Category: Uncategorized

There are five people who are responsible for not only my love of zombies, but for my writing career.  George A. Romero, Max Brooks, John Russo, Tom Savini and Robert Kirkman.  I have been very fortunate to meet four of them, but Mr. Romero has always remained elusive.  Until this May.  Mad Monster, a convention I have supported since it’s debut year in 2014 will be bringing to this years event.  To say I am excited is an understatement.  This is up there with Mark Hamill for me in terms of excitement. I’m getting to the point where I need to start a new bucket list.

Max Brooks in 2015. 

Tom Savini in 2014. 

John Russo in 2014.  

Robert Kirkman in 2011.

Yours very excitedly,

CWC

When I was performing with The Gentleman’s Club improv group on a more regular basis, one of the running jokes was I would tell the troupe that “tonight’s show is our most important yet”. When we landed our first show at Mardi Gras Night Club performing in front of 200 people, Alex laughed and told me I said the exact same thing when just a month prior we were performing in front of five people.  You have to believe you are bigger than you are. I think the term is fake it until you make it. 

It’s easy to knock yourself down. Far too easy actually. “You’re not smart enough/talented enough/brave enough/attractive enough”. We set up these blocks in our mind and all too often fail before we even begin. You have to believe you are the next big thing. If you don’t believe it, how can you sell it to anyone else?  I sell myself as a writer. I have to.  If I don’t believe I’m a writer why would anyone else?  I firmly believe I am standing on the cusp of making it.  I’ve finally been able to get the abundance of ideas out of my head and into a coherent form where I can write the beginning, middle and end of a story and put it to bed. Yes, I am having issue selling “Don’t Make Me Come Down There” and I could quite easily go the self published route, but that is the easy way. I don’t think the book is getting rejected because it isn’t any good, it’s getting rejected because of the subject matter.  It holds a mirror up to religion and pokes fun at it and its followers.  God is one of the lead characters and he is a passive aggressive dick.  I think a lot of people are okay laughing at offensive material until it hits home.  I know this book is a tough sell, I knew it would be when I started writing it.  Does it make the rejection any easier? Of course not.  It will just make the victory that much more sweet when I find the right agent and publisher who will take a chance on it.  I am currently focusing on trimming it down a bit. 119,000 words was probably a tad excessive.  I’m at 117,000 now with 70% left of the book left.  

For the meantime I have put “Mephistopheles” on the back burner.  As much as I want to write the sequel to “Don’t Make Me Come Down There”, it makes more sense to start something fresh.  I’ve already started working on “The Gate at the End of the Garden” and just last week got past a major stumbling block in the story.   I now know who the characters are, where they come from and where they are going.  Once I’ve finished the rewrite of “Don’t Make Me Come Down There”, I’ll be jumping back into this full on.

Onward!

CWC

It’s been almost a year to the day that I wrote “The End” and finished up “Don’t Make Me Come Down There”.  Or at least I thought I had finished it.  A year later and I’m still no closer to finding an agent or publisher.  I’ve sent it out to multiple agents, a publisher or two and I’ve had a handful of people read it.  General feedback has been largely positive, but I’m getting a lot of rejection letters.  Most agents aren’t getting past the first ten pages and that is a problem.  If I were to be honest, the first two chapters are a tad wordy, so I think it’s time to jump back in and start a major revision. I’m still very happy with the characters and story-line, I think I just need to tighten it up.  119,000 words may be a tad excessive, so I’ve decided to also see what I can cut entirely.

I’ve never done a major rewrite before, so it is a little hard knowing where to cut and where to edit.  I’ve already changed the opening significantly.  I think it hits the ground running quite a bit faster and replaces a exposition chapter with a scene featuring one of the more colorful characters.  The opening of the book is the part that either grabs people’s attention or shuts them down.  My readers have liked it, but agents not so much.  So, back to the editing room and hopefully in a couple of months I’ll have even more polished version to put back out into the world.  

Elsewhere, I am preparing my presentations for Phoenix Comicon 2016 and Tera and I are knee deep in home improvement projects. The new house is coming together wonderfully.  The formal living room and dining room are finished. The granite arrives Friday and we are currently staining the kitchen and bathroom cabinets.  Things will be a little chaotic for a few more weeks, but it really feels like home now.  

Yours cheerfully and covered in paint,

CWC

 This past Sunday, I said goodbye to my old house. I had lived there for almost 15 years.  The person who closed the door is not the same person who walked into it back in 2001.  This ​​house has seen me at my absolute worst. It has seen me at my most depressed. It has seen me at my angriest. It has seen me go through bad relationships and friendships.  It has seen dreams crushed. It has seen me at rock bottom with nothing left to live for and no desire to go on.  It has seen me overdosed and on death’s door. But, most importantly, it has seen me at my absolute happiest and that is the person I am as I leave for the last time.  The person who closed the door is now happily married, a father, a published writer and I’m happy with my life and I have new dreams and goals.

So here I am turning the key for the very last time. The symbolism of what this means is not lost on me.  Here I say goodbye to the old me. To my former marriage that should never have happened, to my former writing partner I should never have gone into business with and to old dreams that never came to fruition.

And off I drive to new dreams, to my wonderful wife and amazing daughter and my happy ever after I never thought I’d live to see. 

Out with the old….

The door to the Butch G. Cat project officially closed for me this past week.   Nine years of my life have been officially flushed down the toilet.  I now face the future with a bit of uncertainty.  I still have more than a few projects on the back burner.  The most exciting being Don’t Make Me Come Down There.   Once I finish that, well, I don’t know…  I’m at a complete loss for words right now.  To say I feel fucked over is beyond an understatement.

Yours depressingly,