Hype for the Charleston Anvil

Fellow Bennington alum Randall Nichols and I have a history of supporting each other’s creative endeavors, which comes naturally since everything Randall touches turns out approachable, fun, and hard-hitting.  The Charleston Anvil is an indie art/literary/comic/everything else zine he’s started up with some fellow West Virginians, with the first issue released earlier this month in both print (!) and digital copies.  About half comics and half prose (plus photos and illustrations), there’s plenty of variety in style and substance, and the above adjectives I used to describe Randall’s work (approachable, fun, hard-hitting) apply equally to the entire issue. 

I’ve also got a story in there—a piece I had on the backburner called “One Nation, Indivisible” about a telemarketing call gone awry, which also marks the first time that work by both Randall and yours truly have appeared in the same place.  The print copy is cheap and the digital copy is pay-what-you-want (even if that price is nothing), so it won’t cost you anything to check it out.

Hype aside, it’s refreshing to see a start-up lit mag maintaining a print edition, since the costs involved with third-party printers and glossy covers tend to complicate the process more than most literary start-ups are willing to handle.  Comics and graphic novels especially tend to read more easily on the printed page, where readers are spared the scrolling and resolution issues that tend not to be a problem with words alone.  This also marks the first time my fiction has appeared in an actual print magazine, making it feel more valuable that someone’s taken the time and money to prepare a hard copy in the digital age.

It’s also refreshing to see a magazine with illustrations, since so many literary-only magazines tend to ignore visuals under the mistaken belief that poetry and prose are somehow purer when they’re not surrounded by a bunch of distracting pictures.  In reality, though, illustrations in magazines were a staple of the Saturday Evening Post-era and before, where, with so much different content vying for the reader’s attention (as opposed to a novel, where readers go in expecting a single experience), pictures help the reader differentiate between individual pieces.  Randall’s sci-fi story “The Norse Star” is one of the illustrated ones, and it includes a 2/3-page title pic that captures the opening image of the hero staring at the story’s impossible heroine and a few others spaced throughout the columns that enhance the story’s reveal.

Besides “Norse Star,” there’s an opening essay championing self-expression (“We Need You to Be Yourself”), an eight-page comic retelling of Hamlet with giant robots (“Hambot”), a short piece by fellow Benningtonian John Wiswell (“Making Her”), an illustrated essay on the subtle relationships in Jonny Quest (“Sadness File: 037”), and a final comic about a deal with a cowboy hat-wearing devil gone awry (“Walk for the Cure”).  Take it from me—it’s solid stuff, so here’s the link one more time.

Daily Grind (or, What I've Been Working On Lately)

Few things bore me more than hearing about other people's writing habits, but here are a few words about mine:

Summer's here, grad school classes are done, and aside from some paying work not worth mentioning, I've been living out an entirely self-motivated schedule, something I've been working toward for a long time.  My biggest task is finishing the novel (the current draft, anyway) once and for all, a goal that's nearer now than it's ever been.  Mornings are good for that, a chance to wake up, plan a point of attack while in the shower or frying eggs, and sit down at the computer (internet cable safely unplugged) until lunch.  Getting started can be rough, and reading a few pages from an old favorite (most recently Catch-22, Murphy, Lucky Jim, The Mezzanine, or Something Happened) helps get me motivated and starts the words flowing.  Reach a stopping point, eat lunch, and schedule the next novel-writing day.  Repeat until done.

Having more time also means more devotion to side projects - undertakings both necessary and dangerously distracting.  Foremost has been this year's Art Swap project, more complex than I'd planned, but moving toward an ideal that combines both writing and graphic art.  (More on this later, though my last entry sprung from an Art Swap outtake.)

Then there's been my real and always arduous attempts to get more of my writing out there (like, in places where people can actually see it).  For a long time, I've been torn between how much time to devote to creation vs. self-promotion: given our limited creative energy, does submitting and researching publishing outlets detract from the (more important) process of creation?  This question's hounded me for a long time, but I've realized that I spend far, far too little time on the distribution end of things, especially since the two tasks occupy different portions of the brain, can be done at different times of the day, and aren't mutually exclusive.

So I've been delving into realms both traditional (fiction slush piles) and non (podcasts, literary essays, travel fiction, etc.) in hopes of snagging some bites.  I left one success sadly unmentioned: Sam Roman was kind enough to feature my short piece, Korean-Man Purse, on her new project, Non Finito, the journal of unfinished writing.  I was glad to help Sam out (getting this thing started meant a lot to her), and I found...relief in sending out a scene (and a character) from the novel that ended up on the cutting room floor. Jackson did a lot to form the first draft's quick pacing and irreverent tone, and if all goes as planned, we haven't seen the last of him.

I've also let my personal reading slip by the wayside, and the stack of unread books next to my bed recently rose to rival my nightstand in height.  Reading's always been important to me, and I felt disgusted at my inability to prioritize it against grad school assignments.  Highlights of my return to the page include The Loved One (a solid comic novel by the underappreciated Evelyn Waugh), Don Delillo's White Noise, and a supermarket crime novel (i.e. a crime novel set in a supermarket) by my last workshop teacher Sean Doolittle (here's his actual webpage, not a Wikipedia entry). 

Of my last month's reading, though, I most recommend Steve Martin's Shopgirl to anyone looking for something smart, funny, and incredibly observational.  The Shopgirl movie's good, but the book is better, while also being a fast read (barely over a hundred pages).  The absurd commentary of Steve Martin's storytelling makes it all work in a way that's just fun to read.  Here's a piece:

Jeremy took Mirabelle on approximately two and a half dates.  The half date was actually a full evening, but was so vaporous that Mirabelle had trouble counting it as a full unit.  On the first, which consisted mainly of shuffling around a shopping mall while Jeremy tried to graze her ass with the back of his hand, he split the dinner bill with her and then, when she suggested they actually go inside the movie theater whose new neon front so transfixed Jeremy, made her pay for her own ticket.

Wish I'd written that.

Community's important too, and long, solitary days have led me to venture out to SP CE (pronounced "Space"), Lincoln, Nebraska's own poetry studio and writer's workshop group (prose and all hybrids welcome).  It's been good having people to talk writing and just share observations with a few hours a week, plus interacting in an environment that's primarily about the work itself, and not what it can do for one's professional career.

That's all for now.  I won't lie - I miss this blog tremendously, and as my entries become fewer and online traffic merges from blogs to Facebook, what I post here has become even more focused toward an audience of one (though Google still rates me as an authority on people who hate being called "buddy").  I've also been inspired by my former roommate and partner-in-writing-crime Randall's return to blogging with the creation of his Magic the Gathering-inspired card game 21 Others, which he's been writing, assembling, and testing.  No one stays away from the process for long.

Someday, I imagine, I'll have a bona fide website (or at least a Wordpress one) with pictures, more links, and a flashy design scheme, but for now, I'll just keep posting stuff here.  You know, because it's fun.

Art Swap 2013: Your Trip to New Orleans

New Orleans: it's all t-shirt shops and restaurants.

Jesse Roessler submitted this week's final Art Swap entry, the story behind his five-page comic and 
 postcard collection, Your Trip to New Orleans:

You resist the urge to reach out and touch the gator.

The inspiration for the postcard project came from a good friend of mine coming to stay. As we were going around town sightseeing (as well as doing touristy things such as a swamp tour), I started thinking about what makes visits to the city unique and what parts of the experience are consistent across visits. It can seem that whatever odd things one comes across are actually quite normal thanks to their consistency.

St. Louis Cemetery #1. "All the graves have to be above ground," the guide explains. "We're essentially standing on water."

The comic is a bit of lagniappe (the term used down here for "a little extra"). I've been making poorly drawn, loosely plotted comics since I was bored studying for an AP Art History exam in high school. The theme is, well, my frustration with having to answer the question "why did you move to New Orleans?" as if there were one solid answer.


Jesse Roessler is currently a graduate student in clinical health at Loyola University in New Orleans. You can read more of his musings and adventures at his blog, crawfishclovis.

That's all the Art Swap projects for this year, and I'd like to extend my thanks to everyone who participated, followed the weekly blog entries, retweeted links, shared Facebook posts, and in general spread the love.  Watch for info about next year's swap in late winter or early spring.  

Interested in joining for 2014?  Post in the comments, e-mail ianmrogers[at]hotmail[dot]com, or hit me up through the usual channels.

Art Swap 2013: Pillow Creatures

Eden Scheans's Art Swap project appears as a normal set of miniature pillows on one side...

...with sharp pointed teeth and asymmetrical button eyes on the other.  Each one has a name and comes with a set of personality traits listed in the pocket of the mouth.  My Tolkien-esque wilderness scene creature (top photo, second from left) has a penchant for folk music and rich food:

Name: Lawrence
Fave Food: Trail Mix
Likes: Bird Watching
Dislikes: Tourists
Fave Beer: Guinness
Fave Band: Mumford & Sons
Vices: Psychedelic Mushrooms

In addition to her talents as a seamstress, Eden also co-founded a her own cotton candy business, Fairy Floss Northwest.

Art Swap 2013: Soldiers of Love

Joe Handschiegel was going to give everyone a set of boobs for the Art Swap, but circumstances, alas, did not work out in his favor.  His backup plan was this set of army soldier paintings in all different colors, though two prints featured hearts only.  How's that for symbolism?

Why read a boring bio of Joe when you can play along to an interactive Easily Distracted game show based on his hobbies and adventures? (Click on Episode 8.)  He also has his own IMDB page.

Art Swap 2013: The Interquest Explorer Treasure Hunt

Hidden among the prints and the photos and the calligraphy, each Art Swap envelope contained a scrap of paper with this image:

Those who followed that link embarked on an online scavenger hunt of epic proportions, a hunt that takes them through the internet's most popular hangouts and darkest corners, with every step testing the explorer's creativity, cunning, and skill with a mouse.  One clue leads to another, and the puzzles are sometimes obscure, usually funny, and always full of animator Jeff Gill's trademark doodles.  Successful explorers will earn themselves a prize, and the final reward (I won't spoil it here!) is well worth the effort. 

What are you waiting for?  Give it a try - Click this link to get started!

Good luck in your quest.

Jeff Gill is a for-serious animator who's worked on South Park and other shows, and whose cartoons, doodles, and musical stylings can be found scattered about the web:
Animations on Youtube (sample below!)
More animations on Vimeo
Goodbye Spacebar, a daily blog of doodles
Songs Jeff made up in his car while stuck in Los Angeles traffic

Art Swap 2013: Cunning Calligraphy

Chicago's own Kaitlin Vogtner presents a set of five matted calligraphy pieces, each bearing a different inspirational message in felt-tipped pen.  Impressed?  You should be: This is only her second calligraphy project.

On that note, sincere kudos to anyone who tackles a new medium, whatever it may be.  There are far too many experiences out there waiting to be had.  Today is that day.

By day, Kaitlin Vogtner works as a pediatric speech-language pathologist at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, and by night she develops her calligraphy and typography skills for future lettering projects.  She's also an occasional guest on the Easily Distracted: The Podcast, and plays a mean game of Pirates.

Art Swap 2013: Pirates on the Sea of Board Games

Back in August, I spent a night in Chicago with fellow Art Swappers Jon Trainor, Kaitlin Vogtner, and Brad Stasell playing Pirates, Jon's board game contribution to the swap.  After three rounds, I can safely declare the game a complete success, even though I didn't win.

Pirates was the brainchild of Jon Trainor and Barry Pfingsten after about four margaritas, and the only Art Swap project not designed to fit in a postal mailbox.  The board is an open sea of squares that players navigate by rolling a single dice (which, like Clue, can take a frustratingly long time).  Across the sea are islands with buried treasure, and players roll dice before the game to determine which three specific treasures they must find and retrieve.  The catch is that any player can dig up any treasure to trade for bonus cards that provide all kinds of useful abilities, such as increased attack power, or moving diagonally.  If a player has the treasure you need, you can attack them in a single-dice showdown.  If you have a treasure someone else needs, you can bury it on any square and leave the other player scrambling to dig it up.  The first player to get all three of their treasures wins.

Despite my comparison with slow-moving games of Clue, each game of Pirates moves fast, and takes less than an hour to play.  With four people, the treasures get scooped up after only a few turns, dividing the game into an initial phase of acquiring treasures and items and a second phase of journeying across the board to retrieve a distant treasure or attack a player who's dug up yours.  Because two players might very well need the same treasure to win, hilarity and battles inevitably ensue when the people around the table figure this out.

This showdown for the final treasure is undoubtedly the most challenging and fun part of the game, though because this high-strategy portion only lasts a few turns, Pirates becomes a game best played multiple times in a row to gain full satisfaction.  The attacking feature initially seems unbalanced (Note: I'm not just saying this because I lost every attack), since the defender wins in case of a tie and can take both a life and an item from the attacking player upon victory.  However, the inequality makes acquiring items to boost your attacking power a better strategy, as is foiling another player by stealing treasure rather than risking a hazardous battle.  It's also to players' advantage to shout out guesses for who needs what, and to bargain around the table to prevent another player from winning.  All are allowed, and players are encouraged to make their own cards, decide house rules, and otherwise alter gameplay as they see fit.

Though I neglected to get a picture of us actually playing the game, here's a generic 1980s back-of-the-box board game photo of a family playing Life instead.  Enjoy!

Boy, this family sure loves sweaters.

Jon Trainor is the brainchild behind the Blingasaurus Rex series of internet song mashups introduced in the 2010 Mix CD Swap. You can listen to his mixes via Soundcloud or Tumblr.  He's played in all kinds of bands (including the Chicago-based I Think Everything I Say), co-founded the Easily Distracted podcast, started a financial advice blog for the Nerdist, and is currently programming his own computer game.  This is his first board game, about pirates or otherwise.

Art Swap 2013: Tags and Hemp

Andrea Starr contributed not one, but two Art Swap projects to the mix: a handsome collection of hemp jewelry, and a set of animal illustrations drawn on suitcase luggage tags.  The jewelry includes necklaces, bracelets, and anklets, while the tags feature animals ranging from clownfish to buffalo.  A dolphin pendant  necklace (above, middle) marks a subtle crossover between the two sets. 

Andrea Starr has, at one time or another, produced artwork in most every medium I can think of, and a few that I can't.  In addition to having worked in architecture, jewelrymaking, fruit picking, and landscaping, she's one of the founding members of Fertile Underground, an organic food co-op, grocery store, garden, and cafe in Providence started with Kickstarter backing and still bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to the people of Rhode Island.

Art Swap 2013: Wooded Creatures

Gray Heron

Katie "K-Jax" Jackson blends painting and woodwork in this series of fourteen veneer paintings of flying, swimming, and land animals from the northeast, all of which are perched, standing, or sitting in tune with the grain of the wood around them.  Check out the full series here.

Painted Turtle

Cedar Waxwing

Katie Jackson is a graduate of Bennington College and the New England School of Architectural Woodworking, and currently builds and sells custom benches, tables, nightstands, and other furniture through her website, Katie Jackson Woodworks.  I don't know if people still call her K-Jax, or if it's only me who does that.  Aside from her many works of furniture, she also built the meteoroid mobile shown below, inspired in part by the Aggro Crag from Nickelodeon Guts.

Meteoroid Mobile (actuators not shown)

Art Swap 2013: Bags with Style

 

Magnet-clasp cloth bag with single inside pocket.

Bennington alum and Alaska native Rebecca Grabman contributed this series of reusable cloth bags (suitable for both sexes) made from recycled clothes and materials.  The series includes magnet-clasp bags, handles of varying lengths, and bags with buttonhole pockets.  The combination of both wide and thin plaid lines forms an eye-catching clash balanced by the solid handle and bottom, thus putting the typical grocery-store cloth bag to shame.  More photos below:

Finished product.

The shirt-cutting stage.

Rebecca Grabman works and teaches awesome stuff at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.  Her website, PineappleGirl.net, features pics and videos of her many, many fashion and experience-interaction projects, including a computer-interactive obstacle course, a purse that records and plays back audio conversations, and a machine that voices user-generated propaganda.  She also worked on the combination tap dance/light show featured below.  I regret that we never became better friends in college.

Art Swap 2013: The Four Gentlemen

This week's Art Swap spotlights a guest post by Chinese brush painter, Erin Mapes.

I first started learning Chinese brush painting while studying abroad in Hangzhou, China. The university offered the class for international students, and I thought it would be cool to learn a new art form. It was challenging, but I enjoyed it because of how different it was from what I was learning at Bennington. Brush painting is a highly stylized and symbolic art form with a long and rich history. I love the simplicity, the color, the lightness of the strokes, and the difference from my usual artistic process (which is often complicated, full of uncertainty and self-doubt, and incredibly long).

My four subjects are bamboo, plum blossoms, orchids, and chrysanthemums. Together, they are known as “The Four Gentleman,” and each one is thought to have its own unique character:

Orchids ( 兰花，Lánhua) = Spring.  Symbolizes grace, virtue, and purity.
Bamboo ( 竹，Zhú) = Summer.  Symbolizes strength and honesty.
Chrysanthemums (菊花，Júhua) = Autumn.  Symbolizes moral strength and cheerfulness in the face of adversity.
Plum blossoms (梅花，Méihua) = Winter.  Symbolizes perseverance, rejuvenation, and hope.

I hope that gives everyone a new appreciation for this (really cool!) art form, and I'm happy I had the chance to share it with all of you!

Erin Mapes counts fiber art, painting, teaching, and Dr. Mario among her many skills.  You can view examples of her scarves, necklaces, and yarn in her Etsy store (currently on hiatus), or read her thoughts on being an environmentally conscious artist.  She currently lives in Berlin, Germany, in a neighborhood populated by aging hipsters.

Art Swap 2013: The Twentysomething Road Trip

Last spring, Chicago native and podcaster extraordinaire Brad Stasell set out on a birthday road trip through Wisconsin and Minnesota to grow up, go someplace he'd never been, and find out what being twenty-eight was all about.

His Art Swap project was a half-hour long podcast about the experience, the Best-Worst Day of his life, assembled from journal entries and on-the-road video diaries, and featuring music from Metric, Daft Punk, Architcture in Helsinki, Band of Horses, Imagine Dragons, Rihanna, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and lots more. In the spirit of Jack Kerouac, sometimes being on the road gives us the perspective we need to figure out what really matters, and Stasell's trip is no exception.

Plus, there's a hot tub.

Listen to Stasell's road trip podcast here, via streaming or download.

Stasell is also the man with half a plan behind Easily Distracted, a biweekly/monthly/every so often podcast where he and three friends (including fellow Art Swapper Jon Trainor) discuss news, roller coasters, and horror movies, but mostly just make a lot of jokes.  In true Easily Distracted spirit, here's some out of context quotes from the show:

On a scale of one to ten, how naughty were the nurses?

Stasell's definition of being smart is catching herpes.

I always heard that summer camp was a good time for first kisses.  I heard that after I went to camp, though.

So, I had given this stripper a lapdance earlier in the night....

Oh, you like water?  Here's some fire.

Trainor: It's different though, because white people don't have a history of lynching.
Stasell: ...I think you mean a history of being lynched. 

Check out Easily Distracted here, or follow them on Twitter at @distractedeasy.  You won't regret it.

Every Monday for the rest of the year I’ll be highlighting a different project from Art Swap 2013. Interested in sharing something of yours next year? Post in the comments section, or e-mail ianmrogers[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Art Swap 2013: The Many Faces of Nicholas Cage

"I am a lizard, a shark, a heat-seeking panther." - Painting by Sam Roman

Illustrator, painter, needlepoint artist, and fellow Leighite Samantha Roman's contribution to the Art Swap shows her love of humor, pop culture, and vivid colors.  I'm not sure which is scarier - the bees, or the middle Cage face.  In addition to her illustrations and comics, Sam's also done paintings based on characters from The Simpsons, High School Musical, and The Office.

For those of you interested in having a wild-eyed Cage to call your very own, prints of this painting are available for a mere $25 - which includes shipping!  To get yours e-mail Sam at samantha.k.roman[at]gmail[dot]com, or visit her website.  You won't be disappointed.

You can see more of Sam's paintings, illustrations, and other artwork (including an Adventure Time themed cross-stitch!) on her website, an unmistakable cone of ignorance, or at her art blog, Drawn in a Hat Store. 

Oh yes, and among Sam's other talents, she's also well-versed in the hats of The Great Gatsby.

Every Monday for the rest of the year I’ll be highlighting a different project from Art Swap 2013. Want to throw in your own metaphorical hat for the event? Post here in the comments section, or e-mail ianmrogers[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Art Swap 2013 - The Lowdown and Story

Sorting the goods from the Art Swap, pre-mailing.  It was difficult to walk around for those two days. 

After college ended, the loss of both a community to share my work with and the structure to guide it bothered me for a long time. School had structure: teachers giving out assignments and a degree that needed to be completed and friends down the hall working on cool stuff that made us want to work on cool stuff too. The working world lacked community to an extent I found alarming. Somewhere in the post-college abyss, I was fairly certain, there existed young people doing paintings and sculptures and operas and comedy acts and lyric essays who were willing and eager to read, watch, listen to, admire, critique, and discuss their own work, but I wasn’t sure where they were or how to find them. I did, however, find a lot of people who felt the same way I did, both those who were unemployed and those who worked day jobs they weren’t really interested in.

I was inspired to do the first CD Swap back in 2008 while (voluntarily) sequestered in a sleep research study in Boston without windows, internet, or phone for two weeks. There were, however people: twentysomething interns and college students working at the sleep lab for science credit, medical experience, or weekend cash. They were bored of taking blood samples and delivering cafeteria meals, and wanted someone interesting to talk to about Woody Allen movies and feminist interpretations of male behavior, or the experience of working in the lab itself. It was the first time in months I’d met new people who had something to say, and the experience inspired a new feeling of optimism. I wanted to do something collaborative. I just needed something to do.

I remembered my friend Trainwreck talking about a CD Swap at his company where everyone made a mix CD, burned enough copies for the group, and exchanged. Though Trainwreck hadn’t gotten much out of it, I was pretty sure my friends had better musical tastes. New music was also something I hadn’t gotten a lot of since college. It was as good an idea as any.

Organizing the CD Swap, the people involved (friends from college and high school, and a few friends of friends), plus my own mix kept me busy and focused in a way I hadn’t been for a long time. My own writing at the time wasn’t going well, since I found myself unsure of my audience. Having an outside project, a kind of community, made the project more rewarding. The others as well gave the project their best: they designed elaborate covers, thought up clever themes, included bonuses, and even created original song mash-ups. Seeing them put in so much thought and effort made me push harder, and in retrospect partially replaced the more direct criticism I was used to from college.

The CD Swap went so well that we did another, then three more, totaling five years and well over a hundred CDs (for those involved in all five). By the end, though, the Swap had developed problems too big to ignore: higher than ever numbers of people and CDs, waning interest among veterans, and an alarmingly high number of last-minute dropouts. The CD, as we know it, is also nearing the end of its days, and doing an online swap seemed so banal as to not even be worth it. I also found myself remembering something Randall told me after he burned his final mix: “There’s only so much you can do with other people’s music.”

The solution then was to expand. Taking again an offhand idea from Trainwreck, I planned out an Art Swap, where instead of burning mix CDs, people would make well, something else. The swap was open-ended enough to appeal to anyone creative (be it in writing, music, drawing, video, sculpture, needlepoints, computer programs, websites, food – I used a lot of lists when I sent the e-mails), yet required enough effort to scare away those likely to flake out. The result, as seen in the above photo, was an assortment of projects unlike anything I expected: calligraphy, jewelry, re-usable shopping bags, an online scavenger hunt, even a board game. I also received a lot of messages from people who were happy to get their packages, but happier still to find the audience and the motivation to make something they were proud of.

For the next sixteen weeks, I’ll be featuring all of the Art Swap projects on this blog, with a different one posted every Monday. You’ll see pictures, audio files, a scavenger hunt, and other fun stuff, each project different than the last. I encourage you to check out their blogs, listen to their podcasts, and follow up on things you like. And if you’re sitting there reading, excited about this whole thing, wondering why you never knew about this before, post in the comments or send an e-mail to ianmrogers[at]hotmail[dot]com, and I’ll let you know when we do the next one in 2014.

After all, what better use is there for the internet than sharing cool stuff?

Calamity Cash and the Town With No Name: A Success Story

My good friend, former roommate, and fellow writer Randall Nichols just released his own indie comic, Calamity Cash and the Town with No Name, a collaboration with artist and fellow West Virginian Justin Cornell 4+ years in the making. This is a success story of the kind you don’t often see in the post-college abyss: a writer and an artist, both contending with their own responsibilities and commitments, harness the time to produce a full-length comic over a period of years. This is evening and weekend warrior shit at its finest, and now they’ve invested the capital in their very own print run. That’s why you should buy it.

"Calamity Cash & The Town with No Name" Synopsis:  The mother/daughter vigilante team of Tana and Cal Cash are on the run from an Afro-rocking, Kung-Fu assassin, and have been forced to make their last stand in a nameless desert town hiding a unbelievable secret - every last citizen is in the Witness Protection program! Out of gas, low on ammo, and with their backs against the wall, Calamity and Mama Cash become the town's unlikely protectors, but with friends so quickly becoming enemies, and old enemies becoming friends, is the whole place doomed to burn around them? And will our heroines be the ones to light the first match? A modern-day action/adventure western with words by Randall Nichols, and art by Justin Cornell. "Calamity Cash & The Town with No Name - Pt. II" (25 pages, $4.50 w/shipping).  [from The Mojo Wire]

If that doesn't wow you, here’s another reason to buy: Randall’s work is witty, bitingly observational, and he portrays his vagabond, struggling twentysomethings with an insightful sincerity that never stoops to melodrama or cliché. Based on my dealings with the writer, I can guarantee you that this is going to be good.

One more reason: copies are only $4.50 (including shipping!) signed by the author and the artist. Click here or on the picture above to go to Randall’s blog, The Mojo Wire, and purchase via Paypal.

For those of you still reading who haven’t yet clicked above, I’ll give you another chance to buy Randall’s comic now.

-----------------------

It’s uplifting to hear that, in a world teeming with mundane distractions and lacking the financial and emotional support so vital for creative work, projects like Calamity Cash are getting finished instead of abandoned. Projects like Cash need an audience willing to shell out the few bucks necessary to keep them coming, but lack the marketing resources of a large publishing house to spread word of their existence to an overcrowded market. To know that so many projects have gotten off the ground through Kickstarter and other grassroots campaigns is inspiring, though even the most promising or awe-inspiring of projects is doomed to failure unless people know about them. I look and listen to the advertisements surrounding me on a daily basis and find that most of them feature products I already know. Yes, Coke is a sweet drink, Planet Fitness is a badass place to work out, and Old Spice makes you irresistible to women. Mass advertising, though its secondary purpose is to inform, first and foremost inundates us with those products profitable enough to warrant support while the smaller ones struggle to get noticed. How many amazing comics, novels, blogs, musicians, movies, webcomics, animated films, photographers, architects, dramatists, and other media could we discover if only we had the means?

Randall realized this long before I did, and, for a significant period after we left Bennington, blogged, Tweeted, Facebook shared, and generally talked about as many of his friends’ projects as he possibly could, to the point where his social networks obsessively centered around the achievements of others. My own meager work failed to escape his attention, as he tweeted a lot of things from this blog and eventually devoted an entire Mojo Wire entry (featuring one of the most unflattering pictures of me ever to grace the internet) to my metablog project Corporate Takeover. When asked about his constant sharing, he said that his friends were doing great things and he wanted to help in any way he could.

Creative pursuits (especially writing) are isolating avocations, and for those of us lacking contacts, the chances of getting your work noticed can be frustratingly slim. We owe it to ourselves to harness those resources available to us, but we all need friends willing to shout our achievements from the metaphorical rooftops of social media and weekend drinking sessions. We also owe it to those friends to return the favor without being asked.

So again, buy Randall’s comic for a measly $4.50, or explore the blog to read about its long, arduous history. For those who enjoy samples, try some of his fiction: New Hooverville, Arches, and more . Or take a peak at the writer himself during our more formative years:

Revenge is sweet. Thanks for the support, man.