2022 will be a year of transition, and it’ll be a challenge, for sure. I am trying to tackle so many different things. But, this is because I’ve put so much of myself on the back burner, so to speak. Now, I find myself wrapping up previous commitments. And, personal projects, some long dormant, are finally getting a chance to breathe.

One of these projects, a zine, is coming along. Honestly, and if I am being really honest, figuring out the formatting was the big obstacle (I am not, by trade, one who formats), but I finally set aside a week and got it done. I chose a story and laid it all out and arranged and rearranged and, finally, I had something printed that is starting to look like what I’d been imagining. Sometime soon (likely, very soon) I will do some proofs of this zine, sending it out to a handful of people to see what they think.

Now, at first, the zine will feature the occasional reprint, but over time I hope to offer more and more original fiction and non-fiction and, perhaps, even some poetry. In its own way, the zine is a way for me to build in a kind of commitment to becoming more prolific. I rather enjoy writing. It is time to (finally) start acting like I do, methinks.

GOOD SUFFERING will contain a new(ish) piece in each “issue” and feature black and white covers and interiors. Occasionally, there will be color covers, but a zine is a little thing, and very DIY, so I am trying very hard to keep production costs per issue very small. I’ll be offering these to newsletter subscribers, first, then to the general public soon after.

Take a look at some of the brainstorming. Some I got right, others… not so much.

These test prints are quite a bit smaller than the proofs I am gearing up to print. Final dimensions for an issue of GOOD SUFFERING will be 8 inches in length and 3.5 inches in height. Every issue will run 24 pages. At least, initially, because I don’t actually know how this whole thing will play out, good or bad. As usual, time will tell.

Meanwhile, the coming week looks to be spent in the company of CHROMOPHOBIA. Final edits are in, so now begins the prepping of our print files. Final payments will be going out to various parties involved. And then, there’s the art. Finished pieces won’t be shown off until March, but I find it hard not to share a teeny tiny look…

If GOOD SUFFERING sounds, uh, good to you, sign up for my newsletter! I should have a new one going out after the weekend. Consider it my Valentine’s Day card to you.

TTFN