Hello, friends.
“Better late than never,” was one of my mother’s sayings. She was full of them. I don’t think there was an occasion or instance that she couldn’t have some colloquialism at hand for. That applies to this week’s newsletter. Perhaps, “a day late and a dollar shy” would be another. Anyway, I’m here a day later than normal. It was a busy weekend. Pamela had a surgery on Friday and on Saturday I took the long trek to the Lawrence Public Library to attend the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival so I didn’t get to work on the newsletter. But that’s all right.
Welcome to the 195th installment of Gauthic Times, the newsletter about my writing, my life, and a mishmash of musings for October. If you’re a reader who subscribes via Substack, my website, or Patreon, your encouragement helps motivate me. I’m thankful to have any audience.
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More editing was done on Four Moons this week, which made me happy. I’m now more than ¾ of the way through the book. My editing brain felt on-point this week and I thought of many things to help the story. Because my first drafts are often written as quickly as I can write them, there’s not much in terms of research or adding things as I go. Now as I prepare to do a second draft, those things are coming up. Better explanations for character motivation or noticing lack of motivation become clear and I leave notes to fix it.
I should say, having posted the first draft to Patreon, I’m a little embarrassed by it. The (very) few people who read it as I posted it were very kind to the book. I see a lot of problems with it, which means future readers will benefit more. I like the book, and I find myself thinking about the characters a lot. Which may lead to more stories about them someday.
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Because this weekend has been busy with Pamela having a surgery on Friday and me driving to the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival for nearly two hours, both ways, I figured I could do this week’s essay as a “Monthly Musings Mishmash” since I have fun writing them and—I hope—you have fun reading them.
I was sitting on the couch the other night and my wife sat down. “I have a question for you,” she said.
This usually means trouble for me so I say, “Ooookay…”
“Is the R——— M— based on Slenderman?”
The question caught me off guard and also pet the ol’ ego a little. Pamela has been reading the third draft of Project: Amusement Park and just finished the 1985 flashback section where a supernatural entity that’s throughout the novel is introduced. The being is tall and moves in a jittery, rickety way. There’s other descriptors but they’re not important here, what’s important is that she’s liking the book well enough to be thinking about it at night and asking me about it!
The answer is no, by the way. The R——— M— is not based on Slenderman. At least, not consciously. The fact that it’s a supernatural being whose presence is unsettling probably has some roots in the idea of Slenderman, who was popular at the beginning of my teaching career, but also comes from the same kind of cultural idea of the stranger who doesn’t belong but is right there looking at you. The Shape in Halloween comes immediately to mind.
Michael Myers is scary in that first Halloween not because he kills people but because they see him at odd times and it’s unsettling. There’s something a off about him that people could easily write off as a mean-spirited person playing a mean Halloween prank. When he shows up in your house that night with a chef’s knife liberated from a block, it’s downright terrifying.
When the R——— M— first showed up in Project: Amusement Park, I had no idea what the fucking thing was. It just kinda showed up and got under my skin as it did the little boy version of the main character of the novel. I found it a little off-putting. Little did I know this thing would keep coming around and reveal a much deeper past than I’d intended. One that made this lazy writer have to—gasp!—research.
I think it was worth it, though.
Like I said last week, I’m needy so knowing that Pamela likes the novel enough to be thinking about it during our family TV time makes me happy.
Speaking of family TV time, we’ve been rewatching The Big Bang Theory. I missed the show when it first came out. The few times I caught a random episode, I hated it. Many years later, trying to find something to watch as a family, someone recommended Young Sheldon and we watched that. We all really enjoyed it so decided to try The Big Bang Theory. How had I been so wrong all those years ago?
As much as I enjoyed watching the series the first time about a year or so ago, rewatching it this second time is even more enjoyable. The writing is smart, the performances are pitch perfect. It’s just a really good show. I feel bad that I didn’t get it the first time around. I can only guess that my feelings toward the traditional sitcom were pretty bleak at that time and maybe that’s what colored my reaction. Whatever it was, I’m glad I finally came to my senses about the show. It really is a treat.
Know what else is a treat? Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King and Peter Straub. This third novel of The Talisman novels is superb so far. I’m a little over 200 pages into the book and sai King has broken my heart twice. Since the novel is 700-ish pages, that means there’s a lot more room for heartache. King is a master of getting the reader into the characters very quickly and this is in evidence here. His willingness to go against the idea of many sequels and have popular characters not come back together is brave and helps lead to the tension and sadness.
What isn’t sad is the autumn weather we’re experiencing. It’s been a little rainy this week but when it hasn’t been, I’ve been loving the sunny and cool weather. It’s why I love October so much. I intend to sit outside and read at some point today. Or go for a walk. Or both. After I’m done with my work.
Pamela and I watched The Long Walk, the recent adaptation of Stephen King’s early novel (written while he was in college and originally published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman) by writer JT Mollner and director Francis Lawrence. I’d heard it was good and pulled no punches and it lived up to the hype. By bummed by how behind I am on various movies and TV shows that I really want to watch, across genres and franchises I love. I really need to fix that.
I began this essay on Friday, October 16th, and I’m finishing it on Sunday, October 18th. The Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival happened yesterday and I’m still thinking Big Thoughts on it. I’ll probably write about it next week or the week after. Sadly, I didn’t take many pictures, but that’s all right. I’ll have many pictures in my head for a long time.
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The Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival was a lot of fun. I’m still processing it and will write about it more, but here’s a few pictures I took:
Here’s my table, 18B. I was originally scheduled for this spot from 10-1 but ended up being able to be there the whole day, until 4. This was the premier of my new table runner, which I designed.
I made a new friend! Here I am with…well…I didn’t catch his/her/their name but I’m hoping to see them again on Halloween night when I stand in a pumpkin patch.
Here I am with Derek Mola, a writer who’s been writing comic books recently. I picked up a couple of issues of his Matty Junk, Omnist, which I’m looking forward to reading. Derek and I have done a few events together and it’s always good to see him. Go check out his work at his website.
Brennan LaFaro and I arrived at the event at the same time so we went in together. His novel The Denizens is a terrific novel. Here is his website where you can find all the good stuff.
I didn’t get pictures with the other authors or people I met because I didn’t think of asking as we spoke. Next time, I guess. I’m happy that I got to see and thank Christopher Golden for his kind words about The Monster in the Closet. We did a signing 19 years ago at Pandemonium Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he was just as kind back then. It was great seeing him and so many other terrific authors.
This coming Friday, October 23rd, I’ll be a part of a panel talking about monsters and cosmic horror at Once Upon A Bookstore in Fall River, Massachusetts. I’m looking forward to chatting up scary things.
The following day, Saturday, October 24th, I’ll be hanging out with Brennan LaFaro again as well as with Barry Lee Dejasu, whom I hung out with last year when we all took Smithfield, Rhode Island, by storm.
After that, I’ll probably be sent back to my coffin until next Halloween time, so make sure to come out, say hi, and buy books!
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That’s this week’s newsletter. Thank you so much for subscribing, reading, and for your support. Be safe out there, friends.
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