The Den

SKP 2023: Brushfire

July 1st, 2023

Happy July, squirrels!

This month is (and in my heart always will be) Brushfire month. Not only will we be spending some sweet time spilling tea on the wildlife of the Burrow, but Wave 2 officially drops in just a few days (July 4th, 2023!).

If you don’t know the mission statement by now: “Brushfire exists to reveal and respect the truths of the universe, and to protect and provide for all of its inhabitants.”

That mission statement may be too much for any one animal to live up to.

Brushfire is an advanced society of wildlife who live in the Burrow, a sprawling subterranean city built deep under Faribault’s Central Park.

Squirrels Bay and Elle, along with Elle’s brothers Dur and Donnie and new mouse recruit Erwin, are members of FLARE: Fair Leaders in Action, Relief, and Exploration.

In Wave 1, we were introduced to a group of elite scientists called the Ekpyrotic Ensemble, who were lost overnight while trying to tap into a vast source of mysterious power, which may come from another universe, called the Flip Side by the Ensemble.

In Wave 2, FLARE visits River Bend, a forest community on the edge of town, to ask their leader Estelle for permission to take a power source that could reopen the doorway to the Flip Side and possibly bring the Ekpyrotic Ensemble home.

All July, we’ll be toasting s’mores and talking Brushfire: sources of inspiration, its deep roots and surprising growth and the way it’s blossomed into a three-plus-year passion project for me.

The only person who would put this much of themselves into a talking squirrel book is a boy who is certainly nuts.

Cold World: Building a house you can live in as is, with doors and stairways to expand up, down, or sideways

June 30th, 2023

Everything about Cold World was, for me, too big to contain in one story — whether I ever decide to write any of those other stories or not.

I knew that I wanted to tell a complete, specific tale: this chapter of Calef’s life as he explores the power of understanding, through his permanent grief and his hard-earned honesty and his relationships with his family.

But I knew there was so much more.

So, as I tell people who ask me more about Cold World, I designed it to be expanded, but not in one particular direction. No, Cold World can go up, down, and sideways.

Up: Without spoiling the end, it concludes in an open way that could easily be explored going forward. That’s not to say things aren’t wrapped up; it’s just a fact of life that things don’t ever really end, and the false endings we do get are rarely satisfying. For a hint of what that story could be: I would love to see some of our Earth characters visit Flora.

Down: I have a story outline written about the asteroid hunting team eighty years in the past who managed to save the entire planet while also dooming it to its permanent winter. Fun fact: Oscar’s mother was part of that team.

Sideways: I have made no secret of my love for The Loner, an eccentric character who briefly falls into the story to help Calef survive the Neo Atheists and disappears just as suddenly. A book about where she was before, during, and after her time in Cold World is really intriguing to me.

Will any of these other stories ever surface? I don’t know.

All I know is that Cold World is an extremely important book to me; as a writer, yes, but especially as a person and an artist.

It allowed me to get everything I was thinking and feeling on a page when I was thinking and feeling a lot, too much, and it felt more like creating a painting with science-fiction than writing down words.

It is my longest book, and it is the book where the biggest, most frequent complaint I receive about it is: it isn’t long enough.

Maybe those critics are right.

Maybe there’s more Cold World to explore.

Pre-Order Brushfire: Wave 2 Now!

June 29th, 2023

Hey, all!

I shared a video yesterday with a nut-ton of updates on Brushfire, so check it out if you haven’t already; less than a week until Brushfire is out digitally, and you can pre-order it on Amazon now!

(Check out that new-and-improved [a term that actually makes sense here] cover!)

The oversized paperback and hardcover Amazon editions will be available to order soon, as well, and the official graphic novels are in production and will be sent out to supporters in July, hopefully on or shortly after the July 4th release date!

On top of all that, I’ll have both Waves available to read FOR FREE on my website on the 4th, so you can scroll while sucking on chili dogs and Crystal Pepsi.

Now here’s the official description of Wave 2 if you want a peek at what’s in store for Bay and the rest of the FLARE:

“Brushfire exists to reveal and respect the truths of the universe, and to protect and provide for all of its inhabitants.”

The mission statement may be too much for any one animal to live up to.

Brushfire is an advanced society of wildlife who live in the Burrow, a sprawling subterranean city built deep under Faribault’s Central Park.

Squirrels Bay and Elle, along with Elle’s brothers Dur and Donnie and new mouse recruit Erwin, are members of FLARE: Fair Leaders in Action, Relief, and Exploration. To be a part of FLARE is to be the best of what Brushfire represents, and they are respected and admired throughout the community for their work, their honesty, and their bravery.

In Wave 1, we were introduced to a group of elite scientists called the Ekpyrotic Ensemble, who were lost overnight while trying to tap into a vast source of mysterious power. In the present, a strange visitor lit a spark under the FLARE team to revisit that tragic event, as they discovered there was more to that power than even they knew: the energy may come from another universe, called the Flip Side by the Ensemble.

The complicated and fractured relationship between the two communities, however, may not be so easily repaired.

Brushfire is from the mind of acclaimed Minnesota writer and artist Dennis Vogen, creator of beloved books like Cold World, Theia, and graphic novel series The Weirdos.

(I wrote that last part so take “acclaimed” and “beloved” with the most giant grain of salt.)

Brushfire In Production!

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8e8fG3y/

June 27th, 2023

Hey, squirrels! I have a mouthful of Brushfire updates, so I found a secluded bench in the wilderness and made you a video.

If you’re a busy bee, here’s a checklist of what I go over:

✔️ Brushfire: Wave 2 is in production today! The paperback graphic novels will arrive and be shipped out in July; I’ll keep you updated on their movement.

✔️ I added another perk to the Collector’s Set: a brand new mini-poster, with the original artwork going to one of the biggest supporters of our Kickstarter campaign.

✔️ If you’re a Kickstarter supporter, feel free to send me a message to recieve free PDFs to read Wave 1 and Wave 2 on your digital devices!

✔️ Both Waves will be free to read on my website on July 4th!

✔️ Speaking of July 4th: Brushfire: Wave 2 will be officially available then! One week from today!

Then I talk about the process of this and how challenging it’s been, even 11 books in; children’s books are funny in that they take a long time. I just want to get it right, and I feel I have.

When you pick up a comic, you’ll see a whole team of creators in its credits: writer(s), artist(s), colorist, letterer, editor, publisher. I wear all those hats and sometimes my head gets heavy; I never sacrifice quality or my vision in these, and I sincerely think that when I’m dead and gone, the Brushfire series will be among my strongest work.

Kind of silly to put so much of myself into these talking squirrel books, but here we are.

Thank you. All my love. Hang in there this week.

Cold World: Creating the (Snow) Cover

June 26th, 2023

My writing life has been a mostly lonely one.

I’ve written about my longing for more collaboration before (and my lack of true mentorship); an unfortunate personal lesson I’ve duly taken to my tiny, black heart is, at the end of the day, I am the only person I can rely on to get the work done.

That’s why creating the Cold World cover was such a fresh breath of cool air.

I had the vision: I wanted my book to look like it was encased in a block of ice.

It started with a simple request: I asked my good friend Steven to take a few photos of that aforementioned frozen water in his neighborhood. Whenever possible, I want to own whatever it is I do; using stock photos or art or footage or music is fine, but I would rather have something original.

He took some great shots, and I made a mock-up of the cover. I sent it to him.

“Cool,” he said, “but it would look cooler if the title was buried in the ice.”

(I’m paraphrasing him but he should get credit for the pun.)

He was right. And instead of just giving that suggestion, he did the work and sent back a new cover, close to the one that you know (and I love) today.

It went through a few subtle changes back and forth between us, but it was a fun exchange, and he highly elevated my solid idea. I have used other’s photos for covers (or cover inspiration) before, but this was the first time I really collaborated on a design, and it’s one of my favorites.

And he and I are still friends, which is further proof that I can collaborate and I’m not some kind of creative monster who’s a terrible control freak or anything and will people please ask to work with me please?!

Maybe my absolute lack of chill is the problem.

Untitled

June 25th, 2023

Seeing people so unabashedly, recklessly happy has filled my insides.

I would love to do something weird and thank everyone who went to Twin Cities Pride and Taylor Swift this weekend.

Through the magic of being human, your joy has been a highlight of my summer; you are all a Bomb Pop in my hand on an unbearably hot day.

This week, I’ve seen friends in different places on paths to getting better. I’m proud of them.

And tonight I learned my friend died.

I know how to deal with this. I have half a decade of knowing better.

I don’t know how to deal with this. When my heart breaks it always breaks like it’s the first time.

I alternate between being rational, a state I achieve using tools I had to work hard to get, and being irrational, my natural state. My rational state is progress; my irrational self is death left unchecked.

I’m sad, but I also got to feel so much happiness for so many people this weekend, and if that isn’t fucking living, then I don’t know what is.

Cold World: Communication & Understanding

June 20th, 2023

I was working at my first adult serving job when a woman sat down in my section and radically changed my perspective on people.

Applebee’s was the catalyst for this revelation.

See, I worked at Chili’s. And this woman wanted — nay, was compelled — to tell me about a terrible restaurant experience she just had… at Applebee’s, the place across the street.

She talked and she talked (holy shit, she talked) and I listened, though I was confused and, eventually, upset. Why was she telling me a story that had nothing to do with my restaurant, that had nothing to do with me, that wasn’t a thing we could (or should be expected to) fix?

I was bad at being a young person. By that, I mean I think I was a regular young person. At least a normal young man. I learned slow, when I decided to learn anything at all.

But something about this interaction made me want to think hard on it. So I did. I tried to sit in her booth and be her, figure out my motives for telling this boy at Chili’s about the terrible time I had somewhere else.

And I got there.

She just wanted to be understood.

I think that when she tried to tell her story at Applebee’s, she didn’t feel heard. And maybe she told friends or family and, still, she didn’t feel as though they really understood the trauma she had endured at her friendly neighborhood bar and grill.

When she left, she thanked me for really listening. She actually told me she knew it didn’t make sense, but she felt better after sharing with me.

People want to be heard, sure, but what people really want is to be understood.

And that is what Cold World is about.

Beyond the ideas of science-fiction and loss and grief and faith and spirituality that I’ve already touched on, Cold World is a story about the ultimate power: understanding.

The internet didn’t create us; it’s just an amplifier. And we made it about me.

Look at me, see me, listen to me, read me, want me, follow me, me, me, me, me, me.

We are very good at me. But the reason we feel so lonely while simultaneously so interconnected is because we mostly feel seen and heard, but not understood.

You can have the attention of millions of people, a whole world; but when someone, a single person, truly understands you, your whole world changes.

Calef argues that understanding is true power, and he and I couldn’t agree more.

I’ve known that since the day I thought too hard about an Applebee’s whilst standing in a Chili’s.

Happy Release Day to Mad Uncle McGillicuddy!

June 17th, 2023

I am beyond thrilled to be able to wish my pal Shaun Thibodeau a very happy Book Release Day today!

I am so proud of him and what he’s accomplished with his debut; he’s one of the kindest dudes I know, which makes complimenting him as an immensely talented writer so easy.

He has been talking about this story for a long time (sometimes through late night messages!) and we are lucky he never gave up his dream of telling it; the literary world is a better place with Shaun in it.

I love seeing friends do big things.

If you want to celebrate with him tonight and you’re in the Faribault area, stop by the Elk’s Lodge (formally Grampa Al’s) downtown. He’ll be there all evening with stacks of his debut, Mad Uncle McGillicuddy, Secret Imagination Explorer, an all-ages tale about the Franklin family and a mysterious mansion they inherit.

Again, he’s the best, tell him I sent you, pick up a wonderful local book, and be sure to check out his social media, under his pseudonym, S. F. Tibbs.

Cold World: Faith & Spirituality

June 16th, 2023

“It’s not that I don’t believe in anything. I just haven’t found the thing that makes sense to me yet.”

That’s how I usually answer the question of whether I’m religious or believe in God.

The formal term is agnostic; I learned that the difference between being agnostic or atheist is that atheists know for a fact that there is no God, and agnostics aren’t so sure. About anything, really.

I’m spiritual. Shit gets real weird here. I am open to learning about different ways to be in this world.

It’s a difficult but necessary space to live in. Religious and non-religious people alike need us. I know people who have fallen to deep extremes on either end, and those people don’t usually come back; they often wage war against those they believe are against them, and this is more regularly leading to one-man armies.

That’s where the two major groups in Cold World came from: the Knights of Christianity, founded and funded by billionaire Jonah Mesh, are the settlers of a brand new world, Flora, and on one side of the scale; the Neo Atheists, who will kill you for just saying that you have faith, are weighing down the other.

And Calef, just like me, is balancing right in the middle.

I mentioned in the last essay that I sometimes have a hard time talking to religious people about my loss and grief. The tools they use to deal with their pain don’t fit in my hands; my body just isn’t designed to hold them and they don’t work right for me.

The Earth in Cold World, the frozen land of reality, is where I live, too. After Calef’s mother died, his father and siblings left for Flora, leaving him here to get through his grief alone. There isn’t any wrongdoing; each member of the family did what they felt was right for their process.

In real life, I value the good that religion can give to my family and friends, and I am genuinely envious that it is not something that is available to me.

In fact, Calef doesn’t have a problem until people tell him that he, or the place where he lives, can be “saved.”

Same, dude. Same.

Without spoiling any more (please read my book!), Calef finds other sources of comfort, which are some of the same sources I tap daily to not only stay alive, but to create and light candles where there were none before.

There are countless ways to fight the dark.

None of them are wrong, as long as the light you’re emitting shines on everyone the same and hurts no one.

I haven’t found the thing that makes sense to me yet.

But I keep following sources of light in the small chance that I’ll stumble and fall into it, diving towards hope with poor form and reckless abandon.

Cold World: Loss & Grief

June 14th, 2023

Cold World was the first time I explored the loss of my mom in fiction.

I do it here, on the internet, all the time. Your responses to that type of writing has ranged from “this is exactly how I feel, thank you for writing this” to “this makes me very uncomfortable,” and I am here to report that grief itself colors within that spectrum of feelings, too, and sometimes well beyond those lines.

The first line of Cold World is about death; the last line is about life.

Calef, our protagonist, isn’t religious and isn’t an atheist, either. From years of experience I can tell you that this is a bad place from which to experience loss.

I can’t personally say that my mom went to heaven and I can’t bring myself to say that she just isn’t anything at all, so I spend most days trying to find a place where her and I can exist.

It’s exhausting.

I trudge through the snow anyway.

The worst part of this spiritual in-between is that there aren’t many people who talk about it specifically, so walking here is lonely work, and that’s why I wrote a book about it.

In Cold World, the ever-winter Earth is where I feel like I am, in some kind of perpetual grief season, and Flora is where the religious people are, the place they escape to when our world becomes a difficult place to live.

Sure, it’s metaphor, but when I try to talk to people who have God about my loss, it’s like talking to aliens from another planet sometimes, and there is something lost in translation.

Calef and I believe that true power comes from understanding, and he and I do everything we can to learn the language of faith, to tread on common ground, to find just one thread that connects us to everybody else.

It’s a lost art.

And Cold World is my art made of loss.