Heya. Following tutorials can be tough because sometimes the process is clear to the author so she leaves out something that's obvious to her, but that might not be to the reader (especially if they have less experience with the program being used). I've followed Ascension's tutorial a few times with success (and still use some of his techniques) but, good as it is, I had to go back and repeat a few steps because they didn't turn out quite like the accompanying screenshots - usually these problems stemmed from me not being as familiar with PS as I needed to be, so I had to play around until I figured it out.

It sounds as if you're following the tutorial pretty well but may be having some troubles with PS. I think that we (me or someone else, maybe Ascension himself) can probably help you with your problem. I think we need some more information, however. Can you post a before/after screenshot of your map at the step you're having trouble with? Would probably help if you could show the settings you're using on the tool as well.

By blue glow, I assume that you're talking about the glow around the land layer? Let's just stick with that step and get it figured out?
M