Not The Daily Planet, But Close

Since my Huntsville Times gig ended in December, I’ve been casting about trying to find another rag that might absorb some of my overflowing logorrhea, and it looks like I may have a nibble.

Valley Planet is a local, alternative newspaper that’s been around for a few years now. Like The Nashville Scene to the north and Birmingham Weekly to the south, VP has a little more “edge” than the local daily. It tries to focus more on the local arts scene, music, restaurants, movies, books, and other topics of interest to young, urban hipsters, Boomers with more cash than common sense and aging hippies still clinging to their love beads and Jim Morrison LPs.

So what’s a boring, dull-bladed guy like me doing writing for a paper like that? For one thing, I’m cheap. As in “they’re not paying me a dime much less 6000 pennies” cheap. Writing for FREE! What else is new under the sun?

Plus, I’ve always enjoyed reading that type of newspaper (indies like that often dare to cover some ground that their more buttoned-up older siblings won’t touch), and VP will give me another opportunity to practice the craft and build my writer’s resume.

Even big name newspapers are struggling these days, so it’s no surprise that small indies are always on the bubble. So if you live in Huntsville or Northern Alabama in general, be on the lookout for Valley Planet at local businesses and restaurants and grab one (it’s FREE!). In fact, grab a handful and give them to your friends; the more copies that get into circulation, the easier it will be for VP to sell advertising which in turn will increase their chances of survival.

My first assignments (sometime next month) will be to review a certain Academy Award-nominated movie and write a fish-out-of-water tale about what it’s like for a middle-aged Boomer (and his teenage children) when he stumbles and bumbles his way into the world of online social networking.

It’s not The Daily Planet, but close. And for now, close is good enough.

7 Comments

  1. Jason Bybee

    Congrats, Mike! I’ve told you before that I really appreciate your gift for writing and I think any outlet that lets you “practice the craft” is time well spent. I’ll be looking for the next issue of VP.

  2. Gary

    From Facebook:

    “Congrats on the writing gig! Not bad for an Eyeguy! I am impressed.”

  3. JRB

    Well done! I love those rags like the Nashville Scene, The Jackson Free Press, etc. I wish we had a good one here. This may not be as lucrative, but I bet that you’ll have more freedom and maybe more words, than you had before. It’s great for your portfolio.

    Our biggest question: are they online?

  4. Mike the Eyeguy

    Yup, they’re online (there’s a link above), and they should launch a cleaner and sharper site soon.

  5. mmlace

    That’s exciting, Dr. Eyeguy!!! Can’t wait to hear from you even more! Much love!

  6. JRB

    Man, it’s quiet over here….

  7. Mike the Eyeguy

    How ’bout the Stars and Stripes–2-0 over El Tri.

    Oleee, Ole, Ole, Oleee, Oleeeeee, Oleeeeee.

Comments are closed.