Morning, CoSo! ⚡
Today's newsletter talks shop:
A little under a week out from publishing Children of Doro, I am *all* about transparency around the emotional, financial, & pragmatic components of publishing in this strange day and age.
Hope it helps others in the fray. 💛
(With a shout-out to @nnlightsbookheaven for the fantastic work they do promoting writers like me and you!)
#BetterWorldsTheory
#Newsletter #Indie #IndiePublishing #SFF
#Publishing #WritersOfCoSo https://mlclark.substack.com/p/self-publishing-shoptalk-costs-payout
@MLClark Looking forward to Friday, when my copy of Children of Doro is set to arrive. Congratulations on the release! 🎉🎈🎊🍾🥳
@Apocryphiliac ❤️🔥 Apocryphiliac! That is so incredibly kind of you. Thank you so much for supporting the work. I hope it's a worthwhile experience.
And hello! Long time no chat! I hope things are going really well on your end, and that there's been room for creative practice (or at least rad film viewings!) in the fray.
@MLClark Nah, honestly I'm *really* looking forward to reading it. "Bros. K. in space" was all I needed to be convinced (been a favorite of mine since I first read it as a teen). I have also been enjoying your Substack. Keep it up. I'm legitimately a big fan of your work.
Things are going ok, thanks! I haven't had much time for anything in about a year, (I thought I had "no time" prior to that, then realized what "no time" really is!) but I'm looking forward to that changing... soon! 👍
(been a favorite of mine since I first read it as a teen)
Meeee toooo!
Man, it's good to see you back, even if only hopping on for a quick and kind word. You take good care of yourself during that intense press of life, eh? Health above all else, as long as we can manage it. Cheers, friend!
@MLClark @Apocryphiliac Waves happily and hopes that Life will settle down for you, soon!
@Myana Hey you, how's it going? 👋
@Apocryphiliac I'm doing very well. Quiet spring, enjoying all the baby critters in the backyard.
My one shocking discovery is, I recently watched a whole bunch of George Romero movies and discovered I... I... I actually don't think I like his films.
I don't know if I can even admit that without losing all horror fan credentials. 😜
@Myana I agree with some of what you’re saying, and objectively you’re right. Romero’s world(s) is/are inhabited by terrible people. There are a few characters that really get to me, (Ben in NotLD, Liz Lowry’s character in The Crazies) but the main reason, I think, why a lot of people like Dawn otD so well, yet react unfavorably toward Day otD is because of what you’ve pointed out—the characters we spend most of our time with are a lot more likeable in Dawn.
@Myana …and yeah, the zombie films feel dated now, for a few reasons, but mostly because the aspects that were innovative when Night otLD and Dawn otD were released have been so thoroughly absorbed and regurgitated by pop culture that they just feel too familiar and well-worn by now. I will always love Romero for being a voice in the wilderness way back when, so maybe I’m willing to overlook some flaws in his films due to that.
@Apocryphiliac Night of the Living Dead was amazing, of course, and I enjoyed Land of the Dead.
In general, though, I find his characters flat and uninteresting. The humans in The Crazies and Day of the Dead for instance were terrible. I had more sympathy for the zombies. (Though admittedly that might have been the point of the movies.)
I found the movies very predictable, though that may be because they're such classics. They've been riffed so many times they seem dull.