises Announces Their New Artist

After an extensive international search that included hundreds of applicants, Overlord Enterprises is happy to announce that Patrick Thompson has joined the ever-growing company!  Patrick's cutting edge artwork, forward thinking, and enthusiasm toward making Overlord Enterprises a globally recognizable name put him over the top!

When asked how Overlord Enterprises would benefit by having him on board, Patrick responded:

"I believe that I can bring the story of The Overlords to life with my unique vision, artistic talent, skills, and imagination, bringing to the series an extra oomph that will draw in readers."

His signature file also caught our attention, "I don't paint things.  I only paint the difference between things."

Patrick's responsibilities will include creating the cover design for Book Three, caricatures of the main characters, webisodes, book cover artwork for our SelfPublishingInsight.com clients, and much, much more.  As you can see, Patrick is going to be quite busy!

One Page a Day ...

Being a part-time author can be trying at times.  Everyday life tends to come first most of the time, leaving my characters and story line waiting for me to sit in front of the computer again to continue their journey.  And don't get me started about the family!  A spouse and children can easily fill every minute of "free" time.

Knowing that many of you are in the same boat as me, I am often asked "How do you find time to write?"  The answer: whenever I can!  When I was younger, I'd write after 9:00 PM, when the kids and wife were in bed.  Now, the last thing I want to do before I doze off is continue a novel!  I find time after work, just before dinner, to be an ideal time.  My children are older and can fend for themselves, and my wife doesn't get home until 6:30.  Weekends are always a time to make up some ground, even though the lawn still needs to be cut, the driveway shoveled, the leaves raked, etc.  I can usually squeeze a couple of hours in between chores to continue my stories, but it's not easy.

One thing I do preach is writing one page a day.  A typical novel is 250-500 pages long, and with there being 365 days in a year, if you take this approach you'll have a novel done in a year's time (let's not get into editing right now, we're on a roll!)  I don't write every day, but the times I do I usual write more than one page.  The "one page a day" rule is an average, so work it how you see fit.

I hope this helps a little bit; at least you can feel some solace in knowing that even someone who has written three, 400+ page novels often finds it hard to write "all the time."

A Service to help Fellow Authors

To further help our fans and customers, Overlord Enterprises has created an offshoot company, SelfPublishingInsight.com (SPI).  Where Overlord Enterprises encompasses everything in the Overlords portfolio, including Overlords books and merchandise, Educational Services, Partnerships, and SPI, SPI was formed to handle writing services.  Under SPI, writers can benefit from expert one-on-one consultations with Mike and other SPI experts, editorial services, website design, newsletter creation and delivery, graphical artwork, self-publishing, eBooks, and much more!  Our hope at SPI is to help those soon-to-be authors reach their goal of publishing a novel, and with the wealth of experience and services offered by SPI, they can achieve that dream!  If you have further questions, visit our website www.selfpublishinginsight.com, or contact jon@the-overlords.com.

More Murdock:The Early Years

I know I've left you hanging too long!  Here's more of Murdock's story:

Murdock ignored the man’s obvious attempt at distracting him. Homing in on his target, the young ranger pulled back his bow and let the arrow fly. All eyes followed the projectile that found its mark in the center of the target seconds later.


“Bull’s eye!” cheered Seth, as he jumped up and down with excitement.

The vendor stared at the target, his eyes round and mouth open. He then snapped his head and glared at Murdock. “You swindled me!” he exclaimed, his face turning red with anger. “You should’ve told me you were a marksman!”

Murdock remained cool. “You never asked.” He pointed to the tattered bow. “I want my prize now.”

The man continued to steam. Thrusting a finger in the boy’s face, he said, “No one gets the best of me!” He then turned, grabbed the worthless treasure, and shoved it into Murdock’s chest. “Get out of here and don’t come back!”

The young ranger chose not to respond. Instead, he accepted his winnings and gestured for his brother to move along.

“Let’s go, Seth,” said Murdock, quickening his pace, anxious to get away from the older person. 

When they were at a safe distance away from the vendor, Seth said, “I told you you could win that!”

Murdock handed the award to his brother. “Keep it. I have plenty of toys at home.”

Murdock's Saga Continues

As promised, here's more to young Murdock's story.  Enjoy!

“Young man,” he shouted at Murdock, “how would you like to try and hit the bull’s eye?” The man motioned to three targets that rested a hundred feet away.

“I don’t have any money,” said the teen, barely making eye contact.
 “Not even one gold piece?” said the man. “I bet you have at least one coin in your pocket.”
“I don’t want to try!” said Murdock with agitation in his voice.

The man tried another tactic. “How about this?”

Seth tugged on his brother’s sleeve, getting him to stop. “Aren’t you going to listen to what he has to say?”

Murdock stopped and glared at the con artist. “What?”

“I’ll give you your first shot for free and, if you hit the target, you’ll win a prize.” The person pointed to a rickety bow that leaned against a table.

The teenager pointed at the prize. “That piece of junk?”

“Hey, I had to win that from a marksman! It’s a fine piece of weaponry!”

Murdock rolled his eyes.

“And if you miss, you give me that coin you’re trying not to lose.”

The young ranger instinctively touched the sack on his belt, jingling the coins it contained. Squinting, he said, “I won’t miss.”

“Then it’s a deal!” The man waved Murdock over and showed him where to stand. “Wait right here,” he said.

The teen did his best not to appear agitated, but he failed miserably. A second later, the man returned with a tattered bow and arrow.

“You want me to hit that target using this?”

“That’s right.” The man’s eyes narrowed to slits. “What’s the matter, are you afraid to lose?” The man held his stare on the teenager.

“Come on, Murdock, you can do it!” encouraged his brother.

With a scowl, the young ranger snatched the bow and arrow from the man. He raised the bow, positioned the feathered portion of the projectile, and readied his shot.

The con artist leaned closer to the bowman. “Take your time,” he said in a soft voice. “You wouldn’t want to miss.”

Call For Artists

Overlord Enterprises, a small but expanding company geared to authors, is excited to secure an Artist Partner who will work with us to roll out online projects for both the company and clients.  Exciting in-house ideas abound and the structure of the company allows for great flexibility. As the Lead Artist, you will be in charge of bringing ideas from brain to awesome.  Presently, you will need to build out the company's project needs (both online and off-line) in order to set the base at this beginning stage.  Soon after that - and even a little presently, creative projects for clients will be undertaken.  Examples of projects include:  book cover creation, interior book illustrations, website graphics, logos, character manifestation, online comic strips, etc.


The Artist Partner is not only able to build out our projects, but will be able to strategize about various client's and their online/off-line project needs.  As such, we are not tied to any one particular artistic skill.  Rather, value is viewed via flexibility, scope, breadth, past experience and - importantly - what you can bring to the organization's future.  The right candidate will become a partner in a potentially dynamic firm which is already generating capital.


Who you will be partnering with:

Overlords Enterprises has two major components, which are run by the same team:  The Overlords (book series) and Self Publishing Insight (author consulting).  The Overlords is on the verge of releasing book 3 of it's 4 book fantasy adventure series, launching short stories online and more.  Self Publishing Insight does writing presentations, author workshops, one-on-one consulting and more.  Our current team is comprised of a CEO (who is also the author), a Business Strategist and a Marketing Associate (intern).  Together we have over 4 decades of deep writing/business experience.
  
More desirable characteristics about you:

• You create art all the time.
• You know the word entrepreneur and it does not frighten you... it actually excites you.
• Your art works in both online and off-line environments. 
• You can embrace and are open to other people's visions, but definitely have your own thoughts.
• You can cite specific examples of your rocking artistic ways by referencing portfolios/projects/websites/apps/etc. that you have worked on.

Environment, Compensation and Opportunity:


Since this is a small start-up company, it is preferred that you are based in the Rhode Island area (the author lives in Tiverton), but will be asked to work virtually for now.  The amount of time you put into the organization is not limited, but it can be less then full time at the outset.  Compensation is currently in the form of equity, client referrals, flexible hours, full artistic voice by which to mold the organization and the ability to be in control of growing the company's future.  As soon as possible, this will also include a competitive salary and benefits for all involved.


If you are interested in creating and keeping things fresh, enjoy a challenge, love being a part of something where you're truly appreciated and constantly contributing then please send an email to jon@the-overlords.com with any relevant information you feel would be prudent to include.  The more examples the better, a resume and mentioning why you are interested are all recommended.  All applicants will be reviewed and appropriate candidates will be contacted for further talks. We look forward to hearing from you!

Xavier Murdock -- the Back Story

In an ongoing effort to ready my fans for Book Three in The Overlords series, I'll be starting back stories on some of the supporting characters.  Xavier Murdock, known simply as Murdock throughout the saga, is one of my favorite characters.  Cut from the Han Solo mold, Murdock is always there keeping Harrison in check, swigging ale, and ready for a fight!  Keep checking back for more additions to Murdock's storyline.  Here it goes!

“How long are you going to be away?” asked the young boy, sadness in his eyes.

            His brother did not answer right away; instead, he continued to stuff his backpack with clothes and other assorted necessities.  Lifting his eyes, he said, “Seth, for the last time, I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

            “But Xavier, what am I going to do while you’re not here?”

            The thin teenager stopped his packing and pointed a finger at his younger sibling.  “How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t like being called Xavier?”

            Xavier Murdock, who insisted people call him by his surname, had recently piqued the interest of several elders a few days earlier, his talents with the longbow no longer hidden.

            “I should never have won that contest,” said Murdock, shaking his head.

            Over the past weekend, fourteen year-old Murdock, his parents, and his brother, attended a local fair, partaking in Aegean festivities for a whole day.  While his father drank flagon upon flagon of ale, his two sons meddled about the fair grounds.

            Murdock had always enjoyed watching the jousting contest, in hopes of watching someone get knocked senseless off his horse.  As he and Seth meandered toward the area, a man called out to them ...