John Ira Thomas writes books for Candle Light Press. He's currently hard at work on the new TIRE. Visit the Candle Light Press site by clicking the link above.

It’s possible that the clown car status of Twitter made me wonder what to do if that went away (or turned into a ghost ship). I have a number of accounts and manage not to use any of them very much. In this case, the potential of fewer choices actually spurred me to come here and write this.

Updates: Issue #1 of LOST IN THE WOODS is very nearly complete. Will G and I are releasing it the same way we did LOST IN THE WASH—three issues and the collection instead of a fourth issue. It’ll be worth it. A little time has passed in Isco, but the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I just finished 5RAGMENTA, an expanded collection of the first five FRAGMENTA books. Some changes at our printer knocked a couple of them out of print, so I decided to take the first five out and replace them with this. It’s 316 (!) pages, hardcover. It’ll go for $50. The first five FRAGMENTA, while different from each other, represent a specific phase of that project. It started as a dare to the rest of Candle Light Press to make art books. Once that door was opened, though, a lot of other stuff came out.

Coming very soon is THE WORLD WEST, an anthology by me, with art by Will Beard, Jeremy Smith, and Will Grant. It’s four loosely connected stories about why there are no vampires in Texas. Price TBD, but it’ll be 8.5x11.

And, yes, I am writing a new (third) TIRE. I’m done pretending there’s an end to this. Making it delights me in every way, so prepare your souls and soul-carriers. There’s seeking to be done!

As to actually appearing in public, I’ll be at the Quad Con Cedar Rapids on Feb 5, 2023. You can come see all the stuff I’ve been making from quarantine onwards. I did man a table with Will G and Carter at the Van Meter Visitor Fest in September, and it was fun. I am so rusty with my table banter, though. Y’all gotta come in Feb and help me practice!

#candlelightpress

#TIRE

#QuadCon

And I’m back…

It’s always weird for me to write about process, so I usually steer the conversation to progress. In the last year I’ve written a script for the LOST IN THE WASH sequel, which is now being drawn by Will Grant.

I’ve also written one script for a podcast I want to try. I love movies, and I love recommending movies. It’s something I’ve done ever since my after-school job at the Video Vender back in Perryton, TX. Reviewing movies is a different type of writing, though the intent is the same. Recommending movies means taking what you know and what you think you know about someone and trying to find art that they’ll connect with. A podcast means recommending to people I don’t know, so we’ll see how that goes.

I’m currently eyeball-deep in creating the sequel to TIRE. It turned into a massive research effort (as does everything I write). But even when I find new articles or books to read, it’s the same old stuff. Plus I’m writing more ads, and that’s all this is about, really–just an excuse to write more ads.

Oh, I quite caffeine. Crazy, right? Almost 4 months off the stuff. I started drinking ginger teas and didn’t notice that I’d stopped drinking coffee. Turns out ginger is a good methadone for weaning off of caffeine.

More as it develops.

Mom’s appointment days are good for research. #tire2 (at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics)
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByktGBnHK2eUVx6fUcHQh3he6NBWv2WLkwYZp00/?igshid=4cdwlmtg9v02

Mom’s appointment days are good for research. #tire2 (at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics)
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByktGBnHK2eUVx6fUcHQh3he6NBWv2WLkwYZp00/?igshid=4cdwlmtg9v02

Just watched a guy in a Thor costume take a mantic journey through Megacontemplations, flipping pages and giving hot takes “This reminds me of 9/11, this reminds me of a bird, this reminds me of a cat.” It was like he was taking a Rorschach Test. (at...

Just watched a guy in a Thor costume take a mantic journey through Megacontemplations, flipping pages and giving hot takes “This reminds me of 9/11, this reminds me of a bird, this reminds me of a cat.” It was like he was taking a Rorschach Test. (at The Meadows Events & Conference Center)
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByNnnQSnGMUf0MBPkFO_KzMnuGwOWqtqxKVIyY0/?igshid=jxqofk1tbpti