Today artist Ron Cobb passed away.
Ron Cobb is, without any hyperbole, one of the most influential artists in my life. He worked on too many film projects to count, but is especially known for his work on both Ridley Scott's Alien as well as the James Cameron sequel. More than any other person, his drafts and drawings captured precisely the kind of environments that I always imagined when reading my SF stories and also while creating my own. His work - his attention to detail and thoughtful design considerations - is of such a skill and level that I could only aspire to. And, I still hope to attain a fraction of the respect and recognition that this man earned throughout his incredible career. 2020 has been a rough year and this one really caught me off guard. I wish that I could have met this man in person and told him how much his work has inspired me. I want to honor his legacy by remembering him, his work, and trying to take my own art to the next level. I think and hope that he would have liked that and I can't think of a better way to celebrate his rich and fruitful life. RIP.
0 Comments
Hello again everyone. I have just a few updates for this month of September.
Firstly, yes - you didn't read that wrong. One of the latest developments is that I have officially been moved from a 2020 release date to 2021. This was expected due to the pandemic and related complications. I will keep you all appraised as I learn more details. We are aiming for an early 2021 (January-March) debut. I'm still working away on book 3 of the Gordian Knot trilogy. I've switched from writing to revising and aim to get at least ten pages done a day, which means I should be able to turn in a completed draft to my editors rather soon. My latest article with Tor is up and I have resubmitted my latest short to James Gunn's Ad Astra which, if accepted, would be my first ever published story. As promised, I have a new blog on Frank Herbert's Dune which I hope you'll enjoy. It's specifically about why some of the themes in the classic are especially relevant today. Yours truly is now also on Instagram, so you can check out my profile if you'd like to see more of my musings, and me (and ALOT of Jonesy). Otherwise, you can catch me here, on social media, and see all of these developments and more by signing up for my newsletter. This month, I have included part 2 of a short that ties in directly with the Gordian Knot trilogy and obviously takes place in the same rich universe. I'm sharing it only with subscribers. That's all for now. Be good to yourselves and to each other. Best, John Some of you might be first time visitors and some of you have been around since I launched about a month ago. It's kind of weird how much time flies by. Whoever you are, welcome and thanks for being here.
I haven't been very active on here yet. I still had alot to learn when I launched (and I still do frankly) and even though it might not look like it, I've been remarkably busy during these dark times. I finished beta reading another novel for a fellow Aethonite and author sibling and I have another beta read in progress with one of my own novels to finish...and a short to rewrite. I have recently sent out my second newsletter. If you're interested, please let me know or sign up under my contact page. Here's a link. Here are the highlights... I've been diligently working on book 3 of my Gordian Knot trilogy. Even with the periodic breaks that I've been taking to preserve my sanity, I'm over the 80k word mark. I think I could probably race to the finish line if I wanted to, but I don't think it's wise to rush and no one has been harder on me about my output than myself. If all goes well, I will have another article published on Tor.com very soon, but I'm still waiting for an official update. I'll happily drop links to that when the day comes. I also got my first rewrite request for a short that I sent to James Gunn's Ad Astra. I'm not getting my hopes up, but it's a big deal for me. I was lucky to have some readers give me ideas about how to revise it. I plan on sending the rewrite back out by the end of this month. If all goes well, I will be on an AWP conference panel discussion about debuting Latinx writers. This would be my first panel ever. It's kind of terrifying. I found out if it's official from the organizer this September. It's weird, because nothing has been happening for months and now it feels like everything is happening at once! I've added a new blog today (it was about damn time) about a topic near and dear to my heart...aliens! Hope you enjoy. There were some other additions and changed that I planned on making, but I have to use my time judiciously because truthfully this blog cut into my wring and reading time more than I planned (nervous laughter). Anyway - enough for now. Love you all. Thanks for coming. Best, John I've finally hunkered down and launched my website. I'm still new to this, but the process of learning (and failing, and trying again) can be rewarding. In any case, I've wanted to do this for some time and a professional website is crucial for what I want to accomplish. The purpose of this website is to serve as a headquarters for my writing and artwork: upcoming releases, works in progress, ideas, blogs, and other projects which might otherwise be hard to describe.
If you're here, you might know who am I. Just in case you don't, I'm Jonathan E. Hernandez the artist. Nice to meet you! My name is incredibly common (in grade school I was one of three). Thus, the middle initial is to help distinguish me from the many many other Hernandezes. Being a veteran is part of my identity and a cornerstone of my life and backstory, but many of my efforts in the last few years have been to move me towards a career as a writer and visual artist. My debut novel, ONE DAY AS A LION, comes out this year with Aethon Books. It's a Science Fiction novel that can be categorized in the military SF and space opera subgenres, though I feel that it's an idiosyncratic piece of work. And yes -- I know that alot of authors say that, but I assure you that the novel was deliberately designed with heterodox views/ideas in mind. ONE DAY AS A LION is book 1 in my Gordian Knot trilogy. Most of my efforts in the coming days (and months) will focus on editing book 2 (luckily I've written a complete full draft that's currently with the editor), and finishing book 3 (started and quickly gaining muscle). If you're curious about this project, feel free to contact me or continue exploring this website, which will be used to help promote it. If you would like to see my art, I plan on building galleries here for the public and I would be honored to have an audience. Managing my creative time will be an ordeal as I try both writing and visual art. I have a passion for both, but they're very different disciplines which each consume time in different ways. I'm hoping that building an online portfolio will help my...shall I say inconsistent output. I could always use some cheer-leading too. It helps (wink wink). Thank you again for visiting. Please feel free to look around, and enjoy. If you don't mind, you can drop me a message, comment, say hello - whatever! Also please consider subscribing. I plan on creating a newsletter and sharing exclusive content in the near future as well. Best, John |