A Wretched Year (Thus Far) Becomes A Wee Bit Wonderful
Posted 13th March 2011 at 09:53 PM by w h pugmire, esq.
The year thus far has truly sucked. I ended last year in such a whirl of activity! I had prepared four books for publication, the last of which, Some Unknown Gulf of Night, came sneakily upon me like a night-gaunt from ye void, took hold of my fever'd imagination and I wrote the thing in a state of self-hypnosis in a matter of six weeks, and the the following week I flipping sold it to Arcane Wisdom Press! That was wild and wondrous. All of that activity instilled within me a super-confidence that I had found that elusive trick that up until then I had always lacked -- professional discipline as a writer. Oh, honey, I was so confident that I announced that I would be writing three books in 2011.
Ha! The Ghods of Muse then deserted me, and I have written almost nothing these first three months of this dead new year. I wrote one novelette of 12,000 words in January, for my new book forthcoming from Miskatonic River Press, and I finished the first one a new series of vignettes that I am writing exclusively for the new Lovecraft eZine. But I have yet to write the story for Arkham Nightmares, a new Arkham House anthology, and I have other projects that I simply don't have the energy to begin.
I know that much of this is from being tired, as I suffer from insomnia and anemia, and I am usually tired. Living with my mother as her live-in caregiver is also exhausting and depressing, and I think it has all combined to simply wear me down and sap my strength. Thus when I try to write fiction my brain is tired and I simply cannot concentrate and after an hour of trying to work I give up and take a wee nap. Ah, mortality!
Part of my depression has been the pathetic delay of The Tangled Muse. One of the artists, an old punk friend who is slightly insane, sent Jerad a bunch of her art to be used in the book, and then once the book was printed she claimed that we used art she did not okay, threatened lawsuit and demanded that all of her art be removed from the book! So Jerad had to republish at a financial loss, which was brilliant and kind of him and I am overwhelmed that he bothered publishing the book at all after this fiasco. Since he is publishing the book at a financial loss, I have refused all royalties. My reward is that my work is published in this amazing book, the most beautiful book that I have ever seen, I kid you not. We got the magnificent Swiss artist, Gwabryel, to do four new pieces of art for the book, and his style is perfect for my decadent prose style. We replaced the nude photo of myself with a shot of S. T. Joshi and I standing at the H. P. Lovecraft Plaque in Providence -- a wonderful photo! I just got my copies of the new version of the book, and -- incredibly!!! -- it is ever more beautiful than the first version! Jerad is a genius when it comes to book design. To those who have ordered the book, my profound thanks. It's an expensive one for these times of economic stress.
As strange fate would have it -- my next book is to be another expensive limited edition hardcover. Some Unknown Gulf of Night will first see publication as a limited edition hardcover from Arcane Wisdom Press. You may see the amazing cover painting for the book on my blogspot, A View from Sesqua Valley -- cover artist Matthew Jaffe outdid himself. The cover painting shews a scene wherein a Black Woman (who is linked to Nyarlathotep) has just written the name of "Pickman" onto a tombstone, while the ghoul that was once Richard Upton Pickman stands beside her in the realm of Dreamland.
For ye who cannot afford a super-expensive Centipede Press hardcover, all of the new and original work published first in The Tangled Muse will be reprinted at year's end in my next book from Hippocampus Press, Uncommon Places. And the Arcane Wisdom Press book will be reprinted as paperback, probably in early Summer.
Now if I can just concentrate of the new book, Gathered Dust and Others -- life would be fabulous!
Kisses to all, and my prayers to the people of Japan.
--Willy Pugnacious, Esq.
Ha! The Ghods of Muse then deserted me, and I have written almost nothing these first three months of this dead new year. I wrote one novelette of 12,000 words in January, for my new book forthcoming from Miskatonic River Press, and I finished the first one a new series of vignettes that I am writing exclusively for the new Lovecraft eZine. But I have yet to write the story for Arkham Nightmares, a new Arkham House anthology, and I have other projects that I simply don't have the energy to begin.
I know that much of this is from being tired, as I suffer from insomnia and anemia, and I am usually tired. Living with my mother as her live-in caregiver is also exhausting and depressing, and I think it has all combined to simply wear me down and sap my strength. Thus when I try to write fiction my brain is tired and I simply cannot concentrate and after an hour of trying to work I give up and take a wee nap. Ah, mortality!
Part of my depression has been the pathetic delay of The Tangled Muse. One of the artists, an old punk friend who is slightly insane, sent Jerad a bunch of her art to be used in the book, and then once the book was printed she claimed that we used art she did not okay, threatened lawsuit and demanded that all of her art be removed from the book! So Jerad had to republish at a financial loss, which was brilliant and kind of him and I am overwhelmed that he bothered publishing the book at all after this fiasco. Since he is publishing the book at a financial loss, I have refused all royalties. My reward is that my work is published in this amazing book, the most beautiful book that I have ever seen, I kid you not. We got the magnificent Swiss artist, Gwabryel, to do four new pieces of art for the book, and his style is perfect for my decadent prose style. We replaced the nude photo of myself with a shot of S. T. Joshi and I standing at the H. P. Lovecraft Plaque in Providence -- a wonderful photo! I just got my copies of the new version of the book, and -- incredibly!!! -- it is ever more beautiful than the first version! Jerad is a genius when it comes to book design. To those who have ordered the book, my profound thanks. It's an expensive one for these times of economic stress.
As strange fate would have it -- my next book is to be another expensive limited edition hardcover. Some Unknown Gulf of Night will first see publication as a limited edition hardcover from Arcane Wisdom Press. You may see the amazing cover painting for the book on my blogspot, A View from Sesqua Valley -- cover artist Matthew Jaffe outdid himself. The cover painting shews a scene wherein a Black Woman (who is linked to Nyarlathotep) has just written the name of "Pickman" onto a tombstone, while the ghoul that was once Richard Upton Pickman stands beside her in the realm of Dreamland.
For ye who cannot afford a super-expensive Centipede Press hardcover, all of the new and original work published first in The Tangled Muse will be reprinted at year's end in my next book from Hippocampus Press, Uncommon Places. And the Arcane Wisdom Press book will be reprinted as paperback, probably in early Summer.
Now if I can just concentrate of the new book, Gathered Dust and Others -- life would be fabulous!
Kisses to all, and my prayers to the people of Japan.
--Willy Pugnacious, Esq.
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