Monthly Archives: December 2011
This Ain’t No Year In Review
Everybody’s doin’ ’em. I’m not. I’ve had ups, I’ve had downs. You’ve had ups, you’ve had downs. If you’re visiting this site, you that I had two novellas published this year: Alice on the Shelf by Bad Moon Books in January, and Shadowed by Delirium Books in March. You’ve bought them and read them and enjoyed them, that’s why you’re here.
Unless that’s not why you’re here.
Maybe you found me via WordPress or another link and you liked it here, in which case, I urge you to click on those links I just provided and pick up a copy of my books. They’re available in that old tree pulp stuff–whatsitcalled?–paper, or as ebooks. Further links are provided to places where you can give your hard-earned money to this working writer.
Either way, I’m glad you’re here and reading this. Instead of looking back and all that, I want to say thank you. Thank you for reading and for responding. It’s been a strange, wonderful, frustrating year.
2012 will hopefully bring you and I together even more. I submitted a novella yesterday and we’ll see where that goes. If the publisher decides it’s not a right fit, then I’ll go elsewhere. Word is that some of my past will be coming back to light this year, more on that when I know more and the ink is dried.
In terms of writing, I have the novel Echoes on the Pond to finally finish up and submit, as well as another that I started writing a few months ago to also work on. I have a few novella ideas, and one that needs to be overhauled that I hope to finally get to. I’d like to write some more short fiction that is actually good, since that’s been a while. My wife and I have been talking about doing a blog together for a while and I think we finally found the right way to do it, so stay tuned for that. I also have some ideas for some nonfiction I’d like to do, though we’ll see. Perhaps a screenplay or comic script might actually be done this year. I promise, if you’re reading this and looking for more work from me, I’m doing my best. I have a lot of work to do for the day job, but with your support the writing work has an easier time getting done.
I’m hoping to attend NECON this year and actually stay, not let my social anxiety get the better of me like it did last time. I may try to do more of that sort of thing in general, if possible.
So basically, that’s that. Happy New Year, and I’ll see you around.
Neither Your Holiday Nor Mine
I love Facebook and Twitter. I love to see what writers and celebrities I’m into are doing. I love to see what old friends from past lives are doing. I love to see what colleagues in the world of writing are doing. I love to see what my close friends, whom I never get to see enough of, are doing. But I abhor that this time of year all the people, many of whom I respect–if not outright love–who feel the need to verbally attack people who are, for the most part, trying to keep America…well…America. These people–again, whom I respect, like, and sometimes even love–seem to feel that saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” is somehow un-American. This is very disconcerting to me. You see, because of the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution, the United States has no national religion.
Go back and reread that.
Yeah, the United States has no national religion, which means it’s not a Christian Nation, as many would like to believe. But it also means it’s not a Hindu Nation, Islamic Nation, Atheistic Nation, or any other kind of religious (or lack thereof) nation. There is no “War Against Christmas” as Fox News would have you believe.
I could go into the facts about how Christianity co-opted an already established, popular Pagan holiday to celebrate its King Of Kings, but the Believers wouldn’t listen. And I can’t speak for Richard Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens, or any other well-known Atheist about Christmas, but I know that for me, this time of year is marked by several holidays, some Christian and some not, and why shouldn’t we, in the United States of America, be able to adapt said holidays for our own uses? Does it matter that I celebrate Christmas but don’t believe that Christ was God’s son? Isn’t it enough to believe in the things that Christ is said to have said, which is basically, “Treat each other well”? Why can’t I wish my multi-cultural friends “Happy Holidays” and not feel ashamed? I wouldn’t presume to call a woman I’ve just met “Mrs.” or “Miss,” it’s “Ms.” In other words, saying “Happy Holidays” is a simple act of courtesy.
Notice I’m not trying to convince you of my beliefs, nor am I undermining yours. Notice that I’m not shoving my choice of holidays down your throat? Most of the people who post things like, “I’m gonna say ‘Merry Christmas’ not ‘Happy Holidays’ ’cause I’m Amurrican!” fail to notice that this country was founded on the beliefs that everyone should be able to come here and celebrate their own beliefs. It’s as insane to me as the people who say, “This is America and we speak English!” Tell that to the Sioux and Wampanoag and all the other Native Americans who were displaced and stolen from.
I don’t want to ruin your Christmas, but all I want is for you to consider my Christmas, and my friends’ Chanukah, and Kwanza, and other holidays. It’s wonderful that you have faith–I wish I did–but I don’t see why you need to be so damn militant about it. We’ve all seen what happens when people try to force their beliefs on others, and it’s never pretty. Just ask Holocaust survivors, and 9/11 survivors.
Happy holidays, friends. I truly mean it.
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Where the HELL Have I Been?!
Poking my head in to say hello. The classes I mentioned in my last post are almost over, which is great because I have so much writing I need/want to do! Some assignment revising, a project, and an exam and I’ll be through. Major stuff going down in my non-writing career, too, which I won’t talk about, but things seem to be working out, so it’s all good. I love teaching, it’s like writing in that it’s creative but it’s not like writing in that it’s not egotistical. It is for some teachers, I suppose, but when I’m Mr. Gauthier, it’s about the kids. That’s why Bill Gauthier has this website on those books you should be buying for Christmas gifts! Click on the Published Works button at the top of this page to order my books from websites selling them.
I did, indeed, go to Rock ‘N Shock in October. Met the writer Lee Thompson, who was a helluva nice guy. I did not get to meet Robert Englund, though, because of some crappy communication on the part of the convention. Gary Busey walked by me and he’s fuckin’ scary. Also met writer John McIlveen, who shares the Table of Contents page with me on Borderlands 5. Nice guy, though I was so nervous meeting people, I think I came off strange.
I could’ve met more people except that I didn’t find people that friendly. Let me put it this way: I’ve mentioned I have a difficult time in social settings. My only trip (so far) to NECON was a failure because I spoke to almost nobody and then left. I sat through three interesting panels but freaked and ran. My fault, no one else’s. For Rock ‘N Shock, I intended to change that. Lee had reached out via Facebook, so I was emboldened. So I approached a different booth, one that I wish I’d known was there earlier but didn’t, and found a lot of writers I’m friends with on FB standing and sitting around talking…to each other. Several of them even glanced at me but resumed their conversations. No one said anything to me. They didn’t know (I think) I was a writer, I could’ve been a horror fan wanting to buy their merchandise, but I was pretty much ignored.
Seriously, folks, if you want fans to buy your stuff, be available to them. Yes, going to the convention is partly to have fun and meet colleagues and friends, but it’s also work. The fans are the ultimate reason those conventions exist. Be friendlier to them.
Anyway, the day was fun. I got a reproduction poster from A Nightmare on Elm Street and a signed copy of Nursery Rhymes 4 Dead Children by Lee Thompson.
Gautham: Bill Gauthier.com 