Well, after much procrastination, it’s done. The first draft of HOT SINATRA has an end and “The special commemorative 1st run, 1st draft, all-bullshit, no edits limited collector’s edition” is in the proofing process for a small vanity run to pass out to the VIPs and commemorate me actually finishing a novel. That’s a little taste of the cover art you’re looking at there…

It will be slightly different in the print version, but the main pic will be the same image of the 45 with the title and the ol’ Iniquitous logo.

In other news, I just signed the contract for the CAREER GUIDE FOR YOUR JOB IN HELL anthology being published by Bob Vardeman. A sparkly new version of THE HUM will be in there, alongside pieces from both Scotts Phillips, as well as (I believe) Nathan Long, Victor Milan, Scott Denning and the Vard-man himself. Very cool. So prepare for much harassment in the vein of ‘BUYMYBOOKBUYMYBOOKBUYMYBOOK’…

Haven’t heard back in the definite on BLOOD ON THE STRIP for the Dark Moon MONSTERS anthology, though I know they were still trying to get enough quality submissions to warrant the collection before deciding on concrete inclusions, so if you’ve got something that might fit the bill, get over to Dark Moon Books and submit, submit, submit!

Now to get back to hashing out some new stuff and thinking about my own couple of anthology ideas for the new year, one of which would be the aforementioned ‘VEGAS TALES’ compilation with work from Scott Dammit and Elizabeth Leigh (or whatever nom de plume my lovely wife wants to lay on her great story about bickering elders losing their minds in Sin City). I haven’t decided how to approach filling out the bill yet, whether it would be a contest affair, asking some other pals named Scott, etc. etc. Any ideas or insights would be most appreciated.

So hooray for me! And to paraphrase the great Dirk Diggler “I promise to keep rocking and rolling and making great stories…”

Well, time for the requisite ‘update’ post, wherein I make numerous excuses as to why I haven’t finished the novel or any one of 12 other projects usually in the works.

So here goes…

I still haven’t finished the damn book. And I have little to no excuse.
I do have 2 stories on the verge of Anthologization. ‘BLOOD ON THE STRIP’ is in the final running for a contest with Dark Moon books, and ‘HUM’ is in final revisions for the ‘Crappy Job Anthology’ being put together by the venerable Bob Vardeman. I also had a week that got away from me while I scrambled to put together a rather sad package of goods to submit to Billboard Magazine when an old pal mentioned that she had a friend who was an editor looking for a Canuckistani contributor. Far be it from me to question Fate, so I submitted what I had. I would never delude myself into thinking that I had a brain cell’s chance in Paris Hilton, but I took that baby step and put myself out there, which actually did feel good.

Now to finish the revisions for story #1, finish the first draft of SINATRA and collect on my NummaNummaHoChiMinhHo prize of a ‘free proof copy’ before it’s too late.

Then I guess I should start looking to the future instead of wallowing in the present. My amazing wife has taken up her pen again (which is fantasmagorical), and recently brushed off a Vegas-themed story she wrote a couple of years ago when I was asked to do a graphic novel project that never came to fruition. The Legendary Scott Dammit also has a couple of ace Vegas tales, so I’m seriously considering spear-heading an anthology of Las Vegas-centric tales under my own umbrella. Something to chew on…

So stay tuned and rest assured. More to follow…