When I was 11, my cousin and I had our own monster magazine. It was called Big M, because we didn’t care so much about tiny human-sized monsters. We were all about Japanese bigness, and Godzilla was on our first cover. This was before personal computers (so . . . very . . . old) and so the articles were handwritten, the photos snipped from other magazines. Mind you, we weren’t total technical retards. For example, after the brown paper fiasco of issue 1, we realized that white paper makes for better photocopies (or “better Xeroxes,” as we said in those days).
We took out an ad in issue ten or so of Famous Monsters to announce our existence, and soon had three subscribers! We dutifully put together four issues (we were a quarterly before quarterlies were cool) but then grew up enough to want to be rock stars instead of magazine editors.
I don’t have any remaining copies of Big M–my cousin does, I think–but this morning’s mail brought in a total flashback in the form of a new zine called Big Ole Face Full of Monster.
BOFFM is an old-school zine. None of this “color” of which you people of the future speak, and the 8.5″ x 11″ format brings the verb “xerox” to mind. Although it contains real typesetting, Big Ole also has the manic energy of Big M, including Godzilla on the first cover. (A trait they both share with Famous Monsters, by the way.)
Issue one of BOFFM mostly focuses on local horror-movie latenight hosts. It includes a potted history of the Vampira and the death of local television, and interviews with current horror hosts Doktor Goulfinger on Berkeley Community B, Mr. Lobo of UATV fame, and Will “The Thrill” Viharo in San Francisco. Issue one also has reviews of DVDs, music, art, and books, including a quite positive write-up of Peeps, which is how I got sent BOFFM in the first place.
Actually, the trippiest part was reading the review for the DVD of Race with the Devil, which my cousin and I saw in an otherwise deserted cinema in Kaufman, Texas in 1975. (SPOILER ALERT: Peter Fonda is pursued by Satanists, as one might expect.)
It made me happy.
To submit or subsribe to BOFFM, I guess you should go here.
Man, I saw Race with the Devil, dubbed in Japanese, while trying to stay up late enough to watch Dune on Japanese TV. Never did know what it was called, but that RV, and Fonda’s haircut, are unmistakable.
Just a general comment. I picked up Uglies at the bookstore in September. It’s amazing how many fantastic YA novels there are out there, and they are much less expensive than Adult Fiction that’s half as good. So, my roommates and I, all in our mid-twenties, are happily devouring everything you’ve got in the stores. We also love your blog. Especially the one about V8, which makes too much sense not to be creepy.
Can’t wait to read more!
i have to agree with Andrea…you’re books are great. You have such a wonderful imagination and you come up with plots that reel the readers…or me at least…in. Other young-adult fiction writers, such as Amelia Atwater Rhodes are all the rage among teenagers, but they aren’t aware that YOU’RE out there…so I’ve recommended your books to my friends and they LOVE them.
Hello, well I love you’re series Uglies, best thing since sliced bread I swear. Well I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know, and also wondering when you think Specials will be coming out cause that teaser at the end of Pretties really drove me insane. 🙂 Thanks for the great books!!
love,
Niki
Thanks for all the kind words guys. (Praise of me is never off topic!) Glad to hear that adults are reading my books as well.
And Niki: Specials comes out in May, six months from now. I’ve got one more rewrite to do. But watch this space for an image of the cover, which I am told is coming soon . . .