Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts Growing Up Metal is published and needs readers and reviewers. And I’ve got an offer, fellow metalheads and fellow readers (and fellow metalhead readers): A free signed copy to anyone who promises to leave a review on a personal website, blog, active social media page, or Amazon/Goodreads. If you’ve already bought a copy of Growing Up Metal and want to write a review I’d be happy to offer something else for your time. A signed copy of Flame and...
12 days ago • 4 min read
Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts This weekend I played with madness. I drove 5 hours to see Iron Maiden, with opening acts Anthrax and Megadeth, at a sold-out Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey. Bruce! Taken at the show, not by me. Two-word review: Fucking awesome. Longer review (with setlist spoilers). Maiden played exclusively classic material, the newest “Fear of the Dark” which is 34 years old at this point. They opened up with FOUR songs off their first two...
19 days ago • 5 min read
Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts Print pending …Ebook published. That’s where I stand with Growing Up Metal. Right on the edge of done. A pair of proof copies arrived in my mailbox yesterday, a day early; I turned them over in my hands, incredulous. Reviewed and approved them. Took a deep breath, and pressed publish. Unboxing... I wait for Amazon approval and then all will be finished. I am finished. Right now you can buy the e-book (wow). I’m not an e-reader myself but if you are...
26 days ago • 4 min read
Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts As noted in last week’s issue of Arcane Arts I had some difficult decisions to make regarding the cover of Growing Up Metal. I engaged a cover designer and he sent me four treatments, three of which I liked but had to dismiss. Spinal Tap volume dial: A bit too plain and a bit too clever. Guitar: Clean look, great font, but implies I play the instrument. Average dude with silhouette of guitar hero—near perfect, nearly the cover. But I could only pick...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts My jam is reading and writing, analyzing art, and sharing cool things. But today I'm not doing these things. Instead I’m neck-deep in production, the mechanics of creating and publishing a book. On Sunday I spent +/- 6 hours importing and formatting text. And then another couple hours Monday. Not fun, but necessary. And rewarding in its own way. Growing Up Metal has migrated from .docx files on my One Drive to formatted chapters in the Reedy...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts It’s time. This week I begin formatting the manuscript of Growing Up Metal, the next step on the path to publication on Amazon. Having never done this I’m feeling the usual trepidation of the unknown. But I’m committed. Write, publish, and market is the reality of authorship in the 21st century. I knew pretty early on I was going to go the self-publishing route. Last year I sent a half-dozen formal inquires (proposals, synopsis, sample chapter, etc.)...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts The writing on Growing Up Metal is done. (there’s your title reveal, Arcane Arts readers!) Outside of some copyediting and formatting that will occur during layout, the writing portion of my heavy metal memoir is finished. I made the final tweaks to chapter 11 Monday night. It’s as good as it is going to be. (flashes devil horns) I will have a lot more to say in the coming months. For now, just know that nearly 4 years of thought and effort and sweat...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts “The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.” --Jack London, The Call of The Wild You don’t realize how bounded modern life is until you get out and see the far places of the world. I returned Monday morning from the epic trip of a lifetime. Alaska exceeded all my expectations. Our 10-day trip began July 15 with a flight into Anchorage, then a guided rafting tour down a glacial river in Talkeetna. We toured the massive Denali state park July...
2 months ago • 4 min read
Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts By the time this issue of Arcane Arts hits your inbox I’ll be headed to The Last Frontier, the rugged state which served as the frontier setting for many of Jack London’s most famous stories including The Call of the Wild. The Land of the Midnight Sun, as its residents experience up to 85 days of continuous daylight during the summer months. I’m talking about Alaska of course. My wife and I are embarking on a 10-day land-sea cruise to celebrate our...
3 months ago • 4 min read