Chimerical Dark has a logo now!
It’s time for a bit of history. I started this blog sixteen years ago. When I started it, I mostly wanted sort of an online business card for people that I met at conventions. Rather than call it “Sean M Davis’ Blog” though, I wanted something that served my future plans as well.
As I was getting my writing career going in 2010, I was forward thinking enough that I also thought of editing and publishing as (concurrent) branches of the path I was on. For that reason, I wanted to start to build a brand that was easy to transition to something that wasn’t as focused on me. I had a “Hitchcock Presents…” short story anthology as a teenager, but I definitely don’t think I’m an “above title” billing sort of person. That’s why this is “The Chimerical Dark” and not my blog.
And a legitimate publisher’s gotta have a logo.
So it’s been on my mind for years. I tried a couple times to design something myself. The two biggest problems with that are 1) I’m not a very good artist and 2) I don’t know how to use any of the necessary programs to not only design a logo but have it in a .form that I can use.
But it’s nice to know people.
One of the guys I work with is going to college for design. He and I talked about it, worked out a contract, and he went to work. I told him a rough idea and he sketched it out. I gave him some notes on the initial design and back and forth a couple times. Surprising to me, the thing I was most nitpicky about was the placement of the words. But we got there. I hope I wasn’t too niggling about it. We’re still cool with each other, so I couldn’t have been too annoying.
And voila!
What does this mean for the future?
Remember, I named my site something not so me-focused with an eye toward the future as an editor/publisher. I was editing for a couple places and freelance in the early ’10s as I started my career. As I started to crash out, I pulled back from editing because I thought it was too distracting from writing. As it turns out, I was just burned out on everything and needed a break.
But my break is over and I’m working at a more sustainable pace.
And now, I’ve got another editing gig.
I’ll announce more about it as I’m able, but I can say I’ll be co-editing a short story anthology coming out in 2027. I’m stoked about it because I haven’t done a big project like this since copy-editing Kevin McClintock’s collection No Vacancies (2012). Even that’s not quite the same. I haven’t done something like this since I headed the Wayne Literary Review in 2011, assembling a team of editors and doing the whole shebang from selection to editing, formatting to layout. Fifteen years might have tinted my glasses a bit toward rose, but I remember enjoying working with my team and the writers.
And I may or may not be using the project as a way to gauge my interest in dipping my toes in as a publisher. Only time will tell.
