July 12th, 2010 by Neal

Okay… so… I know it’s been a while. That’s the torture part in “tortured artist”. Or at least, the tortured part in tortured dumbass, given present company. But at any rate, I do have news and updates and regular goodness.

First off, the Nightmares of the Macabre book has good news/bad news. The bad news? Well, it was supposed to be out this last week. It’s not. I know, you’re thinking, “Oh God! DELAYZORS!” But no. It’s not a delay, it’s not an inadequacy of the company, it’s not anything comic book nerds hypothesize, it’s something better still and more exciting…. the book is likely being distributed by Diamond now, and I’m gonna be the new regular writer of the series. Ergo, now it’s been juggled a bit so that the book will come out with a wider distribution a little later, and then I’ll be picking up the title as the main writer soon. Booya. More as I know more.

Hal 4 is in progress. I did 14,000 words, scrapped it, rebroke it as a novel from another character’s perspective, then totally redid the plot again, started writing again, and now I’m at 4,000 words. I can’t explain why it’s been so hard without spoiling a major plot point, so I’ll just say I’ve struggled with this one so far. I’m still sitting at the desk and writing every day, but it took a month and twenty days and a lot of screen staring this time. I’ve never really experienced that with something I’m flat-out ready to write. It wasn’t writer’s block, though, it was me choosing to write only one thing at a time, something I’m working on rectifying. For instance, I just finished today’s writing on Hal, so off I go to script some comics. That’s good. It means I can move the juice around to whatever my brain’s feeling up to at the time.

So in other words, yes, long absence, but it was part of the process. More soon.

June 23rd, 2010 by Neal

I know it’s been a while, and there is a reason. I’ve been twisting myself stupid over the new book and a few more exciting prospects. I dealt with a bout of what appears to be emerging depression based around shit I can’t and won’t go into. I also got lazy, which is rare with me, so I indulged it, given that I’ve had a hard time being lazy in the last few years. Well, that and I wrote three books in a year and a damned half, and I’m not even scheduled to start the next novel at my breakneck pace until the beginning of next month.

Hal 4 is started, and it’s called “Live in Hope.” I can’t really say anything about what happens in the book without completely blowing the third book’s payoff, which sucks, but it’ll also help me keep my lid shut.

I will, in the next few days, be posting previews of the new comic. It’s going to be available for the iPad, and it’s looking to come out (as far as I know) on the tenth of next month. It’s also got… wooo… diamond distribution, which is a good good thing.

I am (God help me) more prevailent on the twitter of late. As I get this book going (and I’m only at about the 5,000 word mark of yet, but that should rapidly increase as I get the flow), I’ll be updating more. I’m just posting to let you all know I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth, and that if you keep watching, you’ll have preview pages soon.

I’ve seen this whole book, and I think it’s quite honestly the thing I’m most proud of that I’ve had published thusfar. I think you’ll love it.

June 8th, 2010 by Neal

I am alive, yes, and all is well. I am pre-writing Hal 4, believe it or not, though I don’t know how my mind isn’t recoiling in horror at the prospect of yet another novel in such a short period of time. Must be a work ethic. Or insanity. Regardless…

Just yesterday I saw the final version of my next comic, The Anti-War Museum of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as featured in the Nightmares of the Macabre anthology, and I am quite proud of it. The art, by Barry Montgomery, is insanely good, and it features a painted cover that just blows me away:

Cantrell is my rad editor and the creator of the anthology.

We’re trying to nail down the release date. It will either come out near the Fourth of July, or a week after, but very soon. Rest assured, you’ll know where here. Since it will debut before Jet City, you will likely be able to get a copy there.

The BEST thing you can do is go to your retailer, right now, and ask them to carry the book. If they want more information on how to, they can contact me or Creator’s Edge Press. I’m also more than willing to do signings, and point of fact I’ve already lined up one, but I’ll give you more on that as it develops. Until then, bask in that cover awesomeness and anticipate! Woo!

Expect a few pages of preview, shortly!

May 4th, 2010 by Neal

Merely doing something else I can’t write here about. That’s all!

March 26th, 2010 by Neal

At the Emerald City Comic-Con, right after I got word that it was okay to announce my comic adaption of The Anti-War Museum of Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the Nightmares of the Macabre series, I was interviewed by two purveyors of awesome, Shannon and Matt of the Seattle Geekly!

You can find my interview here. It’s filled with enthusiastic excitement of jubilant… well, okay, I’m a little hyper and excited. But why not?

Thanks, Seattle Geekly!

March 16th, 2010 by Neal

They make it seem as if it’s snowing outside, because the blossoms have covered the ground. Beautiful.

My grandmother died a year ago yesterday. It beat me up last night, but today I’m feeling hopeful, optimistic, and productive. I’m sure she’d have liked that.

I polished the rest of a script this morning, wrote a new column, and pounded out about two thousand words of editing, and yet I feel like I’ve taken a half day. Bah, he said. Numbers don’t lie:

Daylight Savings is messing with my head. I say we just do “Fall Back” every two weeks until night is day, and cycle it, just completely screw with everyone’s circadian rhythm until zombies emerge from the ground and another earthquake spins the world off its axis. I mean, if we’re gonna fuck with time, let’s do it right, huh?

Speaking of fucking with time, remind me to tell you a little about Cura Te Ipsum some day. And that’s all I have to say about that.

For now.

March 15th, 2010 by Neal

Went to the Emerald City Comic-Con. Survived, somehow.

Beaten. Exhausted. Had a great time. Great people. Best con in a long time, actually, if hectic.

I have pictures of the desk for the long promised “desk” blog, and I also have Gornography, or “That Which Cannot Be Unseen.” I will explain this later. It will be framed, and on my desk, along with this strangely procured Elektra torso and a Black Lantern Martian Manhunter. Long story.

I have a White Lantern shirt, but I’m afraid to wear it because I have no idea what it means yet. Maybe I’ll put it on and see how I feel.

It was good to see many friends I don’t see all the time. Had a BLAST getting to know Creator’s Edge folk, which leads to my nice little announcement here:

NEW BOOK COMING!

Couldn’t talk about it because it wasn’t all nailed down, but now it is, so there it is. I have a story that I’ve been wanting to produce for some time called “The Anti-War Museum of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.” Many folks who have been my friends for a while will remember, perhaps, a small chapbook from half a decade ago. I did about fifty copies, then adapted it into a comic recently. Creator’s Edge will be putting it in their Nightmares of the Macabre anthology series, coming soon! More news as that develops, along with art, press releases, and other fun! There’s also potentially more coming down, more as I know more.

Woot!

I also have an interview on a podcast I will post here as soon as I have information.

March 4th, 2010 by Neal

Now I’m starting to come back to life.

I’ve licked the first chapter into shape, divided in two, and now I’m in the steam of things. Damn, coming back to your novel when it’s still a piece of shit and starting to knuckle it into submission can be daunting at first. But then you start to see the light.

On a completely unrelated note, I WILL for sure be at the Emerald City Comic Con. I have no idea what the breadth of folks who are reading this include right now because I haven’t had time to take a look, but if there’s anyone out there that wants to meet up or get a signed copy of any of my stuff or whatever and you’ll be there, let me know, and I’ll find a way to meet up with you, seeing as I won’t have a booth.

January 4th, 2010 by Neal

The Hal comic, Sex in Trade, is done. I’m now going to spend a few weeks reading and deciding what to do next. I have a Hal book in me right now, and the basic underpinnings of a good plot, but I may just do something else this time, depending on how the books move me one way or another.

More news soon.

December 18th, 2009 by Neal

Okay, nine hours of editing, the script is completely reformatted, edited down, and I think… I THINK…. in the can.

One more read-through, and it’s set, I do believe. I can do that leisurely tomorrow.

Sex in Trade done been traded.