Tag Archives: myth

LAUNCHED: Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands by Bernardine Ann Teráz Stapleton

Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands in Lights
Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands in Lights

It was a beautiful day when Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands stormed into The Battery Cafe.

That’s right!

Bernardine Ann Teráz Stapleton’s Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands has been launched into the æther, where the curious can find her.

Readers joined us there for drinks and treats while the author delivered an enchanting introduction to Girly Muckle and her besties. A delightful time was had by all within earshot.

Problematic Press would like to extend our thanks to The Battery Cafe for hosting us and to the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador for inviting us to Pitch Wars, where we had the good fortune of connecting with the author for this publication.

The author thanks the following organizations for supporting the creation of this work of literature: the Canada Council for the Arts; the City of St. John’s; and, Memorial University’s Writer-in-Residence Program.

She also thanks Alexis Koetting, Marilyn Mackay, Katie Vatour, and Nicole Leona Smith, the artist.


Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands is a queer coming of age novel draped in myth, and it is captivating.

While this novel takes place in a fantastically imagined Newfoundland, it bears a tale that is sure to please selkies residing anywhere.

So, for those residing anywhere, Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands may now be ordered in print here while the Kindle edition can be ordered here.

For readers in St. John’s, NL, we now offer curbside pick-up ordering from our office located downtown. Details can be found at the Square site.

Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands on the Shelf

The author and the artist

Bernardine Ann Teráz Stapleton is an author, a playwright, a performer, and an absolute treasure with the voice of a tempest.

Born in North West River and raised in Marystown, her connections to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador resonate throughout her works.

Her plays are regularly produced across the province, and her previous books include the award-winning They Let Down Baskets (Killick Press), Rants, Riffs and Roars (Creative Book Publishing), and This is the Cat (Creative Book Publishing). Her creative memoir, Love, Life, is forthcoming from Breakwater Books.

Learn more about her at bernistapleton.com.


Nicole Leona Smith is an emerging visual artist who divides her time between Newfoundland and her home in Cambridge, Ontario. Her illustrations are simply delightful.

Until now, she has been best known for her writing and her work in theatre.

She is also drafting her first novel with support from the Ontario Arts Council.

Discover more about her at nicoleona.com.


Problematic Press is an independent publisher based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Get the latest news about our growing selection of titles at problematicpress.com.

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Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands – Ordering, Pre-Ordering, Oh My!

Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands (front cover)

Girly Muckle can’t wait to meet you!

That’s right!

Bernardine Ann Teráz Stapleton’s Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands is here, alive and well and just waiting for you precious and precocious readers to share in her glee.

Perhaps you’ve heard of The Battery – quiet, peaceful, serene. Then there’s Girly Muckle.

Girly knows the folk living in The Battery have plenty of secrets to keep. She has a few of her own. For starters, she’s a selkie.

Now, a selkie isn’t some cutie-pie creature, so you needn’t imagine a princess of the mermaids here. No.

Along with her besties – an adlet and a shapeling – they are the Queer Hands, a band of young punks with big dreams.

But, when a meddling detective threatens to expose their mythical nature to the world, will the Queer Hands even make it out alive?

While this novel takes place in a fantastically imagined Newfoundland, it bears a tale that is sure to please selkies residing anywhere.

So, for those residing anywhere, Girly Muckle and the Queer Hands may now be ordered in print here while the Kindle edition can be pre-ordered here.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for more details to come about the launch of this magical tale.

This is it.

This is lit!

Bernardine Ann Teráz Stapleton and Nicole Leona Smith

Bernardine Ann Teráz Stapleton is an author, a playwright, a performer, and an absolute treasure with the voice of a tempest.

Born in North West River and raised in Marystown, her connections to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador resonate throughout her works.

Her plays are regularly produced across the province, and her previous books include the award-winning They Let Down Baskets (Killick Press), Rants, Riffs and Roars (Creative Book Publishing), and This is the Cat (Creative Book Publishing). Her memoir, Love, Life, is forthcoming from Breakwater Books.

Learn more about her at bernistapleton.com.

Nicole Leona Smith is an emerging visual artist who divides her time between Newfoundland and her home in Cambridge, Ontario. Her illustrations are simply delightful.

Until now, she has been best known for her writing and her work in theatre.

She is also drafting her first novel with support from the Ontario Arts Council.

Discover more about her at nicoleona.com.

Problematic Press is an independent publisher based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

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From Epic to Labours to Saga: Myth-Making

From Epic to Labours to Saga: Myth-Making

One of the most fascinating aspects of myths in general is how there are so frequently variations of the “same” stories.

I mean this in a few senses, but, primarily, consider, say, the stories of Heracles and Hercules, and, secondarily, consider Joseph Campbell‘s concept of the monomyth. I’ll introduce the tertiary consideration later.

Similarily, “The Labours of the MERCANARY™” will be a reimagining of – in other words, an adaptation of – “The Epic of the MERCANARY™.”

Further, the Labours shall use the exact memeoems from the Epic, just reordered, remixed, re-cut.

And, the Labours will significantly shape the prose of the novel, “The Marvelous Saga of the MERCANARY™.”

The tertiary sense of variations of myths focuses (perhaps) more on interpretation. Roland Barthes engages the rhetoric of myth in his theories on semiotics (how meaning is made, how communication functions, etc.).

An Occam’s razor explanation: consider how the reader/viewer/listener brings with them a whole set of biases, attitudes, values, beliefs, and more when they encounter any communicated expression, and that set determines how they might interpret any message.

These memeoems are meant to explode meaning; they ought to have great variance in how they are read.

The prose of the novel will be clearer than the memeoems, without a doubt, but readers should still expect a great deal of coy obfuscation, ambiguity, and wordplay.

By the time the novel is in print, this whole project will be a strange intermedial loop of potential interpretations of the work as a whole.

Sincerely,
David Reynolds
© 2020
PROBLEMATIC PRESS

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A Note from the Author on Method

Beware the three of hats.

A Note from the Author on Method

I’d like to tease a few points about this work-in-progress.

These are “The Revelations of the MERCANARY™” …

The nine of cups from which
I shall drink up inspiration.

FIRST REVELATION

I am not mad. While this is a project that plays with themes of identity, psyche, dreams, the supernatural, and more, I assure you that I am deliberately navigating this terrain as reasonably as any writer. Bear with me until it’s in print.

However, I am literally writing a method into what otherwise must appear as complete madness. This leads to the SECOND REVELATION (which is rather lengthy).

SECOND REVELATION

Much is already written. The plot is outlined, and maybe 20% of the rough draft is complete. For the remainder of writing the rough draft, I’m taking inspiration from dadaism.

MERCANARY™ began as a ‘zine, became the trademark of PROBLEMATIC PRESS, sought idolization through OPERATION: MERC(H)ANARY™, transitioned to Instagram for the memeoem epic and labours, and will eventually become a sort of gonzo picaresque novel.

Here is where the method enters the madness.

There are 100 slides in the epic (99 + 1 across two highlight reels). Employing a type of cut-up technique, the first 99 memeoems in the epic will find their way into the novel. Additionally, those 99 memeoems will be used to craft the labours.

Each memeoem consists of three fundamental aspects: audio, imagery, and an original poetic line (or the absence of a line to signal a break).

I have numbered each memeoem in the sequence and noted each of these three aspects for every memeoem.

The notes are cut up as slips. The slips are crumpled into balls. The 99 balls of each aspect will be placed into three of my hats, shaken rigorously, and then allotted. Those 297 balls will be evenly distributed to each of the nine “chapters” of the novel, and this lottery will dictate the memeoems that become the Labours.

The audio shall provide the Soundtrack for each of the “chapters” in the rough draft. I shall make and share playlists for each as writing progresses. I will listen to each on repeat as I write the corresponding “chapter.”

The imagery will provide the Cues for each “chapter,” which I will use as prompts for themes or imagery or some other allusion or reference. These will also be mixed into the labours, meaning the memeoems from the epic shall appear in multiple labours. This is myth-making.

The original poems will provide the A’s. A is for Appreciation. The MERCANARY™ epic is a lengthy appreciation memeoem, hence these are the A’s you are looking for. Since I am the author, these will be directly incorporated into the rough draft. Again, this lottery will help form the labours, so expect a lot of multiplicity in the memeoems.

THIRD REVELATION

I seek to challenge myself with this intermedia-writing project, and I am confident that each prompt will make it into the rough draft.

However, I make no promises as to what gets cut while revising and editing. This ought to be at least somewhat coherent by the time it goes to print.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself, right?

David Reynolds
© 2020
PROBLEMATIC PRESS

PROBLEMATIC PRESS,
Home of the
MERCANARY™

And, follow this link to find “The Epic of the MERCANARY™,” an epic memeoem sequence.

https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODc3NTYyNTkxNTg5MjE2?igshid=lunktmbjeoo7&story_media_id=2286413994658788281_13522736872

Cheers!

David Reynolds

©2020

PROBLEMATIC PRESS

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THE EPIC OF THE MERCANARY™

https://problematicpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/screenshot_20200521_130504.jpg

THE EPIC OF THE MERCANARY™

In the digital age, and within Instagram as a medium, I assert “The Epic of the MERCANARY™” is an epic memeoem.

Specifically, it is an appreciation memeoem sequence that spans 100 slides.

Duration of the experience varies by viewer, but it is at least 25 minutes from start to finish, yet each memeoem is a sort of rabbit hole.

The vast majority feature a “centrepiece” that is clickable back to the source.

Spotify clips are there, too. Tap on any track at the top.

And there is at least one easter egg hidden prominently in the epic. Follow a c(l)ue or two. Tap around. See what happens.

One might get lost if one’s curiosity is piqued.

One might get bored and bail.

One might return, on-demand, and view the epic memeoem preserved as a highlight reel here: @the.mercanary.

“The Epic of the MERCANARY™” is derived from “MERCANARY™: A Zine of Poetry and Adventure,” the zine I published in © 2019.

“The Epic of the MERCANARY™” shall be the foundational text from which “The Labours of the MERCANARY™” are derived.

“The Epic of the MERCANARY™” and “The Labours of the MERCANARY™” shall be the foundational texts from which “The Marvelous Saga of the MERCANARY™” is derived.

Upon completion of the novel, this will be a strange intermedial loop of a MERCANARY™ mythos.

Sincerely,
David Reynolds
© 2020
PROBLEMATIC PRESS

Follow this link to a 20-30 minute long memeoem sequence, THE EPIC OF THE MERCANARY™:

https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODc3NTYyNTkxNTg5MjE2?igshid=cgkpb9hmw6d6&story_media_id=2286413994658788281_13522736872

https://problematicpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/5a4484d8-d946-4e21-b7b3-1a1c5159a1e6.gif

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Back to School with a FREE Superheroes E-Book

It’s September, so to celebrate the return of the school season Problematic Press is presenting Superheroes: An Analysis of Popular Culture’s Modern Myths FREE for a limited time!

For 5 days only, between today and September 7, 2013, the Kindle edition of Superheroes is FREE to download. It’s our Back-to-School gift to you!

It’s no trick; during this limited-time offer anyone can download a FREE copy of David Reynolds‘ dissertation on how superhero narratives function in society. You don’t even need a Kindle e-reader to take advantage of this opportunity because the Kindle App is freely available for PC, Mac, and mobile devices.

cover

If you miss this special offer, Problematic Press presents this little tidbit as a consolation prize: Amazon Prime members can, from now until October 26, 2013, borrow Superheroes: An Analysis of Popular Culture’s Modern Myths from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. That means you can borrow the book and read it all you like!

So, be sure to get your digital copy of Superheroes for the Kindle!

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