Leopold McGinnis wears a red fez

Surprisingly often, these days, I come across a writer whom I have never previously heard of, and, as often as not, that writer turns out to be extremely active, energetic, and talented. All of which makes me wonder how many more there are out there of the same kind. Thousands, I suspect. Maybe tens of thousands.

Let's take the case of Leopold McGinnis. Leopold is a guy who seems to understand html and a lot more of the same kind, and this equips him to have an extensive web site. The front page features occasional thoughts in a blog-like manner, and the menu leads on to a wide variety of material, including the text of a complete novel, Game Quest.

Leopold seems a little shy of telling us much about his background, but he is young(ish), and operates in the modern, cutting-edge, underground-literature area. Having said that, he also offers us a version of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex, transformed into a modern comic parody, so he has some acquaintance with the more classical way of doing things.

Anyone who is young, keen, ambitious, and who is in tune with up-to-the-minute stuff should certainly take a close look at Leopold and all his works. For one thing, he offers some useful data on the relative effectiveness of following the traditional route to publication (or trying to) compared with the DIY version. He has sense of humour, and a refreshing way of seeing his own work in perspective -- try his rejection museum, for example.

More to the point, perhaps, for some of you, Leopold is the Founding Editor of an epublisher, Red Fez Publications. This is an outfit which makes much of its product available free, but it offers a useful platform on which a writer's work can at least become visible.

As I said at the beginning, active, energetic, and talented. Well worth a look.