Catatonically SPEAKING

THEMELESS BUT NOT DREAMLESS

This issue marks the first one in a while that Clockwise Cat has not featured a theme of some sort. We started doing themes for two reasons: One, because themes are a fun way to focus an issue, and two, because it was a nifty gimmick to lure in more writers and readers. Duotrope's Digest sends out a weekly webzine update, and includes any upcoming publication themes and their deadlines. The gimmick worked - the theme listings for Clockwise Cat did indeed attract more submissions, and also generated more exposure for the webzine.

But we have decided to fly solo for the next few issues, because we don't really want Clockwise Cat to become encumbered by themes. Of course, each themed issue also has also allowed non-themed submissions, so it's not like we're submerged in themes. But we want to see what happens with the next few issues. Do we need Duotrope to maximize our exposure, or have we become a bit more established? We know we are not the Queen of Webzines and likely never will be, and nor is that a title we necessarily covet. (I mean, sure, we love accolades, but we also don't have a whole helluva lot of time live up to the lofty title of Best Webzine Ever. However, if a rich patron threw a bunch of bucks at us so that we could retire from our mundane day jobs, we'd make damn sure to compusively obsess over making this the Most Kick-Fucking-Ass Literary E-Zine in the Entire Cosmos. As it is, we think we aren't doing half bad with what spare time we do have)

So in order for this project to thrive, we do need to have a steady influx of submissions. So far, on that front it's somewhat inconsistent. Sometimes we are flooded with pieces, and other times it's a veritable desert and we feel dehydrated from lack of submissions. And yet other times submissions just trickle in like a sporadically dripping faucet. Somehow, though, each issue manages to come to fruition. And lately the submissions have been more fervently flowing in.

Of course, themes are just damn fun. My favorite Clockwise Cat themed issues so far have been: Absurdism, Create Your Own Theme, and Author Imitation.

So, likely we will continue the trend of themes, but perhaps a bit more randomly just to mix it up a bit. If you have any theme suggestions, please send them our way.

By the way, congratulations to us! Last issue marked the TENTH issue of Clockwise Cat! In all honesty, I felt somewhat dubious that we'd make it this far. Most creative projects have a tenuous start, and yet the response Clockwise Cat has received, in terms of both submissions and feedback, has triumphantly exceeded our expectations. Not only do we receive pieces that flout convention in fascinating ways and veer from the dull orthodoxy of mainstream literature and visual art, but people actually LIKE us. Plus, we now have a few reviewers and polemical scribes on board. The latter part pleases me the most, because our aim with Clockwise Cat is to be progressive not just literarily and visually, but politically. For in my eyes, a progressive art necessarily engeders a progressive sociopolitical milieu - and the converse tends to be true as well. So the Clockwise Cat aim all along has been to integrate an inventive foward-thinking artistic sense with imaginative forward-thinking social ideals.

We are still looking for more satire and essays. We yearn for satire, especially. Our world is just too inane for us NOT to be SUBMERGED in acidic mockery. Where are our Twains, our Voltaires, our Swifts - and even our Colbert clones! - to buoy us through our dreary days with their caustic insights and wicked wit?

So get those pens a churnin', would-be-mockers of the universe!

We hope you enjoy Issue Eleven, yo.

May your days be laden with themes and dreams...