Vacationing in the Snowpacalpse

Or, Midnight Confessions: Where did our life go... Right?

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6940995

Vacation by the Go-Go's has become the unofficial anthem this weekend around casa de Gott.

We have at least a foot of snow and more is starting to come down, but the cold didn't seem too bad to me when I went outside to shovel. Then again, there is a difference between a city cold and a country cold, and Akron is definitely somewhere in between.

Sarah and I originally took Monday and Tuesday off to go on a long weekend trip, but because of the weather, of course, that didn't pan out. To be honest, we're making the best of it, and I am kinda glad it turned out this way. It has given me time to reflect, a little. Here we are, in our little bubble, living life, struggling at times, feeling successful at times, but getting through it and feeling stronger together. It is much nicer to have someone to hold hands with through the roller-coaster.

After the Go-Go's, The Grass Roots seems the next place to go as I choose the soundtrack to our hibernation. It popped up the other night when we had friends over and I was picking out just random records that I hadn't listened to in a while, and everyone seemed to enjoy it a lot, and I am especially super-jazzed about rediscovering it because it has on it one of my hands down all-time favorite songs, "Midnight Confessions."

Speaking of The Grass Roots, this seems like an excellent opportunity to sneak in a Creed Bratton meme:

via GIPHY

Other than this blog post, I have also committed time this weekend towards working on my short story collection(s) and what might be the beginning of a new music project.

The short story collection(s) I'm referring to is(are) what used to be called Xennial. I've got this crazy idea to split them because it wasn't really working for me to have the stories I'm writing now paired with stories I wrote ten years ago. Or even 8 years ago. The stories I'm writing now are different. I've grown, I think, as a writer, or at least developed my style, or, rather, a style that works for me. So those new 18 stories are what is currently titled Xennial. Most of these need a lot of work to finish so I realistically think it will be 2020 before it comes out, but that's okay, it will be a good book to publish on a major election year.

Don't worry though, I haven't given up hope about publishing something in 2019. The other 15 stories that were originally going to be included in Xennial with those 18 will be paired down to the best nine, and will be published, probably next, under the new title Asshole Years. These are all of my realistic fiction stories, most of which I wrote for different fiction classes at Kent State University. Here's what it will contain:

1. Eargasm (based on a blog post)
2. Dropout (new story based off of my old story, "The Other Side of Cool," originally published in Tales from the Fringes)
3. Truck Shop (published in Literally, Literary on Medium)
4. The Day the Music Died (published on Smashwords as a single)
5. Greasy (updated, originally published in Tales from the Fringes)
6. The Opossums (updated, originally published in Tales from the Fringes)
7. Highly Evolved (new)
8. A Hipster Confession (updated, originally published in Tales from the Fringes)
9. The Joint (new)

I don't have any cover art but that will be forthcoming, probably after I finish this blog post. The three new stories need finished but they are all pretty far along so this one I feel confident that I will be able to publish this year. It will probably be around 200 pages.

The music project will be under my Survival Pilot moniker, and will be at least one song, but I have at least two drum parts so there might be more. I don't know if I will finish it over this long weekend, but that is my goal. I am thinking about doing a free Soundcloud EP for record store day, or something, just for shits and giggles.

As you can see, I am never bored. Hopefully, you all are staying safe, warm, and entertained like we are here in Highland Square. And if you haven't heard "Midnight Confessions" in a while. Maybe you should give it a listen. You won't regret it.

Procrastination Paradise

Greetings, fellow humans of 2018. It’s been quite the year, eh? I know it has for me. It started off strong—my Akron Soul Train Residency came and went (and went extremely well) during the first quarter of the year, and then my inspiration to write kind of fizzled after that, with maybe a few short bursts here and there. Maybe I just used it all up and needed to refuel—I don't know.

I’m not even really sure where I’m going with this blog post, to be honest. Not that that’s ever stopped me before. No, I’m going to do like I do and just sort of wing it. See where it goes. Put fingers to keys, words to screen, and hopefully, after the dust settles, what I write will make some semblance of sense. Maybe even have some coherence.

We'll see, I suppose, but I wouldn't get my hopes up too much.

Black Sabbath's Paranoid is spinning on my record player, because I needed some “Electric Funeral” in my life. This was recorded before they spent more money on cocaine than on the music. It should at least be a 50/50 split. I don’t know. Cocaine has never really been for me, and I feel like, at 36, I’m too old to start that shit now. It would just be sad, at this point. Too mid-life crisis-y for my taste.

In my experience, it’s better to use drugs to help find inspiration, rather than relying on them for inspiration. It’s a subtle difference, but an important one. It’s best this way, when they're more of a tool than a crutch. I’m finding that meditation works really well for that, too. It’s also much healthier. I’m no spring chicken anymore, so I have to think about that shit. I’ve already started falling apart enough—I don’t need it to get any worse.

Finding inspiration can definitely be tricky. It might not always be, but sometimes it is. Even if I know what I'm going to write about, even if I’ve already brainstormed it and outlined it and all that business, actually sitting down and punching it out is the hard part.

Of course, it doesn’t help that I am something of a first-rate procrastinator. Even in grad school, even during my short but busy journalist days, I have always been one to wait until as close to the deadline as humanly possible to complete an assignment. It usually always worked out for me, which is probably why I have kept doing it all these years. The results speak for themselves, anyways. Well, it has gotten me this far.

Every writing advice column/blog/magazine is loaded with the sorts of advice that the aspiring writers who subscribe to them will follow and have varying degrees of success with in the real world. I used to subscribe to that advice, too, writing so many words a day or for so long a day, or whatever it happens to be this week, but to be honest, I think the best advice I have ever gotten is to just find what works and stick with it, no matter what the experts say.

The key is to just keep, keeping on, even if that means only sitting down every once and while, when the inspiration actually does strike, and getting out what I am able to get out during that time. I just keep doing it, no matter what. Eventually, something will click and I’ll finish what I set out to finish. It might not turn out how I originally thought it would, but that’s okay. It’s almost always for the better, that way.

So maybe I’m doing more guitar-playing than writing right now, but that’s okay. I will come back around to the writing again. See? I’m doing it now. That’s all the proof I need. It might not be the thing I need to focus on writing, but it's something. That, the short story collection, might be far from done, but if I continue pushing myself, continue story by story, page by page, word by freaking word, no matter how long it actually does take, I will get it done, and it will turn out exactly like it's supposed to turn out.

Maybe the trick for me is motivating myself through sitting down and writing a blog post first, because I feel pretty super-jazzed about writing right now. Hmmm, maybe there's something to that. I'm not sure, but I'm just going to go with it, because at least it's working now, and that's all I really need.

My First Blog Post of 2017, or How Not to Cook Waffles [in Three Easy Steps]

Today I decided to make myself brunch. I used my waffle iron that was the wifey's gift for my birthday, and I must say, if Wally Waffle was a real person, he would be ashamed that I ever ate at his establishment.

At least they turned out how I prefer my waffles--a little on the crispy side. They were edible, they just came out of the iron in small mangled chunks. Unfortunately, the waffle iron doesn't have temperature controls, and I definitely didn't use the right type of oil.

They tasted fine, though, and I also had some sunny side up eggs, which turned out fabulously. I mean, you would have to be a totally idiot to fuck up sunny side up eggs, though.

Anyways, I am glad to be writing my first blog post of 2017! Huzzah! I hope everyone's years so far are going well. I have zero complaints on mine. Rave reviews, really. Here's to keeping it going, no matter what else is happening in the world!

One thing that will being happening on Friday that doesn't fill me with anguish and dread, my poetry chapbook, Live Organ Transplants, will be making it's way out to the world. In the last couple of weeks especially, it has just kept getting better, and I can't wait for people to read it.

I wasn't originally planning on doing anything else poetry again after this, but I have definitely reconsidered that, as I think it's be safe to say that this will be the best thing that I have published so far. I know that I say that every time, but every time it turns out to be true, which is a good thing, and even though I shouldn't be, since I am the one who puts in all the work, I am surprised every time that it happens.

Well, it's not Leaves of Grass or anything, but I am pretty happy with how it has turned out, at any rate, and if you are a poetry fan, I hope you dig it, as well. If not, I have more new fiction coming out on April 1st.

There's been a rumor going around that some other event is happening this Friday, but my mind just can't fully accept that is really happening. I hope that my poetry is some kind of counter to that whole train wreck, at least. While many of the poems were written prior to November, some by years, many of those are surprisingly prescient, and, of course, most of the brand new ones are directly in response to the election.

Please also check out this new literary magazine on Medium, Literally Literary, to which I have contributed some poetry and fiction. Not only am I happy to have some stuff published there, I also really enjoy reading it. There's new work posted every week. Jessica, Heath, and everyone who contributes are truly passionate and gifted writers and I feel really lucky to be counted as a part of their community. If you're curious, and you haven't read them yet, here is what I have published there (so far):

• Everyday Battlestar (poem)
• Truck Shop (short fiction)

This looks to be an exciting year here at gabegott.com, too. I have many post ideas swirling around my brain, and now that work is slowing down, I will have the time to keep this website updated on a weekly basis. I am not committing necessarily to Saturdays, but to weekends, in general. There could even be more midweek posts, too. Anyways, look for more about music and other topics, and less about my writing and the projects I am working to complete.

There will, of course, still be some of that, too, but less of it. A moderate amount. How does that cliche go, that variety is the spice of life, or something to that effect? Well, that's what I am shooting for here in 2017.

Time to go clean up my waffle mess, before it is too late--otherwise, I will need a chisel. Peace!

Into the Great, Wide Open

It's only the middle of May, but this year so far has brought about a great number of changes in my life, and as I have held on, white-knuckled, a lot of what I used to hold as important has flown straight out the window, lost to the swirling oblivion.

Photo iillustration courtesy of https://pixabay.com/en/b3d-blender-tornado-severe-weather-814151/

Many of these changes have been forced upon me, and as my head stops spinning and I try to catch my breath, I work to begin making sense of it all.

One thing that has become clear is that I am going to have to let go of a lot in order to move forward, and one of those things that I need to let go of is the presence of writing in my life as the be-all, end-all of everything. Not that I am quitting writing or anything like that, but in order for me to enjoy it and sit down and do it every day, I have to do it for its sake, and for no other reason.

I alluded to this before, maybe a blog post or two ago, but it is now clearer to me than ever. Of course, much of this, if not most of it, or even all of it, is going on inside my head, and it is enough to drive a person insane.

Again, that doesn't mean that I am quitting writing fiction, or quitting publishing. In fact, what I am letting the wind take away and scatter is what has held me back from doing more of what I love for the reasons why I love it. Maybe this means that I will never be a professional writer, or whatever, but I don't care. I am doing this for me.

One of the (actual, physical) things that is getting lost to the wind is my update of my short story collection, Tales from the Fringes.

While the original is certainly far from perfect, I have come to terms with the fact that it is okay that it is imperfect, and that at the time that I published it, I did not know what I was doing. It was, after all, a learning experience, and of course the first time around what I publish is not going to be perfect, and of course I have learned a great deal about writing and publishing since then.

I just need to stop revisiting these same projects over and over so that I can move forward and focus on all of the new projects that I am writing right now, which are far better than anything that I have written before, and it would be a shame for me to postpone them or put them off any longer because I am too focused on making something perfect that can never be perfect.

The next project that I will be publishing is my flash fiction chapbook, which does not have a release date yet because there are still a couple or three stories that are being publishing in journals, and they have first rights, and I want to give people enough time to read and enjoy them in those places, first. I will, of course, let you know when those journals publish them, and give you a release date for my collection--when I have one.

The forthcoming collection's title is Dispatches from the Information Age, and I might write some more short shorts to put in it while I have time to work on it. It already has around 25-26 stories, and is around 70 pages (the way it is currently formatted), and I don't want it to get substantially longer than that. In fact, especially if I write more for it, I will probably edit it down and choose the best 20 or so stories.

I only plan to release it in print form, and I am going to take my time with the cover art and interior formatting to maximize the aesthetics of it. I am going more for artistic expression than "professionalism"--whatever that means.

Following its publication, hopefully sometime next year, I will be putting out my second novel, and sometime after that, my second short story collection, both of which are in progress. For the novel, which has changed names a few times since the last time I spoke of it, I have commissioned my artist brother to do the cover art, and even from our initial conversations, I know that it is going to blow people away--hopefully in the same way that the contents of it also do.

Thank you all for your patience, and for continuing to read this blog. I might not have the largest following, but I certainly have one of the best, and most loyal. I appreciate you taking the time to read what I write, no matter how inane or rambling it sometimes turns out to be. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

Escapes, it shall be!

I am making it official: June 1st, 2015. That will be the magical date that it will appear for sale. 

That will also be when the sales of the first edition end--so if that is the one you want to read, and you haven't bought it yet, you have until then to do so. If the final edition catches your fancy, you will be able to relieve those impulses soon.

The new novel is coming along slowly, and I am writing more short fiction, so things are looking on the up and up--at least as far as my hobby is concerned.

As far as my career, well... I am working on it. We'll see what happens. I just have to be diligent. I just have to keep applying. Keep up hope. Believe in myself. In spite of my lack of success right now, I am still confident that I will find the right job soon. You never know, it could happen tomorrow. I just have to keep trying to make it happen until it does happen.

I have some other announcements to make, but I am waiting for the appropriate time. I think you will be excited, especially if you like my short fiction. ;-)

Procrastinating on a Saturday Afternoon

Okay.  I think I have made a determination.  Over the past 24 hours, trying to not think about it but unable to stop myself -- especially when I should be more focused on studying -- I have come to a determination about my book.

After some experimentation, thinking about what my professional reader told, I have made some alterations to the manuscript, and I think they have made a significant impact.  I realized that they way I was framing the story was hurting it.  I can't elaborate without revealing too much, but I am very happy with the results.  I have also done a little bit of tweaking in other ways.  Nothing significant.  Sometimes the smallest changes can have the biggest impacts.

Really, in an extremely short period of time I have significantly improved my manuscript.  One of the effects of the changes is that I have brought out the main theme, taking people and things for granted.  To further emphasize this, I am also changing the name to, simply, For Granted.

In addition, I am definitely going the self publishing route.  I want my life to be what I make it, for better or worse.  Maybe I'll never be as popular or successful as a writer as some who publishes traditionally, but I am okay with that.  Besides, most people who publish that way never make a living as writers either.  In fact, very few people are successful in that regard.

I am looking forward to being a teacher, whether at the college level or the high school level.  Of course, getting my PhD. is preferable, and is looking better and better, it is still not definite.  If I can focus more this weekend and get a lot of work done, I will be well on my way to having another successful semester.  Maybe by the end of the week I will have an assistantship and a thesis (and a thesis director).  Hopefully I will get all my class assignments done, and give five successful presentations.  It is up to me, so, if I don't, then I only have myself to blame.  No pressure or anything.

And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the short story collection.  I am still taking time here and there to proofread.  Very, very soon you will be able to read it!