God or Monster? - by Deborah Coffey

Hi,

All the way from Boston, a short story by Deborah Coffey for our project...
I love how each writer approached the theme from a different angle. It is going to be a great book. I can't wait to see the illustrations!
If anybody is up for it, please, let us know and illustrate this story...
:]
elida.
___

God or Monster?

Edward was a smart boy. As the third child of six he knew how to keep his head down and stay out of the spotlight. He did his homework without incident and even kept his youngest brother out from underfoot. Yes, Edward was a clever boy. He knew how not to get caught in the act of whatever neighborhood scheme he had arranged for the gang. This talent he had inherited from his father.

Edward was tall for his age, with light brown hair. Nerdy glasses slid down his unpresuming nose. There wasn’t much to do in his small town and so he passed the summer in the same way boys have always done in small towns everywhere. He wrestled with his brothers. He came up with elaborate plans designed to make his sisters cry. He caught insects and removed their wings. He set as many things as possible on fire. And he waited for the school year to begin.

Deborah Coffey

________

"Half-Life" by Niall O'Connor for Gods and Monsters of Tomorrow

Half-Life

Once upon a time, a young man asked his King for a spoonful of good earth on the first square of the King’s chess board, and two spoonfuls on the second, and double again on the third, and so on until the chessboard was completed. The King laughed at this foolishness, but eventually agreed. He ordered that it be so. After a day, his fearful overseer returned, and reported that it could not be done, and the King realised he had been fooled. He called the young man back into his presence, and apologised for his arrogance, while requesting that the young man stay in the palace, as his advisor. Their wisdom became famous, far and near, and it was with great sadness, after many years, his subjects learned that the King had passed away. In his place, his young son, was now to reign.

Some time later, the young King’s advisors were called together, so they could help decide on a great opportunity, that was being offered the Kingdom. They were to become the storehouse of the world’s nuclear waste, and would grow wealthy from the proceeds. The people would never be short of work, and never be hungry again.

The advisors told the young King that it was too dangerous, because this waste had a half life of 24,400 years or 12,000 human generations. As it decayed, uranium-235 would be generated. This had a half-life of 710,000 years. And so the young king became angry, because he thought he knew the rule of halves, and that all these advisors were trying to make him look stupid.

Finally, he dismissed them all, and had a great hole dug, where he put all the nuclear waste he could find. Then, he and his people waited for it to turn to gold. It never did, and all the people died, and the land also, in dying, was forever cursed.

Niall O'Connor

_________

Wanna illustrate this one?

A short story for Gods and Monsters of Tomorrow- who wants to illustrate this one?

Hi again,

The great Jane Burns, one of the writers volunteering at Fighting Words has written this story especially for us. Who wants to illustrate it? Please comment!

elida.

PS Emma, please, do post this on Facebook too... Thank you!

PS A few more stories to come. Pick your story, sharpen your pencils.
___________

A Song for William:

A message to my Great Grandson

Once upon a time in the very place where you now leave your footprints was a world with green trees and blue skies. Fresh water was everywhere and the world was safe haven. I barely knew this world for my arrival on this planet took place after man had discovered the atom bomb, the petrol driven car and nuclear energy.

Oh William, my distanced child I am afraid I made things worse. I was arrogant, I did not care for the earth beyond my time, I was too involved in the present, and at most only considered the near future. I did not truly believe the earth was dying. How could anyone have understood that, it would be like your mother dying while you grew in her womb, it does happen William but people do not dare to believe it.

We were too frightened to spend our money, the world was in economic crises, we were too frightened to plan for a future that in a second could be taken away by the callous acts of a terrorist. Oh William, we were too selfish to think of your tomorrow.

I hope for you, dear William that all the damage I have inflicted upon the earth, the disregard I had for nature that I left you something. Something so valuable that you alone can lift your heart, that you alone can achieve salvation. Oh William, dear William do you hear my song? My song of hope for a better world that belongs to you?

Take care of the earth, the life left within it, it is your turn now dear William to right the wrongs, to look to the future. Oh William, dear William dear you hear my song, my song of hope for a better world that belongs to you?

Jane Burns

_____________

A poem for Gods and Monsters of Tomorrow- who will illustrate it?

Hello!

Evelyn Walsh, one of the great writers volunteering at Fighting Words has offered us this poem to be illustrated by you, Tinderboxers, and published in our upcoming Gods and Monsters of Tomorrow.

If any of you is interested in illustrating it, please say so here!

Emma, please, would you post this over in facebook?

____________

His Ladder                                              

 

He always asked for a ladder

Year after year

A

six-

stepped

sturdy wooden

one,  if he had a ladder

he could look over the wall

to see the horses

Silly boy, they laughed

And gave him

A hurl

A ball

A gun

And once

An apple and an orange and

a thrupenny bit to buy a fistful

of gobstoppers.

He never got the ladder.

He never looked over the wall.

He never saw the horses.

He grew and grew

Sank and got stuck

At the bottom of a great big hole

He didn’t know

You don’t always need a ladder.

Evelyn Walsh

________

Fundraising for Gods and Monsters of Tomorrow

Meet Mr. Richie Smith,
proud sponsor of our upcoming publication Gods and Monsters of Tomorrow.
He asked me to do a portrait/caricature of him. In exchange, he will contribute with 5% of our printing budget of 500EUR. Mr. Richie Smith, thank you!

Gods and Monsters of Tomorrow - DEADLINE EXTENSION!

Very brief update on the zine 6,
Gods and Monsters of Tomorrow:

Deadline extension for all slow things, including editors.
Keep drawing and watch this space.

And many, many thanks to all those who already submitted! Great work.
More, soon.
:] elida (one of two slow editors)

Gods and Monsters of Tomorrow - sponsorship sheet

Hello!

Here you have a sponsorship sheet I made with Eoghan's help (thank you!). In it, a few ideas to shake your friends, family and dogs for a bit of funding for the next Tinderbox publication!

You can download it, print it and use it to get funding ideas, to track the money you collect and to show your friends you are not going to drink the money they give you but it is actually going towards printing a book!


Good luck and oh! it would be fantastic to see pictures and hear stories of those fun-ding events.
:]elida.

Tinderbox Zine 6 !!!!!!!!

Hi all

So myself (Emma R) and the wonderful Elida have been thinking of producing a Zine as both of us did not fancy going it alone we joined forces. We have been batting ideas back and forth on what we would like it to be. We both had the mind set that it would be produced to a specific brief; most zines till now have been an accompaniment to exhibitions. This zine of course will accompany future exhibitions but could also be sold in say places like the Winding Stair. Secondly we would invest more in its production and finish.

What we wish to do is a landscape sized, A5 format, colour printed and a cloth-covered spine. In order to achieve a finish of a high standard we would ask that those that wish to submit would pay for the pages they use. For instance I wish to use four pages and would be quite willing to contribute to what I use in order to get a high quality finish. Please check these links out as to what we aim for. Nobrow was something I looked and Elida at Cabanon Press. So you can see we both are on the same zine page (insert groan here).  

http://www.nobrow.net

http://www.nobrow.net/2355 please take a look at this Nobrow press book in particular. A bunch of creatives where ask to reinterred the beginning of time story. One choose a nordic folk tale, other's a spiritual approach, some scientific other where very tongue in cheek. So you can see that a theme can have many different approaches and styles.   

http://www.cabanonpress.com/

We are thinking about other forms of money raising/funding, with the aim that this will not be the only zine created. But a group contribution is what we are looking for, for this zine.

Ok! So, the evolution of theme. Elida and myself were both affected by a documentary called Into Eternity. (It’s about what to do with nuclear waste that has to be hidden for 100,000 years and thus the implications of this, it’s quite fascinating because language as we know it now may not be enough to warn future generations. 100,000 years is a looonnnggg time). Please see link below for a more in-depth look and explanation.  http://www.intoeternitythemovie.com/ Not knowing that each of us had seen it we pitched it to each other as something that spoke to different themes we both were exploring so it was quite serendipitous.

GODS AND MONSTERS

Subtitle: Monsters of tomorrow

Gods and Monsters, I know it’s a movie title but it has a ring to it. We can change it around.  I won’t go too in-dept into the themes myself and Elida talked about as regards our own work because I don’t want to limit your interpretations of what the title can mean to you guys. Maybe you see duality in this title, I was thinking we maybe need new fairy tales as warnings for new monsters, Elida was concerned with waste and its longevity. We hope that many things can be woven by your minds into this title. The links I hope will be of help. Leave your thoughts and intentions of interest here and Elida and myself will get building.

We were also thinking of inviting the fabulous writers of Fighting Words to collaborate with us once again, writing texts around the Gods and Monsters/Monsters of Tomorrow theme, that we could illustrate.

P.S. Deadline will follow soon.