Fire & Ice: Kickstarter For Brushfire & Cold World

February 18th, 2022

Ready or not, here come my two big projects of summer 2022!

This campaign to publish them — which I’ve cleverly titled Fire & Ice — is going to be running for the month of March, but Kickstarter approved it early; this means that if you’re one of those supportive nuts who loves to get their hands on my new work FIRST, you can start investing in the cause TODAY!

These posts will be limited as the campaign rolls on; I don’t want to spam you and you don’t want my spam.

But if you want to check out the sweet rewards for contributing to the publishing of Cold World and Brushfire while considering to do so yourself, I would be both humbled and grateful. These are two works that mean a heck of a lot to me, and I hope a lot of people get to read them.

This is just for those who have the means. Times are tight and tough. Don’t spend a cent you don’t have or that could go to something more important.

But if you do have some to spare, I would love to have you along for the ride.

Like my projects before, if this doesn’t get funded, I will still find a way to get them released. But the unfortunate odds likely mean it will be more severely limited in physical quantity, more expensive, and of a lower quality.

Like I said, I love this work and I want the best possible life for it.

I hope you’re all safe and well, staying warm, and here’s to a good campaign — and an awesome summer!

You can check it out here:

Never More Alive, Never Closer To Death

February 18th, 2022

I just finished writing Cold World.

It’s a whole story.

And it’s beautiful, and it’s funny, and it’s action-packed, and it’s heartbreaking. Some people live, and some people die.

It’s my love letter to the people who don’t know what to believe in, but they believe in it just the same.

Now I let it marinate for some weeks. Then I come back to it, edit it, add some details, omit the words that make me cringe.

And then you get to read it, and I can’t wait for that day.

More details on this and Brushfire in just over a week. I hope you’re hanging in there. All my love.

An Ode to the Rescue Rangers

February 16th, 2022

An Ode to the Rescue Rangers

If you’re following along, you may have seen me lose my mind over the new Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers trailer yesterday. In fact, I have been abnormally salivating since the project was first announced.

The original series was one of my absolute favorites growing up. I’ve been vocal that my all-ages graphic novel series Brushfire is heavily inspired by the block of television known and adored as the Disney Afternoon, but no show has more pawprints on my work (and my heart) like the Rescue Rangers.

I’ve thought a lot about why that is.

One of its inescapable influences on me is how it champions the underdog (or underchipmunk, undermouse and underfly). I got some of that from my superheroes, but people like Batman and Spider-Man have gadgets and powers; the Rangers are literally tiny wildlife who just had their smarts and each other.

Their willingness to help anyone and everyone gave us an ambitious goal for personal kindness. Their establishment of a found family is a paragon of inclusion and happiness.

And I’ve always related to Chip. Chip is bossy. I am… bossy is a nice way of saying it. (Anyone who has tried to sit next to me on game night has a good idea of who I am.) But I work on that every day. And it’s the Dales of my existence who remind me to not take it (or myself) so seriously.

Chip is also a model of how I live my life: you can’t just expect things to happen. You have to work towards them. You have to actually do them. And sometimes you have to lead, even on the days you don’t want to.

Nostalgia no doubt plays a factor, too. My mom and I bonded over everything Disney. Closed captioning was not a given back in our day; you’d have to buy a separate box for your TV, and not every show was captioned. You would be hard-pressed to find a theater that regularly projected captioned films.

The stories of Disney and its expressive characters were something we could always watch together and be able to follow along, regardless of whether or not they gave her the words.

Having Disney on TV at home was a dream and one we enjoyed together.

So, yeah. I’m really excited about this movie. The only thing I’m not thrilled with: look, I love meta storytelling. I really do. But to position Chip and Dale as actors who were on the Rescue Rangers TV show means that their adventures and relationships were not “real,” and that bums me out. But I haven’t seen the film. Unlike certain segments of the internet and general population, I like to consume my entertainment before I tell you how it tastes.

I’m just counting down the afternoons until May 20th.

The Song That Never Ends

February 14th, 2022

I feel like today is a good day to talk about vulnerability.

Because I feel like every day is a good day to talk about vulnerability.

I can’t even count the amount of people who have been reading my posts all these years and then ask me some variation of: “When is it going to end?”

As in: when is everything going to be better? When am I going to be okay? When am I just going to get over it?

And the answer is never.

People want happy endings. We’re conditioned to believe that a human being goes “through” a struggle, as though there is an other side to their suffering. An end to it.

But that’s just not how life works.

There are still going to be days that I miss my mom so much I don’t know how I’m going to make it to another. There are going to be days where all I want is an ice cold beer to get over it and I’m going to hate myself for that feeling. There are days I’m going to feel insecure, and inadequate, and unloved, and fucking human.

But as long as I am alive, and I am writing words, I am going to be here to remind you that it is not only okay to be vulnerable, but it’s essential. Because at the end of everything, you are more than adequate, you are loved, and you are fucking human.

And there is nothing more amazing than that.

And sometimes we need reminders. Sometimes we just need to know that somebody else is going through the same things we are. We need to know, when we are not okay, that we can find a way to be okay again.

Keep hanging in there. And I’ll wrap my pinkie around yours and do the same.

Cold World: Official Playlist

February 14th, 2022

June (and summer) feels so far away, so I can understand if your wait for my new book, Cold World, seems cruel.

In the meantime, I’ll try to talk about what’s going on behind the scenes, which includes sharing fun stuff like this playlist that is both inspired by and inspiring the story of Cold World.

Whether you’re freezing metaphorically or literally, there is a song for you here. Enjoy.

(What’s your favorite chilly tune? Feel free to share your pick in the comments!)

1. in the wake of your leave, Gang of Youths

2. The Phoenix, Fall Out Boy

3. Your Light, The Big Moon

4. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), Arcade Fire

5. One of Us, Joan Osborne

6. Mad World, Gary Jules

7. Counting Blue Cars, Dishwalla

8. From a Balance Beam, Bright Eyes

9. A Long December, Counting Crows

10. Words Ain’t Enough, Tessa Violet

11. California Dreamin’, The Mamas & The Papas

12. Sweater Weather, The Neighbourhood

13. Coldest Winter, Kanye West

14. Coffee, Sylvan Esso

15. Love Like Winter, AFI

16. When It’s Cold I’d Like To Die, Moby

17. Is It Because I’m Black?, Syl Johnson

18. Everything Goes (Wow), Broods

19. Here Comes The Sun, The Beatles

I also put this playlist together on my Sleeping Kitty Productions channel on YouTube for your listening pleasure: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQujd9QC-8NjUYPgbiS6G6PlgmXxidJ9D

Bottomless Refills

February 11, 2022

I’m on empty.

This emptiness is nothing new.

Regular readers (hi, there!) will know that I’m the type who believes in using whatever tools work. It’s why I’m always trying to understand others, especially those who are not the same as me.

Feeling empty, as least from a Western standpoint, is widely considered to be a negative emotional experience.

Imagine my relief when I picked up the Tao Te Ching — the book of Daoism — and found that it believes otherwise: our emptiness is a sacred place.

We make cups out of plastic and jars out of clay. But it’s not what we use to create the containers that make them worth anything.

No, it’s the space we have inside.

We work with the substantial — plastic, clay, glass, our skin — but the emptiness is what we use.

And I remind myself that being empty only means I have all this room to fill myself up today.

Of course, the opposite is also true: we can be too full. “It is easier to carry an empty cup than one that is filled to the brim,” a passage reads.

I felt that a few times today, too. In those moments, I’ve just been remembering my emptiness, and letting the things that I don’t need go.

Usually, though, when I wake up in the morning, I have this overwhelming sense of being empty.

This emptiness is nothing new.

But as the Tao Te Ching reveals, “The spirit of emptiness is immortal.”

And filling that space is what keeps me alive.

Suggestion Box

February 10, 2022

My dog Marvel and I are working on stuff, and we would love your input; we want to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

I’m putting together ideas for merchandise, both for purchase at my store/conventions, and for incentive gifts when people support my work.

So what do you want to see? What kind of stuff always makes you look twice, makes you want to buy it, makes you want to show all your friends?

Which works of mine should be on display on a sweet piece of something?

So far, my selection of stuff has been exclusive, but pretty popular, limited to options like my MN Nice Mug, a Weirdos sticker collection, and Lake Mary pins.

Marvel and I want to know what you think! Leave us comments or send us a message. We have some exciting plans for this year and would love to have you help shape it.

An Aside on Piracy

February 9, 2022

People stealing shit isn’t new.

America is full of hypocrisy; the same people who say capitalism works use their cousin’s Netflix password and pirate films they don’t feel they should have to pay for.

If you and I went out to eat, and at the end of the meal you suggested we tip the staff nothing, I would accurately deduce that you were a garbage person.

“But,” you would point out, “the restaurant pays them a wage.”

“Wage” is a far more generous term for the actual thing restaurants give their staffs for their work and time, through a broken system that has existed since Prohibition. All the mental gymnastics in the world cannot maneuver one out of a dumpster.

The same applies to creatives. Yes, many of them get paid upfront for their work, a few even handsomely. But if their work is a financial failure, it could mean the end of that kind of work entirely. Support is a multifaceted word; the lack of it is the death of art.

And art, as I have said countless times and will say countless more, owes you nothing. Eating food is a human right; dining out is a privilege. You are not owed music or television shows; you have no right to a person’s words and feelings.

People (people!) now complain about the amount of streaming services. Growing up, people complained about cable: “Why can’t I just pay for the few channels I actually watch?” The future is here. Literally. But nobody will ever be happy, and maybe some of them like it that way.

Because there is healthy streaming service competition, capitalism wins yet again: they all want to stay competitive, so here we are in a golden age of content, and humans can’t deal with FOMO.

But none of that — not a single note or pixel — is owed to you.

Pay people what they’re worth. All of them. With your love. With your support. And with your damn dollar.

Cold World Announcement Party

February 2nd, 2022

Announcing: Cold World, a new novel, to be released on June 2nd, 2022.

“In 2222, our Earth has changed in countless ways.

The people of our planet, thanks to generous corporations like the Knights — and through the development of wormhole technology — have advanced through the stars, colonizing moons, Mars, and a planet previously designated Proxima b, which is now known as Flora.

In 2222, there are laserguns, and hovermobiles, and DNA modification has been perfected.

Through the boundless growth Earth has endured, however, it has been reduced to just one season: endless winter.

Eighty years earlier, an asteroid known as Velos impacted Australia, setting in motion a chain of events that resulted in a cold world with no spring in sight.

On Flora, the Knights discover a prophecy: under the Great Lakes of America lies a sleeping phoenix, and to awaken it is to bring warmth back to Earth. To assist them with their unprecedented task, the Knights recruit a disgraced Earther.

With the reluctant help of Calef, his friends, and his dog, Joan, the Knights seek to fulfill the prophecy and save the remaining inhabitants of this neo Ice Age — whether they want to be saved or not.

A reflection on hope, spirituality, purpose, and family, and bursting with high-stakes action, Cold World is acclaimed writer Dennis Vogen’s first full-length novel, and his ninth published work.”

With my first cover ever co-designed with another person — Steven Starks Jr. absolutely crushed the photography and texture in this piece.

…

Beyond excited for this one, kids.

I’ve made appearances everywhere: at conventions, art galleries, pizza places, breweries, an escape room — when opportunies present themselves, I tend to say yes with an open heart, and am almost universally rewarded for it.

Tonight was no different.

First of all: look at those cookies. LOOK AT THEM. Never in my wildest dreams (and having my own cookies is one of my wildest dreams) could I imagine my work as dessert, and done so dang well. It legitimately brought tears to my eyes. So many thanks to Cookies by Ava for this impossibly cool treat.

Speaking of thanks: a million of them go to Hanna and Melissa of LPR, who were amazing to collaborate with and so gracious to not only allow me in tonight, but to sell my work in their lobby for the rest of the month. That’s right — you can browse and pick up books in person right in downtown Lakeville! Go give them a visit and tell them I sent you.

Last but certainly not least: the biggest thanks to you, the lovely people, fans, friends and family, who came out tonight to support me and LPR and blew my heart up three sizes. You are the absolute best of the best, and I don’t take the time you made for me lightly or for granted. I cherish that shit with every part of me.

All my love. Let’s keep this 2022 vibe. 💙

Don’t You Forget About Me

January 31st, 2022

Nobody likes to think about it, but at least once a day, someone criticizes you.

For every book you adore, film you love, television show you’re obsessed with, work of art that inspires you, there are people out there who will tell you why it is bad.

Cynicism, though, is a fad. And, like all trends, it is cyclical, but only because it has never been worth remembering.

Here’s what I mean by that: there has always been optimistic art, and so much of that art becomes classic. But, for every positive work, there have been examples of negative critics, and then waves of artists who become reactive, reductive, or both.

Years pass. And time after time after time, the work is remembered — and the criticism is not.

That’s not entirely true, of course. You can look up the response to pretty much any work of art — any piece of music or play or essay or film or book.

But for every work you would assume had universal praise upon its release, you’ll find folks who wanted to make their mark by trying to tear it down. And the forward passage of time tends to wash those footprints in the sand away, while the art transcends and becomes the rain itself.

So what does that mean now?

The trolls on the internet — the people who complain and insult and lend absolutely nothing to culture and add nothing to the positive nature of this world — will amount to nothing.

They will not become anything.

They won’t be everlasting.

And the best part is, with the accelerating speed of our times, they’ll be left behind faster and faster.

But the things we love, the art we cherish? It is even more accessible now. It’s easier to keep. It’s easier to defend. It’s easier to share.

And it is more likely to live to as close to forever as we are.