Writer Larry Nocella biography

Larry Nocella is the former editor-publisher of the award-winning magazine, QECE (Question Everything Challenge Everything.) He was also the writer of the wildly unique underground fiction-comic zine, eXtreme Conformity. He sold his first article at age fourteen, and has been writing ever since. He lives in the USA, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Visit his website at http://www.larrynocella.com/

Interview with publisher Xlibris about Where Did This Come From?

QECE (Question Everything Challenge Everything)

From 1996 through 2001, I was the editor, publisher, and primary writer for QECE. Below are a sampling of the awards and reviews:

Won Honorable Mention, Writer's Digest 2000 Zine Publishing Awards. See the write-up under "Editors Pick! Best Zines," by Katie DuMont, Writer's Digest July 2001, page 38. (Please note the address for QECE listed in the article is long out of date.)

QECE #12 artwork featured in Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market 2002

The New Yorker of the slacker generation." - Jersey Beat "This zine does an excellent job. And with humor!" - Slug and Lettuce #62 QECE #9 is in the Zine Top Ten! - MAXIMUMROCKNROLL #194 "Always clever and fun." - A Reader's Guide to the Underground Press "173rd out of the top 250 zines" - Zine Guide #4 "A damn fine read!" - Ten Things Jesus Wants You to Know #21 "Damn funny. Editor Larry Nocella is serious about taking over the media." -Razorcake #1

Like when your family shows off your baby pictures or a high-school yearbook portrait, I tend to get a little shy when sharing QECE zine. Timidity dissolves into pride as I move forward through the years and watch QECE grow into a respectable and scrappy little zine, culminating with a final editorial written shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

There are parts I enjoy from each issue, but viewed as a whole is how I find them the most exciting. What began so awkwardly became, over the years, well, a little less awkward.
It’s that evolutionary image, the hunched-over chimpanzee becoming the upright human, the constant organic adjustment sometimes compelled by survival and sometimes driven by determination, that tells the real story.

I also feel pride because its a snapshot of my own personal development as a writer. I hope you too will enjoy QECE, as individual installments, but also as a whole entity viewed independent of time. Please don't laugh too much at my baby pictures, but watch out as I grow into a smart-ass teen. Keep questioning and challenging! Peace and love to you.

Below are each of the issues as FREE PDFs! Feel free to download and distribute them, but please leave them intact. Thank you!

You may want to download the QECE Issue Guide (PDF 0.1 mb) to see what interests you.

QECE #14 (7.0 mb)
QECE #13 (18.5 mb)
QECE #12 (20.6 mb)
QECE #11 (7.7 mb)
QECE #10 (12.4 mb)
QECE #9 (13.5 mb)
QECE #8 (2.0 mb)
QECE #7 (1.5 mb)
QECE #6 (1.9 mb)
QECE #5 (2.0 mb)
QECE #4 (5.5 mb)
QECE #3 (6.0 mb)
QECE #2 (3.1 mb)
QECE #1 (2.8 mb)


The 'Page Top Ramble' questions from all six years and 14 issues of QECE (0.1 mb)

eXtreme Conformity

eXtreme Conformity was a zine I published from 1999 to 2003. It's a blend of images and script-writing. It's probably best to think of it as South Park and The Simpsons mixed into an odd printed format.

In a world of very unique creatures (zine-land) it stood out as VERY unique. Like all innovative works, it had its share of those who truly loved it (visionaries) and those who hated it (humorless zine nazi jackasses).

Since 2003, I've stopped publication and decided to pursue writing novels. All seven XC episodes are provided below as PDFs, FREE for you to download. (Wow!)

You may pass them around, post them, do whatever you like. The only request I have is you don't alter the original PDF file in any way. I worked hard on these, please leave me credit. Thank you!

One final note: Some people have expressed interest in performing these as one-act plays. I would be honored if such a project ever came about. Please let me know if you have such plans - I'd love to attend! Thank you!

XC 1 Imperial Dreams of the Shiny Sombrero (616k)
The aliens crash-land to Earth and begin their quest for world-wide domination. But first, they must defeat the ruler of the planet: The Television.

XC 2 The Nature of Sarcasm (708k)
Sarcasm rules the day and damages communications of all types. Special guest appearance by radio-host Dr. Linda Schlongslinger. (Not to be confused with conservative radio-host Dr. Laura Schlesinger.)

XC 3 Untitled by Anonymous (629k)
Someone has defecated in Town Museum, much to the praise of critics. Inspired by the New York City Art Museum poop fracas.

XC 4 The Trouble With Revolutions (757k)
The revolution overpowers the mainstream, but now what?

XC 5 What It Means To Be Rich (657k)
Thanks to a tax-break, everyone is a millionaire! Will it help or hurt? Inflation defined - and actually made funny and interesting!

XC 6 Time For Mandatory Castration (853k)
Town Mayor decides it's time to castrate all men. Will she succeed? Power corrupts absolutely, etc. etc. etc.

XC 7 Gay Insurance (883k)
The insurance industry gets its thieving hands into sexual orientation. By far, this is the best XC episode, exposing the insurance industry's racket with a nice jingle just made for Broadway.

The Great Brain Rebellion

What if brains got sick of being ignored and decided to rebel against the tyranny of the body?

There's plenty of modern cartoonists who can't or don't draw, but the content of their writing gets their point across. I took this concept to an extreme, since I can't draw much more than stick figures. I always loved comic books, but hated the idea of having to work with an artist. So here is my attempt at writing and drawing the same comic.

The story is great (though a bit too light-hearted for prose) the art, well, it's cute. I like my heiroglyphs. I would have made a great caveman. Can you see why I'm into novels now?

The Great Brain Rebellion (1.5 meg PDF). Feel free to download and distribute it, but please leave it intact. Thank you!