Today, November 22, marks the third anniversary of Gausten Books. And as a great sage once sang, “My life has changed in oh so many ways…”

In addition to bringing tremendous changes to my domestic situation, the last 12 months have introduced great evolutions in the overall structure and presentation of Gausten Books. The most obvious change has been the complete revitalization of our visual output, including a complete and much-needed revamping of www.myspace.com/gaustenbooks, and the debut of the official Gausten Books website at www.gaustenbooks.com. Both of these advances were made possible thanks to my infinitely better half, Shannon, whose keen artistic talents have propelled Gausten Books in ways I never could on my own. 

The second/expanded edition of Tales Of Horror: The History of the MISFITS & The UNDEAD and the long-awaited United As One: The Oral History of WARZONE will be released in the first half of 2010.

On the music front, Shannon and I continue work on the EFFECTIONHATE project. In the not-too-distant future, we will be bringing in our good friends Sonny Bellavance and Martin Atkins to contribute to the recording of our first album, tentatively titled Music Is Dead. Sonny is a phenomenal talent, and we are beyond excited to have him on board. As for Martin, this will be the first time he and I have made noise together since the Pigface “Preaching to the Perverted” tour in 2001, and Shannon and I are thrilled that his drum loopage and assorted blips and beeps will be a part of our noise. Check out the Effectionhate Myspace page at  www.myspace.com/effectionhate for updates as things progress.

And speaking of Martin, I’m also contributing to his next book project. More on this soon.

I’m one song away from finally having all the music for the long-overdue Betty Blowtorch Tribute Album. This sucker has been five years in the making, and I assure you that the results will be worth the wait. Information and samples are available at www.myspace.com/bettyblowtorchtribute.

Of course, the biggest news of all is that Shannon and I are now happily married and settled into our new home in New Hampshire. While we are both working hard to pursue our individual and collaborative endeavors, our responsibilities as parents and as spouses are of the highest importance to us both. Family comes first for us these days, and we couldn’t be happier with the life we have worked so hard to build. With this in mind, perhaps it goes without saying that I consider Gausten Books a distant second to hanging out my wife and stepson these days, and my online activities and accessibility will likely continue to decrease as a result.

However, the sudden and heartbreaking death of the great Brendan Mullen has certainly added a new sense of urgency to the work I’m still doing at this point. As I have written elsewhere, Brendan was an important part of Gausten Books, and the best way I can honor him is to get back on the horse with the same level of energy and enthusiasm he brought to his own creations.

Henry Rollins said it best in an email to me a few days after our mutual friend died: “Brendan was rare as hell.”

I am deeply humbled and honored that my perpetually-in-progress book on the late Rik L Rik, Rock N’ Roll Monster, will feature Brendan’s extraordinary foreword. I know you will be amazed when you read Brendan’s words.

Speaking of Brendan, I must commend the many news sources around the world for getting it right and paying tribute to Brendan over the past two months. It was refreshing and heartwarming to see so many people honor such a deserving man. He was and will always be worthy of such accolades. I really miss him.

I plan to have Rock N’ Roll Monster completed by June 2010 in time to mark the 10^th anniversary of Rik’s passing and provide  a new example of just how much of a literary giant Brendan truly was. I will post updates on the book at www.myspace.com/riklriktribute as the project nears completion. 

Albums that (Should’ve) Changed the World, SWANS: An Oral History and Satanic Familiar (my book with Shannon) are still very much on my “to do” list, and I am working to ensure that at least one of these books hits the finish line in 2010.

Meanwhile, I have abandoned my plans to publish a book on PiL, as I feel that the proliferation of books on the band in recent times (including Jah Wobble’s new autobiography) has made such a project unnecessary. I would like to thank Pete Jones, David Humphrey and Martin Atkins for their time, help and contributions along the way. My very best wishes to them all.

To my fellow writers and musicians who continue to swim upstream in a changing industry and economy: As another great sage once said, “The future is unwritten.”

Hang in there.

My thanks to all for your continued support!

Joel Gausten

Gausten Books

November 22, 2009