Widge's Online Journal, 2001 Archives
10/31/2001
Happy Halloween. This is always one of my favorite holidays of the year, just because the genre of horror and dark fantasy has always been near and dear to my heart. So, in celebration, I'm going to give you whackos a free short story. It's called "Necrogarchy" and it originally appeared online at Creature Corner. This is the story that I mention when talking about the futility of dealing with fiction editors.
Anyway, it's available in two formats for you. First, for those of you people with PDAs and PalmPilots and whatnot and reading e-Books and the like, you can download the PDB file of it here in a zipped format. If you don't have a viewer capable of looking at it on your PDA, I suggest CSpotRun. The zip of that program I have for you here.
For those of you who don't have Palm devices, it's okay--the straight HTML version of the thing is available here.
Distribute and read and enjoy. All I ask is that you e-mail me and let me know what you think.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
10/15/2001
Slight change to the site...I've made the Journal come up on the main page instead of the hidden teachings of Dr. Cummings. I figured those who had gotten it had...well, gotten it already. And those who hadn't had no idea when the site was being updated. So the cleverness factor was reduced somewhat, but practicality--and capitalism-- must prevail. So be it.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
10/14/2001
I found out that yesterday morning, Dwight Humphries vacated his body and is now lost to us.
You probably don't know about Dwight. But your children will. He's the only poet I've ever met that I'm certain will be in a Norton anthology someday. And well deserving of that. He was the consummate poet, and the most dedicated one I have ever known. In his apartment, he had rows upon rows of copies of periodicals where his work had appeared. He told me, a long time ago, that he had lost count of the number of poems he had had published--around 400. He also told me that he didn't query about submissions until at least a year had gone by--he had so much material, he didn't need to.
I had the pleasure of helping to get some of his work published. One of his poems was so devastating, I was weeping as I typeset it--it took everything I had to be able to see the keyboard well enough to finish.
I have some copies of his work, created originally on his typewriter. They are even more priceless now than they were before. I have one of his typewriters which he gave to me. I also have one of his pipes, carved into the shape of the head of Vlad Dracul.
He gave me lots of advice. Some of it I didn't take and I am glad of, some of it I should have taken and regret. I gave him a copy of my book--because he was one of the people I thanked by name. I am saddened that I never got to hear his reaction.
He was a poet. He was an inspiration. He was somewhat of a mentor. He was a Subgenius. He was psychotic. He was Airborne. And more than anything else, he was a leopard.
I am crying the only tears I will for him and I am crying them now. I will get them out of the way and get back to work, because that's the memorial Dwight would have wanted from me.
There is only winter before me,
And mortal cessation, but what of it?
I am a natural man; I expect to come
To a natural end; Earth is where I
Live and Earth consumes its flesh.
One exists, one dies.
What of it? The worst is done; where
Does one go when there is no safe place
In mind? When the innermost core is a
Dreaded, haunted room which radiates
Dysphoria through the frame? My thoughts
Are not inserted now--I have been to hell's
Depths and seen the face of my foe; I see
It every day now in my mirror, I the
Demon of wrath and pain. I'm closer to death
Now and haven't much time to waste; having
Weathered the isolation and storm of ego
Annihilation; I have nothing left to fear.
You probably don't know about Dwight. But your children will.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
10/05/2001
The One Tusk Store is now online. Yes, I realize we have only two items, Love Letters the book and Love Letters the audiobook, but let's just say we're preparing for further expansion shortly.
With the store being online, we are now taking official orders for the audiobook. Thanks to those of you who have already jumped the gun and requested yours. Orders will be filled starting today and then we look to our next item for business...which I'll hopefully tell you about next week.
Now...I must collapse.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
10/02/2001
Much much much in the way of web housekeeping has been done over this extended weekend. I got a bunch of reviews out of my system that have been lingering, needing to be written up over at Needcoffee.com.
Also of note is that the audiobook is, for all practical purposes, done. In fact, why not get a glimpse of the thing?
Yes, that is the prototype that you're looking at. We'll be fully functional and shipping the discs hopefully by end of week. However, in the meantime, if you want to go ahead and reserve yours, drop us a line here. Now all of you people pestering me about this can have what you wanted. Enjoy.
Oh wait--price. Yes, like I said before, the disc is $10. Two discs, 31 tracks of poetry on disc one, 9 tracks of commentary on disc two. The samples can be found below in my first September entry. Right now I'm just too tired to even do a cut and paste.
Updates on this page will be coming a little more frequently as well. Because new things are going to be presenting themselves shortly. Our next item we want you to spend your hard-earned money on already has its prototype finished, and we're in gamma testing on it. So...you know, stick around.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
09/28/2001
More recovery to be had. I've been pouring myself into Needcoffee.com quite a bit, playing catchup with a slew of reviews I've been meaning to write. Working on some other secret projects, one which will hopefully finally see the light of day soon--but I'll believe it when the checks start to clear, if you know what I mean.
Thanks to everyone who wrote in asking about the commentary and such. I feel a lot better about the whole ordeal. I had to recut Track 7 of the disc just because...well, there's a fine line between spontaneity and just flat out rambling. But that's okay...the majority of the work was still done over the course of three days, with mastering and other bizarre crap taking up most of the rest of the time.
Once we go GA with this thing, I'll start taking pre-orders. Then I can start to worry about the second printing of the book. Then I can start to worry about what's coming next, and yes, to pre-answer your question, I have a couple of options for things. More on that soon.
I can't stop listening to System of a Down's Toxicity, although Oysterhead's debut is cranking about in my car right now.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
09/08/2001
Well, finally recovering from Dragon*Con, and we're here. The gamma testing of the audiobook's second disc is just about over. Now it falls to me to explain just what this second disc is all about.
It's an author's commentary. It's for those who, like me, think that sometimes the stories behind the stories are just as interesting, if not moreso, than the stories themselves. It's essentially me spilling my guts for an hour with no script, no safety net, and only the slightest idea of what I'm talking about. For the full story on it, you can hear the first track from the second disc here. Again, for those of you who missed the caveat the first time...this is a condensed RealPlayer file. It's not going to sound as spiffy as the audio CD will. It's just to give you a taste.
And the reading of "Hello" from the first disc can be found here. What a deal.
The final price for the 2-CD set of the audiobook will be $10. We upped the price just a little because we really are trying to make these things look moderately choice. And we will be taking orders very soon.
P.S. I say "uh" a lot. I know. I know. That's what you get for me doing improv on the mic.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
08/20/2001
It's the simple things sometimes that make you happy. For example, the fact that I'm halfway through listening to the second disc of the Love Letters CD audiobook set and so far it has not made me want to claw my own face off.
Also is word that Festivus will be a flavor again from Ben & Jerry's this Xmas. My campaign worked. That, or the threats. See? The simple things.
Also, go here, play the archived program, and skip ahead to 27:43. You'll thank me.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
08/18/2001
Well, we've been away for a while. It happens. Other projects kicked my ass a little bit, but recent developments are helping me to get back on track with things. Important news:
1) Needcoffee.com will be updated this weekend. No shite. I've got two overdue DVD reviews from my good friend Bailey along with a book review by some poor bastard that Ez drafted. So that's goodness.
2) All the review copies that I was submitting to various people to get their takes...all sent out. We'll see what becomes of that. More news if I have it.
3) We're down to less than twenty copies of the first printing of the book. So if you've been holding out--quit. Now's your chance.
Other than that, I've been sick as a dog for the past two weeks. So that's been hampering my goals for galactic conquest. So sacrifice some chickens in my name. More updates in the next week or so.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
08/01/2001
Wow. Okay, we are pleased. Half of the first printing is spoken for and/or shipped. So this is a goodness. In other news, the audiobook of Love Letters is currently in the second round of beta testing, so watch this space for more details on that. It will be available on CD only--that's about all I know for certain right now. Once more of the testing gets finished then we'll know more.
Until then, I've got Firewater's new CD in my player and all is well. Thanks to everybody's emails of support and encouragement--and even better, the ones that actually order stuff. So far we are pleased with the experiment.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
07/27/2001
Okay, we're open for business. Although I don't exactly know how to point www.lovelettersunsent.com where it's supposed to go, everything's working for the Book section off the main page. Reservations are coming in and now, you can actually figure out where to buy the damn thing from. If you've already reserved your copy and just need to cut straight to the payment info, you can click here and it will give you all you need to know.
Other than that, just finished a short tour of duty as editor over at CA. So that took a bit of time. We'll talk more shortly.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
07/25/2001
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
07/24/2001
If all goes well, the LLU website will go live sometime today. For right now, a sample of the book is available here. The LLU website will feature information about the book (yes, we're almost ready to start taking money) but also information on the audiobook CD which is coming soon.
But if you're an intrepid soul, you can click here to hear the sample poem read. Some notes--obviously, this is a condensed RealPlayer file. It's not going to sound as spiffy as the audio CD will. It's just to give you a taste.
More shortly. Remember, e-mail us and reserve a copy. Stuff's going to start to happen later this week that will escalate a lot of things.
In other news, recent events have caused me to dig up my copy of Soundgarden's Superunknown. Between that and Jonathan Elias' The Prayer Cycle, I don't need any other CD's right now. They are getting me through.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
07/23/2001
Survived San Diego. Barely. That tale of insanity begins here for all interested parties.
Otherwise, so far, reservations for the first printing are good. Coming up on halfway gone. And just in time--images of the book.
Click on the images to get a better look. The image on your left is what all the first printing books come in, an envelope hand-stamped with the title of the book and the One Tusk logo. Image on your right is the cover of the book itself. The entire thing is 6 x 9".
Price for the books is $5, like I said, and shipping I should have for everyone tomorrow. So hit me up while you can. E-mail us to reserve yours. Gonna try and have the book's website up with some treats later this week.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
07/17/2001
Okay, so I've been busy. Here's my tale of woe. Got something to drink? Okay, here we go.
The Last Comic Site launched fifteen days ago and blew me out of the water. I've done two really big interviews with Marvel head Joe Quesada and Dark Horse head Mike Richardson, which means I've had nine full columns in fifteen days. I'm losing my mind.
But that's only part of what's been keeping me busy. I was typesetting the poetry book in my old standby program, Adobe Pagemaker. Pagemaker, formerly of Aldus, is what I have used for everything since time immemorial. I typeset the entire book because well, I had worked with Pagemaker and everything had worked before, right?
Wrong. All of my vertical lineation (I'll get a sample up here soon enough, stand by) was off. Off badly. The entire thing was a bust and I had to retypeset the entire thing in Quark Xpress. This took, obviously, a great deal of time. The plan was to have the book done and ready for San Diego Comic-Con. Just as a goal, you understand.
Well, rather than bore you with the painful details about what steps it takes just to get three damn lines to line up like you want, I'll just tell you the news--it's done. The first print run of Love Letters Unsent to People Unmet is out. To answer a few questions ahead of time:
Is this a high quality binding? No. It's a chapbook. Its price is $5.00. That's it. 54 pages for $5. Not bad, I don't think. We're not taking actual money yet, just orders. If you would like a copy, and the first print run looks like it might actually go fairly quickly, thank the gods, then e-mail us. We'll reserve your copy. Shipping and handling is being tallied, but trust me, it'll be reasonable. If I was in this business to make lots of money--well, I wouldn't be in this business, now would I?
I will be at San Diego Comic-Con, Wednesday through Sunday. Watch the comic site for details, and look for me in the Hyatt bar after each night's festivities. I'll be the hairy Rasputin-looking fellow wearing all black. Trust me.
Samples and the actual website to support the book will magically appear after SD.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
06/25/2001
Pre-launch began last Friday on The Last Comic Site. Ten day countdown till we launch a week from today with hopefully the most kickass comic book website in all the known realms. So that's happening.
I've been getting emails about the audio file and poem "outtake" from the book. I think we shall do that. Stand by. The typesetting and whatnot is beginning. I hope to have copies of the damned thing with me when I show up in San Diego for Comic-Con.
What else, what else. Contacts page is up. So now you know how to get in touch with me. Send money often.
Other than that, I don't know what to tell you, other than every single day I'm reminded of why Dr. Cummings was right. And why this has to take place on some level or another. 95% of the people you interact with want something out of you. And normally it has nothing to do with you, or your forward motion. Go through a day and ask yourself, honestly, who is helping ME to get to where I need to go instead of the other way around.
It's an eye-opening experience.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
06/11/2001
Spent the weekend working on many things, and got a microphone hookup here in the studios of the SDI offices. So I've been sitting here recording the poetry for the first audiobook, as other comments and so forth trickle in. The pace is slow but steady. Things have been heating up with the comic site so as we move towards launch on that, my time is getting stretched. But that's okay.
Once we get closer to launch of the first book, I'll place a poem and audio file online. In the meantime, I'm toying with the idea of putting one up that didn't make the cut just to give you a taste of what's going on. And it's a stalling tactic, too, of course.
The contact information is coming. Also, as I mentioned in my Needcoffee.com mailout, I've signed with Ambience Entertainment. I am very pleased with this fact. So one of the things on the contact page will be how to tap them in case you need any writing done on your teleplay, screenplay, stage play, what have you. Something else to look forward to.
More soon. Must record more audio. The dwarves in the walls command it.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
06/01/2001
Two thoughts.
First. The last time I submitted a short story, "Necrogarchy", to a print magazine, I received back a nice enough rejection slip. But something troubled me greatly. The editor had a problem because he wanted to know "Where did the zombies come from?" This was apparently bothersome enough to be the primary reason he rejected the story. I read that and felt like Hannibal Lecter: "NO--that is inciDENTal." This is the same guy obviously who would demand to know of Romero where his zombies came from. Or of Terry Gilliam where the strange government in Brazil came from. Was my story as good as their stuff? Probably not, but still, "They're THERE." Who cares where they came from? Jesus.
Second. Was reading an interview with the novelist Martin Amis from The Paris Review. He says, "My father said to me that when a writer of twenty-five puts pen to paper he's saying to the writer of fifty that it's no longer like that, it's like this."
I don't know that I agree with that entirely. I'm one of those strange people who figures if your reality tunnel suits you, and it doesn't cause you to mess with me--rock on with your bad self. However, he goes on to say: "So a bit of 'they are scum' is inevitable in the assessment of the younger writer."
Being the "young scum" is something I'm more than okay with. Wouldn't that be a great name for a literary movement. "Who are you whackos?" "The Young Scum Movement." It's either a literary movement, or a punk band. You decide.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA
05/27/2001
Time to come clean and explain myself. What is this NEW monkey that I have placed thusly on my back? Well, I'll be going into this in more detail than you would ever care to know as time rolls onward, but here's the gist:
I have a theory. And the theory comes from the fact that I’ve been seriously pursuing writing as an agenda and an occupation for about nine years. And I really don’t think that anyone in the writing industry has a clue about what they’re doing. Or trying to do.
The industry has done writers a disservice. I agree that the industry has to be just that: an industry. They are out to make the Almighty Buck and I say more power to them. But I just don’t think they have very inventive ways about doing it. For example: they would rather pay millions for a ghost-written autobiography for some celebrity that winds up in an outlet mall six months later than pay $5000 for an unknown writer with a good book that could be moderately profitable.
Writers as well have done a disservice to themselves. Somewhere along the way we decided we needed the industry. Go to your local big-mamma bookstore. Go to the Writer’s Reference section. How many books are there on self-publishing? I counted one. But there’s shelves and shelves of how to make yourself more attractive to...the industry. How to sell yourself to...the industry. Write a novel in 60 days that’s sure to sell in 90. Shite like that.
The industry is great, sure, like I said. But here’s the problem: when you play in somebody else’s sandbox, they control the toys. They can publish the third book in your trilogy after the first book has gone out of print. They can promote you with all the gusto of a dried up turnip. They can do this...because it’s their party, they can cry if they want to, cry if they want to.
But there’s precedent for doing it yourself. Henry Rollins. The man went from living in a garden shed in somebody’s backyard to having his own publishing company, record company, and doing spoken word tours that will make you laugh your buttocks clean off your body.
Ani DiFranco. She owns her record label. Whereas most artists are complaining because they apparently didn’t read the contract they signed, she’s actually making money for each disc she sells.
I’m sure they had to go through hell to get to where they are. It’s not like the fairy godmother is going to pull out some vegetable alchemy: turn a pumpkin into gold or something.
So here we go. One Tusk is my place to try this thing out and see if I can pull off publishing, among other fun. Publishing is what I’ve always dreamed of doing, and no one’s going to come and offer me the opportunity so I’m just doing it. Am I publishing my own stuff? Yes, at least to begin with. No one else wants to, so why not? And besides, I’d prefer to make mistakes with my own material and learn off of that rather than trash some other people’s books.
The first book we’re doing is simple. We’re starting small. It’s a poetry chapbook entitled Love Letters Unsent to People Unmet. It’s my stuff. Chapbooks are cheap, and poetry is good fodder. If I totally botch the job, hell, it’s poetry, right? No one reads poetry anymore. So if I can actually market a poetry book, then I really must be doing something right.
After that, three other books are planned. More details on that as we go along. I’m already overstaying my welcome here.
Speaking of here. Here is where I’m going to talk about what’s happening with the idea. In this Journal. I really enjoy Neil Gaiman’s stuff over at the official American Gods website, and that’s where I got the idea. Will my stuff be as interesting as Neil’s? Ehhh, doubtful. But what the hell? The Internet has proven, if nothing else, that someone will always be around to read anything out there. Netizens aren’t exactly discriminating, as long as the content’s free.
Right now, the first book is out with some advanced readers, making sure that it doesn’t just flat out bite the big cheese wombat. Following the Non-Wombat Seal of Approval, we typeset the thing, we print the thing, we come here, we sell the thing. There will be a chapbook and an accompanying audiobook CD of the thing, since there is nothing in this world like an author reading his or her own stuff. I’m going to be posting snippets of the book online here, as well as an MP3 of one of the poems. All of that is coming really soon anytime now.
Will I get my ass handed to me? Will I succeed? Have you read this far through the journal entry? Hell if I know. But what the hell, it’s just a theory.
-Widge
-Coast City, IA