Hello, friends.
This past week was crazy but mostly good. There were many changes from the regularly scheduled programming but it all somehow worked out in the end. The final full cover for The Monster in the Closet came to me and I’m beside myself. We’ll talk more about that a little later.
Welcome to the 147th installment of Gauthic Times, the newsletter about my writing, my life, and how traits repeat themselves in families. If you’re a reader who subscribes via Substack, my website, or Patreon, your encouragement helps motivate me. I’m not breaking any records but I’m thankful to have any audience.
Thank you.
Supporting creators is so important right now. As such, I would love if you became a paid-Patron on my Patreon.
Paid-Patrons get exclusive daily check-ins about works-in-progress including the actual names of my works-in-progress and not just codenames. I also show art that I do.
You can also buy me a coffee through Ko-Fi.
Grab my novel Echoes on the Pond, my collection Catalysts, or my novellas Alice on the Shelf and Shadowed if you haven’t already. And if you’ve read them, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads, and wherever else books are sold and reviewed.
***
Project: Moons saw the addition of around 1,900 words this week. I came to a very suspenseful scene but had to skip a day because of G’s birthday. That was fine. There was a surprise that happened during my last writing session, which sets me up well for when I go back.
David Dodd of Crossroad Press sent me the final full cover for The Monster in the Closet. Here it is!
The novel is set to come out on February 24th, 2026. It’s honestly the perfect release date for this book for a number of reasons. Now I need to reach out other authors about possible blurbs. That scares me but it must be done.
***
My younger daughter, whom I call G on socials and here to give her some form on anonymity, turned thirteen this week. My baby is now a teenager. I honestly don’t know who’s having a more difficult time with it, me, my wife, or my daughter. Unlike so many kids, G doesn’t really want to grow up. I understand that feeling all too well. In thinking about her thirteenth birthday, the passage of time, and how people sometimes pick up traits from their parents that seem more than just exposure to behavior, I realize that I’ve obsessed over the idea of familial repetition for a long time and a quick glance at my work shows it.
Maybe it’s because I was pretty close to my parents when I was growing up, I’m all too aware of the good and the bad that I’ve picked up–or inherited–from them. My mother was a force of nature, had her opinions, liked to push buttons, could be selfish on the one hand and overly giving on the other, had an addictive personality, was ridiculously caring and would give the shirt off her back, made sure her kids knew love, was devoted, had a wicked sense of humor, and could turn anything into a dirty joke or innuendo. She was creative, intelligent, and artistic. Dad was giving, a little goofy at times, reticent to join the present and scared of the future, caring, hardworking, somewhat meek, a pushover, good with his hands and building things, quiet, shy, and loving. I have also never seen him excited. Both of them had great qualities and less than great ones. In other words, they were completely human.
As I look at how I’ve become over time, I can’t help but see both the good and bad traits they had/have in myself and wonder how much of it is learned versus how much is just the wiring. Ask Dad whether he wants to have the family over for Thanksgiving. Go ahead. Both Pamela and I did this week. His response, “Whatever you guys want” and “Yeah, I guess so” and “Don’t go through too much trouble.” Is that a yes? A no? Is he trying to let us off easy? Does he genuinely not care and will just Forrest Gump his way through whatever we decide? I got a little frustrated (though I didn’t let him know…I’m growing…) but then later that week, Pamela asked what I wanted to do for dinner and I said, “Whatever” and “Don’t go through too much trouble.”
What the actual fuck, Bill? Answer the question. The problem I had is that I really didn’t care much. But it’s still funny how often I’m willing to just let myself be forgotten in order to appease others, which is something my father does. On the other hand, I can also become obsessive when I’ve made up my mind, a trait both my parents have. Stubborn. I can turn almost anything into innuendo like Mom and can be goofy like Dad.
As I look at G and her older sister, who’s 27, I see the same kinds of traits in them that I have. The anxiety, which both my parents (and my sister) deals/dealt with, can be especially bad for them. The way they can be very quiet and shy but will also be loyal to their friends. Both are intelligent and creative, like my mother and like me, and good at math, like my mother and nothing like me. Both love books and movies, like Mom and me. Both can be stubborn, like Mom, Dad, and me.
Don’t discount Pamela from G’s personality, though. She’s caring and intelligent and friendly and can be outgoing, all traits that Pamela has. My 27-year-old has her mother in her, too. She loves animals, for instance, in an almost obsessive way.
These thoughts come to me as I look at my work. Echoes on the Pond, a ghost story that deals with family and what we carry from our family. The Monster in the Closet also deals with family traits and the past. The in-progress novel I call Project: Amusement Park is definitely about family, the past, and what we carry and develop, more so than the other two books.
How much is learned? How much is inherited? Does it even matter? The fact is, we are all the sums of our parts. Environment, genetics, and the spark of life that began us. Trying to find patterns and commonalities is a game and it’s fun, but the main thing is to carve your own path and try to lead the way for those coming up behind you.
I am now a father to a teenager, again. She’s amazing and will do amazing things. That’s all I want for her, to go her own way and carve out a place in the world for herself. I know she can. I mean, look where she comes from.
***
That’s this week’s newsletter. Thank you so much for subscribing, reading, and for your support.
If you’d like to be a part of making my dream of creating full-time a reality, 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.
Don’t forget to share this newsletter with others and consider a paid subscription.
You can also tip/donate on Ko-Fi.
Get my collection Catalysts, my novellas Alice on the Shelf and Shadowed, and my novel Echoes on the Pond!
If you haven’t left a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or anyplace else for the books, particularly Echoes on the Pond, please consider doing so. This greatly helps.
Thank you for subscribing!
Gautham: Bill Gauthier.com 
Leave a comment