WHAT THIS PATREON THING IS ABOUT:
In March of 2021, shortly after the series finale of “Clay Tablets with Grant Peeples” (my monthly YouTube broadcast), I started writing a book. And if you have been excited, encouraged, or mildly interested in my past creative endeavors. I hope you’ll take a look at being a part of this next ... chapter ... of my creative life.
The Patreon page is about helping me get that book written. Like “Clay Tablets,” it is a twelve-month project, so I will unplug and shut the project down in July of 2022. I am asking for twelve months of support from that core of friends/fans/followers who have been there for me in the past, buying records, poetry books and artwork, putting on and attending concerts, and watching my broadcasts of Clay Tablets. These are the people that 'get me,' and that share my curiosity.
HOW IT WORKS:
During this twelve-month period of writing the long-form book, I will also be writing and publishing a monthly short story, exclusively on my Patreon page. These twelve stories are the meat of this project. Yes, we ARE talking about TWO books here: a collection of short stories, and the long-form book, too. Essentially, I am writing and sharing the monthly short stories as a way to fund the writing of the long-form book.
My Patrons will receive a digital document of each short story, and an audio version will also be available. They will be invited to participate in a monthly Zoom session to give critical feedback on the story. At the end of the year, many (according to what level of support you choose) will receive a signed copy of the collection of short stories (published by Mezcalita Press), and be listed as a producer in the credits. (It’s probably going to be 2023 before the other, longer book gets published.)
Most importantly, I’LL BE SHIFTING THE LOADING DOCK OF MY SOCIAL MEDIA LIFE FROM FACEBOOK TO PATREON. Patrons will have exclusive access to all to this personal and creative content---stories, songs, poems, pictures, videos -- until July of 2022. Writing is a very submerging enterprise. And I am tightening the circle of my on-line life as I go under. And my hope is that you will consider going there with me. This Patreon page will be the portal to my interior life over the next twelve months, in very much the same way that Clay Tablets was.
WHAT THE LONG-FORM BOOK IS ABOUT:
Only a week before that final broadcast of Clay Tablets, I laced up a pair of well-worn shoes on the bank of the St. Marks River and started trotting northward toward Tallahassee. My original plan had been to run the Tallahassee Marathon, which was to take place on February 7. But when the race was cancelled due to Covid, I decided to design my own course and run my own private marathon. Just me. At the time I didn’t really grasp that the run was my physical response to the stoppage of my life by Covid. (Clay Tablets had been my creative/spiritual response.) In that wash of uncertainty I could at least keep moving. I could do that. I could run. Dammit.
As I planned and trained and prepared for my long run, as I trotted through familiar woods and neighborhoods, down sidewalks, railroad tracks and city streets, past buildings and businesses, through parks, cemeteries and even vacant lots, I began to re-see a world I had known all my life. Moreover, I was aware that there was much I had never really seen, but that had been there all along.
A prisoner, upon returning to the neighborhood of his youth, probably experiences something similar: a sense of wonder and renewed interest in the quotidian landscape that had long been the backdrop of his life. Precise recollections and puzzling questions began to ride into my inner life on the same horse. And I began writing about people, places, things, and memories that occurred along my route.
The book is thus something of a memoir (though expressly unsentimental or nostalgic), and something of a travel book, in that I only write about things in the immediate path of the 26 mile run. It is also something of a history book and something, still, of a running book.
Chapters include a story about Andrew Jackson’s capture of St. Mark’s in 1821, and the summary executions he ordered; a story about Kent's Lounge, where I took my first drink; a story about Leon High School where, in 1971, I watched a violent episode in the school’s history unfold from a third floor window of the school; a story about the Episcopal Church where my parents were married and I was baptized, and whose homophobic priest split off from the church in 2005, built a twelve million dollar cathedral north of town, and then was defrocked amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment---from men. There are stories, too, about my ancestors in the graveyards I run by, and they are, unfortunately, not all favorable.
THE SHORT STORIES:
As for the short stories, the themes and subjects will vary, but the 'music life' will factor in prominently.
ANOTHER OPTION:
Most importantly -- I want you to know that you can cancel your Patreon membership at any time. Even if you only do it for one month. But, I know that some folks just don't wanna have to go through signing up and giving their credit card number and being all 'monthly.' Maybe you would just like to toss a couple of bucks in the tip jar (as it were), and call it a day. If you wanna do that, just write to me at grant@grantpeeples.com, and I'll shoot you about a half- dozen different ways to do it.
RECAP of what you will receive with your membership in my Patreon project:
•My undying gratitude
•A copy of a new short story every month, plus an audio recording of me reading it (according to your level of support.)
•The opportunity to participate in my monthly live Zoom sessions, in which we discuss the short story of the month, and I get valuable, critical feedback from you.
•Access to my Patreon page, which will include updates on the work, videos, poetry, writing songs, garden news, excerpts from the long book and other stories and projects, and more. The Patreon page (NOT FaceBook), will be my primary way of connecting with friends, fans, and followers over the next 12 months.
•Most patrons will receive a signed copy of the published book of 12 short stories at the end of the 12-month period, (depending on the level you sign up for.)
*THIS IS NOT A 12-MONTH COMMITMENT! YOU CAN EASILY WITHDRAW AT ANY TIME.
APPRECIATION:
I remain amazed and humbled at the little cadre of faithful folks that continue to gather around this 'thang' that I'm doing.
Join at www.patreon.com/grantpeeples
In March of 2021, shortly after the series finale of “Clay Tablets with Grant Peeples” (my monthly YouTube broadcast), I started writing a book. And if you have been excited, encouraged, or mildly interested in my past creative endeavors. I hope you’ll take a look at being a part of this next ... chapter ... of my creative life.
The Patreon page is about helping me get that book written. Like “Clay Tablets,” it is a twelve-month project, so I will unplug and shut the project down in July of 2022. I am asking for twelve months of support from that core of friends/fans/followers who have been there for me in the past, buying records, poetry books and artwork, putting on and attending concerts, and watching my broadcasts of Clay Tablets. These are the people that 'get me,' and that share my curiosity.
HOW IT WORKS:
During this twelve-month period of writing the long-form book, I will also be writing and publishing a monthly short story, exclusively on my Patreon page. These twelve stories are the meat of this project. Yes, we ARE talking about TWO books here: a collection of short stories, and the long-form book, too. Essentially, I am writing and sharing the monthly short stories as a way to fund the writing of the long-form book.
My Patrons will receive a digital document of each short story, and an audio version will also be available. They will be invited to participate in a monthly Zoom session to give critical feedback on the story. At the end of the year, many (according to what level of support you choose) will receive a signed copy of the collection of short stories (published by Mezcalita Press), and be listed as a producer in the credits. (It’s probably going to be 2023 before the other, longer book gets published.)
Most importantly, I’LL BE SHIFTING THE LOADING DOCK OF MY SOCIAL MEDIA LIFE FROM FACEBOOK TO PATREON. Patrons will have exclusive access to all to this personal and creative content---stories, songs, poems, pictures, videos -- until July of 2022. Writing is a very submerging enterprise. And I am tightening the circle of my on-line life as I go under. And my hope is that you will consider going there with me. This Patreon page will be the portal to my interior life over the next twelve months, in very much the same way that Clay Tablets was.
WHAT THE LONG-FORM BOOK IS ABOUT:
Only a week before that final broadcast of Clay Tablets, I laced up a pair of well-worn shoes on the bank of the St. Marks River and started trotting northward toward Tallahassee. My original plan had been to run the Tallahassee Marathon, which was to take place on February 7. But when the race was cancelled due to Covid, I decided to design my own course and run my own private marathon. Just me. At the time I didn’t really grasp that the run was my physical response to the stoppage of my life by Covid. (Clay Tablets had been my creative/spiritual response.) In that wash of uncertainty I could at least keep moving. I could do that. I could run. Dammit.
As I planned and trained and prepared for my long run, as I trotted through familiar woods and neighborhoods, down sidewalks, railroad tracks and city streets, past buildings and businesses, through parks, cemeteries and even vacant lots, I began to re-see a world I had known all my life. Moreover, I was aware that there was much I had never really seen, but that had been there all along.
A prisoner, upon returning to the neighborhood of his youth, probably experiences something similar: a sense of wonder and renewed interest in the quotidian landscape that had long been the backdrop of his life. Precise recollections and puzzling questions began to ride into my inner life on the same horse. And I began writing about people, places, things, and memories that occurred along my route.
The book is thus something of a memoir (though expressly unsentimental or nostalgic), and something of a travel book, in that I only write about things in the immediate path of the 26 mile run. It is also something of a history book and something, still, of a running book.
Chapters include a story about Andrew Jackson’s capture of St. Mark’s in 1821, and the summary executions he ordered; a story about Kent's Lounge, where I took my first drink; a story about Leon High School where, in 1971, I watched a violent episode in the school’s history unfold from a third floor window of the school; a story about the Episcopal Church where my parents were married and I was baptized, and whose homophobic priest split off from the church in 2005, built a twelve million dollar cathedral north of town, and then was defrocked amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment---from men. There are stories, too, about my ancestors in the graveyards I run by, and they are, unfortunately, not all favorable.
THE SHORT STORIES:
As for the short stories, the themes and subjects will vary, but the 'music life' will factor in prominently.
ANOTHER OPTION:
Most importantly -- I want you to know that you can cancel your Patreon membership at any time. Even if you only do it for one month. But, I know that some folks just don't wanna have to go through signing up and giving their credit card number and being all 'monthly.' Maybe you would just like to toss a couple of bucks in the tip jar (as it were), and call it a day. If you wanna do that, just write to me at grant@grantpeeples.com, and I'll shoot you about a half- dozen different ways to do it.
RECAP of what you will receive with your membership in my Patreon project:
•My undying gratitude
•A copy of a new short story every month, plus an audio recording of me reading it (according to your level of support.)
•The opportunity to participate in my monthly live Zoom sessions, in which we discuss the short story of the month, and I get valuable, critical feedback from you.
•Access to my Patreon page, which will include updates on the work, videos, poetry, writing songs, garden news, excerpts from the long book and other stories and projects, and more. The Patreon page (NOT FaceBook), will be my primary way of connecting with friends, fans, and followers over the next 12 months.
•Most patrons will receive a signed copy of the published book of 12 short stories at the end of the 12-month period, (depending on the level you sign up for.)
*THIS IS NOT A 12-MONTH COMMITMENT! YOU CAN EASILY WITHDRAW AT ANY TIME.
APPRECIATION:
I remain amazed and humbled at the little cadre of faithful folks that continue to gather around this 'thang' that I'm doing.
Join at www.patreon.com/grantpeeples
