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 have come to a finish. And I’m pumped. Excited. Relieved. Ready to move things into production, which will take a few more weeks of work.

As I’m self-publishing, I will be preparing the manuscript with a typesetting tool called Reedsy Studio. I used a Reedsy editor for a line edit and another for cover design and was very happy with their work (I have no financial relationship with that company, FYI). Self-publishing a book is a first for me, a 53-year-old who is awkward and tentative and halting learning new tech platforms and processes. I anticipate a few more bumps along the way.

But I’m going to get it done. This journey is coming to a close. Or more accurately, one part is complete and another begins, sharing what I’ve written with the world. But do adventures ever end?

Taking an Odyssey

I typically write most of this newsletter on Tuesday afternoon/evening then publish it early Wednesday morning. Routines keep me regular. That means when you read this I’ll have seen Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, be full of opinions, but not have written about it. That will have to wait until next week.

My older daughter Hannah saw this Titanic lightning rod of a film last week, enjoyed it, and asked if I’d see it again with her. If you’re a Dad you already knew my answer: Of course!

I had to jigger the NL around a bit to accommodate the film but hardly a Scylla and Charybdis-type decision (see what I did there). I’m sure I’ll have something of a review for this newsletter or perhaps the blog.

Titan Books relaunching the ERB Universe

From SciFiNow:

This is good news for ERB, who I place as no. 3 on my Mount Rushmore of speculative fiction authors alongside REH and JRRT (others might carve out a bust of Asimov, Orwell, Lovecraft, LeGuin and I wouldn’t have an issue with these, or others). ERB is not my favorite author, but few match his breadth of imagination, sense of adventure, or inspired so many subsequent writers and artists. Ray Bradbury, a better writer but not as influential, said, “Burroughs is probably the most influential writer in the entire history of the world. By giving romance and adventure to a whole generation of boys, Burroughs caused them to go out and decide to become special.”

ERB wrote some 75-80 books spanning westerns, lost-world adventures, and space fantasies, Tarzan and John Carter of Mars among his most famous. Hundreds of millions of copies of his works have sold worldwide.

While I’m personally less interested in the brand-new Dejah Thoris comic series this is a nice bonus. New interpretations and new stories set in the classic properties are OK as long as we have the originals. Let’s hope Titan can strike that balance. They’ve done a good job with Conan.

An Old Moon sets upon my doorstep

Hard copies of issues #9 and #10 of Old Moon Quarterly arrived on my doorstep this week. I’ve taken a few moments to flip through them, admiring the cover art and layout and table of contents.

I’m especially interested in #9, an Arthurian themed issue. This is what got me to back the Kickstarter in the first place. Wandering knights with moral dilemmas, chivalry, giants and witches, navigating wastelands without and within, yeah give me that.

I really do have to get into reading and reviewing some of the new work being done in S&S circles these days.

Boosting blogs, and books, and spirits

A shout-out to the blog of Alec Worley, which seems to be a bit slow at the moment (last post in May of this year) but has a lot of great back material worth your reading time.

Full admission: I discovered his blog after he referenced Flame and Crimson and linked to The Silver Key. That earned me a return click, and I’ve since seen and enjoyed a handful of his long and detailed essays on S&S and Excalibur.

I always recommend boosting other writers. It costs nothing other than a few moments of your time. Just boost out of enjoyment, not obligation or hope of reciprocation.

I write for the joy of creating. But all writers want to be read, even odd niche writers like me.

So, reader, if you enjoy this newsletter, or might know a heavy metal fan potentially interested in Growing Up Metal, one heavy metal fan's odyssey, please share it with them.