Mill Avenue Vexations

Delay? What delay?

Vex Harrow — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:00:13 -0700

Guess what my peeps! Just as soon as I can get my cab -- or "chariot" as Gary calls it -- back from the garage I'm headed down to the printers to grab Volume 13 hot off the presses!

So, if you can find me or one of my benefactors on Mill Ave tonight there will be booklets to hand out.

The story of how all this started to go down is a sad one too. I've been stretched thin by work, a little bit of illness, and a bit of melancholy, but this has fortunately not gotten in the way of this print.

I may end up having only 2-3 new volumes this year due to these complications, and the arc looks like it has about 5 volumes left (including 13.) So keep an eye out.

Note, I still have more side stories to publish, specifically the Arsenal stories that might see the light of day in print form if people are interested, such as The Byzantium Outcast and The Holocaust Star but meanwhile I am pouring most of my energy into Black Hat Magick.

Delayed!?

Vex Harrow — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:57:56 -0700

I blame work stress.

I am posting this because volumes are supposed to come out during the middle of the month (before the 15th) and I haven't gotten it printed today, which means it'll miss this weekend...

Although, it will be printed before the 15th, but that's not the point.

However! ... How-evar, this should point out that it will indeed be available and in print next weekend.

Oh yeah, and ... I just got the box of comics. There are a very limited number. I am selling them personally (signed) $5 a piece. If you want one, contact me by whatever means necessary. Telepathy, magick circle, computer wizardry (e-mail), telephone phreakery. Whatever.

Keep it surreal!

Volume 13 cover design released

Vex Harrow — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:36:07 -0700

Front cover: (c) 2009 Wagner de Souza http://wandger.deviantart.com/
Back cover: (c) 2009 Lemming Exodus http://lemming-exodus.deviantart.com/

Alright. So, I am still waiting on the internal graphics, but once I have them I should be able to take this to print. This is my preliminary work on the cover that I've been fiddling with.

MILL AVENUE VEXATIONS Volume 13: Whispers in the Darkness

We've got some discussions to be had about what to do with Darlene, whatever oddities are going down in Phoenix and Tempe proper. And possibly some soul searching. So, I've got Patrick and Vex on the cover.

The back cover is some awesome artwork by my friend Lemmy, who I am crediting above. Go check her stuff out.

Buckle your seat-belts, everyone! The winter printing season is underway and we're in the final arc.

And remember, "Sometimes, you just have to shut up and drive."

Tags: wagner de souza

Mill Avenue Vexations review at Morbid Outlook

Vex Harrow — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:41:39 -0700

Everyone go give this wonderful person props and read the review entire over at Morbid Outlook. (Then come back and say, "Hi, I read it!")

Don’t get the wrong impression, now. Mill Avenue Vexations is a fun work of fiction set in Arizona. It revolves around Vex Harrow, a Goth cab driver who uses magick to help others, particularly those who foolishly messed around with some magick book they found and had the bad luck of finding an authentic text.

She goes on plenty of side quests, interacting with individuals including a love interest, but Vex’s roundabout plot orbit consistently brings her back to the case of a crooked elder sigil, a bunch of students who thought they were performing a ceremony to improve their grades, and the weird horrors they invited into the world.

Dylan Madeley from Morbid Outlook Magazine my hero.

Tags: morbid outlook review

New cover artwork to show off, Volume 13!

Vex Harrow — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:03:00 -0700

You heard it right. Volume 13 is underway and already has cover artwork. Here's a pair of sketches that demonstrate the progress. I haven't picked a proper title for it, and there's no lettering, but here we go.

Color version coming soon.

Yes, she's wearing her pentacle; and yes, Patrick does look a lot like a boyscout. I know.

Welcome readers from e-Fiction Book Club

Vex Harrow — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:49:58 -0700

Hails everyone from the wonderful website e-Fiction Book Club. There isn't much you need to know about finding this stories to read them, but I figured I'd direct people to where they might want to go.

The main arc starts with Volume 1 (the link skips the copyright page) and you can get a full index of volumes as well if you have left off somewhere. Also, there's a whole series of side stories available if you scroll down the index page. Side stories are outside of the main arc (such as Cranes, Lost Sphinx Cat, et cetera.)

I hope that everyone enjoys the stories as well as the artwork that goes into making the covers.

Artwork also includes the Seasons stories, which are excellent examples of some of the work done for the stories.

For those interested. This is the last publication year of the main arc and volumes 13 through 16 will be published across the next six months. They are still in the editing process and artwork is being commissioned. Volume 13 may be published as soon as October and as late as November if all goes according to plan.

And for my readers who actually read my entire posts I know you'll get a huge kick out of e-Fiction Book Club. They are a very good place to find more stuff to read, and good people.

Accidental Topic Deletion

Vex Harrow — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:04:11 -0700

I didn't even know this was possible, but I accidentally deleted the news post instead of the spam comment.

Meanwhile, I am looking into moving this entire shebang to Wordpress instead of phpBB because I don't really need a forum attached to this. The stories will stay intact as they are, but I'm thinking that separate feeds announcing releases and blog posts will be good.

Fate of new Dos Gringos on Mill Ave being decided

Vex Harrow — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:49:14 -0700

Business owners and builders will likely find out Tuesday night whether they are getting the green light when it comes to constructing a new Dos Gringos bar and restaurant on a vacant lot on Tempe's Mill Ave.

According to a Staff Summary Report for the Development and Review Commission in the City of Tempe, a request has been made for permits that would allow a Series 6 Bar and live entertainment at the facility, which would be constructed on the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and 7th Street.

According to city paperwork, the site was formerly occupied by Long Wong's and Cafe Boa in addition to other small commercial businesses before they were demolished in 2005.

With all of the missing space growing like weeds around the Ave, it’s good seeing places like this being put to good use. The vacant lot that used to hold Long Wong’s is an important position right across from the empty hulk that once was Borders—also, it holds some powerful sentimental value for the Ave itself, having once housed one of the best venues for all music on Mill.

Long Wong’s had been a fixture for many years before it’s removal by bulldozer, leaving behind an empty scar.

Link, via ABC15.com

Have a wonderful Lughnasadh

Vex Harrow — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:20:47 -0700

It's that time of year again, Lord Lugh bows with the golden rows of grain, and the harvest is coming in. Lugnasadh starts tonight and I hope everyone has a lovely time as we honor our ancestral heroes and Lugh himself and even Bridghid.

I for one would be looking forward to seeing Cuchulain—but I don’t usually get to talk to him except around Samhain at Concost.

Here’s a fun craft that people could get into this Lughnasadh: How to make a Bridghid corn dolly.

Tags: lammas pagan wiccan lugh bridghid

Relic raiders afoul of cultural taboos, 'Anasazi sickness'

Vex Harrow — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:51:12 -0700

Respect for the dead is a common community more; it crosses tribal boundaries and the death rituals of numerous cultures are vast and varied—as are the taboos against disturbing the remains of the dead. Entire professions crop up around the psychological distaste for death, the problem associated with death and dying, and the repercussions of having a body to “dispose” of.

Modern day Indiana Jones type tomb-raiding comes with its own problems, but it also highlights the cross-cultural boundaries of different nations. The presence of “Anasazi sickness” in the cultural unconscious of the 4 Corners region in the Navajo culture is a reflection of the distaste for disturbing sacred places.

“We aren't supposed to be digging up anything like that,” Navajo medicine man David Filfred says. “It's the people who lived before us, and how they lived. They had their traditions, which deserve respect.”

And disrespect for either human remains or the ancients' belongings brings deadly bad medicine. According to tribal lore, it can lead to bad luck, ill health, even death.
Filfred points to what many here on the Navajo Nation call the "Anasazi sickness" as a factor in the suicides of two men indicted last month on federal charges of illegally trafficking in ancient Puebloan, or Anasazi, artifacts.

“You'll get blacked out. Just faint,” he predicts for those who disturb the dead. “It will cause something like, you don't care. Seems like there's no hope.”

Other Four Corners cultures report similar spiritual repercussions or "bad energy" for artifact looters. Elders believe bones, pots, amulets and other items buried with the dead -- whether today's Navajos or yesterday's faded Puebloan cultures – harbor spirits. These spirits command a wide berth and sicken those who disturb them, Filfred says. The torment may be either physical or mental.

Outsiders may scoff, but believers ask the same deference that other religions command.

The article on the subject is vast and interesting.

Link, via The Salt Lake Tribune.

Tags: anasasi native american dead death burial sacred