mostly fine #21: Ghosts of Gavin
Wherein it's been a minute
Well folks, the holiday took much more of my time than I’d intended. I had thought with less day job work I’d be able to crank out a short story and a couple humorous essays while finalizing the formatting and cover for my novel AN EXPLORATION OF EXISTENTIAL INDIFFERENCE IN A VOID OF CONFIDENCE (or Good Boy: a Novel), but instead I was met with family and holiday obligations. I’m not complaining. It was a nice break from the routine and a reminder that I have human limitations which must be considered. A reminder I often need.
Still, it’s time to take stock of where things stand for all things related to my writing. Let’s break this up Scrooge style.
Ghost of Gavin Present
The most important thing right now is the January 12th release of AN EXPLORATION OF EXISTENTIAL INDIFFERENCE IN A VOID OF CONFIDENCE (or Good Boy: a Novel). This novel is the story of Joe Welks, a mid-twenties loner and first time home buyer who purchases a home through a realty website only to find there is a portal to Hell in the master bedroom.
This horror comedy novel began as a writing exercise seven years ago when I realized I was putting too much thought into my writing (spending countless hours planning, plotting, outlining, but not writing) and just needed to create something. The result is a novel so magnificent that Jeff Strand, the Clown Prince of Horror himself(!), has written a fourword for the book! I am forever indebted to Jeff for his carefully crafted lead-in to my debut novel. I believe you will all find that Jeff shows his mastery of his craft in his contribution to this book.
The book itself comes to you courtesy Dandelion Publishing, a micropublisher managed by Matt Wildasin (author, editor, cover designer, podcaster, pig wrestler*). It’s a unique arrangement I have with Matt that I am very thankful for. Printing is run through the Amazon KDP program, so you’ll find the book first on Amazon.com as of 1/12/2024.
Ghost of Gavin Past
Of course my prior short stories are still available in Dark Words (where I first worked with Matt Wildasin) and The Perfectly Fine Neighborhood. If you know me from my comic book Laughter and are wondering whatever happened to that, well let me give you an update.
Laughter was successly funded in 2019, and shipped out in 2020 with the intent that Y. Sanders (the artist) and I would then shop it to publishers at comic conventions. That didn’t happen for obvious reasons.
I still want to get the rest of Laughter out there. It’s a script I’m proud of, and I think Y. is an incredible artist who deserves more attention. We would also require Gab Contreras to come back for colors, as she provided the finishing touch the book needed.
Since it’s a limited series, we’re 25% complete and it wouldn’t require a giant commitment from a publisher. However funding for the remaining three issues would still be too much to do alone, unless I wanted to ask Y. to work on spec, and given the quality of her work, I could never do that. It would be disrespectful.
If I can move enough copies of AEOEIIAVOC: (oGB:aN) and grow my writing social media accounts (this Substack as well as my Instagram and BlueSky), then I may be able to convince a comic publisher to pay attention. It’s a difficult task given the buddy/buddy business of comics publishing further damaged by me having insulted almost every editor in comics while writing for The Outhousers (RIP), but not an impossible one.
The Ghost of Gavin Future
Prior to my holiday silence, I had mentioned a short story titled 1312/25. This story was not completed prior to Christmas, and given the heavy Christmas component of the story, releasing it now would feel less special. I’m going to shelve the story till December and release it then when it’s more in season. If there’s a demand for me to post a free short story here though, I’ll write something new.
Other than that, expect to see weekly posts updates here on Mondays. If I should ever have to miss a week, I’ll try to give a heads up in the newsletter the week before.
No media recs this week, because I just don’t feel like it.
*Citation needed