Gautham: Bill Gauthier.com

Hello, friends.

We’re in mid-July. Summer vacation feels like it’s moving too quickly. I won’t focus on that, though, I’ll focus, instead, on the here and now. Yes, Master Yoda says to be mindful of the future, but Master Qui-Gon Jinn reminds not do to so at the expense of the present.

If I haven’t lost you from that particular nerdiness, then you’ve found a place for you.

Welcome to the 182^nd installment of Gauthic Times, the newsletter about my writing, my life, and musings Creatives and friendship. 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.

Support the arts and this writing journey…

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. 

The Monster in the Closet is out now! Order it here!

You can also 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.

You could also read the first draft of Four Moons on Patreon. It’s a werewolf story and I think it’s fun. It is a first draft, though. If you’re interested, Patrons at the $5 tier and above have access but there is also a way to buy into the whole book for $13.99. You don’t have to be a long-term Patron for that second option.

***

I recorded a podcast interview this week. Allan R. Warren and Eric Shapiro interviewed me for House of Mystery on NBC. I had a good time so please, give it a listen and spread it around. I always feel like a fool after speaking in public so I haven’t listened to it, but it’s out. Kind words are always welcome. Book sales even more so!

I continued editing for the second draft of Four Moons. I’m almost 70 pages through it.

I ordered a printed book version Project: Amusement Park’s third draft. It’ll be easier for Pamela to read this way. I spoke to a friend about it when we had coffee this week and told him an idea I have for it. He agreed that my idea may work.

Project: Memoir continues to grow with about 5,000 words added this week, bringing the total to 11,200 words. I’m thinking of serializing the first draft on Patreon.

I did not begin Project: Nightmare this week, unfortunately. This week, I think. We’ll see.

I’ve also been thinking about making some changes to Patreon. I’m considering removing the $1 tier. While I’m grateful for the Patrons of that tier, it’s difficult to have so many tiers and, let’s face it, the world isn’t getting any cheaper. I’ll be keeping the $3 tier for the foreseeable future but that may eventually go away, too.

Lastly, I post this newsletter to Substack, my website, and Patreon. It doesn’t really take me a long time to do the posting once the newsletter is written but I have to wonder if it’d be easier for you, the readers, if it was all in one place.

What are your thoughts? Moving the newsletter to Patreon would be where I’d take it, I think. Would you follow me there if I stopped on Substack and my website? I don’t know that I’m going to do this, but I’m thinking about it. Having it in one place also lets me know better if these are being read and makes it easier better to communicate with you.

Let me know.

***

***

I went for coffee with my buddy Randy this past Thursday. We became friends when he was a one-on-one teaching assistant with a special education student I had. Actually, two students over two years. We became friends over our love of Stephen King. While we know each other through our Day Jobs, creativity is really how we became friends.

Randy is Red Reveal, a hard rock/metal band that makes some really good music. You like Metallica? You like Van Halen? You’ll like Red Reveal. As I said, he’s also an avid reader and we’ve bonded as much through our love of reading as through our Day Jobs and music. As a matter of fact, my music knowledge is deep into Bruce Springsteen and okay with other things, maybe. Randy has become one of my first readers. He’s read my books before almost anyone else and has always given me really good feedback. I’ve done the same for him with his music to a degree.

Getting together for coffee felt good because not only could we relay our horror stories from the past school year—we’re both dealing with coworkers who could make things easier if they actually cared about the things they say they care about—but also because we could talk about the mutual frustrations that the Real World puts on Creatives.

He and I talk about getting together every vacation for coffee. It’s only happened a few times in our decade-long friendship. The main reason is because of creative time.

When we’re on vacations from school, we become full-time creatives. He goes into the studio in his basement and writes music, records music, and do other things that’s related to Red Reveal. Likewise, I do the same with writing. For both of us, vacations begin with recovery from the nightmare of education in the third decade of the 21^st century. I only recently stopped having bad dreams related to this past school year. Randy admitted as much, too. Then comes the creative phase.

In my twenties, I became rich with creative friends. After being alone in many ways for most of my life, my adulthood allowed me to make friends that got me.

Kim Gatesman, an amazing artist and printmaker who is active in the SouthCoast Massachusetts art scene. We’ve known each other for over 20 years now and used to have studio days together, where she’d paint and I’d write, and we’d take breaks to go on adventures or talk philosophy or watch classic movies. I need to get together with her soon. It’s been several months now.

Toby Gray is a terrific illustrator. We’ve collaborated here and there and have been friends for 26 years. We made a movie together with another artist friend. In my novel Echoes on the Pond, there’s a comic book page that the main character is working on. I asked Toby to draw it for me. I sent him a sketch with ideas and he sent back the masterpiece you see in the book. We haven’t seen each other since seeing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in late-2019, early-2020. It was the second time seeing it for both of us. I miss this fool even though we text and email quite a bit.

Some of my coworkers are also Creatives. I mean, I work in an art and design program, so you’d think that, but you’d be surprised. Of the six teachers in the program, the only real gelling I get is with two or three others. I find that there’s some surprisingly uncreative people working in the creative education fields. Strange, eh?

Of course, my wife, Pamela, is also a creative person. She’s a graduate from MassArt and always has good feedback and willing to help with my silliness. I try to drag her to my appearances because not only does she keep me grounded, she is more human than I and often communicates better. I also have two creative daughters, which is pretty cool.

I’ve been very lucky in meeting (online mostly) other writers and colleagues in the literary fields. I’ve been horrible about getting out and meeting people (social anxiety sucks) but I’m doing better with it. Getting to meet and chat with other writers and artists has been such a fulfilling experience. Some of them may even be reading this (hello!).

These connections are all important to me from not only a personal standpoint but also from a creative standpoint. After conversing with these Creatives, I often feel recharged and excited. The feeling doesn’t last long until Imposter Syndrome comes in and fucks up the happy feels, but I can recall it.

I think I’m going to try harder to get together with my creative friends and get out and meet some new creative people, too. It’ll be difficult because it goes against my nature, but the good feelings I get from it far outweigh my momentary anxiety.

***

That’s this week’s newsletter. Thank you so much for subscribing, reading, and for your support. Be safe out there, friends.

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 novels The Monster in the Closet and Echoes on the Pond, my collection Catalysts, and my novellas Alice on the Shelf and Shadowed!

If you haven’t left a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or anyplace else for the books, particularly The Monster in the Closet and Echoes on the Pond, please consider doing so. This greatly helps.

Thank you for subscribing!