Hello, friends.
Happy Father’s Day, for those who celebrate!
I have two days of the 2025-2026 school year left. Two days. The two longest days of the school year, most likely. Especially the Monday. This year’s season ender isn’t feeling as bad as last year’s (so far) but it sure as hell isn’t giving me hope for next year. That said, I did have some good times this year and am proud of many of the students I had.
But with summer vacation comes my true vocation: writing. I’m looking forward to it.
Welcome to the 178th installment of Gauthic Times, the newsletter about my writing, my life, and wish lists. 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.
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This past week I did a little more work on the synopsis for Project: Amusement Park, which got me thinking about maybe doing a fourth draft and cutting even more from it. I need to think on it a little. I hope to have the synopsis into shape to begin using in queries by the end of this week.
Yesterday I wrote some notes for my next project, Project: Nightmares, which was mainly making a list of things I need to research. I may share that list on my Patreon at some point, so Patrons get a behind-the-scenes look at my process for this.
I also got a Kindle for Father’s Day. I started getting offers to read advanced books through NetGalley, which is awesome, but using my phone or iPad is not so awesome. The phone is great for when I’m sitting in a waiting room or standing in line at a store, but for reading an upcoming novel from a writer I like, as I did for Christopher Golden’s upcoming Carry Me to My Grave, I wanted something that would be easier on the ol’ eyes. This is good for you, friends, since I need to write up a little suttin’ for the books from NetGalley.
This weekend, I may begin editing Four Moons for its second draft. I was thinking of doing a video for Patreon about it but then a different writer did a similar video on their Patreon and now I’m afraid I’ll look like a copycat. This is what happens when we procrastinate (or get hung up in bullshit that’s outside the creative life). Anyway, I may still do it because I was kind of looking forward to doing it.
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I’m not one to shy away from controversial topics but I’m a little nervous with this essay. Unlike some when I’m bitching about the Day Job (which is no better and might be worse and getting even worse) or the political scene in the United States (a shitshow dumpster fire in a hurricane as Kid Rock blasts on a tinny lo-fi sound system), this one is sure to backfire. I’m talking about gift giving. Specifically, gift receiving. Even more specifically, my wish lists.
I’ve been using wish lists since before they became part of the online shopping experience. I love getting gifts (who doesn’t?) but I don’t like getting things that are useless. I’m not good at hiding disappointment. For much of my life, I’ve had various loved ones who often believed more or bigger is better with little effort in whether it’s something I’d want or even like.
I know how this sounds. I’m entitled and spoiled and all the rest, but the fact is when someone surprises me with a gift, I’m moved and feel unworthy. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about those occasions when one knows they’ll be receiving gifts and would like to steer people in a better direction so that I don’t have to worry where to put a life-size Chewbacca stand-up.[1] I should be grateful, I know, and I am. Who wouldn’t want a Batman & Robin Batmobile alarm clock that was purchased from the discount bin at K.B. Toys?[2] But being grateful doesn’t mean I can’t also feel a little let down when it seems the only litmus test on whether someone gets me a gift is whether it’s Star Wars or superhero related.
In the interest of helping people, I began making wish lists.
This went over as well as a fart in church.[3] It became an act of rebellion not to use the list, to put me in my place. For some. For others it became a battle cry. Now that we’re in the digital age and Amazon has made wish lists a way of life, it is particularly so.
Not a holiday or gift-giving occasion goes by when I’m not informed by somebody that “It was on your wish list,” spoken in terms of justification. The thing is, I know, because I spend time curating the lists.
Yes. Lists. More than one. There is one public one that goes out to interested family but several “secret” ones that are really about thinking and watching more than buying.
My wish list has lots of stuff on it. I’ve been led to believe this makes me look greedy. Maybe. But it’s also for the gift giver. I don’t know what people are willing or able to spend. I wouldn’t want to insult them, so I have everything from expensive things (a MacBook Pro around $1,500) to something really cheap (the cheapest item right now as a book that goes for $12.88 today but there’s been even cheaper in the past). Something for everyone, in other words. Or something for everyone to get me, I guess. Damn, that reads all sortsa wrong. Anyway…
I understand that some don’t like the wish list because they want to get something meaningful. That’s cool. Pamela has gone away from the list to great success on many occasions. One might even argue she does so on most occasions. There are others I know who are great at giving meaningful gifts that would absolutely melt anyone’s heart.
I, unfortunately, am not one of those people. I like wish lists when I’m shopping because I don’t know what to get people. I wouldn’t want to get them something they felt burdened by.
Which reveals a lot about me. Yes, I have felt burdened by well-intentioned but off-the-mark gifts. Then you have to return it. If they don’t give you the gift receipt, you have to ask for one, which could go south. Sure, I could just keep the item or regift it later on, but that’s not always easy or manageable.
I feel justified in my thoughts because if you’re getting a gift for someone, it’s about them, not you. You’re trying to show your love, your appreciation for them. As such, you want them to want their gift. To be able to look at it or use it and think about you. In that regard, I need a little help sometimes. I want to be directed and know what you like. The more options on your wish list, the better I can tailor my gift for you. And if I do go off on my own, I at least do so knowing what you like, what you “wish” for, and can improvise based on that knowledge.
Some of us have trouble with guessing what others would like. Maybe I’m broken in some way, but I need the help. As such, I want to help you because I want you to be happy with my reaction to the gift you gave me. It’ll make the experience better for us both.
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[1] Turns out, in the trash. After 20 years in its package and in a closet, it was thrown out with many of things from my father’s apartment when he moved last summer.
[2] Nobody. Nearly 30 years after that dreadful movie came out and I received that alarm clock for Christmas, I checked eBay to see what they were going for. It would’ve cost more to ship it. I believe it took the same trip as Chewbacca.
[3] This was one of my mother’s favorite sayings, which I found odd because we never went to church, not really, and had she ever encountered someone who’d farted in church? Surely the smell would have been no worse than the cloying incense that always made me gag the few times we pretended not to be heathens.
Gautham: Bill Gauthier.com 
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