Hello, friends.
Yesterday we were getting ready to take G to a basketball draft for a local youth basketball league. I’d fallen asleep sitting up, something I do quite often when I’m tired, and was on the couch. Pamela woke me and asked if I still wanted to go to the basketball thing. She asked if I was all right and said, “You’ve been a ghost of yourself today.”
That struck me, because that’s kind of how I’ve been feeling lately. Like a ghost.
I haven’t made it a secret that things have been tough these last few years and these last few months have been…well…something. Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to get much better. Not necessarily in a personal way, but when you look at the state of the world and society…it’s bleak. You take all that and add the personal stuff and you get this ghost.
I’m tired all the time. Some of it is depression. Some of it is that I’m out of shape and dealing with high blood pressure. Some of it just that I’m emotionally, mentally, and physically tired.
I’ll get through, I’m sure. I don’t really have much choice. One of the things that’ll get me through is my creative outlets, with writing at the top of the heap.
Welcome to the 71st installment of Gauthic Times, the newsletter about my writing, my life, and using why too much technology is bad.
Becoming a paid Patron on my Patreon, where I write about things in more detail than I do in the newsletter or on my website and include the actual names of my works-in-progress and not just codenames, would help me continue writing and write even more. The lowest tier for Patreon is $1 but at $5/month, we’re looking at some serious help.
I mean, if every subscriber or reader of this newsletter, or every social media follower I have became a Patron at even just the $1 tier, I could write more and pay my bills better. The same would happen if they bought copies of my books.
You can also buy me a coffee through Ko-Fi.
Echoes on the Pond is out now! Grab a copy, if you haven’t already. If you have bought it already, books make great gifts! And if you’ve read Echoes on the Pond, I’d also really love (and appreciate) it if you’d leave a nice review on Amazon or Goodreads.
You can also get my collection Catalysts or my novellas Alice on the Shelf and Shadowed.
Anyway, let’s do this!
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Edits continue on Project: Monster. I’m over 100 pages into it and have been trimming and cutting as I go. Even though I’d had a “final” draft, it turns out that it wasn’t so final. And that’s how it works. When given a chance to revise, why not? Sure, there are always new stories to tell but I also need to make sure that the ones that are written get the proper care and attention they deserve.
After the technology issues from last week, things went well this week, technologically speaking. I hope that will continue.
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In this spot over on Patreon, I a little about my graphic novel idea and some things I’m doing to help prepare myself for it. The only way to know about it is to become a Patron!
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In a quick aside, a friend read Project: MG Space Adventure III and wrote, “Good stuff, man. That was fun. Action packed! I almost feel like I was reading a Star Wars story but in a parallel universe.”
I guess I did what I set out to do.
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Tomorrow, May 27th, marks Harlan Ellison’s 90th birthday. Ellison died in June 2018 after a few years of ill health. Anyone who’s been following my work for any time knows that Harlan Ellison’s work holds a place in my heart and mind that’s second only to the work of Stephen King. Here’s a piece I wrote for my late-column American Gauthic and another I wrote after Harlan died.
Ellison’s stories taught me not to be afraid of words and to always write in a way that put everything into it. His nonfiction helped me realize it was okay to have an (informed) opinion and to declare it. He taught me that it’s all right to try to make your world you own, and to understand that not everyone will love you for it. In fact, many won’t.
To this day, the lectures that are available through Deep Shag Records not only entertain but inspire and guide. They’re also on sale in honor of our pal’s birthday.
After his death, and shocking death of his beloved wife Susan, J. Michael Straczynski became Ellison’s literary executor and has been doing a ton of work to make sure Ellison’s legacy survives. As such, there are new books (or new editions of books) out now and coming out this year.
If you’ve never read Ellison despite my poking and prodding, then Greatest Hits is a good place to start. There’s also a new edition of his classic anthology Dangerous Visions. I recommend them both.
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And I’ve come to the end of another exciting update. Thank you for reading!
If you’d like to see what I could do if I wrote full-time, share this newsletter with others and consider a paid subscription.
You can also tip/donate on Ko-Fi.
Of course, you could also become a Patron on my Patreon, which has a lot more information about my works-in-progress and the books I’ll be querying, including titles and some simple, non-spoiler details.
Get my collection Catalysts, my novellas Alice on the Shelf and Shadowed, and definitely order Echoes on the Pond, out now!
If you haven’t left a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or anyplace else for Echoes on the Pond, please consider doing so. This greatly helps sell copies.
And maybe call your local brick-and-mortar bookstore and demand they carry it! I’ll even sign copies! Well, if they’re local to me. That means Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and maybe some of the other New England states.
Gautham: Bill Gauthier.com 
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