Patreon: Year One (Patreon)

 Since today is the one year anniversary of this endeavour, I thought I'd do a short State of the Union and see where we're at. Taking the plunge to start a Patreon was a big leap for me. I brushed off the idea for a couple of years, with this fear that nobody would join, and I'd be publicly announcing to the world my literal value as an artist of zero bucks a month.

 
 But I built it, and they came. More specifically, you did, consequently enabling me to write a bunch of weird shit, to the tune of roughly 170,000 words of content and a handful of short videos in the first 12 months. Having a Patreon is a pretty great motivator to just knuckle down and create stuff, and I effectively treat it like a full-time job (which I kinda had to, after committing to two content tiers).

 
 So, what's up for Year Two?

 
 Honestly, while it's been great to be able to tell the story of Men of the Loch, tying myself to a full-length novel, on top of all the other work, meant I couldn't be as varied with the output as I'd have liked, but with that in the bag, I'm going to be a bit freer and more able to experiment, so expect more variety, and hopefully random extra videos and shorter bonus pieces between the regular posts.

    
 As I wrote back when this all began, the more successful my Patreon, the more I'll be able tackle stuff outside the usual remit. For example, I really want to get into 'on location' non-fiction pieces. I've been dissecting televised ghost hunts, yet have never been on one for real. Ditto attending one of the many local psychic nights around here; where every second person in my town is a self-described medium. But that needs some kind of recording equipment/smartphone, and as such, more Patrons. We'll see.

   
 For now, things arriving in the coming months include pieces about drug television, more weird cartoon spin-offs and shitcoms, a series focussing on the cursed culture of the 90s, a novella, tons more short stories, and finally, the podcast, You Are Haunted. I'm hoping to launch the podcast around May/June, depending on how long it takes to amass the material, the finances of acquiring a decent mic, plus figuring out all the techy aspects. Hopefully, that'll also allow me to occasionally produce the kind of deep dives I've been doing as written work but in video form.

 
 I think the worst thing as a person, let alone as an artist (using that term lightly for someone who writes essays about Bobby Davro) is when it feels like you're shouting into the void, and nobody's listening. You, my sweet Patrons, have kept me from tumbling into that void, and there's not a day when I'm not wildly appreciative of your support.

 
 Alright, enough earnest real-talk, back to the cum jokes.

 
 Cheers.