Fuckin' Adorbs Part 2

[3 amazing zinesters. 3 amazing books. 1 question in 3 parts. ]

  

"From zines to novels – what made you leap off the deep end of writing & publish a book, what’s the book about & how can we get a copy?"

Kelly Dessaint

I think it’s a natural progression, especially when you have more to say than what can be contained in a small publication, regardless of how often you put out new issues. Lots of zinemakers, both past and present, have done books. I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. Certain material is more conducive to a smaller format, while some stories just need to be told on a grander scale. I knew I had to write A Masque of Infamy, which is a very personal story about when I was a teenager and had my father arrested for child abuse and ended up a ward of the state and put into a mental hospital. It’s a big story. Too big for a zine. I tried with “The Nasty Oh-Dear” (Piltdownlad #4) and the response was pretty unanimous: people wanted to know more. So a book was the logical progression. The tricky part of moving from a zine to a book, to me, anyway, is participating in this mainstream activity while maintaining DIY legitimacy. I mean, most zines I’ve done have been typewritten, photocopied and/or cut and paste numbers—handmade, essentially—so creating a book on a computer, sending digital files through the internet and having it printed digitally is a big leap. But lately I’ve started trading books with other people, and that’s really cool. I want to do more of that. I don’t want to have this thing that separates me from my roots in the DIY underground culture. I’m way more interested in connection over profit. So, even though the book is available through online bookstores and special order at independent bookstores (I have to admit, it is nice to be able to say my book is basically available anywhere books are sold), I’m always down for trades. Even if it’s zines for books. I prefer writing that isn’t commodified, so I don’t see any inequality in that kind of transaction. And I’ll continue to do Piltdownlad, without a doubt. I have a new issue (#6) currently in the works. My address is PO Box 867l4, LA, CA 9OO86. And I’m online, in all the social media hangouts, or kellydessaint.com.

Taryn Hipp

I've been making zines for so long that self-publishing just became a part of my life. I really never thought about having someone else publish my work but I did always think I would write a book, I just never knew what it would be a book about. I realized my writing was really focusing on my mental illness and addiction. I knew I wanted to write something about getting sober, something bigger than a zine. I wanted it to be a raw, honest look at how my life got to the point where I was waking up in a holding cell, handcuffed to the wall, with no memory of how I got there. That's when I decided I wanted to write a book. At the same time Sage Adderley of Sweet Candy Distro was thinking about starting a press, we sort of just decided we were going to do it together. I would write my book and she would publish it. I don't think I could have done this without her support, guidance, and love.

Heavy Hangs the Head is a memoir novella that I suppose is just as much as perfect-bound zine as it is a book. I started from the beginning and I just wrote about my life, for months. There are a few people in my life who are a little anxious at the idea of me sharing my story. I don't know if it's fear of being embarrassed of what I write about myself or worried I might write something about them but the truth is, my addiction almost destroyed my life and this book is proof that I didn't let it. It's not all doom and gloom though. There is a happy ending and some really beautiful memories inside the pages of Heavy Hangs the Head. It is a book about my life, which is consumed by mental illness, addiction, and a giant heart full of hope.

Heavy Hangs the Head comes out on August 22nd. I will be doing a reading at the Wooden Shoe in Philadelphia that night to celebrate the release. Pre-orders can be made at www.ladyteeth.com. The cover was designed by Lisa Congdon. Author photo by John Berry. The book is dedicated to my sister.

Sarah Rose

When I was in high school, I thought of myself as someone who was meant to be an author. After I graduated, relationships and work and other boring grown-up crap distracted me from that goal, but when pressed about what I really wanted to do, the answer was always the same. Write. 
But really, I’d never been in a situation with enough stability to write more than poems or the occasional zine. Everything about my life was fleeting and transitory. After I moved to Philadelphia, met my wife and settled into the slow burn of a passionately sustainable relationship, things changed. I was more involved with community based activism. I did more within the zine community. 
And I wrote a book. I sunk all of my time and energy into National Novel Writing Month last November. And I wrote down the story of my life. 
All of the mean, shitty stuff about sexual abuse, about my mom’s addiction, about poverty and coming out. And it was so exhausting and overwhelming that hard that at the end of November, I put the writing down for a while and put it out of my head. 
The book isn’t available for sale yet, but will be going to the printer at the end of July. After that, you can get it from Sweet Candy Press or from my website and etsy.