Putting together a short story collection

Well, sort of putting together a short story collection. It's just going to be for me and a few select people, you see. But I'll still be excited to have this stuff in a nice printed package, even if only to put the stories behind me and get cracking on new work.

See, it's like this. I've dabbled a small bit in short stories over the last 10 years. Not as much as I'd like -- there will be about 15 stories included in this collection, give or take -- but enough to have amassed a good little stack of them. Some have been accepted for publication. Most have not. One was adapted into a comic. Most I've just been sitting on.

But in 2010, you don't have to just sit on this stuff if you don't want to. Services like Lulu mean I can quickly, cheaply, and easily get them between covers for my own enjoyment. I can do this privately, which is how I want it. This won't be a self-published book because no one except the people reading this blog will know it exists, and it won't be something I'd be selling or plugging or making available to others or whatever. It's for me. For me and a very few others. Nothing more than a personal keepsake.

When all is said and done, I'll have a nice book of my stories sitting on my bookshelf. In a sense, that will finally put these stories to rest. They'll be "done" in a way they're not done now. And that will in an odd way make me feel free to move on to newer, better work.

So that's cool.

I'm glad services like this didn't exist 15 years ago. I'd have abused the world with terrible, terrible writing.

Comic anthology Vol. 2 is underway

So you might remember that I wrote a comic anthology, which I self-published last year and which you can buy here (hint, hint).

Well, I'm pleased to say that work is progressing on a second anthology of comic stories, some with new artists and some with folks you saw in the first volume. The stories will be all-new (save for one that will include some familiar faces), and will once again span multiple genres. We'll have Buck Rogers-influenced space opera, Gothic horror in the spirit of classic EC Comics, a Lovecraftian morality play, and a crime story, among others.

I am looking for at least one more artist, though, someone who can do a smooth cartoony style for a tongue-in-cheek Frank Miller pastiche. Someone who is reliable and who can meet deadlines. And someone who doesn't mind working for little more than the glory of doing something awesome. If you're that person, drop me a note. I'd love to talk a little more about the project with you.

Second Draft: Can't wait to get started!

For six weeks I've been sitting on the finished first draft of a dystopian science fiction novel. I had a goal of finishing it by last New Year's Eve, met the goal, and then set it aside. The idea was to take a break so that when I returned to it for rewrites, I'd be doing so with fresh eyes and renewed energy for the project.

And right now, I'm chomping at the bit for a return.

I'm not sure why, exactly. I have a lot of work to do on the second draft. A LOT of work. I'm talking "change the gender of one of the main characters" level of "lot of work." Normally I'd find this borderline intimidating to the point of frustration. But not this time. This time I can't wait to get started.

My initial plan was to start back on this project yesterday. Instead, for various reasons I won't go into here, I've decided to put it off until March 15. Hopefully, the added time will be fruitful and productive. It has already (hence my lack of posts for the last few weeks).

But man oh man, I can't wait to finish the next draft of that novel. The story excites me. The world excites me. I look forward to letting a few people read it so I can get some feedback and see if I'm on the right track. Hopefully -- fingers crossed -- my efforts will have resulted in something good.