So I finished the first draft of Back in Black (and Blue) last week, and sent it off to the first proofreader. I’ll likely spend the majority of February working on that book and getting it ready to go. I’d really like to have copies in hand by early March, because I have the opportunity to sell a few at work conferences to friends I’ve made through my real job. My hard deadline is March 18, because on that Sunday I’m listed as a guest at the Charlotte ComiCon, so that will be the debut of the hard copy of the next book. If you’re anywhere in the Charlotte area, this is a great con, it’s a small show, with plenty of time to talk to the writers and artists, and some fantastic deals on comics, too!
This weekend was nice and relaxing, because I wasn’t working on a writing project. I went to the Heroes Mini-Con on Saturday and dropped $40 on some comics there. I always stop by Walkin Willie’s at any con, because they’ve got great deals on trade paperbacks, and I remember William (the Willie that walks) from back when we were both shopping in the same store back in the 90s. So I picked up the hardcover of Final Crisis, the first couple of Buffy Trades, and a Terry Moore trade called Echo – Moon Lake, that a chick standing next to me recommended. It was really good, too. If you like Terry Moore, and really, who doesn’t like Terry Moore, it’s definitely worth a look. Then I got a haircut and stopped in at Rebel Base for a couple more trade paperbacks, including a pair of Fables trades that I didn’t have.
If you like fantasy literature at all and aren’t a devoted disciple of Bill Willingham’s Fables, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. It’s simply one of the smartest, best-crafted comic book worlds in history, and an amazing weaving of fairy tale characters into the modern world. They’re up to something like 14 collected volumes, and I own all of them. There might even be 15 or 16 by now, and they are universally excellent. The hardback of Volume 1 was the only book I carried with me last year to the Heroes Con to get it autographed, that’s how much I liked it. And I got to have a brief conversation with Willingham at the show – a very nice dude who hasn’t let his billing as the second coming of Neil Gaiman go to his head. And yeah, Fables might very well be the best fantasy comic since Sandman. It’s THAT good. Sunday I played a PLO rebuy tournament with my buddy Jim, making the final table before I succumbed to the suckout mojo of the moron with the big stack. I got my money in good, that’s all I can do. Missed the money by two spots, and missed making a profit by three (I rebought a lot), but I will play that tourney again because a moderately trained orangutan can make the final table, and a lucky chimp can make the money. Next week I just need to be the lucky chimp.
So what’s next on a writing front? I have a rough idea as to where Book 3 of The Black Knight Chronicles is going (think werewolf), but I have a couple of other ideas tumbling around in my head, including a post-apocalyptic teen trilogy that I’m 15,000 words into already. I might pick that up, but I also have an idea for a single novel about a government gone rogue terrorist blow things up kinda book, too. So I’m not sure where I’m headed right now.
I do know I’ll be churning out a short story this week featuring the Black Knight boys for an anthology of independent authors that I’m participating in. I’m straight up going Agatha Christie on this one, old-school drawing room murder mystery for the boys to solve. So that should be a fun little dash while I’m waiting for the eagle-eyes to get Back in Black (and Blue) back to me.
