City of Legends

Thirteen years ago, today, I put pen to paper and wrote a small set of poems I dubbed The Panther Cycle, owing to a pre-discussed "totem" to be used for the young woman whose picture had caught my fancy.

That spawned 92 other cycles of work to and about that same woman and relationship that flourished and fell in full public view as my mailing list of people who wanted to be informed whenever a new cycle was written grew to hundreds of people. And not just random people, most of my subscribers were fellow writers, some even well-known and respected authors of modern fiction, genre fiction and poetry, even a biographer or two. It was an heady time.

In time came the book PanthEon, and finally The Compleat Panther Cycles, all full of the stuff that filled those eighteen months with wonder, passion, pain, regret and poetry. I divorced, gave over practically all my worldly possessions, only to have her retreat in guilt, marry another and have a child, before moving to my beloved Los Angeles, which I had eventually deserted (at least temporarily). I moved on and married (and divorced) a Leopard.

The works themselves have kept and expanded their audience, despite the fact that I rarely give them a nod in public or read them at appearances. They make up, numbers told, about 3% of my total poetic catalog, but have an outsized reputation thanks to the feeding frenzy back in the mid-nineties, during an early part of the digital renaissance, before the web was flooded with poetry sites.

So, for 13 years of making life…interesting…I’d like to just now tip my hat to the works, their legacy, and the woman who inspired them. For good or for bad, they are and she is a part of my legacy, and while since then I have lost my heart more than once, written other poems and published other books, they will be part of what is remembered when I am gone.

Happy Anniversary, Lauri.

Okay, one miracle down (you have no idea how much furious effort is going on in the background to accomplish all of this)…

The City of Legends Store has re-opened.  You can get there by slicking the linked name (in the previous sentence) or by following the top of the page link that reads "The City Store" (trying to keep it simple).

We’re offering some discounts on some books and CDs as a "Pre-tour Blowout", and as always, free shipping and custom signing.  Shopping cart services are courtesy of PayPal.

Available in the ‘Store are:

Books:

• As such…romantic poetry of rebirth
  
• Ronin in the Temple of Aphrodite
  
• Psalms of the Monster River Cult
  
• The Morgantown Suite Poems
  
• The Compleat Panther Cycles

CDs:

• Nemicorn
  
• The Naked Reads
  
• Amomancer:  nightblooming
  
• the last romantic verb

Not in the store?

• from an unexpected quarter
  
• Love Gods of a Forgotten Religion
  
• PanthEon
  
• 101 Great Love Poems (hardback and paperback)
  
• Invocato

But I may later decide to fold them in…I just hate making the store too chaotic and huge.  All of those not in the official store can be purchased elsewhere.

And yes, when Evangelist is done, it will be available through the City Store.

I had a call a few minutes ago from my old friend Anastacia, who mentioned that the other day, owing to her friendhip with me, that someone asked her if she was "the Panther"…

okay, for the record, let’s sort this all out…one more time…there will be a test.

The Panther (a/k/a the Black Panther) was the prime muse behind The Panther Cycles. A successful writer and artist in her own right, she now lives on the West Coast and I have not had any contact with her in probably six or seven years. She did the layout and cover art for my book "PanthEon" and was NOT involved with the creation of THE COMPLEAT PANTHER CYCLES.

The Crimson Panther (a/k/a Brigit, the Goddess) was a major muse I had an affair with and have remained friends with. She took the handoff from the Black Panther, is considered one of the "3 panthers" from a dream I had even prior to her entry into my life and I have occasional contact with her, as we are collaborating on projects. And yes, the art looks remarkably like her.

The Golden Panther (a/k/a the Leopard) was my second wife and a major muse. I have not heard from her in some time. "Damascus" is my set of works most associated with her, as at the time we met she was dating only women…then she changed her mind for a few years. Last I heard she was back with women. She was the cover model for two of my books, FROM AN UNEXPECTED QUARTER and LOVE GODS OF A FORGOTTEN RELIGION. For nearly the entirety of the last eight years, she is the only woman I have been involved with, romantically.

La Pantera is Mari Laureano, the extraordinary erotic poet from New York. We are friends and she wrote the rear-jacket blurb for THE COMPLEAT PANTHER CYCLES. She is married and we’ve never been involved. Her website is www.furiverse.com

A2Panther, Anastacia, is an old friend of mine who actually was about my only close friend who tried to talk me out of marrying Ann. We are close friends and she, from time to time, tries to fix me up with friends of hers (although the one I was really, really interested got away while I was married to the Leopard). We went on exactly one blind date, aeons ago, where we both realized from first glance that there was zero chemistry between us. She is nowadays happily married and lives in the DC suburbs.

Some have suggested that the Goldenheart was actually the Golden Panther…she could also be actually the Crimson Panther (she, like Brigit, was also a redhead)…but as that relationship never had a high-water mark to measure, I am disinclined to accept that analysis.

Finally, the model who appears on the cover and in the inside art for THE COMPLEAT PANTHER CYCLES is Jillian Ann, a young woman and accomplished alternative-scene model and techno-musician. We have never met face to face and I have never been involved with her. She is merely a representation, not an actual player in the tableau (however, that position is still open and I am taking applications).

Got it straight? don’t make me matrix this…

Yes, definitely. Going to, for the first time ever (not counting the absorption of "from out of the city" into "from an unexpected quarter") pull a book from distribution.

1997’s "PanthEon"

will go the way of the mastodon when "The Compleat Panther Cycles" debuts in July.

I am considering even bundling the last few with advance sales for the P’cycles, so people can get the sampler with the buffet. This will once and for all end any remaining pissing contest over the cover, what I paid a king’s ransom for, but the artist seems to have forgotten that.

Glad I kept the cancelled check. You see, I do learn. The problem is, having spent so much of my life as the nice guy, when I do draw lines, people can’t cope with that and presume I am become evil, as if the Mister Nice Guy image was an act.

Beat a dog long enough, he dies…or he bites. Too many people still depend on me for me to roll over and die. I’m tired of apologizing for holding my tongue and my temper.