Ambidextrous: Thank You

Thank you.

No, seriously...thank you.

Any time I write one of these highly personal columns, I regret doing it the minute I send it off to my editor. After six years of this, I really should be used to it, but there’s always this little voice in my head that whispers that I might be giving it all away. Offering up more personal life than should be allowed in a forum of this type. It’s stupid and runs counter to what Ambidextrous is supposed to be about, but it happens to me anyway. If writing is truly life, then anything that happens in it is going to have a noticeable effect, especially when you lose someone you consider part of your family. To deny this is to ignore the reason one writes in the first place, I imagine. But really, I didn’t know if anyone would be willing (or interested) in bypassing yet another convention write-up to read about me and a dog named Shadow.

To say that the response was unexpected, and powerful, and immediate is an understatement. I, and a couple of other people that knew Shadow well, have read every one of your postings, every one of your stories, and it’s very gratifying to know that this connected with so many people. Lee thinks it’s one of the most important pieces I’ve ever written, and honestly, it was really cool to see a pic of Shadow on Newsarama’s front page. You let Shadow tell it, everybody was visiting the site just to see him.

So thank you for turning what I’d feared was a mistake into a moving and appropriate tribute for someone that helped to improve me. The apartment still feels very empty without him running around in it, and I really miss seeing him in the window when we come home from work (this feat accomplished by jumping on the couch, which he knows he’s not supposed to do) but it feels a bit more manageable now. Don’t know if that’s the right word, but that’s where I’m at now.

The writing is starting to get easier and more substantial, replacing the little broken, irritable fragments that marked July. The good thing about a horrible month is that eventually it’s going to be over, and you’ll have the chance to do better next time. With some serious focus (and really, some serious luck) August could bring exciting news about Miranda Mercury; the God Complex wholeheartedly embracing both a new format and a new publisher; a new project from that very same publisher that’s right up my alley; fresh pitches to some folks at the Big Two; possibly puppies; and the official launch of my personal website The Fiction House. Speaking of, let’s quickly take care of that last bit right now.

Just the idea of having my own website has always felt strange, which is part of the reason I’ve never had one until now. It’s part nagging inferiority complex and part laziness, as trying to figure out what someone would find interesting about my own site seemed laborious. Yeah, I agree, that kinda sounds like the same thing---it really is all connected like they say. Honestly though, it wasn’t too bad and what made it through should leave me with a very nice canvas on which to work.

There’s the front page, also known as The Word, which will soon be cluttered with all manner of blog type postings. The Column contains a full index of the Newsarama Era, and some of my personal favorites from the distant past. The Cool is a repository for previews, interviews, and the like. The Lab is where comics come from, The Feed is everything I’m obsessed with all at once, and The List is everything I’ve had published, along with a bunch of related commentaries. The full Miranda #295 script is loaded onto the site as well. Direct link is right here and I hope you’ll join me as this space continues to expand every month.

Also, consider this battle station fully operational and back to a weekly schedule as of now. That “lost column” I mentioned last week is nearly finished, there’s an excerpt from the Joe Casey interview that’ll appear in the back of the new Youngblood trade, and the potential for a larger series of articles about the inner workings of a real live independent comic book company. Thanks for your patience and support.

Back soon.

B