Far Far Afterwards: An Addendum
Somehow, fourteen years have sped by.
First publication of Santa Steps Out occurred in 1998 in the Dark Highway Press hardcover, though it had been kicking around for a good ten years prior. Two years later, thanks to Don D’Auria, Leisure Books brought it out in mass market format.
Now, as the spirited wonder-workers at Eraserhead/Deadite Press—eternal gratitude to Carlton Mellick III for his initial email—rebirth my fondest brainchild as a trade paperback, please allow me to add a few more words.
I've left the first Afterword intact. Since writing it, Marlon Brando has gone to his reward without playing the part of God the Father. And for reasons unknown Jack Nicholson hasn't called or written. No matter. I'm a man of infinite patience, though not alas infinite in the number of years granted me on God’s green earth. Besides, there are many worthy potential Saint Nicks out there among the ever-shifting roster of film actors. No need to name them. They'll be obvious to you, I'm sure.
What has amazed me about Santa Steps Out is how widely varied the reactions to it have been. Some readers loathe it, grow bored at its frequent depictions of in-and-out, project their own sexual peculiarities and fears onto its harmless little plot, or throw it across various rooms for reasons never to be known. Others adore it with a passion, wear out their copies rereading it, dig, grok, and groove on the erotic goings-on, and understand that when one is dealing with Pan, king of the satyrs, there are very few boundaries that cannot be breached. Publishing such a book vividly reveals how wide the spectrum of reader response can be when childhood icons, which so many have envisioned in their own way and at such a young age, are toyed with for fictive purposes.
In the course of time, along came an unexpected sequel, Santa Claus Conquers the Homophobes. This book too I had problems placing with mainstream publishers. So, determined to see it languish no more on my PC, I signed on with booklocker.com and ushered it into the world of readers myself. Bless their thrice-blessed hearts, the spirited lovers and producers of books at Deadite Press are bringing Santa Claus Conquers the Homophobes out as well, late in 2011, along with [TITLE HERE], the third and possibly final Santa novel I’ll write.
May you find abundant joy, my brothers and sisters, in these tales of the good and sometimes-not-so-good Santa Claus.
And may all your Christmases be as white, bright, light, and as void of fright, blight, shite, plight, and spite as you desire.
Now and forevermore, amen!
—Fort Collins, April 2011
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