Issue 159: Waiting on the Glow of the Green Light
Vicious Shivers is the official newsletter for fans of my work. Thank you for subscribing. Please share it with others if you think they might be interested!
I didn’t proclaim a Scriptpocalypse last week, but maybe I should have. I ended up writing over 100 pages of comic scripts from Monday through Saturday. I already had outlines done, which helped a great deal. I focused on nothing but comic scripts. Not prose. Not the pilot I’m working on. Just comics. And it yielded a Hell of a productive week.
I wrapped up a couple of series in that time, which is always scary because I worry what I’ll replace it with. I have a bulletin board next to my desk. It’s covered in little magnetic, dry erase “Post It” notes. I have different notes representing:
Projects I need to be working on next
Pitches I’ve sent out
Projects for which I’m waiting on a greenlight
Series I’m getting an advance to write (including how many issues are in each series)
Series I’m not getting an advance to write
The notes for series I’m getting an advance to write are dwindling a little faster than I like, and I need to get some replacements on the board—fast! Luckily, I have a few irons in the fire. Several projects I know will be kicking off soon. Contracts just need to be signed for the light to glow green.
The Great Reorganization of my collection continues!
Just yesterday, I finally managed to get my office cleaned up. The rest of the studio is a mess, but I can once again walk through my primary writing space without tripping over boxes… or stacks of books… or tubs of loose CDs… or broken toys.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how I need to focus my collecting efforts in the future. I’m still looking for those three issues of X-Men to complete my collection (issues 4, 10, and 11). And I’ll always be keeping an eye out for vintage role-playing game stuff. Beyond that, though, I think my immediate focus is going to be on completing my collection of the EC Archive hardcovers, both the Dark Horse editions and the amazing Russ Cochran volumes.
Yes, yes… I know I will never be able to keep myself from buying other cool items for the collection… but being focused is good, right?
If you haven’t subscribed to WHISPERS FROM THE OUTER SHADOWS, please consider doing so. The first official issue of that newsletter will be going out shortly. It has thoughts on the horror genre, behind-the-scenes details on upcoming Outer Shadows books, new short horror fiction, and more!
I posted on social media that I would be giving away a set of THE SIXTH GUN role-playing game materials to one of my newsletter subscribers today. I am emailing the subscriber directly. I forgot that for many of the subscribers on the list, I don’t have a first or last name, just an e-mail address, and I didn’t think I should post that address! Nonetheless… Congratulations!
Finally, before we move on, I have it on good authority that there will be at least one BIG ANNOUNCEMENT this week, maybe more. The first one hits tomorrow.
I tend to only send this newsletter once a week. I don’t want to overwhelm subscribers. I do see others who send several newsletters each week, especially when there is an announcement of some sort.
Should I send special announcements as separate mailings?
Save them for the weekly newsletter?
Right now, I’m leaning toward saving them for the newsletter. That’s what I’ve been doing. But I wonder if that’s the right move, especially now that I’ve been withdrawing more and more from social media.
If you have some thoughts on this, please let me know. Message me. Leave it in the comments. I genuinely want to know what you think. We’re all in this together.
Either way… stay tuned for the announcements!
John asks, “Will there be a sequel to BEYOND MORTAL?”
Oh, yes, John.
Oh yes.
But also… no.
There is more BEYOND MORTAL to come. The scripts for the first act are all written and Danny is busily drawing.
However, the rest of the story will be coming out a little differently. It will be coming out as a graphic novel, collecting the initial oversized issue and two more oversized chapters.
And we will not be Kickstarting it. Instead, it will be coming out directly from a publisher.
It’s a little ways off, but stay tuned for more details!
If you have questions you’d like to have answered in future editions of this newsletter, please send them my way! There’s no telling what eldritch secrets I’ll divulge!
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT #3
Goblins are bad enough. Alien goblins from another world? That's a whole new level of messed-up. The sales crew knocks on a door unlike any other-the door of a UFO! Venturing into a spaceship, the team encounters vile experiments, awful hallucinations, and a host of very curious creatures from another world. First contact is about to go wildly wrong!
NIGHT WALKERS #2
Seren, Franny Jay, Deidre, and the rest of the survivors leave behind a bloodbath at the rehabilitation center and escape into the woods. But the hunt continues, and when they stumble upon an eerily quiet town, they'll learn what true horror looks like.
Here is a quick and dirty list of upcoming projects. In most cases, I’m only listing projects that are definitely on the schedule with a published. Oftentimes, I will not be able to share much information, but I can at least tease the future! Everything here is, of course, subject to change.
A FOULNESS IN THE WALLS - A horror one-shot about loss and grief and guilt
RED ZONE - An action/comedy thrill-ride. unlike anything else I’ve ever written
PROJECT: GHOST - A horror maxi-series exploring a side of horror you might not expect
BLOODBLADE - An action/horror story of destiny and demonic blood
BEYOND MORTAL - Finishing up the horror/superhero epic
THE CULT OF THAT WILKIN BOY - An Archie horror one-shot
SWORDS IN THE SHADOWS - A swords and sorcery and horror fiction anthology I’m editing
I’LL KILL YOU LAST - An 80s action/horror fiction anthology I’m editing
RAZE - A dark fantasy/horror novella
PROJECT: BOT - A sequel to a story of robotic mischief
PROJECT: MASK - A horror OGN where reality and surreality clash in a murderous way
PROJECT: WATER HEATER - An apocalyptic horror/fantasy maxi-series
PROJECT: DUNGEON - A new licensed horror comic series
PROJECT: CONVOY - A horror/thriller I’m co-writing
PROJECT: MATINEE - A horror limited series I’m working on with one of my best friends and long-standing collaborator
PROJECT: V - A return to a fan-favorite character I haven't written in quite a while
PROJECT: PREHISTORY - More kaiju craziness
PROJECT: MEGA-BATTLE - Even More kaiju craziness
PROJECT: RUSH - A horror prose anthology I’m editing
PROJECT: GALLERY - An RPG project I’ve been quietly developing
PROJECT: CARD - A magical one-shot
PROJECT: ARCANA - a dark fantasy series
PROJECT: BUSINESS - a new horror/action/comedy series
PROJECT: HOAX - a horror limited series
295 pages of comic book scripts (1710 in 2022)
0 feature length screenplay (0 in 2022)
0 half-hour comedy pilot (1 in 2022)
0 short film script (1 in 2022)
0 short stories (9 in 2022)
0 novellas (0 in 2022)
4 two-sentence horror stories (10 in 2022)
0 new comic book series proposals (29 in 2022)
0 podcast proposals (0 in 2022)
0 essay (0 in 2022)
1 foreword for upcoming graphic novels (0 in 2022)
0 television series proposal (0 in 2022)
Keep in mind, these days, "finalized" doesn't mean as much as it once did. All events are subject to change. I hope to be adding more conventions in the near future! Stay tuned!
MARCH 17 - 19, 2023 - Planet Comicon, Kansas City MO
JUNE 16 - 18, 2023 - Heroes Convention, Charlotte NC
JUNE 24, 2023 - Route 66 Toy and Comic Convention, Lebanon MO
JULY 7 - 9, 2023 - Tremendicon, Springfield MO
I‘M still watching THE BLACKLIST and still enjoying it quite a bit. As I mentioned before, the week-to-week villains are cool, but what I really like is the overall conspiracy and the ongoing relationships of all the characters.
I watched SKINAMARINK… alone… in a very dar, very quiet room… which is how that movie should be watched. And I saved my thoughts on it until after a group of friends and I had a chance to discuss it. Did I love it? Well… I think it was interesting and ambitious and at times intense. It had a couple of moments that I thought were creepy as Hell. I had weird dreams the night after I watched it. (Interestingly, a friend of mine noted that after he watched it, he had no dreams, which was unusual for him.) In the end, though, I’m glad I watched it, I can’t say I liked it. I think I need the comfort blanket of a plot to see me through.
I finished up the novel version of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. I was really taken aback by the directions of the novel, how it did (and didn’t) follow the movie, and how it all wrapped up. If you loved the movie, as I did, I suggest reading it, though I much prefer the film.
I just started reading Grady Hendrix’s HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE last night.
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Special announcements as they happen are the way to go. No need to save it for next week’s newsletter. Seeing that extra Viscous Shivers notification on a random day during the week. Is like The Fat Man dropping of gifts early!