Creating this 'zine hasn't been anywhere near as easy as I thought it would be. First off, I thought I would be able to have the first issue out in around 2 months. That was back in November of 1993. We are now rapidly approaching March of 1995. Yes, I have a lot of excuses and reasons for all the delays; I moved, I got engaged, I got a job, I got another cat, I stubbed my toe, the list just goes on and on. However, to be honest with you, the gentle reader, the simple and unavoidable fact is that I kept getting scared. Every time I got close to finishing another phase of the zine I would freeze up and nothing, but nothing could get me to do more work on it for a month or more. Fortunately I have reached the point where I am so sick of having this hanging over me that I'll do anything to get it finished. Never underestimate the power of self-loathing.
Another problem was a complete lack of interest on the part of the general public. When I started out I thought I would have no problem finding quality material to include in my first issue. Not quite. More often than not I would have to harrass, cajole, intimidate and otherwise threaten some very nice people to just consider submitting to this zine. In the end I had to do something I really didn't want to do and that was use my own material. I have never been a fan of my own writings but I've never actually shown them to other people so I have no idea if they are good or not. I'm hoping that the majority of them are at least passable and hope that they might, perhaps, motivate some people to send some things my way. If that does happen then it is safe to say that the next issue will be an order of magnitude better than this one.
I suppose thats about it. There really isn't anything more to do than to send this jumble of words out into the cold scary world and see what happens. I want to thank all of you for giving me and my zine a chance to show that there is more to this strange affliction known as gothic than one might think. I'd also like to thank; Mandy Kinne, Jeff Erb, Andreas Meyer, Kevin Goldsmith, Wandi Bruin de Bruine and the phamily phreaks, Doug Pearson, Christine Herholz, the people of Alt.Gothic, My Family, Sol Kadish, Sasha, Mr. Coffee and my left big toe for a job well done.
Chris Rapier
How to Submit Material to The Tyranny Corps