2017 is Getting Full of Words

Between January and July, I have five different projects coming out, which makes me sound busier than I feel.We had Planet of the Apes: Tales from the Forbidden Zone kick off the year to much acclaim and (hopefully) good sales.In March, Sequart’s long awaited Bright Eyes, Ape City: Examining the Planet of the Apes Mythos.Then, come May 26, I will have stories in two books making their debut at Balticon. First, there’s If we had Known, a collection of science fiction stories from eSpec Books. I’ve talked about how I was asked to step in at the last minute and managed to come up with an acceptable story in short order. From invitation to receiving printed books, it may be the fastest time in my personal history.The second story I haven’t spoken much about. I will be one of many fine folk contributing to Fortress Publishing’s TV Gods Sumer Programming, their second collection of stories that mash up classic television series with various gods. I first tripped over this project when the editors were crammed besides the Crazy 8 press folk at the York Emporium during the 2015 Sci-Fi Saturday event. We admired each other’s’ work and they invited us all to pitch.After looking through the first book, I had a flash of inspiration and asked to pair House of Cards with the Norse gods. They said sure and then I sort of forgot about it for a while. Last fall, yes, a year later, I realized I was running late with this (and I never run late) so set time aside and got to work. The result, “Build the Wall”, proved to be a timely tale, a retelling of a classic Norse myth, overlaid with political power plays. It was accepted, was illustrated, and is now ready for you to enjoy.The remainder of the year is looking good, too. Coming in July is Crazy 8’s annual anthology. This year we offer up Love, Murder & Mayhem, edited by Russ Colchamiro and we’re all here along with some friends, old and new: Aaron Rosenberg, Peter David, Paul Kupperberg, Michael Jan Friedman, Mary Fan, Tina Closser, Meriah Crawford, Hildy Silverman, Patrick Thomas, Kelly Meding, Karissa Laurel, Lois Spangler, and Russ. More on this another day.Between now and then, my contribution to the Veil Knights series will see print. We’re not saying who wrote which book in the series, but I’ll tip you off that mine isn’t out yet. I’m excited to see how this one is received. Again, more on this later.Later in the year comes Captain America: The Never-Ending Battle, which I am now 50,700 words through, nearing the climax and the 60,000 word goal. It feels great writing the Avenger along with playing in the Marvel Universe. There have been some creative snags that remind me that even after all these years there remains plenty I need to learn and improve on as a writer.