Read the real life stories and experiences of freelance writer Mike Gagnon.

Website...

Just the bare bones of the site are up and still under construction at www.openbookpress.com

Happy Holidays...

Happy Holidays to all whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanza, Chaunika or whatever!

I'll be back on as soon as is possible during the holiday rush!

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 16:38 | link | comments

The books of Open Book Press...

Well we had a few kinks to work out in using the Booksurge system as well as a couple of PDF formatting glitches, but now everything is on track. Our first book should be available online in a matter of weeks.

Our First Book...

Dreams in Texture - This is an anthology collection of the greatest works by comics veteran Tom Muzzell and relative newcomer Kevin Clorey. Some fantastic short comic stories, poetry and prose. The stories and work contained in this book gravitate towards horror and fantasy, with a good measure of things like sci-fi, romance, and psychological thriller to boot. A fantastic book containing 100 black and white pages wrapped in a beautiful full color cover at a price of $11.99 U.S. and $14.95 CAN.  Really anyone who is a fan of fantasy, poetry, or horror should keep an eye out for this one sometime in February.

Coming down the pipeline...

Grafenveer Vol. 1 - This story centers around an african slave boy who is saved by a noble German king and raised as a member of his royal court. The boy becomes a noble young man and brave knight, aiding King Grafenveer as he battles dragon and those who would steal his throne. A fantastic medieval adventure that blends fantasy and adventure with actual historical settings. 48 pages of black and white with a fully painted full color cover for just $9.99 U.S. $12.55 CAN. Look for it online in March. Created by Wayne Sanders and illustrated by Christian N. St. Pierre.

Monkeys and Midgets - A comical look at the world of masked mexican midget wrestling. Created by me, Mike Gagnon! Also amazingly illustrated by fellow canuck Nelson Danielson. When the Empire Wrestling League falls on hard times, its corrupt owners decide to generate interest and dollars by making thier wrestling superstars battle untrainable apes in the ring! 90 pages of B & W with a full color cover and a cover price of $11.99 U.S. $14.95 CAN. Available online in April!

Well there you have it folks, some plugs to keep you salivating. I'll fill you in more about the website and my other goings on tommorow, right now I have to finish cleaning the office and apartment!

Tune in tommorow, Same Bat-Time, Same Cat-Channel.... 

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 15:13 | link | comments

My super stupendous penance blog...

Well I told you I'd get on here didn't I? The last 7 days have just been stupid hectic and crazy. I've been spending a lot of time working and sleeping because I'm on a run of night shifts at work right now. So I work twelve hours at night and try to sleep at least 5 hours during the day. Sometimes I get more, sometimes less.

Right now I'm in the thick of things, getting ready for launches, releases and planning for Open Book Press. It's getting crazy. So I've had to have that on the top of my priority list, and running this crazy household, and Christmas shopping etc., have all had to come ahead of this blog, but I'm hoping to get back on a daily basis soon. I will try over the holidays, but it will probably be easier afterwards. But hey I'll do what I can.

Anyway...

My Trip to Toronto...

Last Thursday on one of my days off I had to go have our very first important business meeting for Open Book Press. Mr. Chris Campanozzi, my biz partner, was nice enough to fly in from New Jersey to Toronto. He brought his lovely wife Jen and they stayed in Toronto for most of last week enjoying the city.

Anyway so I had to head over to T.O. on Thursday morning. I discovered this great service, the Grey/Bruce Airbus. They are a little more expensive than PMCL, but they stop in every little town along highway 21, so I was able to get them to pick me up in Tiverton at the convenience store across the street. Way better than having to drive into Kincardine at 6 am. Anyway the Airbus is actually a very large 10 passenger van. Since I was first on I sat shotgun. Most of the ride was uneventful. until about a half hour outside the city when I was overcome with motion sickness and had to put the window down and puke out of it onto the little white VW that the bus had been passing. The driver pulled over so I could change my clothes and then we were on our way. We arrived at the airport about 15 minutes late, mostley due to the delay caused by my hurling.

So then I took a cab to the hotel Chris and Jen were staying at downtown. We got to chat, talk, get to know each other better, and review some things.

Chris and Jen found it extremely cold and bundled up, I almost wanted to take my jacket off I was sweating so much. They didn't even have any snow in T.O. Anyway, we bundled up and walked down to the bank for our appointment. Chris and I got all of the paper work doen to set up our Canadian Business account, and I signed some papers for the American account.

Then we were off again, I showed Chris and Jen a bit of the city. We went to the City Grill for dinner where we talked about family, food, business and more. On the way back to the hotel I gave them a quick tour of the best places to shop on Younge St; The Eaton Centre, the Stag Shop, and all the comic shops that I could point out on Yonge St. We stopped at Shoppers Drug Mart so I could buy Gravol for the way back.We retired back to the hotel and talked some more, I got to know his wife and she got to ask me 20 questions about me and Pam. Chris and I went over several submissions and book proposals, reviewed some artist samples, and got lots of planning done for the future of Open Book Press.

Then my cab arrived at 5pm, which took me back to the airport and back to the Airbus headed for home.

The ride home...

Well when I left Toronto the weather went from cold to ghastly. It was pretty bad. Once we were outside the city it was like the arttic in that Rudolph cartoon you see on TV every Christmas. The stop motion one with the Abominable Snowman. Anyway, it was shitty, So shitty in fact that the Airbus was an hour behind schedule because the roads wre too slippery to drive at regular speeds. Since I was the last one off that meant that I didn't get home until 11PM. It was a long ride, but everyone on board made the best of it and I slept alot.

I must say the drivers did a hell of a job, plus for the extra $10 you get a hell of a lot better service and comfort than the PMCL. Heck they treated you like a limo driver would for a wedding party. It was awesome. And I didn't puke on the way home.

Christmas...

So aside from my running around to T.O. Working, and sleeping, I've also been getting ready for Christmas. All my shopping is done and now I'm getting exited for the ole Christmas eve to come around. Pam and I started last night. We got stockings and filled them up for each other. Last night we each opened one present from our stockings. We each put the big stuff at the top of each others stockings. So last night I opened the big one and it was a Marvel Legends Wolverine figure (for display, not play =) in his old school 80's yellow and brown costume. Pam's big one was a sandwich sized tupperware container with a big yellow smiley face lid. Hey, I know what you're thinking, but really there is some better stuff in there as she gets deeper down. So tonight we'll each open something again. We won't be doing it on Wednesday or Thursday night because I have to work night shifts on those nights, which really sucks balls.

I'm going to get home some time after 7 am in the morning of the 24th, sleep a couple hours, and then we'll have to get up. We'll have our own Christmas together and then it's off to my grandma's for dinner and presents, then my parents for presents. Then sometime that night or early morning we'll be off to Pam's parents. Holy busy! Then I have to go back in to work for days on the 27th, 28th and 31st.  CRAP! Plus, the bastards changed the schedule. Originally we only had to work from Noon to 6PM on the 31st, now it's 7 to 7. Bastards! Thanks boss! Happy holidays you dirty so-and-so.

Is this long enough yet? I really have to start writing down my blog ideas before I write. I honestly forget more ideas than get written.

How about this? ...More about Open Book Press and it's books tommorow!

Splat!...

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 15:57 | link | comments

Penance Blog 1...

Hey folks. Sorry I haven't been around much this week. Working, sleeping, lawyers and a business trip to Toronto have taken up a lot of time.

I'll be posting a huge penance blog soon enough.

ZAP!...

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 02:30 | link | comments (2)

OY!...

I really don't have time for a blog today. I've spent all morning catching up on and finishing the accounting for my financial trustee. I managed to watch an episode of The Lone Ranger form the volume 2 DVD while I ate lunch. Tommorow I have to get all of the Open Book Press accounting in order to show Chris when we have our meeting in T.O. later this week. I have to get hat done, I'm going to ry and get my travel arrangements made today before taking a shower and going to bed in order to get some rest. I have to pick up Pam from work tonight and then go into work for the beginning of my twoo weeks of night shifts.

AAAA!

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 12:35 | link | comments

Oh geezus...

Oh crap! We're going to finish our Christmas shopping today. What fun. It's goign to be nuts, I know it. Dan! It's going to suck balls because every idiot and their retarded brohter will be cutting us off and cramming into the local stores in order to get in the way of people who actually just want to get in and out. I hate Christmas shopping. One thing is for sure. I HAVE to finish it today, because I do not want to be shopping any closer ot Christmas when it will be even worse!

Eye already twitching...

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 11:39 | link | comments

Big Time Penance  Blog...

This is my one huge penance blog to make up for all of the ones that I missed because of work this week.

My work review...

So I ended up not getting my work review until Thursday this week because they ran out of time on Wednesday. I had prepared myself for the utmost worst. You know, just in case. And guess what? My review went amazingly well. Oh yeah, I need improvement on a couple things, but overall my review rocked. And I got a raise, it just turns out that my level on the ladder will always get shitty pay. So, I get an extra 25 cents per hour as of January 1st. yay! They showed me how much I can make if I stay threee years, it's not very good. People in positons above me are getting $1+ an hour raises. Some even more. I need to move up the ladder. Fortunately, I do have that potential and the posibility for advancement which is good, but realistically if something better comes along the pay is not going to keep me there. All in all, I have nothing to complain about though when it comes to the actual review of my performance, and that's good.

I think I have a tape worm...

I don't think I really have a tape worm, but with the way things are going I very well could. All I can seem to do lately is eat, sleep and shit. I've been eating like mad. I'm always hungry it seems for the last week. And always tired. On my days off I have managed to get some work done, but nowhere near enough. I am so hungry right now. What the hell?

New windows...

fianlly, after our long, long awaited dilemma involving the air blowing through our apartment, even when the windows are closed, our new windows finally came yesterday. It took us over a year of bitching, but the landlord finally agreed to replace the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom windows. It's awesome. The old ones even had the screens full of dirt and gunk and were hard to see through. These ones are vinyl, they're awesome, clean and new. The bedroom window is amazing. And the new frames around them are beautiful too. Plus, we didn't have to pay a thing. I love my new windows. The guys showed up around two yesterday and were done and out of here by about 4:30. It was great. Plus, you can already feel a 100% improvement in the heat and warmth in the apartment. I usually wake up freezing even with the heat on, last night, I had to turn the heat down and get rid of one of my blankets. Truly awesome.

My Computer...

So recently I discovered that my computer was re-infected with every bad thing under the sun and that I had to download a plethora of programs to clean it up. I believe I made note of it here and publishing collegue Ron Gravelle of Landwaster Books also made a comment on it. Well, this week I had that same old feeling again. I don't know what was wrong with my computer, but it would not install any program or game from my CD-Rom drive. At all. I kept getting this weird error message. I thought maybe there was a virus interfering with the operation. I spyware, adware, and virus searched the mother. NO change. Then I had my tech support guy use his virus check. Nothing. Then I asked him what else it could be according to the error message i got. He tried a few things and then he just gave up and said he was stumped. Then last night, low and behold, out of the blue, the problem went away. I don't know why. I had just been doing a test to see the error message again and there was no error so now I have Monopoly Junior installed on my computer.

Yesterday...

Yesterday was crazy hectic...hang on a sec, I need a snack (the tapeworm strikes =)...anyway, yesterday was crazy hectic. I had a genrous list of business chores to do but with a little hard work and determination I could have had that all done before the window guys got here, during installation at the very latest anyway. But however, I did not take into account the Pam factor. Pam wasn't feeling well most of the week so she decided to stay home yesterday. SO I was also busy waiting on her etc. Which is not a problem at all. I could still make it. But then once she was up and moving she was interrupting me every 5 minutes, mostly because she's jealous of the computer if I spend time on it while she's home. So I was frequently interrupted by her in order to take care of her, spend time with her or help with the pets. Normally that kind of thing is fine, but when that world collides with my business world and the need to get work doen for that I get stressed out. Then when the window guys came she and Scooter and Baron were all with me in my office and it was like I was trapped in a zoo while trying to finish my work. Then the icing on the cake was when I couldn't fix the problem with my computer I needed to install a program. Pam wanted to play video games, which I could also not install (I removed them when I cleaned my computer). SO that sucked and was frustrating. Then after the window guys were gone  I just threw in the first disk I could find. It was Monopoly Junior. There was no problem, it installed fine. Now I have Monopoly Junior on my computer. It was so late in the day at this point that I gave up and played a game of Monopoly junior With Pam. She beat me.

Last night...

Last night we went into town and got groceries. With the grocery bill I spent on it is definately going to cut into christmas shopping. Then we were going to go to the theatre in Port Elgin and see Blade Trinity. I couldn't get through on thier phone line, and then the weather got shitty so we decided to stay home. We thought about going to rent a movie but we found some good stuff on TV and stayed in. I did finally get through to the theatre and they weren't even palying Blade Trinity. What are they nuts? Anyway we watched the Family Guy Christmas specials and some other stuff. Then we came into the office and played Monopoly Junior. Pam beat me every time. Our last game however was different. The money kept changing hands back and forth and no one was going bankrupt. I don't think we ever got below $20, which  is big money in Monolpoly Junior. The game went one for well over an hour. Past midnight. And we both ended up being so tired that we just gave up and went to bed. All in all it was a pretty fun time together.

This morning...

Now this morning I'm trying to catch up on everything I didn't finish yesterday. I got a good amount done, but i still have a lot of business accoutning etc. to do.

Poit!...

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 11:37 | link | comments

Holy cleaning frenzy...

Today I am cleaning everything. Laundry, dishes, floors, computer files. It's crazy. Pam won't recognize the place when she gets home. Still lots of work to do and after I'm done I still have to make supper and wash my stank ass. Damn time is flying too fast. This is my last night before going back into work for tommorow morning. CRAP!

Felix...

I finished watching the rest of my Felix the Cat DVD today. It was great! and such  a deal! I bought it for $1.37 at Wal-Mart. What the hell! I also got Lone Ranger VOl.1 & 2 at the same price. I've watched Volume one. Now I just have to watch Vol. 2 and the copy of Ghost World I bought on sale on the same day. Lots of movies to watch. Plus I bought another cheapo DVD yesterday. Pam was doing Christmas shopping in Wal-Mart yesterday and I found a collection of the Fleischer Bros. Superman cartoon series from the 1940's. Awesome. SO I have to watch that one once the others are out of the way. If anyone wants to know more about this crazy company that sells these retro DVD's for so cheap their address is on the package:

PMB 421, 991-C Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach, CA, 92075

I think the business name is "Movie Classics" but I am not sure.

Christopher Campanozzi, the man...

Well with the new books coming soon it's a given that my business partner Christopher Campanozzi is in fact the man, but here's something you don't know about him. Hell I just found out today. I already knew he was an actor, but Pam and I both found him familiar and couldn't figure out why. Then today I read his new bio he wrote for the company. Turns out that he used to star as a character on the NBC soap opera "Passions". That is Pam's favorite soap. She's going to freak when I tell her.

Latter my biznitches...

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 15:30 | link | comments

Current Goings on...

Open Book Bress...

Well we're legally registered in both the U.S. and Canada. Our first book should be released any day now, and our second is following close on it's heals. The account is set up in the U.S. and Chris and I are going to be meeting up in Toronto later this month to talk business, discuss things, work out schedules and plans, and open the Canadian bank account. All is looking good. By the end of this month you should be able to go to www.booksurge.com and buy our first book, "Dreams in Texture", by Kevin Clorey and Tom Muzzell. It will soon be followed by Grafenveer #1 created by Wayne Sanders and illustrated by Christian N. St. Pierre.

Open Book Press.com...

Well we have our account set-up and active ready to accept files any time. I've been typing up copy and Ryan Chuhaniuk, webmaster, has been designing a really cool, kick-ass, interactive flash page. We should have the basics up very soon, and will be synchronized with our official launch press release. We'll also be opening a site located at www.openbookpress.info, but the content of the site has not yet been determined.

Mason...

Well on Saturday morinign I got an e-mail response on my 5th draft of my Mason pitch for Platinum. My editor, Lee Nordling, loved it and has passed it on for approval to his superiors. This is great. I'm hoping that this really catches on with the management there. If it does they will buy it and once it is developed into a feature film by their studio I have a lot to gain financially. My secret for this 5th and hopefully final pitch was inspired by Lee. Basically, my secret is that I completely re-wrote the concept from scratch. This current version has barely any resemblance to the original. The new version is 10 times better than my original concept that I had just kept writing different variations on. The reason it is better is thanks to Lee in a big part, he's been pushing me to be better and better, and although I had felt he was being slightly harsh at times, in the end his judgment tends to be right and inspire something even better to grow.

Well, I have things to see and people to do...

*BAMF!*

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 11:54 | link | comments

Weekend Penance Blog...

Well as you can probably guess I worked all weekend, so I didn't have time to write this then.

Entertainment...

Over the last couple days I've been able to take in a wee bit of entertianment in the wee bit of spare time that I do have. Pam rented Mean Girls last night. I know what you're thinking. GAG! Big time chick flick! We'll you're only partially right. I had no idea that it was produced by Lorne Michaels, and therefore had many Saturday Night Live stars in the supporting cast as well as former SNL cast members. The result was that this movie was much funnier than I expected. Especially Tina  Fey as the sarcastic teacher, and Tim Meadows as the insecure principal, he had the best one liners. And it also featured Linsay Lohan, and since she's 18 it's okay for me to say I did enjoy the bountiful T&A presented by miss Lohan in this film. Oh, and the film had a prety good moral/message too...so I guess that's good.

I was also able to start watching my Felix the Cat DVD this morning while eating breakfast. I got it for $1.37 at Wal-Mart. I know it's crazy. Anyway, this DVD has the original first 8 Felix cartoons on it. I was able to watch the first three this morning.

2 Lip Time - The first Felix cartoon, and so far the longest I've watched.  It's strange how these ancient cartoons can still be funny today, even funnier than some of todays cartoons. It's even more amazing when you consider that the characters do not talk in this one. This cartoon was made sometime between silent pictures and talkies. I say this because there is no talking but there is music and sound effects. I swear I'm 100% sure that the sound effect for floating in the water on this one was taken from someone taking a leak.  In this first cartoon Felix manages to do a lot. He ends up chasing a mouse onto a boat that is leaving it's dock. He ends up sea sick after realizing he's drifted out to sea and the scene where he's puking out the port hole has got to be one of the funniest I've ever seen in any cartoon. Felix ends up on the Deutchland and immediately starts picking up chicks. This ticks off the local men and has Felix running around the countryside taking on all opponents in a slapstick battle royale.

All Puzzled - This one is much shorter. Here, the technology has advanced a little. The characters now talk, but only through comic book style word balloons. Felix gets his ass kicked back over the ocean again by a mule and lands in Russia. There he is searching for the answer to a word in his owners wordsearch. The Russains attack him and a bomb explosion sends him home with the answer. This one bends slightly towards post-cold war propaganda, but is still entertaining.

April Maze - In this one Felix suddenly has a house and kids. AND the advent of "talkies' has taken place, so the characters now have voices, although the sound clarity is lacking and there isn't much synchronization with mouth movements. In this one Felix takes the kids on a picknick. The weather doesn't co-operate and they flee. Then some bastard rabbit and bear steal the basket. In the end a stork arrives with a basket, which Felix assumes was his and was stolen by the stork who is now returning it. When it is opened Felix discovers that it is not his basket, but in fact a basket full of even more whining crying kittens for him to take care of.

Well, one more to go...

Mike

 

Posted by: lightning at 11:00 | link | comments

Penance Blog...

I am so burnt out...

Man work really sucks. I hate going to my job. I love my job itself and most of the people there, but the place generaly sucks. These 12 hour shifts are killing me. I'm always tired and cranky. And after this week I'll be back on nights which will make things even worse. This sucks. I have so little time that when I'm not working or sleeping I barely have any time to spend with Pam, get work done, check e-mails, write, and do things like this weblog.

I don't get paid anywhere near enough.

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 10:17 | link | comments

Christmas party at work...

Well this years work Christmas party was weird. It was a lunch. We had KFC. We all got to have free KFC. And free beer. Odd, but it was good since we all got blitzed before showing up and it was fun. The guys came and hung out at my place before we went, and then we got there and socialized with everyone, got silly, etc. All in all it was enjoyable.

All the work I did today...

Before and after the Christmas lunch/guys visiting, I got a pile of important work done. I finished the new version of the Mason pitch for Platinum Studios. The story is by far better than when it started. I feel really good about it. Got some banking done, some house cleaning. Typed up a pile of copy for the new website that is coming soon and sent it off to webmaster Ryan Chuhaniuk. Got some payments made and others arranged. Editing the Booksurge entries for Dreams in Texture and Grafenveer. Good thing I did that before they went live too! As usual a few typos had slipped past me. I'm going to have to start writing every thing in word and then copy and paste into entry fields, just so I can spell check every word before it goes anywhere. I got an important package mailed over to Chris and answered a ton of e-mail. Plus I got my first freelance cartooning check! Thank you K-Mac agency!

Well I don't have anymore time to burn today...

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 21:54 | link | comments