Welcome to Clay Files

Hi there. You’ve stumbled upon the online haunt of  writer, editor, designer, cartoonist, blogger, podcast personality and lounge singer Clay McCuistion. In other words, me.

On this site, you’ll find samples of my stories, pages and cartoons, as well as links to my work online.

I’ve worked for the Concord Monitor of Concord, N.H., since 2005. I’ve also worked for The Tampa Tribune, St. Petersburg Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

You can send me e-mail at claymcc@gmail.com. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Where we’re at

Clay Files has been thoroughly updated for September.

I’ve added a Latest section, which contains designs, stories and cartoons from the last couple of months. It will be updated regularly. I design four section fronts a week; this allows me to showcase a few more.

The Edits section has been spiffed up with a special section that I helped produce earlier this year. Extra pages have also been added to Monitor A1s and Monitor features.

With this new content, Clay Files comes close to fulfilling my goals. It displays a wide range of my work. It gives a good sense of my interests. And it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Cartoons, cartoons, cartoons

Several comics have been added to the site. The size of the Coffee & Main annex has doubled — it now features a dozen strips from the past couple of years.

I have many more strips in the files (and many more have been printed), but this isn’t the place for an exhaustive overview. These 12 give a good sense of C&M. The latest additions also feature the return of former Supreme Court justice David Souter to New Hampshire. I couldn’t resist.

The Other scribbles section now includes the second installment of my “1809 sketchbook” series, as well as contributions to the “Let’s redo classic album covers using Microsoft paint” Facebook group.

How much?

How much is too much?

That’s a reasonable question for a website like this, which aims to collect one guy’s journalistic and creative work. When I started in January of this year, I assumed everything (more or less) would find its way here.

I don’t assume that anymore, and I also don’t think it’s a good idea.

Frankly, there’s just too much stuff. I’ve been archiving the pages I designed and editor for the Concord Monitor since 2005, and there are hundreds. No one would want to look at all of them. Well, I might, but I’d have to feel charitable.

That goes for cartoons as well. I drew thousands of pages of comics in middle school and high school. I saved them, but the task of putting them online is best reserved for my old age. Coffee and Main, which I draw for The Concord Insider, has racked up more than 100 installments on its own.

Thus, Clay Files includes a notable sampling. A condensation. These designs, these reviews, these stories, these cartoons — these are my best stuff. Some might have a flaw or two, but all show what I can do and who I am.

Designs redesigned

The Designs section of the site has been thoroughly revamped, overhauled and changed up. I’ve revised the main page so it features seven — and only seven — examples of my work in the area. That’s the same number of prime examples in the other sections on the site.

But that’s just the beginning. I’ve added some new fronts to that main page, and I’ve opened up two annexes. The Monitor features division collects seven more page designs, all from the assorted features pages of the paper. The Other layouts section is a place for just that — other designs I’ve put together in the last year or so.

Updates to the Cartoons section are coming too. Remain alert.

New review

I took a minute from my adventures in page design and web wrangling to consider Bob Dylan’s new album, Together Through Life. Quick take: Fun, if not overly essential. You can find a link to the review in the writings section, or just go here.

The mysterious projects I mentioned in late March have morphed into other kinds of mysterious projects. But don’t fret, Clay Files fans. They remain mysterious, and they’re still projects.

Fresh cartoon and section

If you click on the “cartoons” link, you’ll find my latest full-page cartoon for the Concord Monitor. It’s part of the paper’s ongoing 200th birthday celebration.

I’ve also added a new sub-category to the “cartoons” section. “Other scribbles” will collect random drawings and comics that have no other place to go.

In other news, I’m working on projects that may not immediately appear on Clay Files. (This site concentrates on writing, drawing and design — think of the possible creations that leaves out.) But I’ll link to these mysterious efforts when they appear.

Recent additions

You can find several updates sprinkled throughout the site today.

My column for the National Gay & Lesbian Journalists Association from spring 2008 now appears in the Writings section. It’s called “When the Circus Comes to Town.”

I joined LinkedIn a few days ago, desiring an experience like Facebook but without the fun. You can go there from the Clay section.

Links to my scribblings about former Beach Boy Brian Wilson now live in the Etc. section.

And that’s that. Happy Friday the 13th.

Clayfiles.com now live

This site has lived at wirestone.wordpress during its development. Having filled most of the sections with content of one sort or another, I’ve taken the next step. Clayfiles.com now directs here.

The next steps? Refinement and a touch of extra content. The “etc.” section may still see a few new items, and the site as a whole will be edited several times over. I also may change this site front to a static page, rather than a series of updates. Time will tell, though.

Much new content

The site steams along nicely.

All sections except “Etc.” now feature content (a.k.a. “my stuff”), and some feature quite a bit. The “writings” section contains the most, perhaps, but that’s largely because it’s easy to link to work living elsewhere online. “Cartoons” now features a subcatagory of Coffee & Main strips. The “design” section features nine pages in a gallery; I’m not tempted to add a great deal more. The nine offer a nice, neat, succinct cross-section.

I’ve been delighted with WordPress. It’s allowed me to do everything I want so far. The content hosting has been particularly useful, as many designs, cartoons and old stories aren’t available from other sites.

Within a week or so I expect to open the site to a few friends and family. At that point, we’ll see how this truly stacks up.

Bit by careful bit

I’ve added content to the “Clay,” “designs,” “cartoons” and “writings” sections. I still need to post a few peculiar files to the “etc.” department and figure out how best to display the editing samples. For that matter, all of the other sections could change in the days and weeks to come.

I’ve been fortunate to do a bit of everything over my past decade in professional journalism. I want Clay Files to recount my adventures in the most thorough, accurate and pleasing way possible. That will take some time and obsessiveness.

The site emerges

Finally, after much toil and turmoil, struggle and strife, evolution and devolution, this site has grown leg nubs and clambered its first few, hesitant steps onto soggy land. Treat it gently. Those leg nubs haven’t adjusted yet.

As an editor, cartoonist, writer, designer and blogger, I’ve been on the web in one form or another since 1996. But I’ve never settled on a single spot, and this site aims to remedy that sad state of affairs. You’ll find links to a portfolio of my work in the media business. You’ll find links to the blogs and websites I’ve created and contributed to. And you’ll find some information about me.

In time, I hope to establish archives of my work — not just the highlights. But technical challenges and time commitments will have their say first, no doubt.

In the meantime, hello to one and all. Let’s get moving.