The Masque of Forsaken Gods
Somewhere outside the realm of logic and rational thought lies the Akashic Library, its infinite shelves stretching off past the horizon. What obscure miscellany will we unearth there today? Read on, wanderer, to find out . . .
It’s going to be a short newsletter this time, because school has started up again and I am sleepy. Always sleepy.
In addition to being sleepy, I’ve been alternately sad and stressed out about my job for the last couple of months. As you may know, I am a high school English teacher by day and writer/artist by night. I’ve been working at the same school ever since I got my teaching license in 2008. And over the summer the board decided to close our school.
Some of my friends have been unclear why I’m sad, so let me explain. Imagine that you worked somewhere for 17 years and became part of community, a community that you imagined would continue on when you left someday. Now imagine that your community is being disbanded, you’ve only got a few months left, and you don’t know where you’re going to work afterwards. It’s like that. And it’s stressful!
But we’re not here to talk about the stresses of my daily life . . . no, we’re here to sink into the murky depths of my creative life. And good news, I made a book.
THE MASQUE OF FORGOTTEN GODS
A couple of years ago I fell in love with the writer Clark Ashton Smith. Smith is best known for his fiction, but he began his writing career as a poet. When I read his beautifully haunting poem “The Masque of Forgotten Gods,” I felt called to bring it to life in some way. So I designed this charming paperback edition of the poem.
In the poem, old gods like Jove, Pan, Artemis, and more lament that humanity no longer believes in them, and they are "Throneless, discrowned, and impotent,/In man's sad disillusionment." It’s nicely melancholic. I drew 10 black-and-white illustrations to enhance the reading experience, and included an additional poem, "Nirvana," also by Clark Ashton Smith.
Here’s my illustration of Artemis:
I’ll show you some of the interior pages so you get a sense of what the book looks like. Here’s the title page:
And a few more pages:
If you like this sort of thing, you’ll like this! You can order yourself a copy here. For a limited time, shipping is free.
MILLION-COLORED SUN IS NOW AVAILABLE IN HARDCOVER!
As all stout, red-blooded Americans know, Steve Johnson, Josh Burnett, and I wrote a pulp sword & sorcery RPG called Million-Colored Sun. Previously it was only available in PDF and paperback, but now it’s also available in hardcover! I haven’t gotten my hardcover copy yet, though I’ve ordered it and I’m very excited to hold it in my hands. You can order your own here. And that’s not even the most exciting piece of Million-Colored Sun news this month . . .
MILLION-COLORED SUN: INHUMAN BLOODLINES IS HERE!
Josh has written our first Million-Colored Sun supplement, and it’s available now. The blurb goes like this:
Though pulp sword & sorcery stories are traditionally human-centric, they sometimes feature characters with inhuman bloodlines, strange lineages that may be the result of magical mutation, ancient pacts with alien entities, or genetic deviations from forgotten ages.
This supplement describes six such bloodlines for use with the Million-Colored Sun RPG: Arcturian, Ghoulish, Hawklord, Hellborne, Ratkin, and Squamuloid. Entries describe the origins, typical appearance, and typical characteristics of each bloodline, along with common Weaknesses and Callings and ideas as to what benefits the bloodlines may grant. Cast off your human limitations with Inhuman Bloodlines!
This is a short and sweet PDF. The recommended price is $2, but you can pay what you want—even as little as zero dollars—when you get your copy here.
BOOKS AVAILABLE THROUGH KINDLE VELLA
There are currently 28 chapters of my science-fiction adventure Armistice Hawkins and the New Architects of Creation available on Kindle Vella. You can also read the entirety of my occult detective novel The Lobster-Quadrille there. If you like surreal detective stories, start at the beginning.
BOOKS I'VE READ SINCE LAST TIME
The Arizona Clan, Zane Grey
John Dies at the End, Jason Pargin
Hondo, Louis L’Amour
Den: Muvovum, Richard Corben
That’s two Westerns, one by Zane Grey and one by Louis L’Amour. I’m entering my Western phase now; see also Dances with Wolves, Open Range, and Back to the Future 3 in the movie list below. I would have read more this month but my eyes are betraying me. I was having trouble reading, so I got my eyes checked and got a new prescription. After a couple of weeks my new glasses came in, but it turned out the new prescription was wrong. So I had to get my eyes checked again, and wait for the new glasses . . . Anyway, very frustrating! I miss regular reading. But hopefully these new glasses will work.
TV SHOWS I’VE WATCHED
Batman: Caped Crusader season 1
MOVIES I'VE SEEN SINCE LAST TIME
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Dances with Wolves
The New Mutants
Back to the Future 3
Open Range
Deadpool & Wolverine
Trap
Shazam!: Fury of the Gods
You may remember that last month I watched Horizon: An American Saga, Chapter 1. So now that I’ve seen Dances with Wolves and Open Range, I have seen three of the four movies directed by Kevin Costner, a full 75% of his directorial filmography. Do I dare watch The Postman and complete the set?
Open Range was by far my favorite movie I watched this last month. It’s so good! I have a couple of friends who highly recommended it but I think it flew under many people’s radar (it came out in 2003). It’s a straightforward Western with a simple plot and lots of quality Dudes Hanging Out time. It’s the kind of thing I’m into, in my old age.
Trap was fun and I’m glad I watched it.
That’s my August newsletter. If you haven’t already, maybe go ahead and subscribe—it only comes out once a month, so it’s not that big a commitment. Ever since I went to get my eyes checked, I’ve gotten dozens of emails from the optometrist and the glasses company. I already bought glasses, what more do they want from me?!? But that’s my point, if you sign up for my newsletter, I won’t do that, I’ll leave you alone mostly.
See you in September!
Your Pal,
Leighton