Man. It’s been a minute since the last time I did one of these.
Let’s just say February and March were….busy. Then April came along and I got deep enough into the month that a wrap-up post for March might as well wait until May showed up, which it has! So, even though the post title says “April writing wrap-up,” I’ll do my best to update you on all the writerly happenings here at the manor over the course of the past couple of months….
Untitled tie-in novel – The main thing on which I’d been working the past few months. I delivered the manuscript for this back on March 17th, after which my editor put her Mighty Red Pen to it. She sent the ms. back to me and after making revisions I returned an updated version on April 4th. There were some additional tweaks after the licensing folks weighed in, and I got an official thumbs-up on April 28th. I’m presently awaiting copyedits to happen, after which I’ll take another swing through the manuscript to fix whatever they find. There have been some rumors and such about what this is, but I can’t really say much as nothing’s been confirmed or announced publicly. I can say that the placeholder title I’ve seen bandied about is not accurate. It’s what they stuck into my contract at the time, before I’d even written an outline. Suffice it to say there’s a different title on the manuscript.
Jurassic World: The Official Cookbook – Originally scheduled to come out last summer and timed with the release of Jurassic World: Dominion, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a monkey wrench into the movie’s production schedule, pushing it to this summer (which is almost here!). Therefore, the book was repositioned accordingly and published on April 19th! It was definitely a different sort of thing for me but I thoroughly enjoyed working with food stylist Elena Craig and my awesome editors at Insight Editions. So, you should definitely go and buy copies for all the foodies in your life.
Short Story for an Unidentified Anthology – Another thing about which I can’t say much, other than this will be another collaboration with Kevin…assuming they like our pitch, which we submitted back on February 12th. Yeah, that’s all sorts of vague. The submission period ends in a couple of weeks, so there’s not really much we can do until then. All I can say at this point is that – assuming the editor likes our idea enough to offer us a slot in the book – we’re going to have some serious retro fun with this one.
Unidentified Tie-in Project – Growing out of something I mentioned in this previous blog post, I was approached about taking on this new effort involving an intellectual property with which I’ve not previously worked. It’s one I’d love to jump into if opportunity ever presented itself…as seems to have happened! Kevin and I are scheduled to meet with the project’s editor to get more info and really determine whether this is something we can do. I was planning to take the spring and summer to maybe not get involved in any heavy writing projects but instead have some fun with a couple of short story ideas Kevin and I have been yammering about, but hey! It’s nice to be loved and called, so let’s see what happens. More info if and when I’m able to share.
Unidentified Shared Universe Project – Something else I mentioned in that other blog post. Kevin and I received an invitation to participate in this effort last weekend, and our initial, very informal pitch generated much enthusiasm. We’re going to develop a proper pitch for potential story in the coming weeks, with an eye toward writing a short story during the summer. Yes, we will absolutely be able to work this in and around the other project we’re discussing. Because Hell yeah, we will.
Other stuff in the pipeline:
Space Western Story – Kevin and I collaborated on this story for a new anthology that’s “coming soon.” Everything’s approved and signed off and we’ve been paid, but we’ve been informed that scheduling and supply chain issues have forced this book’s publication to spring 2023. We still don’t have any real info so far as an official announcement, author line-up, cover art, and various other details. Stay tuned for more info!
Short Story for The Four ???? of the Apocalypse – Despite a couple of bumps in the road, Kevin and I were successful in teaming up to spin our own take on The End of the World for an anthology to be published by editors Keith R.A. DeCandido and Wrenn Sims and their new small-press publishing company, Whysper Wude. We delivered our story to said editors last summer and while we made each other laugh pretty hard, it remains to be seen whether anyone else – beginning with our editors and going from there – shares our enthusiasm. Hopefully more info will be forthcoming sometime soon.
Possible future projects:
More fun with Star Trek Adventures – After himming and hawing with STA project manager Jim Johnson off and on for several months leading into the fall, I’ve developed some notes for new material I hope to develop for the game. Unfortunately, this one’s going on the back burner, as All The New Things must take precedence, but hopefully I can throw some brain cells at this in and around the other work.
Science Fiction Novella Concept – Back in the summer of 2020, I was invited to participate in what has become a series of novellas all revolving around a Theme I Cannot Yet Publicly Identify. Though the editor already had a slate of entries for 2021 and now 2022, I’m still pondering something I might work on later this year for possible 2023 publication. At this point, I have a basic premise for a story that fits the theme, and after informing Madam Editor of my interest in playing within this particular sandbox, I quickly scribbled some notes and then set them aside, which is where they’ve been as I tend to other, more pressing matters. If schedules permit, I’ll see where I’m at with respect to The Other Things, and go from there.
More Tales from the Vogue Theater – One of the other things Kevin and I decided while writing “Helluoid” for It Came from the Multiplex was that the Vogue Theater, the setting for our 1980s horror tale, could also be the backdrop for other such stories set in different eras. We quickly came up with springboard ideas for stories set in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, including a prequel of sorts for the original tale. Well, we entertained ourselves, at any rate. At this point, we have no idea what we might do with such a project, but for now just the idea of collaborating on a regular basis has taken hold after last year’s efforts, and we’re both eager to keep the ball rolling. Let’s see what happens!
Original e-Book Concept – I’ve been pondering an idea for a new series – something akin to the “men’s adventure” style books I loved back in the 80s and 90s. It would be a setting for which I could write shorter tales – novellas, likely – for e-Book distribution. It would be something of an SF-ish/action bent, with (I hope) lots of humor. Not quite campy, but definitely lighter in tone. This is still very rough at the moment, but it’s something I’d really like to get into once I get some free time (HAH! HAH AGAIN!).
Original SF Novel Concept – No, this is not the thing mentioned earlier that I played with last month. Instead, this is something I’ve been thinking about — off and on — for a loooooooooooooong time, but it always kept getting back-burnered because of everything else. I haven’t given up on it, but at the moment other things are demanding attention so this one stays on the warmer for a while longer.
It’s gonna be Ma—-hey! It’s already May!
The Fog of Ward. 