Rolling Ball Sculpture Progress 4/29/12

It has been quite some time since I updated, a combination of being too busy to sit down and square things away for a post, plus also the fact that for a time it seemed I had nothing really interesting to show you. However, I’ve taken care of both those issues for the time being, and we’re good for an update.

There seems to be a never-ending battle with free time for art every week. For a while I was even expecting to get work done during the work week, and I was upset that I wasn’t accomplishing anything. A friend finally reminded me that when I was working a day job I was getting almost nothing done during the work week (which is exactly what has lead me to the 4-day-week job that I presently have!). I begrudgingly admitted that she was correct. Still, I refuse to accept reality on weekends when I do not get to do sculpture all day on Saturday and Sunday as well. Did anyone ever realize how much the rest of the world tries to do stuff on weekends?! Ridiculous! It’s like no one has time to do anything except on weekends! What is wrong with these people?!?!

I have had to really come to grips with how I manage my free time. It has been hard to see much of my friends these last several weeks, because I’m really trying to get a lot more sculpture work done, and time with friends is one of those things that’s not going to put me in debt, jail or buried under a pile of dirty laundry by removing it. I don’t want my life to be like this forever, and even now it’s not all that great, but I am doing what I have to do to make some progress.

Fortunately, I have been seeing results for my semi-hermitage that I created for myself. I’ve managed to get several layers or rows of the sculpture done in the last six weeks or so, and it has turned out pretty well. I know there will be a considerable “tweaking” phase once all of this is completed, but so far it operates pretty much as I’d like. I have also noticed that in the past few weeks my ability to shape wire and overcome setbacks has improved. My visits with fellow RBS sculptors Matthew Gaulden and Vic Chaney really did help me get a grasp on the idea that I don’t have to do this perfectly to make it work, and that there are a variety of ways to overcome a problem, many of which I’d never thought of previously. I will be reporting on my visits with Matt and Vic in the future as soon as time allows. It really was an excellent time, and both men were very friend and generous with their time and information. Deciding to contact them and making the effort to visit while I was in California may have been one of the wisest decisions I’ve made yet regarding this art work. I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand just how much that helped me move things forward with my own work. Oh, and I’ll also be posting sometime about a recent trip I made to Milford, OH to a place called Coolest Toys on Earth that has one of Matthew Gaulden’s sculptures in its store window.

Below I have some pics set up for all the work I’ve been doing over the last several weeks. They spread out over a number of weeks, and a few of them predate my visits with Matt and Vic, but it’s all fun stuff, all good progress. Click a pic for more info if you’d like.

Rolling Ball Progress

Still hard at work on the rolling ball sculpture for my latest client. As I’ve noted before, the scale of this project has presented me with some new challenges, not all of them exactly what I’d describe as “fun.” However, one by one I have met and overcome them, and things are continuing to move forward nicely. Below are some more photographic updates of my progress. Most are just general shots, the only one in particular related to anything previous is the one with the marble on the chain lift. In a previous entry I noted that the bracket for the sprocket was simply not going to get out of the way of those hooks for the marbles. I had to rework the bracket, and the result is below. Another issue was related to the track splitter, involving the design and creation of a completely new piece. The rest is largely fun stuff. Check ‘em out! All photos have extra info under them if clicked to enlarge.

Writing Blues

No, I don’t have the blues about writing. I’m writing about blues! More specifically, I’m writing about the gear used to make the music. Just got picked up to do some freelance work for the web site American Blues Scene, and I’ll be doing a weekly column for them for the foreseeable future. I haven’t talked about it much here, but in addition to all the sculpture and writing stuff I’m also a big fan of blues and I play in a band as my “other job.” This work brings together several of my skills. The first column just went up this past week, a little piece about the Fender Telecaster, the first mass-produced solid body electric guitar. I rather like it. Check it out and drop a comment there if you like.

Moving forward

I’ve taken some significant steps forward in the RBS construction. The marble lift presented me with many challenges for a few weeks. I’d never built one before, save one uncompleted attempt several years ago, so there was a lot to learn. Not all of it was fun, and there was some backtracking involved, but all problems or issues have been overcome, and it is functioning well now. The whole experience has been a great example of how there are some things you’re only going to learn by doing them. I’ve read a lot about RBS construction, but research only goes so far. Sooner or later you have to light the torch or grab the pliers and just do the work.

Below are some pics of the final stages of lift construction plus one of the track elements that I just built. Actual track production is underway now, and I’ll be bringing you photos of it soon! Some of the pics below have further explanations about them (particularly the “problem” ones), so you can check that out if you like.

More on latest commission – chain lift

I’ve been hard at work on the new piece, and after a lot of steps forward and back it looks like things are headed more forward than reverse. This piece will incorporate a motorized chain lift to take the marbles from the bottom or end of the track back up to the top where they will start their descent all over again. This is the first motorized lift of its type that I’ve done, so there’s a fair learning curve involved. I’m happy to say things seem to be shaping up rather well at this point. The pics below show a few of the steps involved in putting creating the lift. There is still more work to do, but trial fitment of the currently completed parts is good. I hope to fab up a motor mount tomorrow and probably start on making the hooks that will be welded to the chain to carry the marbles. As with the previous gallery photos, you can click on them to see a bigger image and learn a little more than just what is written in the caption.

Busy, busy – New commission!

I’ve been working on a new commission for a rolling ball sculpture. I’m very excited about this one. It will be my first large(r) sized steel piece built for someone else. I’ve done one other as a sort of test bed and learning exercise, and that one sits around and gets played with my friends and relatives. This one, once I’m done with it, it’s gone from my abode and off to a living room elsewhere in the city.

I have had to do a lot of work just to, well, do the work! This piece is going to be wall-mounted, so it was necessary for me to construct a “wall” in the basement from which to hang the piece and construct it. This necessitated all kinds of moving, cleaning, some mild destruction, electrical wiring and general hardware work. Things are moving forward now, and I wanted to toss up a few pics for those who have asked about its progress. It will be a rectangle frame roughly 4′x3′ with a motor-driven chain lift (sweet!) and it will use 1″ marbles. The whole thing will be made of plain steel. Other specifics will evolve as the project continues. If I did this right you should be able to click the photos and get some more info on them aside from just the captions.

New Photo Gallery

It was time long ago for a photo gallery of my RBS work, but I suppose I hadn’t realized it. To amend that, I have put together a collection of my copper work. Just click above where it says “Rolling Ball” and you can feast your eyes on a number of my pieces all in one location. Now you don’t have to click all over the place just to find a few pics. You’re welcome.

First paid publication! Huzzah!

In the midst of some not-so-great stuff happening (more on that in another post – totally going to ignore it for now), I have had one definitely awesome thing happen. As of today I am a physically verifiable paid and published fiction author! Sweet!

Now, this has all been in the works for quite some time, but I never mentioned much of it. I sent my story “Scratch” out in early July to an Indiana horror authors anthology. No dice, as it needed to be more toward the R- or NC-17-rated end of the scale. I sent it to another publisher shortly thereafter, RuneWright, to their “Best Served Cold” anthology, which was focusing on the idea of vengeance, which my story seemed to fit. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to get an acceptance in August. I was very happy about that, but as acceptance by no means guarantees publication (and I’ve had the personal experience of a deal falling through in the past), I didn’t think it was quite time to start celebrating just yet.

On November 17th I got paid real money (five dollah!) for the story. I thought this was pretty awesome, not for the amount, but for the intent shown by the publisher and editor. Still, I remain overly cautious about these things. I’ve heard to many tales of disappointment. So even while I was rolling in cash and buying all the gumballs I could get with my five dollars, I was still hesitant to say anything. Part of this was due to the fact that the anthology had been scheduled to be released in August, and November is clearly not August. I was afraid I’d just keep hanging it out there for you guys, and then having to pull it back, and that’s only entertaining for about maybe one second, two tops. I do understand that small presses are often understaffed (to the tune of a single person handling all duties), making setbacks the norm. I just didn’t want to drag things out on the ol’ blog here.

I was further encouraged when I received an email at the end of November telling me my contributor copy was on its way. (Note: It’s a nice deal to get both payment and the contributor copy, as if you don’t, you pretty much wind up spending your little payment on your own copy of the book, which sort of means you didn’t really get paid, because the book usually costs as much or more than your payment, but I digress.) Still being incredibly wary (I’d waited a year for an accepted piece to be published whereupon the anthology wound up being canceled. I have my reasons for wariness!) I kept my mouth shut and waited. Today was a day of days, however, and it was with much glee that I went to my front door this afternoon, peeked through the blinds, and saw a book-shaped cardboard box sitting on my porch. I hurried out there, swiped it off the porch, brought it inside, ripped the tape off it, and here’s what I have:

And so, kids, it has come to pass that I, Tom Harold, can now honestly say that I am a paid, published fiction author. After a year of putting the word “pending” near those other words, it’s nice to be able to lay that to rest. Awesome!

Naturally, I am going to offer you the ability to purchase this sweet affirmation of my efforts. Follow the nifty link above or right here to navigate over to RuneWright and order a copy in either digital or traditional print format. I have not had a chance yet to read the other stories, but I am looking forward to seeing what else is in store.

Writing, Rejection, NaNoWriMo

You know its been boring around the life/office when you get a rejection notice and it almost kind of makes you excited. Like, “Oh, look! I have something in my ‘Submissions’ email folder! Who has sent me a thing?!” Then it turns out to be a rejection, and it’s been so long since any publisher has sent you any communication of any sort, that you’re almost kind of happy to get a “Not interested.”

On the other hand, it is a rejection, and it’s actually from a place that I thought would be pretty open to it. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong here, but I’m doing a bang-up job of it! (Remember, Tom, James Lee Burke got rejected eleventy-billion times for a novel that was later not only published, but nominated for a Pulitzer! This obviously means you are RIGHT NOW writing Pulitzer material!)

Pardon the disillusionment, there. Anyway, it has been extremely hard to write lately, especially painful because this month is November which means NaNoWriMo which means it should be full of fun and literary abandon, which I’ve practiced well for three years…yet this year is falling flat. I’d rather do almost anything rather than write right now, which makes me feel terrible, because what I’d really like to do is, well, write! It’s just that every word feels forced and lifeless. If this were a play, you’d walk out on it.

Still, man, there’s nothing to be gained by quitting. Nothing. Well, I’d have extra free time, but you know what I’d want to do with it? Write. (Hello, Joseph Heller, and thank you for that Catch-22.)

Honestly, I just wish I had a few decent new short stories completed to send out. And there are quite a few out to publishers with looooong response times, and I wish they’d be more mindful of MY schedule and get back to me within a reasonable timeline, which means in a lot less than 6-9 months. Oh well, what do I have to do but wait?

How it goes sometimes

On August 25th 2010 I was very happy to receive an email that let me know one of my stories had been selected for a small press horror anthology. This was my second story to be accepted, the first having happened only a couple of months prior. It carried a bit more weight, however, because I was going to be paid for this one. I had purposefully sent the first story to a market that I knew had a high acceptance rate in an attempt to finally get over the hump and have something published. This time around I’d submitted to a tougher market, and I was pleased with my success.

A little over two months following that email I received a contract for the story. I happily signed it and sent it back. I did not with some humor that the contract stated the publisher now had rights to my story that could be exercised for up to one full year following the date of the contract. I remember thinking “Man, I sure hope it doesn’t take THAT long for them to get it into print!”

I was aware that things don’t always go smoothly or quickly in the publishing world, so I didn’t think too much about any sort of deadline that might come and go for the anthology’s planned release date. I believe I checked in on the publisher’s web site a handful of times, but for the most part forgot about it in the midst of whatever else was going on in my life at the time. It wasn’t until around March or April of 2011 that I got really curious again and did some checking to see what was going on. I found out the publisher had taken ill (it was basically a one-man show), and everything had been on hold for a while until he recovered. I was understanding of the situation and hoped that the publisher would recover fully. I continued to wait, and eventually turned my efforts to writing a batch of other short stories and submitting those to various markets.

Time has gone on, and as the one year mark has come round, I have, naturally, been hoping that this might mean a publishing date would be declared. I had seen on the publisher’s forum that publication was promised for all anthologies at some point in the not too distant future, that they were hoping for something before 2012 arrived.

Yesterday I was doing some random searches on other horror writer’s boards, and I saw one related to the publisher who had my story. I clicked the link and found out that the publisher had finally had to come to grips with the struggling economy and was canceling almost all planned anthologies, mine being one of the ones not making the cut.

So, here we are. It’s been over a year since I got my acceptance email, and nearly a full year since I signed the contract. These things happen, and I hold the publisher no grudge. I believe he had nothing but the best of intentions, and I wish his press continued success with the remainder of the work he is continuing. It is a fine community, and I won’t be removing myself from their message boards or anything like that. However, I now have my one accepted story turned loose again.

I guess this is the way of things. I think anyone who ever has submitted more than a handful of stories (maybe even just two or three) has a story like mine. I just got an email the other day from another writer who is in a worse situation in that the publisher who accepted her story has apparently folded the publication without any notice to accepted writers. She already signed the contract, so her story is still bound to the publisher, but she can’t locate the publisher anywhere on the interwebs, so now she has a saleable story that’s tied up for something like another six to nine months until the contract expires. It’s more than likely the publisher will not pop up in those intervening months and suddenly publish her work, so she just has to wait it out until she can submit it again. I guess I can count myself a little lucky for my own set of circumstances.

It is at this point that I check back on another accepted story of mine that is going into an anthology with a release date of August 2011. Yep, it’s nearly November, and the anthology is still listed as “in production” on the publisher’s web site. Again, I understand with small publishers that things happen, and they are not just working on my little anthology, but rather holding it as an addition to their other points of business. Still, I’m getting a not-great feeling from this. I joked to a friend the other day that I would be a writer who was destined to have stories accepted but never published anywhere. I guess we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, more stories need to be written and submitted. Some day or other this work has to start paying off, and it stands a better chance of happening if I keep at it.