Issue 185: What day is it? The date! What year?

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!

Aug 15, 2023

I woke up in the dead of night, just a few short hours ago, with a terrible realization. It was Tuesday… and I had forgotten to post this week’s issue of Vicious Shivers. I’ve been a little off for the last week, never quite sure what day it is. Rattled. Last night, I asked Cindy why I’ve been feeling so overwhelmed of late. Her response was, “Because you’re terribly overwhelmed?” Not with writing necessarily. Just with… well… everything. I’m fine. I’ll get my act together. I just need to get my timeline re-centered, I think.

Anyhow, that’s why this issue is late.

Happy Wednesday!

Just kidding. I know it’s Thursday.

Not long after I sent last week’s newsletter, I realized that our cat Elvis was not doing well. Elvis had been sick for a while, but his medicine had been seeming to help him out. This, though, was something different. As a family, we took him to the vet, and we sadly had to say goodbye to our beloved friend. Elvis had been with Cindy and I for 19 years. He had been with Roman pretty much all of Roman’s life. He had a good long run. Longer than most cats get in this world. Still… we didn’t have enough time with him. I’ll miss that cat terribly.

Our time with the vet wasn’t done for the week, though. If you’ve been reading the newsletter for a bit, you’ll know that we took in a stray cat in March. In April, she had kittens. We found homes for most of the kittens, but this week we took Greybaby and Jumpscare to the vet to get their final round of shots and to have them spayed. I’m happy to say they are both doing well. In fact, Jumpscare is climbing a curtain as I write this.

It doesn’t go unnoticed that fate seemed to bring these kittens into our lives at a time when were about to lose two of our pets.

But… yeah… kittens.

I’ve had kittens before, but it was when I was young and they were outdoor pets. I’ve never had an indoor kitten before. It’s… a lot. Greybaby is relatively chill, but only in comparison to Jumpscare, who has only one speed—wanton destruction. Jumpscare was the runt of the litter. When she was born, she almost didn’t make it. Having looked death in the eye, that little cat now fears nothing.

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how to keep the conversation going about my work and my life. This newsletter is great for that. My Discord is another great spot. Starting this week, I’ll be doing pretty regular livestreams, a couple a month. This week, the livestream is on Sunday, August 20th, at 6:00 PM CST. I’ll be talking about all things horror and comics. I’ll be taking questions as time allows, but I will be taking questions in advance from my Patreon supporters. Those questions will be answered first. I hope you’ll join me. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.

It will be on YouTube…

…And on Facebook!

I’ve got exciting plans for these livestreams in the future!

Even before the livestream, though, I’ll be heading to Columbia, Missouri for a signing at Distant Planet Comics! If you’re in the area (or within easy driving distance) come to the shop and hang out for a bit! It’s a great store and I’m looking forward to visiting them again!

We’re even doing a Cupcakes with Cullen event in the afternoon, which I think will be a lot of fun!

Distant Planet can be found at 601 Business Loop 70 W, Ste 263 Columbia, MO 65203.

And here’s where you can find out more about them.

For the rest of the week, I’m taking a ton of meetings, probably more than I should, and I’m writing a bunch of scripts. I’m also working on bringing PROJECT: GALLERY to a point that it’s ready to go to the publisher for formatting. PROJECT: GALLERY is a prose/role-playing game experiment that I’m really excited about. I should be able to share more about it very soon!

Thanks for reading! I’ll see you here again next week!

DEATH OF THE VENOMVERSE #2

ENTER: THE SYMBIOTE SIX! Plus: DAVID MICHELINIE brings you a classic tale in the vein of LETHAL PROTECTOR…or is there more than meets the eye? AND THAT'S NOT ALL! Prepare yourself as Taigami introduces the world to…VENOM BOY!

Wow… That solicit really focuses on… well… nothing. This issue introduces a brand new character—Chaos Engine—to the world of the symbiotes. The Symbiote Six is cool and all, but Chaos Engine is where it’s at.

RED ZONE Volume 1

Called in by the U.S. government for a secret international mission to Russia, unassuming American professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at NYU Randall Crane finds his history in the Soviet Union begin to thaw and reveal itself. When the team of commandos sent to protect him end up dead, Randall finds himself forced to fight his way out of the former U.S.S.R. using skills he thought he'd left dead and buried in the cold, hard streets of the Mother Russia a lifetime ago.

RED ZONE was a weird book for me. I really wasn’t sure what people would think of it. It’s a bonkers spy thriller. Lots of high octane action. I just wasn’t sure if the typical reader of my work would like it. But I can tell you that at the most recent convention I attended, I signed a ton of them, and the question I was asked the most was, “Will we get more RED ZONE?” I certainly hope so, because it was a lot of fun.

If you missed out on the series, this trade paperback collects the whole thing.

And look what Jim Steranko said about it:

This week, I condensed two of my hardcover/trade paperback comic shelves into one shelf. I used the newly cleared shelf to put the vast majority of my role-playing game material (all the boxed sets and the square bound books, while saddle-stitched style books, like modules, stay in boxes). Right now, those old role-playing games are filling my heart with a lot of nostalgia. I need that right now.

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.

AUGUST 2023

DEATH OF THE VENOMVERSE 1 - 5 (weekly)
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT #8
DISPLACEMENT
MAGIC: THE GATHERING - NOTORIOUS
REANIMATOR: THE ETERNAL LIE, Part 2

SEPTEMBER 2023

BLOODBORNE: THE BLEAK DOMINION #1

OCTOBER 2023

REGRESSION: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION
BLOODBORNE: THE BLEAK DOMINION #2
THE MIDNITE SHOW #1

NOVEMBER 2023

LAMENTATION TPB
THE MIDNITE SHOW #2
BLOODBORNE: THE BLEAK DOMINION #3

DECEMBER 2023

INVASIVE #1
THE MIDNITE SHOW #3
BLOODBORNE: THE BLEAK DOMINION #4

JANUARY 2024

BEYOND MORTAL Trade Paperback
THE MIDNITE SHOW #4
INVASIVE #2

THE UNKNOWN FUTURE…

PROJECT: JUMP, a new comic book series in the Beyond Mortal Universe.
PROJECT: HEX, a supernatural/horror thriller.
PROJECT: HORROR, a licensed horror comic.
I’LL KILL YOU LAST - An 80s action/horror fiction anthology I’m editing.
PROJECT: GALLERY - An RPG project I’ve been quietly developing.
PROJECT: PREHISTORY - More kaiju craziness
PROJECT: MEGA-BATTLE - Even More kaiju craziness
PROJECT: BOT - A sequel to a story of robotic mischief
PROJECT: WATER HEATER - An apocalyptic horror/fantasy maxi-series
PROJECT: RUSH - A horror prose anthology I’m editing
COPYCAT - A new limited series from Todd Garner, Heath Amodio, and myself.
BLOODBLADE - An action/horror story of destiny and demonic blood
PROJECT: CONVOY - A horror/thriller I’m co-writing
PROJECT: ARCANA - a dark fantasy series
PROJECT: MONSTER - a new horror/action/comedy series
PROJECT: HOAX - a horror limited series
PROJECT: DEAD - a short comic story
PROJECT: VARIANT - a really cool one-shot project
PROJECT: G - a new ongoing series

1250 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)
10 two-sentence horror stories (10 in 2022)
0 new comic book series proposals (29 in 2022)
0 podcast proposals (0 in 2022)
0 essays (0 in 2022)
1 foreword for upcoming graphic novels (0 in 2022)
0 television series proposal (0 in 2022)

AUGUST 19, 2023 - Signing at Distant Planet Comics, Columbia MO

SEPTEMBER 9, 2023 - Signing at B&B Collections, Jonesboro AR

SEPTEMBER 16 - 17, 2023 - Extremicon, St. Roberts MO

SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 1 - Cowtown Comic Convention, Fort Worth TX

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