Welcome to the new Canister X blog, your home for all things heroes and monsters.
The blog redesign is complete, with mostly everything retooled. New banner, new overall design, even a new author headshot on the About page.
There are a few changes still left to make as these things are always evolving, but the big redesign is done. I admit this was a tricky project in that not only did I need the blog to function a certain way, but I also wanted it to look good without coming off as a sterile creator site where the creator feels untouchable. Canister X is my online home and I want my home to feel as welcoming as possible.
A chunk of Project Media is now complete.
More winter project plans coming your way soon.
Enjoy the new blog. Please stick around for a while to explore, and then when you’re done that, head on over to my Patreon page where this morning I posted a new chapter in my ongoing serial novel, Gigantigator Death Machine.
Caught in Black Headlights is a poetry book I’ve been picking at for a long while now. It’s meant as a depository of musings for when a thought or moment consumes me and I have something to say about it.
I am no stranger to the poetry world, having thus far published three books in the genre: The Hand I’ve Been Dealt, Haunted Melodies and Other Dark Poems, and Still About a Girl. These books are out of print, but I’m thinking of bringing them back at some point so my readers have a chance to complete their A.P. Fuchs collection.
Caught in Black Headlights is low-priority on the project list. Again, it’s there for when I have something I need to say and a poem is the only way to say it. Eventually, the notebook will be filled enough for it to merit a published book. Until then, I’ll just be ruminating and writing it down.
Pictured: Batman mug from my childhood and my vape unit.
This morning, I reviewed some things behind the scenes here at Axiom-man Central and came to the unsettling conclusion I have a year-long project ahead of me. The project is not a specific book or comic but rather a partial rebuild of my media machine. This workload is no small undertaking, but it’s an undertaking that must be done. I thought I was busy before and now I have to go into overdrive.
In June of 2020, I will have been writing for twenty years. Though I was creating before that–primarily comic book art–it was in June of 2000 that I decided to make books my living. I was originally aiming to be a comic book artist but life threw me a curve ball and through various circumstances books became the order of the day.
I’ve been giving thought to a memoir for a very long time. It would be an opportunity to share with readers my creative journey and, when appropriate, my personal journey as well. It would also be a chance to lay my creative life out in front of me where I can see it and visit time periods I haven’t been to since they originally happened. A partial journal effort, so to speak.
Regarding publication, no doubt there would be a formal release of a paperback and eBook, but I’m also thinking of airing it on-line first, whether here at Canister X or on my Patreon or both.
It’s been a wild ride to get to the present day. I started out crafting stories completely naive as to how this business worked and hit many roadblocks along the way. The plan for this project will require further thought but I think I’ve already settled upon the process so I can create it without it overloading my already-hectic schedule.
This week I started a new notebook and aptly labeled its contents. It’s a project that I hinted at here. What it is specifically, I will keep under wraps for now. I want to make some decent headway into it before formally announcing it.
Secret Project No. 4–also known as Project Jackass–is a means for me to get some honesty on the page and have a near anything-goes kind of fun in my creative work. Not that my other stuff isn’t fun, but this particular project is about raw honesty and, as I’ve been known to say, honesty is the backbone of creativity. It’s the creator’s duty to be honest regardless of their craft.
There’s an element of catharsis that will no doubt go into it. It’s been a brutal season of life for me and I’ve only been out of it for about six and a half months. Getting it down on paper in a creative/showcase kind of way will help clear the remaining cobwebs and help me move forward.
It’s important for every creator to make a schedule for their creative time. The idea of “creating when inspired” or “in the mood” doesn’t work. (Been there, done that.) Not very long ago I was mocked on-line for suggesting a creative schedule to someone who was having trouble creating. The answer I proposed to their problem was to treat it like a job and just do it. Most seasoned creators will tell you that you have to create whether you feel like it or not if you want a career in this business.
The formula is simple: Approach this casually, you’ll get casual results. Approach this diligently, you’ll get diligent results.
There is no way around this. And, usually, once you get going on a project after deciding to start working, the project starts to flow on its own anyway.
Schedule out your time. Schedule out your projects.
It’s worth taking the time to do this step. In fact, it actually saves you time later in a multitude of ways.
I used to work on one novel, one short story, and a poem at the same time. Then I switched to working on one book and/or item at a time. Now I’m back to working on multiple things at once. It’s a stretch of the mind, to be sure, but also a method of getting a lot done because you are multitasking. These days I usually have one personal project, something freelance, and something art-related all happening at the same time. Thus far, things are working out okay. This will probably change in the future as the project schedule changes, but until then, I’ll stick with this method of working.
On a personal note, I am looking forward to things slowing down a bit. Can only go hard for so long until you burn out and, frankly, that’s already happened several times over. Gonna need time to recuperate but this going hard is all part of my masterplan so you gotta do what you gotta do.
This is me the first time I tabled at the Central Canada Comic Con in 2007. It was also the same weekend my son was born. I’ve tabled every year since.It’s coming up soon, but beginning November 1, I will be switching over to broadcast mode for the winter. Pre-programmed content will still air on my social media channels. I’ll also be broadcasting from this blog and, of course, there is my weekly newsletter (which you should totally be reading).
In work news:
Progress is being made on the book front, with many titles waiting in the wings to go through the production process before getting into your hands. This was an experiment for me–writing books in bulk–and was a lot of fun. It also meant not releasing anything for a year, but still a good experiment nonetheless. What this means for output in the future, I don’t know. I do need to be releasing titles more frequently, however. This blog will also have details on each project as they come out. You’ll also learn the names of Secret Projects Nos. 1 and 2 (which are written).
Also upcoming is the Central Canada Comic Con from October 27 to 29 at the RBC Convention Centre here in Winnipeg. This is my last public appearance for the year and, possibly, well into next year or even until 2019. I have some plans and experiments I want to run, but I can’t do them if I’m committed to shows and signings. It just makes for too much work, and I’m not as spry as I used to be when I first started out in this business.
I’m looking forward to hunkering down for the winter. I’m looking forward to the quiet. I’m looking forward to working without other things buzzing in the back of my brain.
This is just a quick post to test the schedule function in WordPress and to see if it spreads to my various networks. This is also to see how that future journal/blogging project will come together since journal entries are already being written behind the curtain. Why automate it? So I don’t forget, that’s why. Also, just in case I can’t get to a computer that day.
Stay tuned to this channel for more as we move things along.
Art starts with a blank page.Lots of off-line work going on behind-the-scenes and I’m presently in the process of a multi-part project that I’ll be rolling out hopefully soon. It’s one of those have-to-make-a-bunch-of-things-first ones before reveal so it takes time. Also, the clock is ticking over here and if I don’t get it all finished by a certain date, the whole career rhythm will be disrupted and there will only be more delays.
I hate delays, self-inflicted or otherwise.
In the meantime, I’m still active in the public eye via my social media channels and I’ve been trying to put something up there for you every day or two. (See links to the right.) The newsletter is also a good way to keep up-to-date.
Have a good weekend. Just wanted to keep everyone posted.
