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.

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 and if you’re at all interested in Growing Up Metal it’s available, right now, for $5.99. Print will be $15.99.

I am trepidatious, amazed, proud, apprehensive, fearful, joyous. A bundle of nerves… which means I know I accomplished something worthwhile. Beyond raising a family, writing is why I’m here, on this planet, spinning around on a rock in an unfathomably vast void of darkness.

I had all the same feelings when Flame and Crimson was published. And that book was received far better than I dared hope. With Growing Up Metal the writing is better.

What I am less certain about is the market.

There was no book-length study of sword-and-sorcery published prior to Flame and Crimson. A need existed. There is no need for Growing Up Metal, and moreover I’m not even sure there is an audience for heavy metal memoir if you’re not in Motley Crue or Metallica.

But I’m thinking about it the wrong way. There is no commercial “need” for art.

That was never what this book was about.

Growing Up Metal isn’t scholarship. It’s not technical, it’s intensely personal, a story of personal transformation. The story in it, and the act of writing it, required me to stretch and change and grow, often painfully, often in unexpected ways.

Whether the story resonates or it merely vanishes into the void, I can’t say. How it’s received is out of my control. I’m thrilled to have written it and to share my story with the world.

Growing Up Metal is a book I’d want to read as a heavy metal fan. One I looked for and saw things like it but could not precisely find. So I decided to write it myself.

I hope people read it, I hope they connect with me in its pages.

For more on the why behind Growing Up Metal, check out “It’s time to tell my story” on the blog.​

Fertilizing the Weeds

I’ve mentioned Seth Godin before; he’s a guy you should be following if you’re at all in the business of marketing (and if you write, or paint, or record music, and desire anyone to read/look/listen at your stuff, you’re marketing. We’re all marketing all the time).

Every day Seth publishes a short blog post via email. Despite the high frequency he has a remarkable signal to noise ratio. His posts offer great insights into marketing as well as general advice that translates into being a better person.

For example, "Fertilizing the Weeds." It’s four paragraphs about focusing on things of substance and value in a world that feeds us controversy and drama to keep us staring at screens:

Invest wisely is great advice.

When you click on drama posts, shit posts, “own the Libs/conservatives” posts, you’re fertilizing weeds, feeding your base, lizard brain. Giving your irreplaceable time and attention to crap.

I doom scroll too much. But I know the antidote: Reading and watching stories of immersion and the numinous. Turning to the real world all around us, and not digital hellscapes.

Ripping out weeds is going to be my next project, post Growing Up Metal.

Fuck yeah, fall!

My favorite season has arrived. OK, Fall technically doesn’t start until September 22, but the mornings and evenings have begun to get cooler. The nights are arriving earlier.

My haunting season started yesterday, Sept. 1. So bring on Hammer horror, King, Lovecraft, and Poe, a skeleton on the porch, and candy we won’t give away and I’ll break into early and we’ll need to rebuy twice. As I said last October:

Here’s something horror related and fun from the archives: "Top 5 horror movie babes of the 70s and 80s."​

Maiden voyage

I embark on a long trip this weekend to see a couple friends and a fantastic heavy metal triple bill: Iron Maiden, Anthrax, and Megadeth.

All three are awesome but the first band is the best. The first chapter of Growing Up Metal is called “Maiden Voyage” for a reason.

I started out listening to KISS, but Maiden’s Live After Death made me a lifelong metal fan. Saturday they headline Sports Illustrated Stadium. I can’t wait to see these dudes. I’m sure Megadeth and Anthrax, two legendary thrash bands, will also kick ass.

Here’s an Iron Maiden song that never fails to lift my spirits: “The Clairvoyant.”

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Whenever I hear Steve Harris' opening bassline something akin to an electric shock courses through my body. My heart races when Dave Murray plays that familiar guitar riff. That's how much I freaking love this song. It exalts the spirit.
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Three days away and I am “Feel(ing) the sweat break on my brow" in anticipation.

RIP Tim Curry

Finally, RIP to a fantastic actor. I am reminded I need to rewatch Clue, in which Curry absolutely steals the show from an all-star cast.

​Here’s a nice remembrance of his memorable turn as Pennywise in the 1990 made for television miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s IT.